Seven years ago today...

This guy was born. Number 3 of five grands. Unfortunately he and his family live on the west coast, about an hour from the ocean.   Which is odd since we live about an hour from the ocean, but on the opposite coast. We made a video singing Happy Birthday and sent off, as well as a box of books.  (I don’t buy clothes or toys, too much. Mostly books.)

So today was pretty uneventful. D#3 found a Cozy Coupe for free online. It was in Oaklyn. So I will have to get it, with a stop at the bank first. Unfortunately the drive-through bank lines have been incredibly long. I guess because you can’t go inside right now. So I drove right past the Glassboro branch And decided to drive up to the Oaklyn branch. And guess what… Their lines were just as long. I got out of line and parked in the parking lot because I was 20 minutes early to pick up the toy.  While I was sitting there S the BFF called. We had a nice chat. And I would like to get the cozy coupe. It’s a little more beat up than I had hoped, but it was free. So whatever.

A Facebook friend has been bragging  the little town of  Fortesque. Fortesque is a little beach town on the Delaware Bay. Husband and I love take a ride in the car, and I had talked about visiting Fortesque one day. 

So when I got back from Oaklyn we got our water and some cookies and some Halls cough drops and got in the car. As were pulling away Husband says did you tell D#4 where we are going. I said, not yet. Just on the phone rang. It was D#4. Her glasses broke. So we turned around and took her to Walmart in Deptford to the optician. 

We finally got on the road Fortesque about 12:30pm . We had a nice lunch at Wawa in Vineland. Should have waited to eat in Fortesque but the emergency trip to Deptford made us late.  Fortesque is not much. It’s horse shoe crab season and they were a lot of floaters. And a lot of greenhead flies that were biting. We took a walk along the beach but didn’t last very long. Fortunately we were right near 553 so we took it all the way home. 

Dinner was breaded chicken patties with melted cheese, and pasta with tomato sauce, and green beans. 

I worked on genealogy, and a menu for the week, and a grocery list. 

Boring Friday. 

Ok.  Enough for now!

Stay Safe!

Smooches!

Karen

Thursday. Boring Thursday.

Well, here we are. Thursday again. Sixteen weeks since March 12, when things first started falling apart. The virus was running rampant in China and was starting up here. 

Today’s big project was to alphabetize husband's saxophone quartets. He tried to do it himself, had it all over the basement floor, and as luck would have it a huge rainstorm came and flooded the basement and ruined more than half of his collection. It’s ok tho; there’s lots of free music on the internet. Let’s get printing! 

Tried to go to the bank. Ridiculous line. What’s up with that! Got two dozen Eggs from my egg lady. She said some had just been laid this morning! Tried to get the Car inspected. Apparently everything is still closed. Hmmm. 

The plan for tomorrow was to go to Baltimore. But D#2’s mom has had bunion surgery and D#3 has been helping her... she was in Philly all week, and just told us she has to have her mom at her house for the next week.  😕

We will go in a few weeks. I really want to make friends with GB#4.  BG#2 is so easy going with us and we just love it. GB#4 is shy with us but I can win her over with the right selection of toys. They were here on Sunday and she loved the pop-up toy and the little cabbage patch baby I have here. 

D#3 found a cozy coupe in one of her groups. I’ll go pick it up tomorrow morning. It’s in Oaklyn. Won’t my buddy look so stinkin cute in a Cozy Coupe?!?

And D#4 is working at Bogey’s. So far she is a hostess, earning minimum wage.  Having a hard time being “a peasant”.  More incentive to find a real job! 

Ok.  Enough for now. Stay home and stay safe!

Smooches!

Karen

Kennett Square

Hi there.
Cousin #6 has sold his house in Kennett Square. If you remember he got re-married last year. His wife had a house and he had a house and they built a house in Rehoboth Beach. Well he sold his house in Kennett Square and when we were talking
(the cousins and I talk every two weeks in a Zoom meeting and I can tell you more about that if you want)
he mentioned he was working to empty the house. He had a pile to go to Rehoboth, a pile to sell, a pile to donate, and a pile to toss.

So I said if he had anything from Slatington that he was getting rid of I would be interested.
He offered me Aunt Arlene's bedroom set. It's beautiful.. He had repaired it and re stained it and it looks just like I remember.
Daughter #4 and I went to his house today and picked up the bed and the mirror. The dresser is in Rehoboth, and I will get it in a few weeks.

So I know you are thinking oh my goodness Karen you don't need another bed but here's what I am doing.

Our guest room has a queen size bed with a bed frame from Ikea. I will put Aunt Arlene's bed frame in its place.
When Lenessa moves out she can take the Ikea bed  with her. She brought her mattress home from college, but it only has the metal frame with feet. No headboard etc.
We got home around 2pm. Brought two Italian hoagies from Heritages with us. Then I had church work to,do. I got everything in order for my email: worship service guide, announcements, sparks for the kids.
Gotta remember to email it Friday morning.

Husband and I went to The Red Hen in Swedesboro for dinner. Which was dumb, cause we weren’t very hungry. We sat at a table on the sidewalk, because NJ still doesn’t have indoor seating. Good thing the weather is nice, right? What if it was December? 

He had a burger with cheese and bacon and an onion ring on top. I had fries with a cheese sauce and crab meat. And a little plastic cup of sangria. Lots of ice and fruit, very little sangria. Oh well. We brought most of it home.

I’ve been working on family genealogy. I’d really like to try to figure out who my father is. Since it’s not Donn Hettell. I have three cousins identified by DNA tests. LeeAnne is a second cousin. I text with her frequently. Pamela and CCarouso are third cousins.  I have texted with Pamela back-and-forth a number of times. CCarouso doesn’t answer any messages. And I’ve been checking names against my DNA test and I found a fourth cousin - Anthony Perino. I have found our common Grandparents and great grandparents and I’m slowly working on a chart with everybody’s name. I have included their birth and death dates, their spouse, where they lived, and where they are buried. It’s amazing how many people have no burial records and no obituaries. I try not to get sidetracked with her a lot a little rabbit holes to fall down.

Ok.  Enough for now. 

 Stay safe at home!

Smooches!

Karen

First Post

• Hi there.

I’ve tried three or four times to create a blog.  But, as most things go, I lose interest to the point I don’t even remember the login and password and all is lost. 

Let’s see how long this one lasts. 

I am very good however at reading other people’s blog- I have even scrolled and scrolled to get to the very first post So I can read their entire blog. Some of these people I am now Facebook friends with. (Michael Rockwell... John Fuller... Jeff Fightmaster....Erik Rubright....) 

Anyway, I suppose my life isn’t any more boring than anyone else’s. So let’s give it a go.  

My husband (hmmm should I use real names? Or a clever pseudonym?) (let’s think on that...) got up early to play golf. I woke up at 8 but didn’t get out of bed until 9:45. Imagine that! Not the usual, folks, but the dog was content and nobody needed anything so I took advantage. Amazing how much time I can spend reading email, looking at Instagram, and scrolling thru Facebook. I posted a question yesterday on my Facebook account and I do try to comment/ answer everyone who took the time to comment on my post. 

Ok then I did my morning shower routine, filled the dishwasher, and left the house. 

True confession: I really like McDonalds sausage biscuit with egg. If I have errands to run in the morning I will skip cooking at home so I can get my biscuit. Bacon egg and cheese biscuits are good too.  If only my biscuits were as good as Mickey D’s.

Then I went to Aldi’s. I’ve had BLT’s on my mind for a few days. A quick check of the fridge yielded four pieces of bacon, and no lettuce. So Aldi’s it is.  We are still wearing masks in public here, and the bigger stores like Shoprite or Target are just too big. For the most part I can find all I need at Aldi’s. And then some. Cause you know I can’t just go in for bacon and lettuce and come out with just lettuce and bacon.

Found a hat for Grandbaby#5.  A quarter holder for my keychain, so I am prepared to get an Aldi Shopping cart.  Grapes. Strawberries. Boston lettuce.  Rye bread. Guacamole. Chocolate Chip Dunkers.  Baggies. Root beer popsicles. Frozen pizza (Screaming Sicilian brand..... it’s pretty good, and since discovering that I’m half Sicilian it makes me chuckle).  Cheese.  Fizzy drinks.  Chex mix.  Bagel chips. 

But they only had huge packages of raw bacon. So I’ll have to wait for that. 

So we had lunch, the way my dad would do it.  Pulled everything out that could be possible lunch. We made BLT’s and had leftover potato salad from Sunday. Yum. 

Today’s to do list: fold the towels that are in the dryer.  Do the church’s payroll.  Work on genealogy (I’m narrowing down the possible male who helped create me) ( it’s down to about five candidates)

Dinner is leftovers. I made chicken with spinach and mushrooms in a cream sauce, and chicken with bbq sauce, cheese, and bacon on Saturday. Time to finish it. 

For the most part I don’t watch tv during the day. Most of it is just awful.  But in the evening some of it is Intriguing.  Last night Penn and Teller were on. Tonight it’s America’s got Talent.

My mother had a subscription to TV guide. She would look thru the listings and make notes of what she wanted to see. We don’t do that anymore, do we? We like to watch who wants to be a Millionaire, but it’s not on consistently, and to scroll ahead for days and days is difficult.  Perhaps I’m missing something.  

Ok.  Enough for now.  Stay safe at home! 

Smooches, 

Karen