one more month

The countdown is on. In 29 days (March 20), we will say hello to the first day of Spring! 

Thank you to Catalyst at Oddball Observations for the contribution.

 

wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

This past week started off with a trip to the dentist for my six month check up and cleaning. Rather than scraping and picking with all the different sized scalers, the hygienist cleaned my teeth with pressurized water - much faster and more comfortable that those metal scrapers. I've been going to my dental practice for a long time. My kids grew up with this practice. Just down the street from the dental office is a bakery that has been around forever so the incentive for my kids' good behavior at the dentist was that we would stop at My Favorite Muffin for an after visit treat. Counterproductive, yes, but good behavior was an even bigger yes. The tradition continued after this past visit. I called Todd and asked him if he wanted anything from My Favorite Muffin, knowing that he would say, "Bring home a few cherry cheesecake mini muffins." 

We headed back to Chicago for our grandson's first birthday party. As travelers cross into Indiana, the sign from Governor Mike Dewine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted invite travelers to come back to Ohio, "The Heart of It All." With Husted filling JD Vance's  Senator seat, Ohio's new Lt. Governor, Jim Tressel, will fill that empty spot.

And THE reason for taking a second trip to Chicago in two weeks...Our grandson's first birthday. We celebrated AJ's first trip around the sun and all the joy and love that he has brought to our lives. It was also a celebration for our daughter and son-in-law for making it through their monumental first year as parents - balancing their son's heart surgery, their careers, sleepless nights, those moments when it's hard to comfort a sick baby, but also their joy of watching their son grow and thrive. 

today's grammar lesson

A collective noun is a noun that refers to some sort of group or collective—of people, animals, things, etc. Collective nouns are normally not treated as plural, even though they refer to a group of something.

Are collective nouns singular or plural?

Collective nouns are most commonly treated as singular (i.e., used with singular verb forms like “is”), but usage varies between US and UK English:

In US English, it’s standard to always treat collective nouns as singular.

In UK English, either way is acceptable, and usage tends to vary depending on the context.

A few more to add to the list...Do you have any others to add?

A colony of ants

A kindle of kittens

A litter of puppies

A bed of clams

A shiver of sharks

A horde of hamsters

monday's mulling: moon, stars, and sun

“A work of art is above all an adventure of the mind.”

~ Eugene Ionesco

I don’t know if you would call this a work of art, but it became an adventure of the mind. 

My little grandson turned one year old last week, the theme for his birthday party was his first trip around the sun, and I wanted to make a card for him. With the space theme, my first thoughts went to the popular phrases “I love you to the moon and stars,” or “I love you more than all the stars in the sky,” or “I love you to the moon and sun and back.” Those are sweet sentiments, the sayings are heavily marketed, and although I love that little boy to the moon and back and more than all the stars in the sky, these words didn’t cut it for me. 

Put on your thinking cap, Di.

Lots of ideas tossed around and the end result was a zine (pronounced “zeen”). It’s a little 8 page book. I dug out scraps of paper, stamp pads and rubber stamps, tissue paper, markers - stuff I hadn’t used in ages - and had so much fun filling the pages with song lyrics from my growing up days, telling my little fellow how much I love him.

breaking boredom

Somewhere in Indiana heading back to Ohio along I-70...

When you're a little bored on the trip, looking out the window at the gray winter scenery, and the sunset's reflection in the sideview mirror brings a orange tinge to the car and the contrast between the sunset and the monotone landscape just gives you one of those "Wow! This is such a pretty picture moments."

Looking again and studying the picture, there really is a lot going on.

 

there are those days...

This has been a theme the last few weeks in the digital world. Yes, there are those days!

Many thanks to Travel Penguin for his contribution

the friday feed: the super bowl

 Pigs in a blanket

Skyline chili dip, bean dip

Super Bowl staples

Usually Super Bowl Sunday means going to a party, taking a dish to share, and choosing a team to cheer on.

We were in Cleveland on Super Bowl Sunday, having finished painting our granddaughter's nursery. Andrew and Jen were invited to a party that was 45 minutes away and they weren't in the mood for a 1 1/2 hour round trip drive. Andrew made some traditional Super Bowl nibbles. They were perfect to graze on during the game: a couple pigs in a blanket here, a scoop of dip there, there were chicken wings, and a cookie dough dip for a sweet treat. 

Skyline Chili is a Cincinnati delicacy. So many people love it but I don't like the spices in it: Paprika, allspice, and cinnamon. No thank you. When we were going to Chicago, my daughter asked me to bring her some Skyline. I took four cans to her. Now Graeter's ice cream, a Columbus business, has created a Skyline chili ice cream. Hmmmm. It's flavored with the spices and tastes like gingerbread and has the oyster crackers in it for crunch with a little bit of the sweet/salty essence. It's getting rave reviews.

Well, that was a little diversion from the Super Bowl. 

We cheered for the Eagles for our Philly family and friends, got our little grandson to spell E-A-G-L-E-S, and had our thoughts about Kendrick Lamar's Halftime Show. Even though I couldn't understand what Lamar was saying, his rapping was so fast, watching the performance - the dancers, Samuel L. Jackson as Uncle Sam, Serena Williams' appearance - he was making a statement, one that I respected, especially after reading about it the next day, while nibbling on some Super Bowl snack leftovers.