Insurance runs out

On Saturday, my husband told me that the insurance to replace my Asus T100 tablet would end the next day. I facetiously and with no mal intentions told him that my tablet would break two days after the replacement insurance ended. On Monday afternoon, I browsed for riding boots. I need some mid calf riding boots for spring and summer my current riding boots are fur lined. Shortly after online shopping, the tablet began showing lots of ads and scanning continuously. I surmised that I had picked up some malware so downloaded a malware scan and an anti virus program. I decided to clean the screen as you know how many fingerprints get on a touchscreen device. That was when my heart dropped to my toes. I noticed a pin sized hole with tiny cracks spidering from it on the touchscreen. The tablet was ruined and the replacement insurance has expired. I have absolutely no idea how the damage occurred! I did not drop the tablet. I did not expose it to extreme temperatures. To be honest,I've rarely used it in recent days. I can only surmise, that something got between the touch screen and keyboard. My husband had upgraded his phone recently and as part of the package got a tablet. It works well but has only a virtual keyboard which I find difficult to use for my blogging.

Integrative Nutriton Pilot Program

My sister, her husband and daughter, a friend from exercise class and I are participating in a pilot program, "Integrative Nutrition." I thought the pilot was going to be about healthy eating. The leader is serious about preparing whole foods for her family and about free trade products, so she definitely has a slant to her workshops. Last Thursday we met as a group for the first time. She started the evening with the question "what is new and free?" My husband and I had just returned from a stay at a bed and breakfast to celebrate our 40th anniversary. We stayed on the third floor of a Victorian style home, away from all the other guests. We drove to small cities in the area, and ate at the Grill House, featured on Travel TV. On the way home we visited the air museum. We saw exhibits starting with the Wright brothers up to the Space Shuttle. We blasted off on a simulator and flew to the International Space Station. Very fun! In 2012, a plane was dredged up from Lake Michigan where she had sat for 50 some years. She is being refurbished--her engine parts rebuilt and the body repaired. The process will take about five years. I sat in the cabin of a helicopter--no body or engine. It was the only cabin that I was sure I would not have to be shoe horned out of! And the bed and breakfast was the start of a 5 day vacation! So I felt at peace. The second activity was to fill out a form appropriately called "The Circle of Life." We place a dot on a spoke indicating where we think we are regarding career, finance, spirituality, relationships, social life, health, healthy cooking etc. If a dot is toward the center, we might consider working on that "food." The leader said that a joyful, fulfilled person is less likely to head toward food. My homework is to consider a goal, think deeply on why I want to work on that goal, and then divide it into monthly increments. The pilot program lasts two months. I was thinking today that it is so easy for me to prejudge. I will learn in the next months the intricacies of the Integrative Nutrition Program. I am going to take gossip with a grain of salt. I got a load today from my daughter's friend and will be careful about believing it all. You know I heard a very interesting bit on the radio. The speaker was saying that it is how a person makes one feel that attracts. It is not physical beauty or outside attributes. He gave the example of two people talking, and one asks the other, "What do you think of my scar?" The other person responds, "What scar?" I have to remember this in my relationships.

Spring cleaning

We've been busy preparing the house for weekend guests. We bought a new queen mattress set so set up the old set in the guest room. Lots of exercise trucking furniture downstairs and setting up the beds and laundering linens! Yesterday, since it is spring, I cleaned. Spiffed up the bathrooms and removed the rugs from the kitchen and cleaned the laminate. My husband did some grocery shopping--breakfast items for our Easter Sunday meal and rolls and pumpkin pie to take to my Dad's for dinner. Today, I am taking my friend to get her reading glasses, going to lunch and making a stop at the grocery store. I have some banking to do this morning and hapkido in the evening. Not too much on my list except to clean the aquarium. I am hoping to make it to church if all goes well.

Of Spring and March Madness

Happy Spring! A gray gloomy gus day here, but at least the calendar says it's spring. A blood moon and a solar eclipse. A countdown to launching the boat in Lake Michigan in May! Spring is on the way! During the month of March I submit my predictions for the 64 collegiate basketball teams. I have filled out 11 sheets of predictions. Unfortunately for me, six of the teams I predicted to advance lost in the opening game. Sigh! Once the field of 32 is down to 16, I have a second chance to win a Best Buy Gift Card of $5000. That would be nice, though the cash would be better. Found a new inspirational romance author that I like, Ms, Mary Eason from Texas. I stumbled on one of her books yesterday and it was wonderful. Quirky likeable characters, a flowing writing style, no profanity or graphic sex--so refreshing. Haven't decided if I will read more of her books. Multiple book authors become formulaic. I had given up chocolate for Lent, but sadly ate several chocolate chip cookies and a chocolate Hostess creme filled cake. Was feeling a bit aggravated and the chocolate calmed me down, so at least I didn't bite someone's head off!

The word "smirk"

The authors of the last three books have sprinkled the word "smirk" in their stories. Sorry, but that word has a very negative connotation. The definition of smirk is "to smile in a conceited way. to smile at someone's unhappiness." So if one of the main characters "smirks" at the other main character, I am going to dislike that character because that person is enjoying the unhappiness of someone else. I dislike taking off a rating star because of that word, but do feel strongly that a smirking character is not someone I would trust or enjoy as a friend. Just a thought. Basically when I am deciding whether or not to download an ebook, I read the reviews with the fewest rating stars. These reviews discuss plot, character development, setting, writing style, profanity. I don't consider the reviewers who tell me "the book wouldn't download." Sometimes an author's entire plot is discussed in reviews and I don't need to read the book. A good review is not a synopsis of the plot. I finally understand what my teachers were talking about when they begged, "Do not write what occurs in the book. I know the plot." Back in the day, dating myself here, I memorized the Baltimore Catechism. Today, all us ancient ones, answered the question, "Why did God make me?" The Baltimore Catechism answer, "To know him, love him and serve him in this world and to be happy with him in the next." The presider's aside (sorry about the alliteration) "because he loves us." Nice to know that in spite of our character flaws we are loved.

Flower Shop

Emotionally Draining Week

On Monday, my Dad, brother and sister met with the funeral home to prearrange my parents' funeral. Initially, we were planning to buy a funeral insurance plan, but on Tuesday my dad decided that he wanted to pay for the services when they were needed. So I had to call the funeral home associate and tell her. When we got back to my parents' home after the meeting, I discovered that the phone at their house had no dial time. I had to make several calls to the repair line to arrange for a tech to come out. My dad and I went to the service access box and determined that the problem was outside the home. Turned out that the wire from the pole was bad. I also went shopping for caffeine free pepsi, several lactose free ice cream brands, milk free pudding and the ingredients for a pizza--sausage, ham and dairy free cheese. Dad is lactose intolerant and does not make the enzymes to digest meat. My mother's aide and I took my mother for a manicure and to get her toe nails trimmed. I just got home when my friend called and asked me if I would be available to take her to the eye center to pick up her reading glasses, and then go to McDonalds's and the grocery store sometime in April. Please. My sister said that as executor of my parents' will, I have all the power. If she would like the responsibility that goes with the power, she can jump right in.