When you miss your family you really miss them. I think that is one the more difficult things about staying in place. This week I am working on connecting with my family in different and imaginative ways. Here is what I have been up to:
Puzzling Challenge
I have a daughter and a son, so among us there are three families. I now have an adult granddaughter who is a nurse and lives on her own. She is pretty busy right now so I wasn't able to include her in my challenge. At any rate, I thought I would send each family the same puzzle. I looked everywhere to find a puzzle that would arrive fairly soon. I was surprised to find most were sold out. I did find one. It wasn’t the best but I it was available.
Anyone who knows me knows I really don’t like cats. Really. (Sorry cat lovers.)
Of course, the only puzzle I could find in multiples and that I could get quickly was the Cat Lover’s Bookshelf. Seems prophetic, seems ironic, don't you think? Well, I put aside my prejudice for those fuzzy creatures and I placed my order quickly. I didn't have time to "shop". I wasn’t sure how long they would be available. Luckily I purchased them before some other cat loving customer had a chance to grab them and had them sent to the three different addresses. Thank you Amazon!
The rules of the challenge:
Each family has the same puzzle.
Some of those families have different amounts of people who can work on the puzzle so we have to come up with some rules of how and when they can work on the puzzle. We are still working on these rules.
The winner will receive brownies from me. If Dennis and I win they have to send us brownies.
My daughter-in-law Wendy and her family love games. I suggested she send the same puzzle to each of them and we can all play along. We will see. We should receive the puzzles around the 16th of April so I will keep you apprized of the progress.
Lego-rama
Twelve year olds are not great about staying in touch. Right now is no different. I was trying to come up with some way to stay in touch and still be interesting. My grandson has many legos. He is now twelve so legos are not necessarily too exciting. When he was younger he and I had a game where when he was really bored I would ask him to build me something silly from his legos. He was always pretty imaginative with what he built.
Yesterday I sent him a note asking him to build me a school. I was thinking of a square building, he was thinking of the inside of a building. I love it. I have now asked him to add a gym with a basketball hoop and buses. I think I can take this project a fairly long way. It keeps him busy and I am pretty entertained as well.
Read-a-thon My granddaughter Hannah, who lives in a little town in North Dakota, long ago decided she wanted to be an attorney. In fact, when she was ten she sent a letter to Princeton explaining what her future would be, that she intended to attend Princeton and asked what she should do to prepare. Princeton was nice enough to answer her and send her a pennant and some literature. Hannah, now fifteen, is still committed to becoming and attorney. I researched what books one should read if they are planning on a career in law. I chose a list of twelve books. I contacted her and she has agreed to read each one and give me an oral book report as she finishes them. This means she has to call and talk to me!
Art-O-World.
My granddaughter Lydia has no problem being cooped up. She is a talented musician who at 15 has credits on a record album where she accompanied on a a recording band with her cello.
She is also an accomplished artist. Lydia is happy as a clam to sit in her room and draw during this time. She is good at sharing what she is working on. I find her amazing! She shares her work on Instagram. She is prolific. You can find her at _fluffboi_.
Neighborhood sharing
Today in Minneapolis it is 70 degrees! We have a player piano that I am turning on as loud as it goes, opening all the windows and giving our neighbors a piano recital for the evening. Picture me with a glass of wine,still no makeup and a great need for a haircut, my feet, up relaxing in the sun.I know life is going to get better! It is today.
Stay connected.
I give you my Irish goodbye.
Rita
P.S If you have ways you are connecting to your family please share and I will post them
I had a tool to show but wasn't able to get the video to work, so no tool this time. Just news.
I did receive these pictures from Tammy Fogarty. She is the person who has purchased the most racks to hang in her studio.
She was nice enough to share a couple of pictures. She even used our Spot-On Rack! Thanks Tammy!
REMEMBER!
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RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Oriental Coleslaw
Served at Gallagher’s
4 cups, cabbage, shredded 1 pkg ramen noodle soup- any flavor
½ cup sunflower seeds ½ cup almonds – slivered or whatever
Crush ramen noodles. Set aside flavoring packets for dressing. Combine cabbage, sunflower seeds, almonds and crushed noodles.
Dressing
¼ cup oil 3 tablespoons of vinegar
¼ cup sugar 1 packet of ramen noodle soup flavor
Combine oil, sugar vinegar and flavoring. Stir well. Pour over cabbage mixture and stir.
Add shredded chicken and make this salad a meal.
“In time of test, family is best.” – Burmese Proverb