Notes from the Dugout

Hello cyberspace friends!  How has life been treating you?

I've not checked in much this week, and, I have to tell ya', I miss the connection.  Writing and chatting with you via the sky gives my brain time to reflect and just be still a minute.  I suspect writing does that for most of us who love it.

My update on Dad is that he's doing better.  The medications have finally balanced and enabled Dad to concentrate on his therapy.  He's getting up on his feet (with help) and spends more time dressed and in the wheelchair than in bed.  He'd like to be on his walker tomorrow, but recovery is very slow, and he will likely be in rehab another three weeks.  At the moment, he does not have a roommate, and his broken TV was replaced.  Those things make life a little more enjoyable.  He discovered he can wheel himself down to the bistro to get free ice cream.  This makes life a little sweeter.

Here he is with his bride of 62 years.   He calls her Janey-baby. 

Here on the home front, we received a tax refund that enabled me to pay off the new stove and slap another chunk of dough on student loans I swear are going to follow me to the grave.   I'm all for higher education, it's worth it, it's worth it, just get the degree before you're 42.  I'm just saying.

Regarding the new stove: the glass flat top is a puzzle to clean. The cleaner they recommend is just a polish, doesn't have any effect on globs of red sauce or bacon grease.  Scraping the glass with a razor's edge, as they also recommend, gets off the globs of stuff, but I cringe as I do it, knowing at some point the glass is going to get scratched.  The razor doesn't remove the smeary kinds of stuff we generate, either.  I've tried oven cleaner and even Windex (the top is glass, right?) to no avail.  Any tips from other flat top stove owners?  I'm sure there's a magic solution out there.

I was back in a high school class room this week, after seven years away, teaching character education to teens, making good choices regarding dating and sex, etc.  I felt old and a bit out of touch, but the students were attentive and responsive and asked excellent questions.  At 14, their faces are open and vulnerable, and I fell in love with all of them, especially the few with autism.  They were genuine and unafraid and told me straight what was on their mind. Teenagers get a bad rap, but I think they're pretty cool.

I also made a decision this week I'm already regretting.  I signed up for the April A-Z Blogging Challenge.  Staring April 1, bloggers write a post a day, starting with a topic that begins with A, then work their way through the alphabet.  They can have a theme, or no theme.  I thought I had a good theme, but after I wrote three posts in preparation, I was out of material.  So, I'm back to square one, which is, what the heck am I going to write about every day?  

Drop by in April and see how it plays out.  I'm warning you right now, some posts are bound to be doo-doo. 

What are your plans for April?