What a week!

        Medical appointments every day. Last Friday I killed my phone (justifiable homicide), got a new one and spent the week learning how to use it. On Tuesday my home internet and television quit working. Called the server people and they said it looked like utility work had severed a line. They will be out on Monday afternoon. And then Marsha's Alaskan adventure, which seems to get worse with each day, has ended with her confused and scared in a Seattle hospital. Any one of these things could give several blogs, but not this week. So, odds and ends.

        The hospital Marsha is in is shut down to visitors for COVID. Is COVID worse on the west coast than here or are we just not insane? I am just amazed at that. They told me to not come and visit. I wasn't going anyway, but still. 

        Even though my internet has been out since Tuesday, I still get home and turn on the computer to check for e-mails. It is funny how our habits overcome our thinking. The power goes out or a bulb burns out, and we continue to flip the switch when we walk into a room. We were once hosting a football Sunday at our house. Good game, good company and some really good snacks. I excused myself to go and get a cup of coffee. On the way toward the kitchen I decided I was over doing on the coffee, so I poured some Pepsi in my cup. Right then something exciting happened in the game and I looked up to see the play. When it ended someone yelled for me to come back. "In a minute!" My mind had reset on coffee and I put cream in my Pepsi. I stood there for a few seconds watching my Pepsi bubble before I realized what I had done. Not wanting to look foolish, I went back to the TV room with my cup and just sipped at my creamy Pepsi that everyone assumed was coffee. And that was when I realized that Pepsi and milk was a good drink. But it only happened because my thinking was overcome by habit.

        Speaking of Pepsi and milk, you should try Pepsi and eggnog this Christmas. Oh, wow, that is good! Non-alcoholic eggnog, of course. And next time you are in a restaurant that serves it, try the calamari. It is squid tentacles, but once you get passed the rubbery texture, it is very good. I grew up in a meat and potatoes home. We ate what was grown in the garden, caught in the river, shot in the woods and the beef that was in the freezer. My father hated Eye-talian food, Kraut food, Frenchy food and he really hated Asian food. He fought the Japanese in WWII, but he equated all Asian food with the Japanese. I didn't have pizza until I was an adult and I didn't like it then. Marsha, though, had eaten some weird stuff. She was always after me to try Chinese. I refused. I didn't need to try it, I knew I hated it. And then, we moved to Miami. Coconut Grove to be exact. There I was introduced to various foods. I found out I really liked frog legs. Made in a nice sauce...very good. I have eaten alligator and goat and fried lizard tails (a lot of lizards can grow their tails back, so it was like a renewable resource). I could eat a lot of things, but I hated Chinese. Never had it, but I hated it. Then came the evening I wanted to go see a particular movie. We had seen the trailer on TV and it was action and adventure. Marsha wanted to see a chick flick. Finally, Marsha made a deal with me. She would go to the movie I wanted to go to if I would take her to a Chinese restaurant she had heard about in Coral Gables. I wanted to see the movie, so I agreed to her terms. I figured I could fill up on popcorn later at the movie. Popcorn was not needed. I couldn't believe how good Chinese food tasted! I ate so much we decided to go home instead of seeing the movie. It became my new treat meal. That restaurant became my go to restaurant. Just amazing food.   

        Carla put up a sign at the church this week. LIFE IS A GARDEN. DIG IT! It might not seem like a church sign at first, but everything is sweeter with Jesus.