We went up to Des Moines this morning to visit Aunt Louise. She was up, alert and feisty as can be. Had good conversation (when my wife and her daughter would let me open my mouth) with her. And lunch time, she ate everything. Said she was very hungry, even though she had a heavy breakfast. Then she told wife, since wife is going to make her signature taco salad, sauerkraut and coleslaw for a graduation party this weekend (just one of many this month!) being held in honor of one of our grandnieces, that she would appreciate a bowl of each. So wife said no problem, she would set aside a bowl of each and we would bring to her prior to the party. So it would seem that she is more than holding her own right now.

One of her nurses came in for a while. Real nice woman who came to Des Moines from Bosnia via Germany. She and my wife compared notes about living in Germany and trying to learn the German language. They concluded that not easy at all. This nurse is one of the caretakers and she does an excellent job, the best as Aunt Louise says.

Our brother-in-law though, not doing good at all. He almost died earlier today. So they transferred him from the VA hospital to the University hospital there in Iowa City. They barely kept him going until they finally hooked up an exterior heart pacemaker. Doctors said, now it really is serious and that to operate would for sure kill him. So far, sister and their kids, grandkids and more are at the hospital keeping vigil. Sister said, that maybe he finally went through all his 9 lives and now it is just a matter of a short time. She also said, at least he did not die on Mother’s Day to screw up that day for everyone from now on.

After visiting Aunt Louise, we stopped in at Aldi’s and got a bunch of groceries. Plus got some hanging plants for the hooks out front. They had good hanging plants and at a price way cheaper than wally world or any other place we shopped at. If in Des Moines, stop by the nearest Aldi’s and check out their hanging plants. Worth your time.

This is Adriana Lima, well known among babe admirers, but I post not just for, well, her beauty but so you will wonder, when you get around to it, about the one eye, hiding a bit behind the hair, that seems…all white?

This morning we got up to Des Moines. First visited with our Aunt Louis, who is 96 and soon to be 97. This woman is sharp as a tack and funny as can be. She even had two magazines waiting for me to, as she put it, make me love Iowa even if I do not have Iowa blood in me! Though she did suggest maybe a blood transfer to replace my Texas blood with good Iowa blood. Told you, she is hilarious! So while I was reading, she and my wife yakked on about family (geesh….talk about a huge extended family, that is my wife’s family…all over not just Iowa, but the world). We left so that she could go to lunch, though she says they never serve what she really likes. That is one reason she enjoys it when we visit, as most times, not today though (and she let my wife know), we bring her homemade ice cream, candy, salads, and other victuals (her word and I only heard it down in Texas, so I mentioned that maybe she is not pureblood Iowan, but a smattering of good Texas blood using that word…she pooh-poohed me and said that was a good Iowa farm stock word).

Then we stopped by a store my wife wanted to check out. Nothing there except for a few items we bought. Then finally we went and had our Valentines Day lunch (did not have a valentines day lunch or dinner on saturday as we stayed home) at a nice barbeque place on Merle Haye. Got to recommend this place, Famous Dave’s Barbeque. I had to say, they actually did brisket they way it should be done, something few other places in Iowa can do. And the ribs! Oh, I had to force myself to eat them slowly and enjoy each bite. Yes, we ate way more than we should have, and wife said we should walk a few miles when we got home. Yeah right!

Then a quick stop at Aldi’s (grocery store) to pick up a few items my wife needed. She did grab a box of corn chex cereal and said, Coco will love these. Coco our dog now has her own cereal next to ours! Can you believe that? And yes, Coco went coocoo over the corn chex! Then a stop at QT to fill up the van and get something to drink. And home we came.

Last night, uploaded Turbo Tax into the computer and did our taxes. Both federal and state of Iowa (still gripes me Iowa taxes my pension!). From the time I started the uploading to the time I exited the program was only 1 hour. Efiled the federal tax forms, one button to push and that was that. No need to print out or sign, or spend time putting the tax return into an envelop. And this morning, got an email that the IRS had received our tax forms. From what I gather, they should direct desposit what our refund is on the 27th of this month. Now the state? Bah….will wait to print that out and send it in.

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A priest at a parochial school, wanted to point out the proper behavior for church. He was trying to elicit from the youngsters, rules that their parents might give before taking them to a nice restaurant.

“Don’t play with your food,” one second grader cited.

“Don’t be loud,” said another, and so on…

“And what rule do your parents give you before you go out to eat?” the priest inquired of one little boy.

Without batting an eye, the child replied, “Order something cheap.”

—–

Jones applied to a collection agency for a job, but he had no experience. He was so intense that the manager gave him a tough account with the promise that if he collected it, he’d get the job.

Two hours later, Jones came back with the entire amount.

“Amazing!” the manager said. “How did you do it?”

“Easy,” Jones replied. “I told him if he didn’t pay up, I’d tell all his other creditors that he paid us.”

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When I get to where I’m going, will somebody
please tell me where I am?

Why do they call it Alcoholics Anonymous if the first
two things you tell everybody is your name and the fact
that you are an alcoholic?

Lastly I have to mention a new blog of mine. Yes, I love blogs and yes I have too many blogs! But I saw the domain and it was available so I regged it. Nice domain name, FoodRecipesBlog.com and was surprised no one had grabbed it. Then found a database of food recipes containing about 10,000 recipes in 53 different categories. So there will be quite a few recipes now on the blog for you to peruse through and find those you want to enjoy. You can print them out. Plus long range at some time, we may put my wife’s cookbook her grandmother and mother wrote out (that is fun every time my wife pulls it out as some of the writing is a bit faint). So do check out the food recipes blog.