Author: 333heldt

There are so many things I see that I have an opinion about. They mostly seem to be rants, but I don’t want to sound too negative right off the bat, so I will start with the Raves.

I love so many things that just happen naturally in life. I love cool early mornings and breezy afternoons. But more, I love newly fallen snow! It is so pure and white and I love it when it sparkles in the sunlight. So pretty. I love it when I get in the car to go somewhere and there is plenty of gas in the tank and the seat settings are where I last set them. Also, I love the smell of a new car. I wish it lasted forever. I love a perfectly cooked steak. Not medium, not well, but medium well with just a touch of pink. Perfect! I love watching my grandkids play sports. I have my favorites, but really any sport they want to play is great to watch. I love the feel of fresh clean sheets on the bed. Ahhhhh! I could fall asleep right now just thinking about it. I love the sound of babies giggling or laughing. It is infectious! And babies smell good too. I love the smell of rain and newly mowed grass. It is so fresh! I love the smell of Thanksgiving dinner cooking. All of it from the roasted turkey to the aroma of pumpkin pies. There is not much better than that! Except of course eating it! I love going to the movie theater and not have a tall person sit in front of me. Especially when I was there first. That’s a biggie for short people such as me. I love having my pets greet me when I get home, even when I was just out for a few minutes. It’s an awesome feeling!

Now there is nothing more aggravating then bad drivers. Nothing! I admit I don’t like to drive. Never have really. But I can’t take other drivers doing stupid things behind the wheel of a car. I have seen people eating, shaving, putting on makeup, and of course talking or texting on their cell phone. What is wrong with those people? And then there are the ones who disregard driving laws, because of course they don’t apply to them. Also, the ones who stay in the fast lane and don’t move over when they should. If you can’t drive with the flow of traffic, move over! I don’t like people coming to my front door and try to sell me something. No! Just….No! I don’t like having to watch my pennies at the end of the month. But such is life when you are retired. I don’t like much fast food these days. There isn’t anything that appealing to me anymore. I don’t like injustice, bullying, or meanness of any kind, all of which has gotten way out of hand! WHY?

You would think that by the age of 64 I would have all kinds of family favorite recipes that I like to cook. Like stuff I learned from friends and family, or just food I found that I liked through the years. I come from a long line of great cooks. My mother was an amazing cook and could make a meal out of practically nothing. She had to, there were 8 of us kids. We didn’t have a lot back then but we never knew it or felt like we had to do without anything. We always had food on the table. So we were happy.

Unfortunately, I never had a knack for cooking. But fortunately, I only had 2 kids and worked a night shift so a lot wasn’t expected from me. Whatever was easy to make was how we rolled. That doesn’t mean we got fast food a lot because we didn’t. It’s known among my friends that I can’t cook, or so they think. Whenever we had a potluck at work, I was always asked to bring the paper plates and plastic ware. Ha ha, little did they know! I do have a couple of meals that I can whip up fairly easily. I don’t mean to brag but I can make a mean spaghetti dinner! And breakfast is actually my specialty.

For the past couple of years, my husband and I have been trying to eat healthier, but I am a meat and taters kind of woman, so we have had to do some adjusting. We are eating more salads and veggies. Which is ok, since I have always liked them anyway. That is something I learned from my Mom. She always served veggies because as she often said A meal is not a meal without a vegetable. So even though I am not a great cook, I can hold my own. If I have to. I can make stuff but it will never be as good or as varied as something my Mom would make. But it will be edible. For the most part!

My husband Bill and I have 6 grandkids between us, and all of them are boys. Yay for me! I love them all being boys. And I love that, so far, they all like sports. One of my favorite things to do is watch them play. But this post will be about the first 3 boys Nick, Trenton and Camden.

Granddude #1 Nick – 21 Nick was my firstborn’s firstborn. Before the others came along, I thought he was the greatest kid ever. I even snipped his umbilical cord, because his dad felt faint (eyeroll). So in my mind we have this unbreakable bond forever tying us together. I don’t think he knows it though, even though I remind him. A lot. He has a car and works a lot so I don’t see him as much anymore as I would like, though he still stops in occassionally. Nick likes sports and still plays soccer and golf, which he played in high school. And he is the handsome one!

Granddude #2 Trenton – 15 Trenton is in high school now and currently taking Drivers Ed. Watch out world! Actually his mom says he is a good driver, and I’m sure he is. He can do anything! He is the fashionista of the 3. At this age his clothes and hair are important to him. He likes looking good and he does look good. And he is getting so tall, just like his dad. Trenton also likes sports and plays soccer and lacrosse. He is getting pretty good too. Actually he is the handsome one!

Granddude #3 Camden – 11 Camden is soo cute, but is also smart. He is in middle school now and is learning so much. His vocabulary, even as a baby was always ahead of where he was supposed to be. He is also pretty funny. He can really make me laugh. This kid is going places and I know there are big things in his future. Just remember your Grandma when you get rich and famous Camden! He likes sports too and plays football (my favorite) basketball and lacrosse. Really, he’s the handsome one!

All 3 of them are the light of my life, if you couldn’t guess already. I just hope I will still be alive long enough to see them grow up and have families of their own. I’ll bet their dudes or dudettes will all be handsome too.

A person close to me once said that when things don’t go as planned, think of what does happen as an adventure. Now I’m not talking about big life altering changes, but more like say getting a flat tire, getting lost in a new town, or any day to day mishap. I actually think it’s good advice.

Let’s say you are driving round town when you suddenly get a flat tire. Now you can get angry, yell or swear up a storm. This is what most people would do, or you can think of it as an adventure. Just think of all your options. #1 You can call a road service to come fix it for you, for a fee of course. #2 You can fix it yourself, if you know how. #3 Call a friend or family member to come and help. If they don’t know how to change a tire, at least you will have someone waiting with you. Sounds like an adventure to me!

How about if you get lost somewhere, going down the wrong road in a town you have never been to before. After cussing out Siri or Alexa or whoever led you astray, you once again have these wonderful options. #1 You can look around you to see if there are any people walking around and ask them for directions. Look at you meeting new people and making friends! #2 You can get out your old paper map (if you have one) and figure out where you went wrong. #3 Keep driving around until you finally find the right road and be on your way again. Sounds like another adventure!

So what I mean to say is when something doesn’t go your way, try to make the best of it. Getting angry does not help with the situation and can actually affect your health. And since we are only middle aged we need to stay healthy to reach old age. I heard it’s hard getting old, but what an adventure!

Before I retired, going to the grocery store was just one of those menial jobs that you had to do occasionally so you could buy whatever food was needed to prepare meals and eat. We would go almost weekly because we were always running out of something that we absolutely had to have or just plain forgot to get when we were there last time. It was no big deal really.

Now, since retiring, we have to plan a trip to get groceries, checking our coupons for expiration dates (I never used coupons when I was working), looking for our grocery bags (which are never where we put them last) and making sure our checks were actually direct deposited. We get our monthly check on the 1st of each month, just like millions of other old people. And all those old people go to the store on the 1st or 2nd of the month. I mean why not, apparently this is what you do when you get paid. Getting your check is like a celebration. I think it’s some kind of old person rule. Go to the store the minute you get your check. Go to the store. Got to the store. Like robots. We did that too……at first. But let me tell you, that was a big mistake. The old people are all over the store, but mostly….in the grocery aisles. They seem to walk sooo slow, and I get it, they are sometimes in pain from various ailments and have to walk with care. I know because I have bad days with arthritis. But when I am feeling painful, I stay home. I don’t go shopping! And then they will stop in the middle of the aisles with their practically empty carts to talk to other old people with their carts. It’s insane! I swear they go the the store just to visit with each other, all the while blocking the aisles with their carts, oblivious to what’s going on around them. And then when they get to the checkout, OMG you might as well get a book out and read because you will be waiting a while. They wait until the very last minute to get out their checkbooks and write a check . Really who even uses checkbooks anymore? And don’t get me started on what happens when the store changes their layout. OMG!

Well we figured out early in our retirement not to go anywhere on those days. We would wait until a few days later to get what we needed. So on those first few days of the month while others are socializing at the store, we are at home eating popcorn for dinner waiting until it’s safe to go out.

Since I’ve never been this old age before, one thing I already noticed is that I am getting so much mail about Medicare. That’s right, Medicare, which is for OLD people! My mail person keeps bringing me junk mail announcing to the whole world that I’m almost 65. Almost. I will not be 65 until January actually. But I’m already getting this mail, and have been getting it for months. Insurance companies I’ve never even heard of are sending me mail that “I must read before making any decisions on Medicare.”I admit I don’t understand it all. Part A? B? C? D? EFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ? What does it all mean?!! I don’t know! But my husband knows, since he is already 65 and has Medicare. So that will help. And I’m sure I will probably appreciate having it next year, but not today. Not when I’m still middle aged!