A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That in Day by Day

A new weekend is here and I’m skipping church tonight. I’m just sort of tuckered out. Our nephew and his family are here for a week, but staying out on the key. We had a lovely visit this afternoon and they’ll come for a birthday celebration dinner on Wednesday. For now, they are in their condo on the beach and the weather should be nice all week.

My younger brother is home now. He couldn’t manage the stairs (his house is a modernistic cube, very posh, I can’t stand it), so they have a hospital bed set up in the living room where he can see the pool and his cat can curl up next to him. He has to give himself shots in the stomach twice a day. I cannot imagine doing that to myself but he says it’s better than waiting an hour for the nurse to bring pain meds. He’s not improving. He doesn’t feel up to going to Mayo in JAX. I’m about to lose my last remaining sibling.

They are going to try to come here for Easter dinner. My older brother’s ex-wife and their son are coming, as well as my aunt and uncle but I am NOT inviting Crazy Aunt. With the relatives, the kids, and three of their friends, it’ll be 13 people. I have a 17 pound ham that I thought I’d bake next week, carve, and layer in a pan. That way I can just heat it up with a large pan of macaroni & cheese that’s already in the freezer. I will also have the pan juices, so I can make the gravy early and keep it warm on the stove. I have a large batch of orange maple carrots in the freezer, as well. I’m on the fence about mashed potatoes. I can make them early in the morning and keep them warm in the crockpot, but it seems an awful lot of starch with the mac & cheese. My younger brother loves my mashed potatoes and gravy, though, and it’ll encourage him to eat (he has difficulty swallowing and it’ll go down easy), so I’ll probably do both. I should also cook up some broccoli since not everyone likes carrots.

Dinner is at one, so I’m not going to bother with appetizers. I’ll put out a wedge of brie and crackers and that’s it, I think. If someone wants to bring something, I’ll tell them to bring a pie. I’ll make a custard pie, as well, since that’s my eldest son’s favorite and he’s been so good to me, helping to restore my crashed computers AND converting old VHS movies to DVD.

I keep meaning to mention that on our way home from our meeting with Sweetie Pie last weekend in Winter Park, we took a scenic route home, down the spine of Florida. I’d been off my usual veggie and fruit intake with all the driving back and forth, so was on the lookout for roadside veggie stands. We stopped at the only one we found, thinking he was selling pineapples and watermelons. Instead, a Hispanic man was selling large containers of fruit salad. The others were stepping over to a side table and doctoring their fruit salad with salt, lime, and a red sauce that turned out to be a hot sauce. We chose the salt and lime juice but decided against the hot sauce. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the combination. Now, I wish I’d tried it!

We’ll look for him on our next scenic trip. If he’s not deported. Florida is beginning to see the effects of Trump’s ethnic cleansing. Citrus and vegetable growers are experiencing a shortage of pickers. Some restaurants are experiencing long customer lines because there are fewer servers and bus people, not to mention kitchen workers. I imagine the hotel industry is struggling, as well. Our nephew told us that even the Taco Bells in Indiana are offering HIRING BONUSES!

Let’s count it up, shall we? No health plan, obvious communist ties, numerous ethics violations, foreign policy FAIL, and now he’s throwing the economy off by tossing out the very people who took the menial jobs that most Americans wouldn’t do. I hope everyone who voted the big buffoon in is very happy with themselves for destroying America. Civilizations can and DO fail. If ours does, you can tell God that the Tea Party did it.

Ugh, ugh, and ugh. Let’s move on to happier thoughts.

I was SHOCKED to learn that I’m getting a hefty refund from the IRS this year! My accountant told me it was because I didn’t pull any dividends this year. That’s because I wrote paychecks in order to increase our earnings (along with my husband’s Social Security) so that when Social Security recalculates our income, we’ll get a little more.

So I’m using the refund to buy an ipad or some kind of reader for easier traveling. I’m on the fence about buying a new laptop, since my current one is working okay now. I think I’ll just put the rest in savings and forget about it.

My Florida History column on May Day celebrations is completed, as is the Worthy Causes column (a licensed Social Worker’s advice to senior citizens on staying mentally stable).

The non-profit is going well and I’m looking forward to launching our matching funds drive.

I think that’s about it…at least all that comes to mind right now!