When it Comes to Coffee, We're like Tracy & Hepburn

I started this morning with an "off" cup of coffee, and it was because I had gone through only half the process of cleaning out the coffee maker with vinegar and water the night before.  So, I revisited the directions. The problem was, there was some waiting involved.  During this wait time, I was salivating, anticipating the coffee.  When it was finally brewed, I sighed the relief of an addict and savored it as somehow, transporting me to paradise.

As I experienced this, I started to get philosophical about coffee.  Coming from a Norwegian/Swedish background, I knew I carried the Scandinavian gene of a coffee aficionado.  My dad, during World War II, was not allowed by his employ, the military, to tell my mother in a letter, where he was, but he wrote, "I'm in a country where they really love their coffee." So she figured out he was in Norway.  I realized that these countries are actually dependent upon the growers in the tropics. So, when did their addiction to the brew begin?

My late Swedish neighbor was so addicted to coffee that we would hear his wife, (The house is like a stone's throw distance away) every morning, ask, "How's the coffee?" And he really let her know each morning, if it was to his liking....or not. He also wouldn't obey the lab Drs. regarding not drinking it before a test.  I guess that was okay, as his being my late neighbor had nothing to do with those tests.  Why should he have suffered deprivation?

Back in the day before coffee makers, my niece gave me a large thermos, which kept the coffee warm overnight,  All you needed to do in the morning was turn on a lever akin to a beer barrel spout, and there, you could drink.  My husband complained in the morning in the bedroom, about the "sploosh" sound, and was I going to start frying bacon and eggs in there, too?

We still didn't have many coffee makers around, but I received a percolator for Christmas that made the coffee just right.  On top of that, we visited a couple of friends; the man of the couple told us about his visiting a city in Michigan specializing in specialty coffees, and also told us about how he made his coffee with ice cubes instead of just water.  So, I tried that, too.  My brother, upon hearing this, said the guy was more into the process of coffee making, not the coffee itself.
There was a gap where I thought I had to follow the decaffeinated route for health sake, which turned out to be nonsense.  But I never didn't have coffee. I'd also learned from this guy that they often make decaffeinated with formaldehyde, so you have to find the right formula for that.

I've been the Mr. Coffee route, both in coffee maker and coffee grinder, which did not work out in either case.
So now, I have the above: Hamilton Beach. It can receive either a cup or a thermos, if you remove the bottom pedestal.  It can also be used for ground coffee or a Keurig-type container.  I ended up getting a grinder of the same brand, (i.e. H.B) which also works better.  Now, the process is to grind the coffee the night before, place it in a #1 filter, cut off the top of the filter, so it doesn't curl over, (placed in an old Black&Decker coffee maker I still use for traveling) measure half of it into an almost 8th cup of Hazelnut, ground by me, plus either a teaspoon or tablespoon of Seattle's Best for added flavor.  If I want to warm it up half way through, I can still use my old Mr. Coffee pot and warmer.

Bill thinks this process is nonsense.  He just pours water out of the filtered tap, puts the water on the stove, brings it to a boil, and adds Taster's Choice.  He keeps trying to tell me his way is the best way.
I remain adamant in my process expecting nothing but the best, well, what I believe is my best.

Our Healthier Size Support Group

In order to give credit to where credit is due, I shall prove a point made in a book by Brian Wansink, PH.D. called, Mindless Eating.  The cup at the right, which is an exact cup from Sweden, purchased from the Nordic Nook in Stoughton, Wisconsin, contained the tea presented on the left.  The tea was poured out exactly from the cup, with no cheating.  The author says there are "Hidden Persuaders" (a book by Vance Packard in the 60's, regarding advertising gimmicks) in the way food is presented to us.  So if you want to fool yourself that you're drinking more now and enjoying it more, do this.  If you don't believe me, try this yourself.

The reverse kinds of illusions can be applied to changing large supper dishes to smaller lunch or salad plates, or even kids' plates for adults, large bowls can be changed to smaller bowls, too. The amount of food appears larger on or in smaller containers.

     Marianne Williamson, in her book, Course in Weight Loss, takes the reverse illusions in plates a step further.  She recommends changing your plastic plateware to glass plateware, and using a cloth napkin.  I had already purchased smaller plates and bowls in colorful plastic, but decided to try the glass.  I didn't go so far as the cloth napkin in a holder, but I did have a different kind of feeling of treating myself to something special by regarding myself as a very important person,

who deserves elegance as part of her food plan.  The plastic is pictured on the left as a small bowl and kid's plate.  It's attractive enough.  The setting on the right is Corelle.  I don't want to waste the plastic, but Corelle is a good dinner setting.

The next thing to do is get organized, especially the Kitchen, as recommended in the book, Thin through the Power of Spirit, by Lucia Capodilupo.  The idea, in a nutshell, is that your home is a projection of yourself, your body.  So, with some guidance from a book on organizing, One Year to an Organized Life, by Regina Leeds,  I started organizing the kitchen. Instead of a cupboard, where you have to crawl on your hands and knees to determine what you have available, as well as up to date, you get trays from WalMart or your place of choice, put liner in them, toss the old stuff, and there you have it. Tossing the old stuff cleanses your soul and your formerly overstuffed body.

Most importantly, I recommend the following book.  It will change your perspective, and hopefully, change your life for the better.  The main premise is that your best dieting got you here, and it obviously, hasn't worked.  It's written by two authors, Judith Matz and Ellen Frankel, who specialize in eating disorders, and who tell us to get off the yo-yo dieting and get into "attunement" eating, 

                                         ..........as well as the following companion books.

 

Two Little Girls and Amish Children

I watched as my five-year-old grand daughter, Naia, played happily in the children's dental office waiting room, while at the same time, a little Amish girl her age, sporting a serious demeanor much like her Amish mother, watched Naia intently.

It reminded me of a poem my brother had written about his daughter when she was a small child.



So, I asked him for a copy:

The Amish in the Greyhound Station

by Steven D. Fortney

In the crowded, Greyhound station:

across the aisle the Amish:

two men, three women, a baby, and

a little girl -- who, were she not

gathered in her church's black,

this violet eyed graceful she

in other clothing, woman-later . . . 

I would have touched her limb from limb!

She was Sigrid's age, about seven.

My odd Siggy, in tattered jeans

and yellow sweater, who talks to

the sun; who once dug tiny

bowls in snow-drifts.  "Why are

you doing that?" she was asked.

"They are little crying places,"

she said. "And when these are

filled, I will dig some more."

Crying places!  Sun speaking . . . 

She plays by the benches,

a kitten tapping paper.

I watch the Amish girls watch her.

She will not fly from her flock;

but standing still, eyes shining,

she so intently watches Siggy play.

The buses roar and cough.

We watch the wimpled women

in stiff winter hoods sweep by.

these lean faces are stern, but

the quiet in them is like joy,

the nightfall of their robes

full of grace.  "We are Raven," is

the witness, "flying high, alone!"

They leave the noisy room for

the cold garage; the child

intent now on her parent's way,

is last:  eyes torn away from

my daughter, the sun's, snow's

odd child playing at my feet;

she turns and glances back;

trails the steps of her own:

They, wheeling high near their sun's

cold eye, over these bright rooms

where Sig and theirs might have played,

have cast shunnings, sad and wide . . .

Slue Foot Sue

This is a redo of Tellabration 2015 at Sellabration Talent Show

Grandma's Growing Techie Expertise

It all started with dropping my old cell phone on a walk in the evening, not that this hasn't happened before.  But this time, it tore off the top hinges.  I wasn't heart broken about it, as I've been thinking it's time for a change.

So, in the late morning/early afternoon, I scrambled as fast as any senior could after beginning with me time and God time, that is, reading and meditation. I knew I'd like to, at least, get out to the mall/strip mall and shopping area at daylight. But then, there was somebody pretending to be a computer helper to get me out of a jammed computer, which they'd jammed, first, to charge me 250, so I said, wait a minute, you're going to charge me $250?; no thanks, I've got my own computer expert. I learned later from Bill that it's a jam scam. And also, there was still the nagging grocery list.

But on the way, it occurred to me that a GPS was something I'd been considering for quite awhile.  I explained to the sales guy that I did not want a smart phone, but I did want a GPS. He hinted that people of my generation didn't want to be bothered with tech stuff all the time, and I agreed: "We old people want to leave all that stuff at home and get away from it when were away from home." He showed me the phones, and of the less expensive trio, I wanted one which had a pull-out keyboard, so I wouldn't have to continually pound one key several times for one letter, number, or symbol.

When it came to the GPS, he certainly was impressed with all the things you could connect to, as it was a tablet, and now, it was on sale. I wasn't particularly impressed with all the frills. Those same frills are on my reader, provided there's a WiFi,  if  I choose to use them.  I just wanted to not get lost.

Okay, mission accomplished as expense upon expense grew.  Now, I had a cell phone and GPS I did not yet know how to operate, at least, in the case of the phone, not very well.  I asked the next sales guy who had to take over if there were instructions. The first one had said there was a very small book for the phone.  The second one said that, no, they don't usually include instructions, as most customers have similar things to operate, and they don't need them, insulting me, without intention? I don't think so, now that I've discovered the instructions in the box, he unlike the first one, didn't care if I had them or not.

I clumsily called my husband through trial and error on the phone to tell him since I was already "out here", I had something else to investigate, a microphone attachment for my cassette recorder, yes, that's what it is.  After walking the entire length of the mall, I asked a game shop if Radio Shack was still there.  Answer:  it no longer exists.  That's where I'd gotten the "museum piece".  She directed me over to Best Buy for a mic. The Best Buy guy looked and said they used to have mics, but no longer, then, directed me to Meijer Music, which was just behind the Verizon Wireless I'd inhabited for two hours in the first place.  There, she gathered together all the stuff I needed, but no adapter.  I didn't want to spend all that money with no adapter.  Then, I asked about cassette tapes, and her response was, look online, or maybe, one of those "antique" stores.  "Antique?!!!" I responded.

When the later-than-usual grocery trip came after we ate, not before, I couldn't help but check the audio stuff on the way out.  Right.  No tape cassettes or cassette recorders, just like she'd said. But there it was, a "record player turn table"; What a cool thing the techies just invented to turn those large vinyl cds with gaps between the grooves of the songs!  Maybe, the techies will come up with a cassette player next, where you insert tapes, instead of talking into a teeny-tiny voice recorder I have not yet learned to operate after two years.

But in regards to the girl who said I could go to the antique store, I got the last laugh. I did look online, as she advised, and found out our neighboring WalMart had them, and lo, there they were right in the store. I already had two, so I bought eight more, just in case they go extinct.

Building Confidence or The Two Year Old who Thinks She's Going to Drive Us Home

Leela was a sleepy baby, who because she was born just a little earlier than expected, decided she'd sleep as long as she could.  But then, she made great strides.  And finally, she decided, at age 2 &1/2 to ask, before we took the girls back, "Can I drive?" To which her older, wiser sister (by another 2 &1/2 years), Naia, told her, no, she could not drive "until you're a grown up".  Here is the "art" of my imagination at work, picturing what that drive home would have been like.  I call it, "Leela at the Wheel".

You'd think it might end here, but when Grandpa was driving the girls home a following time, she said, "Grandpa, you're going too fast. (as he was driving at the speed limit) Turn here, Grandpa.  You can go now, Grandpa...."  (as the light turned red).

At a later time, when I was getting Naia ready inside, Grandpa was taking Leela outside.  Leela sneeked into the driver's side as he was opening the front door and said, "Key."  So, he had to literally pick her up and place her in her backseat carseat. This, she did not like, as it interfered with her plans.

Time, Finally, to Learn Financial Tricks

What I'm proud of is, this early afternoon, I looked at my reader, and discovered that you could get 30% off, just today, at our drug store, as well as the discount on your card. I knew Bill was going there and insisted on printing out the coupon. He said he never got into such things, but I put the coupon on the kitchen table, anyway. He must have saved almost 40 bucks, and the clerk was amazed, because only one other person had noticed the coupon offer and used it. What was his secret? He finally admitted it was his wife.

I checked out the chain grocery story coupons on my computer, and they kept multiplying. So, I said, this is nuts; I can't stay on the computer for hours! Then, an idea: take my reader, and see if the store has WiFi. I had a clerk in training, so she was proceeding a little more slowly than most, so took the time to ask her trainer if they had WiFi, and he showed me how to connect for bargains. Now, there are so many things I'm learning at this stage of the game, I start thinking, why am I having to learn this stuff so late?!! Never have been crazy about reincarnation as a possibility (oh, no, not another round!), but in light of all the stuff you have to learn late, it seems only reasonable to come back and continue attending "school".

More grocery store adventures: There was many a time I found the store brand pizza roll crust popped open in the refrigerator and figured maybe I'd left it in there so long, the package was being abused. But this time, I brought the pizza roll crust back, and it was "popped" on arrival. Since I had Yoga in the vicinity the next day anyway, I put it in a ziploc in a small cooler and took it back to customer service. They were compliant and let me get another. But right afterwards, while was perusing "Woman's World", simply holding the sack, I heard, "POP", looked in the bag, and there it was, pizza dough oozing out yet again. This time, I took it back and asked for my money. The next time I get one, it will be Pillsbury or something like that.

Grocery Store Adventure #3 (I think): It all started with continuing to learn label making this morning. I'd bought these little drawers for toys, 2 sets for $2 total, at a yard sale, and I was making labels and trying to learn symbols, (which hasn't yet been mastered) but I did learn numbers. I love gadgets! I talked to the guy on the phone about my forgotten password and got that straightened out. I had to explain to him, however, what a "reader" was. So, I thought, if I forget important information, I'll just use my label maker and put it on something other than my reader, for the time being, until I can rely on my memory (heh heh).I got to the store and tapped coupons as I bought. Both before and after, I had to check my labels for info. Admittedly, it took a little longer to shop, but I saved the Labor Day general merchandise % + coupons = $22.90. I think I should become a $ guru like Dave Ramsey, to whom I never listen.