Late shopping on Mother's Day

I was at Walmart this morning and the make-up of customers was amusing: men. Lots of men. Men in the card section. Men with flowers in hand. Men with bouquets in their basket as they headed to the garden or candy (!) section. Men grabbing a basket and just looking confused.

Like, these guys didn't know it was Mother's Day until they woke up this morning? At least they remembered. And I got a blog post!

What do I do with it all?

While my dad was alive (he died the end of September after an 9 year slog with Alzheimer's), I kept his photo albums and paperwork and mementoes. So many things--and of course his finances--that it all eventually took over our guest room. Now that I am winding things up with his estate, I'm going through everything.

Some items are so old and out of date (payroll from 1984, anyone?) that consigning them to the Shred box is easy. Some are current and may yet be called upon so they're tagged and put in a box to store. And then there are the mementoes and the albums. If the photos are recognizable, I plan to scan them. But if they're of people I don't know? If they aren't marked? (Not my dad's forte.) What then? Do I just throw them away? Why keep them for my children to plow through someday when I'm gone? Why leave the task to them?

This must be why I find family photos and albums at trade days and in antique shops. Someone couldn't throw them away. Well, I'm going to have to. If I haven't a clue, out they will have to go. (An alternative is to ship them to my aunt. Here--have a look at these! No, I don't want them back.) And once the ones I know are scanned?

I have to keep them, I'm afraid. A little housekeeping for my kids in future years. Or an instant family for an antique store shopper.

Ah, fame is fleeting

Now that the April 29 issue of Woman's World is off the shelves, my time in the spotlight is gone also. Sigh. This is why I have four other submissions into the magazine. My ideas seem to come in waves, so it may be months before I have more inspiration.

In the meantime, I've taken a look at the number of photo albums squeezed onto sagging shelves and I've bought a photo scanner, not necessarily to replace all the old prints but to back them up. My printer will scan, but it's slow and a tad temperamental, so I've managed an end-run on it and purchased a new member of the tech family. So far, I've scanned one photo. It was quick and even showed the dust on the photo!

Someone needs to dust her photos!

This is an Epson Perfection V500 Photo scanner. It will correct the colors in old photos. Hopefully, this will work well because we have some old color photos with major issues. It also came with Photoshop Elements 9 and I've ordered a book to learn the basics before I plunge into that.

We have over 40 albums stuffed to the limits of their bindings. After reviewing and scanning through a couple of them, I may be inspired to write. And write. And write.

Inspiration comes in many forms.

On newsstands now!

The April 29th issue of Woman's World magazine hit the newsstands today and on page 42 is--me!

Well, my short romance entitled "Time for Love." That was not the original title, but it fits quite nicely. No complaints!

Buy and read--plus the chicken recipes look great!

From the mouths of babes

Charming--and quite telling--story told me this morning by a good friend:

My friend took her little granddaughter, age 6 or so, into a Starbucks. Darling had never been in one before and asked, very loudly, "What IS this place?"

My friend explained it was a coffee shop and didn't she want a cake ball? That was easily agreed upon and they sat down to enjoy. Around them were students working on their laptops and phones and my friend explained about free wifi and doing homework away from school.

Later--and here I can't remember the details, was it at Starbucks or around the dinner table--the granddaughter declared that all the people concentrating on their laptops and not on each other, was just like home!

Ouch! A lesson for us all.

On building the perfect purse

I am in a spring purse quandary. I have an adequate purse, but it's just... okay. I want something particular and, you know, springy. I have such for the darker months, but not for the lighter, frothier, more fun times. However, I'm having a very hard, read: not possible, time doing it.

Dear Purse Manufacturers:

Here is what I want:

One strap for over the shoulder wear. None of this two strap, one is always falling down my arm nonsense. ONE strap.

An outside pocket that I can plunge my hand in to for my lipstick and a pen. Two outside pockets would be better.

Adequate space inside for my iPad mini. When I purchased my original iPad, I had to up the size of my purse to accommodate it, but now I can downsize a bit for the mini. I still have a wallet and keys and a little bag with the essentials in it that I might need some time, although I rarely do.

Zip close. My purses tend to tip over and a zipper is nice to secure it all.

Did I mention ONE STRAP?

Why is this so hard?

Reuben Casserole

Each year for St. Patrick's, we have corned beef. That's usually the only time, although this year I found a way to use the leftovers that may guarantee a corned beef every quarter.

The Reuben Casserole in the Penzey's Spice Catalog was intriguing enough that I cut it out and stuck it in my recipe file.

We love Reuben sandwiches, so I thought it might be a hit with the spouse. However, as he looked at it, there was only skepticism on his face. He'd try it.

Three helpings later, the dish was empty.

Basically, you put sauerkraut in the bottom of the casserole. Top with chopped corned beef, spread mayo and 1000 Island dressing over (I made my own because I needed so little, but I used regular mayo and dill pickles), top with shredded Swiss cheese and toasted croutons and butter. Forty minutes in the oven and it's all over but the second helping.

Bon Appetit!