....not my sister

Backstory:

Last week one of my many cousins passed away, I have about 50.  Tom was a great guy.  When we were young, we were very close.  Tom and I were born a month apart, so he was 78; he led a full life that included multiple wives, one at a time, and children.  We went to the same Middle School, and he was my protector; no one messed with this geeky glasses-wearing nerd.  Plus, all the girls wanted to be my friend, once they found out handsome Tom was my cousin.  Tom survived polio as a child and was an athlete in his teens, a baseball player.  He was scouted by MLB, but it didn't work out.  As we aged we drifted apart, but both of us knew we'd always have each other. His parents weren't the best, so he made sure his younger brother and sister got their college educations.  His brother is a "rocket scientist" and his sister is an educator.  A direct quote from his brother, "He hung the moon for us".

Last Night:

I got a phone call from my sister, who lives in Oregon.  She wanted to know Tom's cause of death!  When I told her that I didn't know, she was incredulous.  She kept going on about how close Tom and I were and that I should know this information.  I assured her that I didn't.  I told her that I'm sure his wife, brother, and sister probably know, but I don't.  She went on and on until she finally gave up!

There was a recent meme on FB reposted by one of my friends "Sometimes talking to your Sister is all the Therapy you need".  I replied  "....not my sister!"  Now, you know why.

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No blogging!

I haven't been posting at all.  If you're still curious about my life you can follow along via IG, @janprytz.

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2020 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, my life hasn't changed much.  I'm a widow who quilts and reads, so it's really easy to stay home.  My only forays are to the grocery store and CVS.  Oh, and I still walk my dogs twice a day.

Right before the "Stay-At-Home" order was issued in March, I'd just stocked up on TP and paper towels.  I thought I was set for the duration. I had no idea that this was going to last so long.  One day on errands I searched for toilet paper, and there was none in any of the stores.  When I got home, I went on-line and ordered some from Home-Goods, this was in April.  Two months later the order arrived!  I honestly thought I'd been scammed.

The toilet paper came from China!  I will say that while it's not Charmin, it's much better that the store brands I found while waiting.  Of course, I had to come up with a solution on how to "hang" the rolls, since there's no hollow core.

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Travel Plans

I always plan ahead.  This morning I received an email from my NYC hotel, the Martinique New York on Broadway, it's a Hilton brand. 

The email let me know that due to the pandemic, they have suspended operations and have canceled my end of May reservation.  I was planning on going to Book Expo America, then onto London for a quilting tour of England and Wales.

I looked at the BEA website, and sure enough, they changed the date of the convention to July, when I can't go.  Anyway, who wants to go the NYC in July, if they can help it!  BUT BEA didn't deem it necessary to email the registered participants and advise them of the change!

So far, I've asked for a refund from BEA and a refund of my Mets baseball ticket, they were playing my Dodgers, via email.

I need to get some more info before I contact the airline about those reservations.

I just talked to Fiona of Isle Inn Tours about the Quilting Tour.  It's called Stonehenge 10, Anniversary Tour.  She let me know that the company won't make a decision until at least April 7th.  The decision will be to continue with the 2020 tour or roll the entire tour to 2021.  I assured her the I'll be happy either way.  She also advised me to wait to change my Delta airline reservations until April.

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Good Friends

These women are my Quiltcon Crew!  Almost the only time I see them is during our annual trek to Quiltcon.  We all live in California, but I don't live near anyone else.  I'm the oldest, by 12 years!  

This year, we meet up for dinner three times, we all had a great time.  For our final meal together on Saturday, someone choose a Russian restaurant.  I looked over the menu and decided to pass, there wasn't much for me to eat, like one thing.

We all met for happy hour at our hotel before dinner.  When it was getting close to time to leave I told the group that I was heading off to find something to eat, I really didn’t want to eat at the Russian place.  There was panic!  They didn’t want to eat there if I didn’t want to eat there.  They were sincere, and I almost cried.  I didn’t cry, but it was close.  Silly, I know, but it’s so nice to be wanted.

We ended up wandering along San Jacinto Bl. in Austin, until we found a place we wanted to eat at.  It didn’t take long; Austin has about a million restaurants.  After a great dinner, we wandered over to the famous Voodoo Doughnuts, just to have a look-see.

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Thanksgiving Trivia

Bring something new to the table this Thanksgiving and serve up some food for thought with the following quiz!

1) What do we call the skin that hangs off the turkey’s neck?

2) What is the red flap that starts at the base of the turkey’s beak and hangs over the top?

3) What percent of a turkey is white meat? And dark? 

4) Why is turkey the traditional entree on Thanksgiving?

5) According to the National Turkey Federation, how many pounds of turkey do Americans eat on Thanksgiving Day?
A) 100 million. B)513 million.  C)690 million.

6) Which U.S. President set aside the last Thursday in November as a “day for national thanksgiving and prayer?”

7) When is Thanksgiving celebrated in Canada?

8) Do all turkeys gobble?

9) Can turkeys fly?

10) What children’s TV favorite wears a costume made of turkey feathers?

 
ANSWERS

1) Wattle.
2) Snood.
3) Typically, a turkey has 70 percent white meat; 30 percent dark.

4) To remind us of the four wild turkeys served at the Pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving feast in 1621 at Plymouth Rock.

5) 690 million lbs.
6) Abraham Lincoln.
7) On the second Mond
ay in October.
8) Only male turkeys gobble. Hens make a clicking noise.
9) Domesticated turkeys can’t fly, but wild turkeys fly up to 55 mph for short distances. They’re also fast on feet, covering ground at speeds of up to 25 mph.
10) Sesame Street’s Big Bird.

PS, I met a wild turkey one morning while visiting Bobs' aunt and uncle in Wisconson.  That guy was huge!  I scurried right back to the house!

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New York City for a long weekend

Yes, I did!  I went to NYC to see Eric Clapton in concert.  The concert was fabulous!  I went early last year and again this year.  One of my friends said, "But you went last year!"  I didn't understand her concern.

This year I had a great seat and wonderful seatmates.  On one side was a mother and daughter; the daughter had flown in from Bermuda for the concert. (Still not as far as California.)  On the other side was a couple; he was a pharmacist and she was a winemaker from North Carolina.

I'm not high-end; so I ate mostly at diners and street food stalls.

There's always something going on in the city, early on Saturday morning there was a Korean Day parade; then in the afternoon an informal "parade" of these trike/bikes showing support for Breast Cancer Awareness.

I spent a lot of time walking.  NYC is a walkers paradise.  Above the Empire State Building and below the Flatiron Building.  I never tire of these two great buildings.

 On Sunday I went on a half-day food tour of Brooklyn.  It was the best food tour I've ever been on and highly recommend the company, New York Fun Tours.

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Baseball Tours

I'm a big baseball fan, especially the Dodgers.  I'm a SoCal gal, so that makes sense.  In September I went on two baseball tours.  My tour company is Jay Buckley Baseball Tours.  There are a lot of baseball tour companies, before traveling with them, I did my research and have been happy with every trip, 8 so far.  Along the way, I've made some great friends, and I see some of them on each tour.

These tours are a unique way to see America.  They are about baseball but also the cities we visit.  Here are some photos from Trips #24 and #26.

Trip 24 ~ Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Kansas City, St Louis, then back to Chicago.  It was like driving a very big rectangle.

When we were ready to leave St. Louis, we found out that MLB had changed the start time of the Cubs game in Chicago from afternoon to night time.  With the extra time, we made a stop in Springfield, IL, and visited Lincolns Tomb.  It was a wonderful surprise.

Trip 26 was the annual Ultimate Game Day Weekend, this time in Seattle.  This is my 4th Ultimate game day weekend and I'm sure it won't be my last.  This is a baseball and football weekend.

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Scotland with Sights and Soul Travel

This was my 2nd trip with Sights and Soul Travel.  I was, again, very happy with the experience and I've already booked a tour to Greece with them, next year.  Above is the Principal Hotel in Edinburgh where we stayed for 3 nights

The hotel and staff were great, they even had a box of free treats in the room!

These two photos were taken at Calton Hill, Edinburgh's first public park, situated high on a hill.

I was in Scotland for 12 days, I'm going to share some of my favorite photos, instead of going day-by-day.  I hope my photos make you want to visit Scotland!

Have you booked your trip?

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