Saturday, 3 January 2026

3 January 2026

Barb was out all day. I worked out on the patio. Every time I came in the house, I would call Barb’s name, but I never got any answer. I came in to make a pot of coffee, and as I was pouring the water. I heard the kitchen door open. I thought Barb must be home. Then, when I walked to the door to greet her, I found that she had not closed it firmly when she left that morning, and it had remained wide open all day, blowing in the wind.

Barb had spent the day playing pickleball, doing aerobics at the sports pool and then shopping for bathing suits. On the way home, she was driving by her friend Cass’s house. She texted her and asked, "Where are you?" She said she was outside, and Barb should drop by. So, Barb dropped in, and Cass was on FaceTime with a friend, playing a dice game. Barb loves games. So, she joined in, but she didn’t know the rules. She was doing really well until she was Farkled. The game was called Farkle, and if you rolled your dice and didn’t get anything good, you would lose all the points from that roll, which is called being Farkled.

Barb had two new bathing suits and put on a fashion show for me. She asked me which one I liked. I told her the one I thought she would like best, which was the colourful one. The other one was black. She told me the problems with the colourful one and the good features of the black one. She asked which one she should buy, and I said both. She agreed. That was easy.

Every night before my walk, I ask Barb what the temperature is so I know what to wear. Tonight, Barb, the Doppler Chick, looked at the radar and noticed that there were huge rain clouds all around us. She said I had about an hour before it would rain. I went for my walk a little nervously and got home as it started sprinkling. Then I was going to work on my computer at home, but it started raining. I like to watch the rain. So, I set up my laptop on the patio. But I couldn’t see the rain very well in the dark. So, I went out and watched the rain from the lawn chair in the driveway. It really poured. I enjoyed myself, and Barb said I was fortunate to get home in time and not get drenched.

At bedtime, I was telling Barb that my jeans fit really well. She said that they were size 40, and I explained no, I hung the size 40, which are too big, up in the closet and took a crisp pair that were on a hanger there. She didn’t believe me, but then she checked the jeans hanging up, and they were size 40. She didn’t know which pair I was wearing because she thought that the only other pair she brought were in the laundry. She wanted to figure it out before she went to bed. So, she asked where I put my jeans, and I said on the chair. She went over and picked up the pants she found, and she didn’t understand what she was looking at. Then I realized she was looking at the shorts that I wore outside all day. She was getting impatient and wanted to figure it out. Then she finally found my jeans, and the tags were all removed. She went to bed convinced that they were mystery jeans.

 

 

Friday, 2 January 2026

2 January 2026

Barb is making a quilt called Beach Bums, a picture of three fat old ladies sitting on three stools at the beach, seen from behind. Barb has been going to the pool to do aerobics after pickleball these days. On the way home today, she bought a new swimsuit. It came in a cardboard frame, and I said it looked like one of the old ladies. Barb laughed and said it did.

Tonight, Barb cooked wieners and beans for dinner and took out two spoons, putting them on the counter beside the refrigerator. Then, when she brought the bowls of food to the dinner table, she took out two new spoons. When I went to the fridge to get my glass of ice water, I asked what these spoons were for. Barb said, " Do they look clean. I said yes. Barb said she took them out for dinner and then forgot about them.


Thursday, 1 January 2026

New Year's Day 2026

I sent Happy New Year texts to the captains of The Sting, my fastball team. Brett wrote back that he hoped I had enough sauerkraut and that the Diet Coke was flowing.

There is a Community Watch driver who stops whenever he sees me walking and tells me a joke. Before Christmas, he stopped and gave me a bunch of his jokes that he had typed up. I finally got around to reading them today, because I was worried he would see me tonight and stop and ask if I had read the jokes.

Here is one of them: Today, I drove up to a gas station to get some gas and something to eat. I noticed a policeman watching this man who was smoking a cigarette while pumping his gas. Anyway, I go inside, get my food, and as the cashier gives me my change, I hear someone screaming outside. I look out the window and see this man's arm is on fire. He was swinging his arm around and running around like a crazy man. I hurried outside and saw the policeman had the man on the ground and was putting the fire out with his coffee. Then he proceeded to handcuff the man and put him in the back of his police car. Being a noisy person, I asked the policeman what he was charging him with. He looked me dead in the face and said, "Waving a firearm!"

Only in the USA would that be funny, eh? 

 

Thursday, 24 April 2025

Impromptu Birthday Party

 Laura's boyfriend Peter was in the World Cheerleading Competition in Orlando this weekend. So Laura and Peter were flying into Orlando on Wednesday. Laura's 35th birthday was on Thursday. We packed up to drive home on Saturday, and the house was full of boxes. Laura messaged us on Tuesday night and asked if we could chat. So we talked to her on the phone, and then later, I spoke to her on messenger. She wanted to visit us on her birthday. I said Mom was too busy packing, but I was free. We said we didn't have room for her here, and the guest bedroom was full of packing. I said we have an air mattress that she might be able to use in my office. Then we finally decided that she should rent a car, stay in a nearby hotel overnight, and visit us on her birthday at our house. Mom put together a little bag of presents and got a card and four bundt cakes. I got ChatGPT to write a poem. Laura and Peter arrived around noon, and Mom met Peter for the first time. Laura had some little pickleball presents as a belated birthday present for Mom. We had a pleasant visit, and then they had to leave around 4 p.m. to get back to Orlando for a cheer practice for Peter's team. That was a lovely finish to our time in Florida.