CATCH UP TIME AND ANOTHER TURNING POINT

Thursday there was a dance but it was in the afternoon and I had too much work to do so I had to pass...also Dorothy and Theresa had catching up to do at their homes so they declined. Maurice and Reba did go by themselves. They had a great time...Reba squared danced 3 times!! This is the same lady that when we started going out a couple of months ago was depending a lot on her cane because of the knee surgery she had. After the dance Maurice took her home and made her supper and then they went to her house and visited for a while...romance is coming a long nicely.. :). I stayed home and worked and in the evening I watched the finish of Amazing Race that I had recorded earlier. I was happy the "hippies" won.

Friday I had a usual day and worked on my books. Had to stop a little early as I was invited to Dorothy's for supper. We were all going to be there. She had stuffed cabbage, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, tossed salad and a scrumtious cake!! Everything was delicious! I had to leave right after dinner as I needed to finish some work that Mike needed for the next day. When I got home I accomplished that and then watched tv for a little while and then off to bed.

Saturday was very rainy...there was talk of going to a dance that night even though Dorothy was a way at her grandsons. Theresa had been fighting a cold and she said she would call me to let me know in the morning...when I didn't hear by noon I called her. Turns out she was in bed sick and Reba was suppose to call and tell me that the plans were off. Theresa and I talked for a few minutes and she asked me to call her later in the day. After I hung up Reba called... she was going to invite Maurice for supper instead of going to the dance. I had lots of work to do and some rest to catch up on so it was okay with me. Later that day I called Theresa to see who she was doing and she seemed a little better.

I noticed that at the dance the other night Theresa was asking me to go outside with her when she would go for a smoke. She had never done that before...she usually went by herself. Then her asking me to call her later in the day Saturday...I was getting the feeling she was reaching out to me to make closer a closer friend. When I last spoke to her on Saturday I told her I would call her again Sunday to see how she was doing.

Sunday after some rest in the morning I finished up some more work for Mike. He came over in the afternoon to go over it...trying to get some billing out. After he left it was around 3:00 so I called Theresa to see how she was. She sounded a whole lot better and she said she had put a pork roast in the crock pot. That sounded good cause the day before she hardly ate anything. We chatted for a while and then she said why don't you come over at 5:00 for dinner with me. Ahhh! A turning point in my life. You see one of the goals this year was to make new friend(s). I didn't want my life tied up with just one friend like I have always had before. I wanted several. My going to dinner with just Theresa meant that I had made ANOTHER friend besides Dorothy. We weren't all going out together because I was a friend of Dorothy...it was because I was a friend to all 3 of them! And we could do things separately and apart from each other.

I had a lovely delicious meal and we had a nice chat afterwards. I stayed till about 7:30 and came home to rest and watch some TV. Dorothy called while I was at Theresa's so she is home safe and sound. I went to bed usual time, read and lights out.

I hope everyone has a great day!!

MONDAY - TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY - Work and Play

Monday I did my grocery shopping since I had to some banking for one of my clients. I couldn't believe how much my groceries added up to since it was mostly vegetables and fruit. I went to KMart and bought some more black paint and also some barn red for my wishing well and entrance way. In KMart I found a cute top and another jean shirt...I love those. When I got home I did some bookwork also... After supper I rested a little but then I had to go to the Community Center. There was an informational town meeting about a town water system they want us to vote in... when I got home 2 hours later the evening was my usual watching TV, reading at bedtime and lights out.

Tuesday I spent working on the books...payday for Mike's crew and had to get some billing out for both clients..lots of posting and daily reports to write up. I play poker while I am writing up the daily reports because it is a rather mindless chore. Makes it go faster. I painted a little bit of the wishing well to see if I liked the color..just in case I had to return it the next day. I was anxiously awaiting American Idol. Taylor was just great with his 3 songs...Kat blew me away with Somewhere Under the Rainbow...gave me goose bumps. I still want Taylor to win..but I know that no matter what happens he will have a great career now that he has had all this exposure. He is a STAR and a great Performer! I watched some taped shows, read in bed and lights out.

Wednesday I had to go to the bank for one of my clients so while I was in town I went to KMart and bought an iron for my new clothes. I only had an old non steam iron for doing up my doilies when I use to make them....it's full of starch. Wow! The new ones are non-stick and the one I got (Black & Decker) shuts off if unattended for 10 minutes. I like that feature. I ran a couple of other errands while I was at it. One was to return some red raspberries I had bought that had no taste... I paid 2.99 a container for them and had got 4 of them...blah yech!! I took the money and bought a small bag of cherries...the bag cost 10.00...they are selling here for 6.99 a lb....isn't that awful!!! It is expensive to be dieting...I could be popping chips in my mouth a lot cheaper LOL.

I couldn't spend too much time in town as I had to get home and get ready to go out. Theresa and the girls were picking me up at 3:30 or so. I got home and changed ...did my nails and it was time to go. We drove to Maurice's and got in his car to go the rest of the way. The dance is about 20 mins from my house. On the way we saw a farm/ranch that is raising buffalo. Saw some babies too. The next farm had a few Elk. We arrived at the Adult Center and I was amazed to see it. It looked like it was especially built to be an adult center...all the ones we have gone to have been in a building that was converted for that use. I found out later that a very rich resident gave the money for it and the Senior housing that is next door to be built. It borders the water... It was so nice inside.

When we went in I saw a lot of familiar faces. The groupies were there...LOL We were going to have dinner and the dance would follow. Do you remember my telling you about the man that came over to talk to me at one of the dances...the one that his wife has arthritis and doesn't dance but encourages him to dance with other women? Remember he was going to ask me to dance but we left too early. Well he was there with his wife. I think he lives in this town because he was helping clear the tables with the other volunteers...either that or he is just a very helpful person. He made several trips to our table but never made eye contact with me.

During the dance he asked maybe 4 or 5 different ladies to dance. He never danced more than two with them..and that was only a couple of the ladies. A blond lady arrived during the dance and she sat near him and his wife and he had a lot of dances with her...when he danced with her the dances were more intricate. He is truly a wonderful dancer. I was so hoping he would ask me but then again I was afraid if he did I wouldn't be able to keep up with him. My first dance was with Theresa and I was very stiff...if didn't help that she was too. As the evening wore on and I had danced more I was loosening up and wasn't so afraid of him asking but he still never made eye contact with me. I also noticed that he didn't talk to the women he danced with..but he was a gentleman and escorted them back to their seats.

Towards the end of the evening it was my turn to square dance with Maurice. We needed another couple to make our set and no one was coming forth. I know that the dancer had talked to me during a square dance and he mentioned that he didn't care to do that particular dance....but since no one was coming to join our set he and the blond volunteered. It worked out that he was standing next to me...not once through the whole dance did he show any indication that we had talked before..again there was no eye contact on his part.

Of course us girls had been talking all evening and they knew that I wanted to dance with him...a couple of times he had come in my direction only to veer off to another table to ask someone else to dance. The dance was to end at 9:00...just before 8:45 the blond left. I was hoping this was my chance. I was waiting for the next slow dance and then I saw him get up and headed towards me...inside my head I was saying "ask me...ask me...ask me" and he came right over to me and he asked me!! LOL By this time I was very loosened up and not nervous at all and off we went....it was heavenly!! To finally dance with someone who could really dance.

He is tall and a nice looking man for his age. I told him that I had been watching him dance all evening and that I thought he was a wonderful dancer... He thanked me and said that meant a lot as he hadn't started to dance until after he was 50..and he was self taught. He had bought some tapes and learned from that...he talked about how this throughout the whole dance.. remember he never talked to the other women. I told him that it had been 25 years since I had danced. At the end of the dance he said "well you certainly had no trouble following me." He walked me to my seat and asked me if I followed the band and would I be attending more dances. I said yes...He asked me if I would be going to the one in Parishville...I said maybe. He said then I hope we shall be able to dance again.. It made my night. Remember Dorothy didn't want to go to that dance as it's too far out...I told her she is going!! She laughed!! Now I really have something to look forward to...a chance to dance with a wonderful dancer and maybe he will teach me some of the fancy stuff he does...He does the most wonderful waltz... I don't think he attends the dances in my area though.

We had a safe trip home and I got to watch American Idol to see who was going home. I really wasn't that surprised it was Elliott but I was amazed at how close the votes were for all three of them. The Amazing Race was 2 hours so I had to save that for the next night..I watched Bones instead....reading at bedtime and then lights out.

Hope you all have a great day!

NEIGHBORHOOD DUCKS

I haven't blogged in a while because nothing very interesting has been going on the last few days. All my days, even the week-end have been filled with my regular routine. I did have a nice Mother's Day as on Saturday I received two Mother's Day cards...one from my daughter and one from a lady who is like a daughter to me. Sunday my daughter called and we visited on the phone for a couple of hours...and I enjoyed that very much.

Now to tell you about the neighborhood ducks. It all started when the two men on the street that have large ponds got some ducks. Ray up the street had a lot of ducks so when Roy down the street lost his ducks to some wild animal Ray gave him some of these. Those ducks never forgot the pond up the street and they would travel back and forth up and down the street hanging out at both ponds. It was really cute when they had baby ducks....you would see a mother duck walking on the street with a line of baby ducks behind her.

Ray did not want his pond over run with ducks so he would give the males away and just keep the females. Well there were also wild ducks landing on these ponds and when their mates where sitting on eggs the drakes were happy to have some extra females to keep them happy.... LOL This year Ray found himself loaded with ducks...now his black and white ducks have green heads... LOL also they could fly!! There was no catching them to give a way. These ducks have taken over the neighborhood. They don't just walk up and down the road between the two ponds...they stop and hang out at everybody's yard. They are building nests there too. I hear quacking and look out and there are ducks right outside my window...today there are some nestled on my lawn. Cars are constantly slowing down or honking horns for them...so far only one fatality that I know of. They even go further up the street then Ray's pond...something the other ducks never did. The baby ducks have not hatched out yet... this should be an interesting summer duckwise....LOL

Hope everyone has a great day!!

WEDNESDAY - Local Adult Center Day

I love how they call the Senior Centers "ADULT CENTERS" now...somehow we don't feel so "old" saying that. Anyway, today is the day to go to my local Adult Center for Potluck Dinner and Bingo. I had to do some cooking. I made a Macaroni Bake to take and did get some book work done too. I drove over at 5:30. It is just around the block from my house. Dorothy, Theresa, Reba and Maurice were already there.


I forgot to mention that the night of the dance I had brought some jewelry with me. I had been going through my jewelry box and found some pins. I never was really big on pins and now I don't wear them at all. The girls love to wear pins on their jackets. I let them choose which ones they would like...my goodness they were so happy about them...I got hugs and kisses from the 3 of them. Well at this event they were all wearing one of my pins...I thought that was so cute. We had a great meal. The President was not there due to illness so there was no formal meeting. We went right from the meal to playing bingo. Theresa said she didn't like bingo because she never won...and Maurice said he didn't like bingo but I later found out it was because he couldn't hear very well. Theresa won twice...and Reba helped Maurice play his cards so they both had fun that night! I won once and Reba won twice. Almost all the games were won at our table...LOL A few others we were sitting with won too. I think there was only one or two winnings at the other two tables.

We got done about 8:30. Dorothy invited me over to her place for coffee with them but I declined. I wanted to get home and watch American Idol and see who was leaving. Well I was all set for Katherine to go and was shocked like the rest of the world when Chris was sent packing. My jaw fell to the ground. I was sure it was going to be him and Taylor at the end. Chris doesn't realize it but it was the best thing that could have happened to him I think. An American Idol contract for a rocker is not really a good thing... Bo Bice pointed that out last year. I watched some things I had recorded and headed to bed to read and lights out.

MONDAY & TUESDAY - Very Full Days

Monday got up the usual time and put in a hard day on the books. I also went out and did some work in the yard. I have the two big planters painted and cut the grass around them where the mower didn't get. Watched TV in the evening and the usual routine...reading and lights out.

Tuesday I had to do payroll for Mike and as much book work as I could before it was time to get dressed. Dorothy was picking me up around 4:00. Supper starts at 5:00 but when we arrived the parking lot was already filling up. Maurice beat us there so he saved us seats. Theresa and Reba didn't get there till 5:00 because Reba got detained at the dentist. We had a nice roast beef dinner and banana cream pie. You can't beat it for $2.00. Then we gave another $2.00 for the dance. I forgot to mention Saturday about the 50-50 draw. They always have one at the Seniors to help raise money. Saturday Reba won it...it was $39.00 and she gave it to her nephew to help defray his expenses for his trip here to see his dieing mil. Reba won it again last night for $60.00!!! Everyone said she won it again because she gave it away the first time.

There was a real nice turn out for the dance. It was warm though and our new water bottles sure came in handy. I did lots of dancing. What was cool is that other women (other then our clique) were coming to ask me to dance. I danced with Theresa and I hadn't danced with her in a few weeks and she said boy have you gotten better!! I did a square dance and only messed up at the end ...I had gotten dizzy from one of the parts...LOL It ended at 9:00.

I watched American Idol that I had taped when I got home. Taylor is still my boy!! *smiles* I watched a CSI I had taped and then headed to bed to read. Lights out after a chapter.

Hope you all have a great day!!

SUNDAY - Yard Work

I slept in a little again...love the week-end. Took my time getting dressed. Made brunch around noon like I did yesterday. While I was cooking I could here commotion outside and it was the guy who mows my lawn. I wanted to give him a $5. raise because of the price of gas and he hasn't gone up on my price in years. I know he charges other people $20 - $30 and he only charges me $10. I took a $20. out to him and asked him to give me back $5. He said NO!! I said YES! the price of gas has gone up. He said $10. is just fine and handed me back a $10. I thanked him and told him to let me know when he needs more. He mows about a 2 acre lawn for heavens sake.

After brunch I decided to paint my fences. I had bought some spray cans of paint at KMart for $1.49. I bought out all they had which was about 25 cans. The fence has to be painted every year no matter if I buy expensive paint or cheap paint so I go for the cheap naturally. Last year I didn't have the desire or energy to do it so it really needs it this year. This year I am in pretty good shape. I didn't get tired painting...but my trigger finger did. I took one break after the long fence was half done. Came back and finished that fence...the black flies were getting bad and I forgot to spray myself. I have about 8 cans left. I hope to get more done today.

I spent the rest of the day watching stuff I had recorded...still trying to catch up. A lot of programs will be ending their season so that shouldn't be a problem next month...will be lots of reruns.

I made that vegetable dish for dinner. Was very good. I have enough left for a meal tomorrow.

Went to bed the usual time and read. The kitties have been ready for bed at the same time since they have been on the porch...all that fresh air seems to tire them out LOL. Lights out after a chapter or so.

Hope you all have a great day.

SATURDAY - A Looooooooong Day

I slept in as long as I could because I knew it was going to be a very full day. The morning went quickly. I did a little bookkeeping work...stopped about 2:00 to get ready. The girls were picking me up at 3:30 to go to Mass. They were a little late as they were coming from a Wedding Shower.

I again enjoyed the Mass.. I will be talking to the priest soon and joining the parish. We left there and went to Dorothy's for some coffee and home made donuts as we waited for the time to leave to go to the dance in the next town. We invited Maurice to join us. I was told on the way to Dorothy's that Reba and Maurice had their first date the night before. They had dinner at the local restaurant. Remember I was there yesterday too but I was there a lot earlier. Reba is just glowing! Theresa returned my pants that she shortened for me. She is going to see if she can fix the headbands that I bought that are too tight for me.

We went to the dance and we were plenty early so we got good seats. It was so much fun to be welcomed by all the people...I am really beginning to feel like part of the group. There were very few people at this dance that I had not seen or met before. It was a good size group too. Theresa was surprised when her son walked in. He is here from N. C. because his wife's mother is dieing of cancer. They came to spend some time with her. He came with his father-in-law who had been called in to "call" the square dances. The usual member of the band that does that was at a family wedding and couldn't be there.

This man has a different repertoire of calls and he is faster than the other caller so it was great fun to watch. I did the last square dance of the evening and that was a ton of fun. I danced quite a bit with Maurice and the women. I am getting more confident on the floor now. We stayed till the end which was 10:30. I got home around 11:00.

Watched a CSI I had recorded to unwind and headed for bed. We are suppose to have a busy week this week. Tues: dinner and dance at one of the Adult Centers Wed: Potluck dinner and Bingo at our local Senior Citizens and Wed: dinner for the 5 of us at Dorothy's. I read a while and then it was lights out. Good thing I can sleep in.

Hope everyone had a great day!

FRIDAY - My Shopping Day

I got up knowing that today I needed to go to town to do some shopping. The morning was spent doing my usual chores plus getting the trash out. I left the house after noon and headed for Fashion Bug. I bought a new top and a couple of jacket like tops that will go over several of my tops. I found some neat head bands to match some outfits I have and some jewelry.

My next stop was KMart. I needed a new handbag. I found one that has a carrying case for my cell phone attached. Now I shouldn't be leaving the house without it as I will see the case is empty when I grab my purse. It was on sale so I made out very well. I needed a few other things, purchased those and headed for the grocery store.

I stocked up on veggies and fruit. I can make my own fruit cup. They were having a great sale on berries...buy one and get one free. I took advantage of that. I bought the veggies also that I would need to make a new vegetable dish that Lisa gave me the recipe for. She had let me try it and it was very good. It's called Provential Baked vegetables. Here is the recipe in case you are interested in trying it.

1 Onion, Sliced (a sweet onion...Vadalias are recommended)
1 medium-sized eggplant, sliced
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 medium-sized zucchini, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
4 cloves garlic, chopped (I used garlic powder calif. style)
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1 cup mozzarella, grated
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp. Oil

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an oven-proof dish and place slices of onion, eggplant, tomatoes and zucchini alternately in the dish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic, basil, oregano, mozzarella and Parmesan. Drizzle the oil over top and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and browned and the vegetables have softened. Serves four.

When I got home I was tired and didn't feel like cooking so I headed over to the restaurant to eat. It was only 4:15 so it wasn't very crowded yet. They had beer battered fish for the special so you know I ordered that. yum yum It seems to have become a hit at the restaurant...not only by me.

I spent the evening watching TV and resting because I knew the next day was going to be a long one.