I write this around 7:30PM on Easter, as tomorrow is back to work. It is also April when I turn sixty, and I have no plans. My surgery is on May 20th, and Susie’s Concert in Michigan is on May 18th in Lansing, Michigan.
The sun is just coming down as we are now deeper into spring, and the days are noticeably longer. The pollen is also worse; my eyes burn, and I cough. My evening meds include Montelukast, which has significantly reduced my reactions to pollen this year and last. Excellent.
I hate to see the evening come as it is ringing out local spring break, and we return to work on Monday. This year, the break seemed long, and I feel better. I missed Susie a few times, and there are always tears. This afternoon, I napped and dreamed of talking to Susie. I woke up looking for her–she, of course, passed away on Friday, October 13th. Grief and memories unexpectedly slide in here and there.
Returning to the start of Easter Sunday, I rose at 7ish and started writing a blog–my usual Sunday. I am time-boxed to 9AM and lost my focus a few times. Not all the editing was checked before I published the blog. It is essential to get it out; typos can be forgiven or even corrected later.
I did make an NYC bagel (thanks, Joyce) with cream cheese for breakfast. The Uganda coffee from the Kramers was summoned using a ritual involving a glass cylinder and press. I consumed this while writing and got sidetracked a few times.
I use Quicken to track my accounts. Every live account detail (two different checking, savings, PayPal, AMEX, and two trading accounts) is downloaded daily, so all details must be resolved in Quicken. I also ensure that all income and expense transactions are correctly assigned. All this and paper records are put in notebooks. My CPA and the IRS will want to see physical records, not Quicken. I do this for all the obvious reasons, and it allows me to ensure that no hacker has slipped and started drawing money.
Yesterday, I balanced the 401K and deferred compensation accounts–the download stopped working for them, so I revise their balances once a month. The house also lost 20K in value (its value is unstable in the current market and goes up and down).
I wore a sweater over a white dress shirt and blue cotton pants. I put on my white Air Force Ones. For Easter, I wore a pride tie. Air Volvo had me at church early, and I sat and stayed out of the way.
A local guy who processed by verbally responding joined us again. He was vocal for the sermon and some of the songs. I looked him over, and he was harmless. He annoyed some folks and used a few vulgar words. I thought it fitting that our perfect service was slightly marred by the public–I suspect Jesus had the same problem.
Another church joined us, and the service was in Spanish and English. The music was lovely and mixed well. I think we should do this more often.
Pastor Ken’s sermon wandered as he wanted to talk about truth on Easter. The truth he was trying to get across was that our understandings are based on our perspective. Ken asked how we could understand the 1800s before a Methodist Church or even Oregon existed. If that is hard, how can we align our perspective to 31 AD when the events of Easter happened? We must seek the truth and try to understand and align our perspectives to avoid distortions. Only then, Ken suggests, will there be some hope of understanding what is true and what is cultural distortion. Ken points out that the Christian symbol of the Cross was first used by Constantine as a military symbol and became the emblem of the Crusades and conquest. The call to the crusades was to “take up the Cross.” In 31AD, a cross was the thing you were nailed to and died; it was a type of Roman capital punishment. It was not a symbol of Jesus or the Christian Church until hundreds of years later. Ken, looking at the huge Cross in the sanctuary, said we need to seek the truth and understand the perspectives that bring and distort the truth. Truth matters, especially on Easter.
After church, I had coffee and some cookies left from Susie’s Concert. I was asked to help pay for remodeling the entranceway and talked to someone about that. Progress will be slow, and plans may be scaled back. I suggested giving multiple options, letting folks think about it, and creating a consensus. While there are always important things to do, the entranceway is our church’s face to the public. In my opinion (a truth?), it needs to be friendly and neat. There are roofs, heating, windows, and a long list of other items too. There is always a list at churches.
I returned home and started marinating the thick pork chops I purchased in Astoria last week. Industrial teriyaki sauce from a 1/2 gallon jug I keep in the frig (leftover, I suspect, from a church cooking event) supplies the marinade, and I left the chops in a glass dish to soak up the goodness. I bake the yams wrapped in tin foil in the oven for ninety minutes while the chops get yummy from the teriyaki.
I light and heat the grill, clean it burning hot, and then set it hot. This usually would be a disaster for thick pork chops (cremating or undercooking them), but I have a plan. I have an electronic food temperature probe. I grill the chops until they look great and are undercooked. I have an oiled pan and a hot oven. I put them in the oven for 8 minutes to finish them to 155F (just short of overcooked). Frozen green beans (I forgot to get some fresh ones yesterday) had to do, steamed on the stovetop. The yams are hot and ready for butter and brown sugar. The pork chops, slightly overdone, are still great (I am not doing undercooked!).
Food-coma comes, I rest and soon dream, as I said above, with tears; I rise, finish the laundry and dishes, and put away everything except for Corwin’s stuff. I need a break, so Corwin and I head to Salt and Straw, the local ice cream company. There is a long line, but it goes fast. I have a scoop of coffee and nuts ice cream, and Corwin has two scoops of exotic ice cream.
HIS is a Czech-based company that sells ship model supplies, including the parts needed to rig them. I ordered a model from them to celebrate their new and improved website, and the rigging blocks were offered today for about $30. I have used HIS them for years. They even sent a rigging plan with the offer. I accepted the offer and will get an invoice for the rigging blocks, which they will send together. I love these guys, but this is a highly specialized product.
We returned in the Air Volvo to the Volvo Cave, and I wrote this blog. I must admit I found the potato chips. Suspect the scale will not improve tonight!
The tulips that I planted after Glenda’s visit are flowering today. Another set of taller tulips is stressed, as is the nearby rose bush. They were wet all winter, and I have fertilized them today. I hope they will improve. A few tulip bulbs did not rise as they drowned in the fall.
Thanks for reading.
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