This morning I spotted a box in my closet. Not just ‘A Box’, but a box of two t-shirts that I had purchased when they put them on sale, and I had forgotten about them. I needed to wait for the right season. So today, I left the house in a new shirt but neglected to cut the plastic tag, then when I tried to get it off in the car, I couldn’t, so I decided to wear it proudly like Minnie Pearl. I dropped off a report at Brazosport Chamber and talked to President Sandra Shaw as she arrived…then to Champagne’s and dropped off an envelope where I spoke to three people…then to the post office where I stood in line for a few minutes so I could personally say hello to Freida and Dawn before I handed over the monthly bills…all with my tag hanging out. When I walked into my office, Hailey was truly kind to point it out. I hated to tell her that I was pretending to be Minnie Pearl because Hailey is in her 20’s and probably wouldn’t know what the heck I was talking about.
I just read that last year 4,153,237 people got married. I do not want to start any trouble, but shouldn’t that be an even number?
In Kentucky, two pop-up tents were erected in a convenience store parking lot with a big sign reading, COVID-19 Testing Here. Workers in white hazmat suits were swabbing mouths of drive-through patients and charging $240 each. It was a con. There are fraudsters and swindlers everywhere now. The FDA has issued warning letters to many companies peddling unproven treatments or tests. There are unregistered disinfectants and sanitizers that falsely claim to protect against the virus. In Austin, the FBI shut down a website selling “vaccine kits” in exchange for a shipping charge of $4.95. In Georgia, a 49-year-old was arrested in a scheme where he planned to submit $1.1 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for COVID-19 testing. The IRS is warning that hackers are looking to steal your financial information from tax professionals. Now is NOT the time to trust people that you do not know. Check out everything. Be careful. The IRS will not call you. Anyone that does call you that IS legitimate, will not mind you hanging up the phone and checking them out to see if they are legit.
The longer this goes on, the harder it will be to return to a society where pants, bras and baths are required.
It is time to put out the hummingbird feeders. It’s a battle on the feeder I placed outside my kitchen window, (so the cats and I can watch.) They even buzz close to where I’m sitting when the feeder is low on syrup. I was surprised to learn that there is other wildlife that enjoy the sweet liquid in feeders in addition to the hummers. Chickadees, Goldfinches, Woodpeckers, bats, butterflies, insects, lizards, moths, (and of course the racoons and squirrels) all have a bit of a sweet tooth. That is why it is nice to have additional feeding stations or a hummingbird garden, so they do not have to share. Last week, I called my sister in Elgin about 7pm. To set up the scene for you, her front porch overlooks a pasture with horses, cows and a tank (and wildflowers right now) – spectacular. She was armed with a glass of wine and so was I, both of us sitting on our porches and watching hummingbirds dance around feeders. We had the nicest visit, taking pictures of birds, squirrels and flowers, as the sun went down. Nice idea for Mother’s Day – either a hummingbird feeder or bird feeder so your Mom or Mom substitute, can have the same enjoyment. (Since I wrote this, I ordered my mom a feeder, bag of food and sent it to Waco.)
On April 30th, 1951, Tony Bennett had his first number One hit “Because of You.”
Wonderful Word with No English Equivalent: Kummerspeck (German), Kummer (grief) and Speck (bacon or lard) so it translates literally as ‘grief bacon’. Excess weight gained from emotional overeating. Since our COVID-19 confinement to home, we have gained a lot of kummerspeck.
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Singer director Barbra Streisand is 78. Actor Jack Nicholson is 83. Singer Kelly Clarkson is 38. Actress Robin Wright is 54. Talk show Host David Letterman is 73. Actress Elinor Donahue is 83. Father Knows Best. Rock musician Alan Price is 78. The Animals. Actor Tim Curry is 74. Actress Kate Hudson is 41. Actor Alex Cord is 87. Archangel in Airwolf. Singer Frankie Valli is 86.
Cartoonist Mort Drucker, known for his iconic illustrations for MAD Magazine, died at 91. Jerry Bishop, voiceover artist for commercials for Burger King, Coors, Budweiser and the off-camera announcer for Judge Judy since it debuted, died at age 84, of heart disease. Harold Reid, of The Statler Brothers, died of kidney failure at 80. Johnny Cash hired them as his opening act in 1963. And their big hit in 1965, was Flowers on the Wall.
Former Harry Potter star Rupert Grint, 31, and his girlfriend of nine years, are expecting a baby.
After taking a deposit to the bank last week and delivering more papers to H-E-B, I was drawn to Wendy’s for a ‘single’ with cheese, extra lettuce and tomatoes and an order of fries. March and April were long months and I felt the need for something to eat that did not come from my kitchen. It was SO delicious. While I was waiting in the drive-thru I was answering a text to my sister when the car in front of me pulled away, so I stuck the phone under my leg. Well, when I did that, my phone (unprovoked) took a picture of my leg and sent it to my siblings group text. After I got back to my office, I apologized to them, then added that I must be getting old, but I admitted having a cell phone is so much easier than it was in our 20’s when we had to climb up on top of the copy machine. Needless to say, I got some laughs from my family. Note: I personally never did that, but I heard a lot about it. 😊
While the food supplies for rodents living near human households has remained pretty much the same, rats deprived of their food sources outside restaurants, airports and malls, have resorted to cannibalism by invading nearby rodent colonies and eating their own. A recent video showed areas of the French Quarters overrun by rats searching for food. It is not pretty.
You have only a once in a lifetime opportunity to stay at home, lying in front of TV to save the world. Do not mess it up.
A while back, I asked you what your favorite nonessential kitchen gadget was. You know, the thing you cannot live without. That is a hard one for me because it depends on the meal, but I love my lemon & orange juicers, using them several times a week. My handheld blender for soups and my handmade pottery grater for ginger and garlic make life easier. If you ask me tomorrow, I am sure I will have a different answer because since we have been confined to home, I have started using more items normally stuck in a drawer or cabinet, like my rice cooker. It is great. Sticky rice in 20 minutes, no mess or babysitting the pot. But the product I want to tell you about today is the OXO adjustable temperature electric kettle with the sexy gooseneck spout, that is perfect for my coffee pour-overs every morning. It heats up in a matter of minutes. My daughter brought it back from college. Because she appreciates the design so much, she had gifted me with the same non-electric kettle last year. It is beautiful but just takes longer to heat up. It is going to be a weird Mother’s Day this year, so do not forget Mom.
Tonight at 7pm, my son was supposed to have a commencement ceremony to celebrate his graduation from University of Houston. Unfortunately, two-plus months ago our lives changed, and he reluctantly packed up ‘some’ of his stuff and arrived on our doorstep. I am so proud of him and the great attitude he has shown me during this time. He had to accept that there may be no job opportunities, no trips with friends and the difficult fact that nothing is the same. If you know of a graduate, please do not forget them this year. Yes, this is life and life isn’t always fun, but drop them a note, email, text or phone call and let them know that their success is not just a piece of paper or a ceremony. It is the journey, the friends, family, plus the trials and tribulations of life, that form the person that they can and will be.
Speaking of Mango Sticky Rice, if you have not tried it, then you need to. This recipe is so easy, and so delicious. We made extra so we could enjoy it again the next day.
Mango Sticky Rice:
1 cup uncooked rice (we used jasmine).
1 can well-stirred canned ‘unsweetened’ coconut milk (not lite, not pina colada mix ).
1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon sesame seeds toasted lightly (optional)
1-2 mangoes, peeled, pitted, and cut into thin slices.
Wash rice well in several changes of cold water until water is clear, then cook according to directions on package. While rice cooks (hello, rice cooker), bring coconut milk to medium heat, stirring in sugar until dissolved. Remove from heat. Mold servings of rice on dessert plates. Drizzle with sauce, sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional) and lay mango slices on plates. If this still seems like too much work, then order from Big Thai in LJ. Theirs is delicious.
People are so mad about not being able to go anywhere. Please. I was grounded about 90% of the time between 7th and 12th grade. I trained for this.
While listening to talk-radio on the way home this week, the interviewer asked, “where is the government getting the $1200 stimulus money that they are sharing with people, along with the Payroll Protection Program money that they are providing for small businesses?” An incredibly good question that I have speculated on, several times. This guy had the best response I have heard so far…he stated that they are either ‘pulling it out of thin air’ OR there is a room in the back where they are printing what they need. Then I had to leave the car and I did not get to hear the rest of the story, but I bet it was good.
☹…I have missed the LJ library so much. I was so excited to find out curbside pickup is available in LJ – they will now deliver books to your car, weekdays from noon to 5pm. Librarians are superheroes, too. Another four-legged creature has tested positive for coronavirus. I told you about the tigers at the Bronx Zoo, but now it is a pug named Winston that lives in N.C. His family says that he got the virus because he licks all the dinner plates. The Pentagon released footage of UFO’s last week and no one seems to care too much. I guess we just have too much other stuff to think and worry about…
I will bet a million dollars the people that stockpiled toilet paper rolls are the same people who speed up when you are trying to pass them in a passing lane.
There are many advantages to working from home…PJ’s, shirts and jackets without the pants, less money spent on gas, less commute time and more…but word on the street is that companies are finding lower productivity and awkward technology means that the office might actually be the better workplace for most folks because they just can’t handle the learning curve when it comes to keeping things appropriate when working from home. A Spanish TV anchor was on report and in conversation from his home when a very scantily clad woman (ahhh, another journalist) walked by in the background…bra and nude panties, not a business suit, but it looked like she was wearing half of nothing. He says he broke up with another girl before this, so it is not cheating. He said. She said. I would say he is not ‘working from home’ material.
Reminder: 9pm is the time to remove your day pajamas and put your night pajamas on.
2020 is a unique leap year. It has 29 days in February, 300 days in March, 10 years in April and May could last forever. We do not have a clue. Hang in there and find something to sell. We need you!
Lisa
