We shortened our trip up some. We are not going as far as Bozeman and Yellowstone. Rapid City is as far west we will go now. But if necessary due to gas prices or shortages, we will shorten it to Omaha, and hang out in Danish country in Iowa, and then come back home. We have free cancellation to all of our rooms until April 27. I am cooking and freezing all of evening meals ahead so we can thaw and microwave in our hotel rooms. We are taking picnic food for lunches and also the camp stove and charcoal. We can cook at parks and rest areas as well. So we should be able to keep the food bill down by not eating out. We were also supposed to go camping on the east coast with friends, but have changed that to camping in the U.P. so we can save some money there on travel. Of course, it could be canceled if we end up at war, and we have to hunker down. But we are REALLY hoping the world holds out so we can attend our youngest's college commencement. We have a LOT of sailing Sundays planned, and that is local, not expensive. We pay $20 for our annual state park pass, and have a favorite launch on Lake Huron that has no dock fees with the park pass. Somewhere in all of this, I am spending a week with my grandsons. Then in October, I am living at the Bama house to take care of my grandboys, and homeschool the oldest one while Dd takes a class, and writes a bunch of papers. She is getting her birth educator certification. I am looking forward to that month!

We have to do that occasionally with coon. They don't often have rabies, but they are a known vector in our county, and so when they get diseased and come onto his mom's property, it is a necessary but sad thing that has to be done.

Uhm, ya he got warm alright!

That was really nice of your roo. I like to hear when a roo makes an effort. My friend's roosters were all just brutal, serial rapists who couldn't be bothered to worry about anything coming to eat their women. They maybe weren't quite as deranged as the drakes, but they really tried hard to be awarded a space in the stock pot!

Well, I am no good at shopping at all, but would this work? It has a built in bookshelf, high neck, racerback, and seems kind of sporty. https://m.jcpenney.com/p/zeroxposur-striped-tankini-swimsuit-top/ppr5008193978?pTmplType=regular

Love it!

https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/2022/03/03/marquette-blp-crews-working-restore-widespread-power-outage/ My favorite part was "the condition of the squirrel is unknown at this time". 😂 Well, uhm...we probably don't need that picture painted for us. Varmints. At least it was back online in 1.5 hrs. The temp was a low of 1° that night. Meanwhile, our cat got outside this afternoon, cornered a mouse, half killed it but not all the way, and then wanted to come back IN the house with it. " Bad Nana, very very bad Nana!" I refused, and her owner, the grad school student who did not take her with him when he moved but who happens to be visiting today was told to go take care of the situation. Mathnerd is dealing with mouse antics. The varmints be crazy right now!

Local politics here is shameless. However, it doesn't appear that Ottakee experienced anything like this, just a little jolt that someone didn't think about how a campaign coat at a funeral service could be perceived when everyone there is sensitive to begin with due to grief.

Very true. I think my worst experiences were leaving the graveside service for my father to find a political flyer on the windshield of my car, and before that, playing for a funeral in a church I had no personal affiliation with, and being accosted afterward by one of the county commissioners wanting to know if I would vote for him. Ugh. So gross.

And that is the point. Putin benefits the oligarchy and that has not changed just because "sanctions". Had they wanted a more decent human on principle, they would have had one before now. They didn't. They aren't stupid either, knew this was a strong possibility, and did what? Nothing. They have a ton of money in Asia that isn't going to be touched or sanctioned, plenty of oil, precious minerals, and other stuff to sell to players besides NATO. It would take the entire world sanctioning them, shutting down banking, and refusing to do business for this to work. China, the Pacific Rim, the Middle East, Africa, Brazil (Bolsonaro loves him) will continue to do business with those oligarchs. And ya. This nation fell for it too. So with these kinds of despots gaining support from extremists around the world, I do not understand why people think " mutually assured destruction" is safety.

I think I am sensitive because local polticians, even state reps, regularly crash weddings and funerals to which they were not invited to shake hands, and hand out "vote for me" stickers. It is gross. We get a lot to that kind of behavior around here. There is no sense of appropriateness. So for me, it is a local culture problem, and I don't have patience for it. I automatically assume the motivation is scuzzy. But I can see how it could be just not thinking about it in a different local culture.

I would be really upset though probably hide it. I have no patience for political proselytizing at such intensely personal events like weddings and funerals.

Yes. When we were house hunting around Huntsville, we saw numerous homes going up very rapidly while dealing with the shipping and labor issues everyone in the nation was enduring. There is something way wrong about the timetable here, and in the back of my mind, I am wondering if this contractor is funneling materials from Carrie's house build to a contract he views as more lucrative.

Can I just say that swimsuit shopping is an affront to human dignity, and is in fact, a scourge against womankind?

Yes. Mutually assured destruction is only "security" if every single one of the leaders of the nine nations holding ICBM nukes is rational and gives a rat's behind about NOT killing their own people. Putin doesn't care how many Russian corpses he produces in order to "win". I really do not understand why people think this guy is so " restrained". Good grief. He is Hitler 2.0, and if Hitler had possessed the bomb, he would have wrecked the world with it or died trying. This kind of fascist ideology is not afraid to die for the cause, and is only too happy to watch the carnage right to the bitter end. He is exponentially worse than Un. 1962 a Soviet and a US sub got in a skirmish off cuba, and the soviet commander authorized the launch of a 10 kiloton nuke. His 2nd in command was able to talk him out of it at the last second. This was with the " rational minds" of Kruschev and Kennedy in charge. Intelligence reports suggest that current Russian army and navy commanders are far less well trained than Soviet ones, and communication is very, very poor. So once at war with Ukraine, economy in a tail spin, and their backs against the wall, just exactly how calm and logical do we expect his conscripted, untrained minions to be? It doesn't have to be on Putin's orders at all. Numbskulls were shelling a nuclear power plant for cripes sake.

There is a GI virus on our area that is definitely not covid so I am holding out hope for you! Sorry you are sick.

I agree. I don't give a flip about billionaires who support a madman whining about their money and their boats. I have gestures for them that are not polite. But, it is also a lot of theater on NATO's part. If the damn oligarchs were actually going to do something about Putin, they would have done it long before now and put on non-fascist moderate in power so they could happily and peacefully keep amassing wealth. They didn't. Clearly they support his rhetoric enough to not give a damn AND have enough assets in Asia and the Middle East to go on living a life of luxury. Theater, theaters theater....

I am so sorry. Pain can do that to any of us, but in the elderly it just takes over. I hope.he can get some relief soon!

According to the AP, Russia broke the 2nd ceasefire within two hours. So more sitting ducks. Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice..... As for the US involvement in all this, Panem has an important word for its districts in Europe, "May the odds be ever in your favor."

Well everyone, I went outside determined to enjoy the temps, the sunshine, and do a quick repair to the trellis. Dh had grilled the other day, and the grill was still on the patio. When the wind caught the lid/hood which came sailing past my head missing me by about one foot, I decided to come inside. 😭. So sadly, I am not enjoying spring at the moment having decided Mark, who is taking our college senior back to campus after spring break, might not be amused by the sight of my decapitated body in the yard upon his return. Grrrrrrr...... This is how I feel about Michigan.

It was very comfortable for ds. And he spent about three months in it before being able to fully recline and sleep in his bed. This is the one we bought. This would have been in 2014, and we paid $969.00 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K72V4MY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Locally the same thing was $2500.00 and not in stock so they had to order it, and then deliver it. Mark ordered the chair on the recommendation of the ortho surgeon after ds came out of surgery. He talked with an insurance rep for both medical and car insurance, and despite the script from the surgeon, there was no way in heck they were going to be forced to provide one. 😠 Ds was in the hospital for ten days so the chair arrived before he got home. I have no idea what anything comparable will cost now. We also then passed it on to my folks when my dad was dying of cancer. He spent the last year of his life in it, and it was a god send to caregivers because no one had to lift him to get him up and to the bathroom or commode.

That sounds like a really good idea. I never thought of FB Marketplace.

Y'all, it is 50 degrees outside. The yard is thawing, but the wind is 25 mph with 50 mph wind gusts and yet I am considering going out there and repairing the grapevine trellis anyway because that is how bad I need spring! If you never hear from me again, it is because I was blown away.

We had a lift chair for pur son after the car accident. It was wonderful. But the insurance wouldn't pay for it even though the doctor wrote a script for it. We bought one off Amazon. No kidding! It came in less time than ordering one locally.

😁