kmkat and her kneedles

Ten on Tuesday, the American art edition.

Even though I have a BA in art history, I am not terribly familiar with American artists. European art from medieval through 19th century, Japanese art of the 16th through 19th century, and early Chinese art -- those I can handle. So my list may be pretty short. And consist of American artist that I know.

Ten Favorite American Artists.

 

1. Georgia O'Keefe. I'm sure she will appear on many lists. Because she was awesome.
   
   
   
   
   
2. George Segal. This artist has a personal appeal to me. Back in my college days I often visited the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. It was free and fun. One day I wandered into a gallery in an ::cough:: altered state of mind ::cough::. I thought there was someone else already there, and it made me self-conscious. Eventually I looked around and discovered that the other *person* was actually one of Segal's life-size white plaster human sculpture. I felt embarassed for a moment, then decided that if the measure of a piece of art was the strength of its effect on the viewer, then this was a masterpiece.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Edward Weston. Somewhere I have a book of his photographs. The pepper, below, was my introduction to him.
   
    
   
   
   
4. Edward Hopper. Another painter who will appear on many lists.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Chuck Close. It is not so much that I like his work as that one of his huge self-portraits also hung in the Walker back in the day, and it made an impression on me.
   
   
   
   
6. Mark Rothko. Another one that needs a little background. Back when Younger Son was in middle school he did color study in art class that reminded me of Rothko's work.
   
    
   
   
   
7. Alfred Steiglitz. Okay, he is not necessarily one of my favorites, although he did do wonderful work. But as I was perusing his photographs, the one below left caught my eye. Separated at birth?
   
    
   
   
   
   

Ten on Tuesday, the ice cream edition.

photo credit: Home Made Ice Cream via photopin (license)

My Ten Favorite Flavors Of Ice Cream.

1. Mint chocolate chip, aka peppermint bon bon, preferably in the slightly melted state shown below. Best is Blue Bunny.
   
   
   
   
2. Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk.
   
   
   
   
3. Häagen-Daz® Swiss Almond Vanilla.
   
   
   
   
4. Any ice cream that has swirls of fudge or hunks of chocolate. But not chocolate ice cream -- the chocolate flavor is not sufficiently intense. Ordinary chocolate is not enough; it must be fudgey.
   
   
   
5. Vanilla with a splash of amaretto or creme de menthe or Fra Angelico or even triple sec.

 

That's it. Don't bother me with your strawberry or your rocky road or your sherbet or your sorbet/gelato/ices. If it doesn't have my preferred intense chocolate or a liqueur, I'm not interested.

Ten on Tuesday, the summer bucket list edition.

Note: I do not intend to kick said bucket on Labor Day, so I may need to finish some of these things in September.

Ten Things On My Summer Bucket List.

 

1. Finish clearing the stuff off the tables outside my office.
2. Relocate one of the tables elsewhere in the house, where I will set up my 1970s vintage but new-to-me knitting machines.
3. Learn to use said machines.
4. Finish stenciling the house number (actually, in the country we use fire numbers as the house numbers) on our mailbox. Younger Son started this when he was in his stencil-everything-in-sight phase back in the early 00s, and I have intended to finish it every summer since. Maybe this will be the year.
5. Knit on the deck. Lots.
6. Finish one of the sooper seekrit Christmas projects I have started.
7. Go for many, many pontoon boat rides.
8. Visit Elder Son in Sioux Falls at least once.
9. Add plants to my garden; specifically, lilies of the valley (they spread, which is what I want), Virginia bluebells, columbines, other shade plants.
10. Have teenage helper create a nice edging on said garden.

 

Ten on Tuesday, the music edition. Caution: eclecticism ahead.

The First Ten Songs That Play In My Just Music iTunes Playlist.

1. Zoo Station / U2; 1991.
2. Let's Spend the Night Together / Rolling Stones; 1967.
3. The Song is Over / The Who*; 1971
4. In the Dark / Billy Squier; 1981.
5. You're the Star/ Rod Stewart; 1995
6. Come Together / Robin Williams & Bobby McFarren; 1998. 
7. Opiate from The Piano Tribute to Tool; 2005.
8. Marooned / Pink Floyd; 1994.
9. ujaheni / Soul Brothers; 2000. I bought this CD when we were in South Africa.
10. Liar, Liar / Castaways; 1965. It was used on Gilligan's Island once.

 

* Irony: on Saturday night Neil deGrasse Tyson tweeted from the Who concert in New Jersey. "Sitting here listening the 70-yo Roger Daltrey and 71-yo Pete Townsend singing, 'I hope I die before I get old." "

Ten on Tuesday, the holiday weekend edition.

Ten Things I Did Over The Memorial Day Weekend.

 

Saturday:

• Attended our lake association annual meeting.
• Clarified the "20 years of continuous use" part of WI law on adverse possesaion. (Don't ask.)
• Chatted on the phone for an hour with Elder Son. He is working labor and delivery this holiday weekend, and there was no one laboring. Smokey told him about a nurse he once worked with who had said that when she worked labor and delivery she got a lot of knitting done.
• Ate Italian sausage sandwiches.
• Swatched for two afghans I am planning.

Sunday:

• Got up at 9am. That is early for me. I generally wake up sometime between 8 and 9, but I seem to end up spending another hour or three in bed with my iPad. That day I forced myself to get up, let the dogs out, and get dressed. (This retirement gig is a bitch.) (Not.)
• Noticed I had only one link so far for Monday's knitting links post. Fixed same, although not by much.
• Watched several episodes of Criminal Minds on Netflix with Smokey and knitting.
• Waited for Younger Son to get here. (He arrived about 9pm.)

Monday:

• Had a delightful bacon and gf pancakes breakfast cooked by Smokey and Younger Son.
• Took a 2-hour nap.
• Watched Younger Son migrate the contents of my old computer to the new one.
• Enjoyed having iTunes play while I read email, etc.
• Watched a few more episodes of Criminal Minds.
• Cast off the afghan swatch.
• Returned to the brioche cowl.
• Thought about how easy it would be to weed the garden after the rain we had Sunday and Monday.
• Decided to wear my new plastic clogs when I do that.

All in all, a quiet and restful yet marginally productive weekend. Just the way I like 'em.

Ten on Tuesday, the anti-procrastination edition.

omg, I could write a book on this subject. In the interest of sanity, however, I shall confine myself to the quantity specified by Carole.

Ten Things I Need To Do And Stop Procrastinating. 

1. Clear my office. I have made many stabs at this and have succeeded numerous times in clearing sections of it. But the full office has never been tidy all at the same time.
   
   
2. Organize/store/dispose of the stuff we brought back from the Minneapolis rental house. It currently resides on two tables in the hall outside my office door. There will be more stuff coming soonish, and this crappe needs to be dealt with first.
   
   
3. Unpack that box of office supplies I brought home from work back in 2013, the last tax season before I retired. (Don't worry, these are not the kind of office supplies that are commonly stolen by employees; these are the things that were mine and that personalized my cube.)
   
   
4. Check around the house for things that can be donated to the humane society's annual garage sale that happens the first weekend in June.
   
   
5. Weed my bookshelf. Donate the excess books to our library Friends book sale that happens the last weekend in June.
   
   
6. Take that box of used toner cartridges to the recycling center.
   
   
7. Start walking for exercise, even if I can only walk for five minutes at a time.
   
   
8. Finish winding the stash yarn into center-pull cakes (more on this tomorrow). I am not procrastinating on this one. It is a pleasurable task, and it actually enhances procrastination on the other things on this list.
   
   
9. Review and update our wills with our attorney.
   
   
10. Put together a comprehensive list of stuff that the boys need to know when Smokey and I get hit by a bus tomorrow/next week/next year.

 

Ten on Tuesday, the delightful edition.

Ten Everyday Things That Delight Me.

1. The sound of peepers in the spring. I heard them on Saturday for the first time this year.
2. My morning latte.
3. The feel of yarn in my hands.
4. Rubbing my face in Hannibal The Fluffball Of Doom's fur.
5. When Misha The Formerly Fearful jumps on the bed and comes to have her head scratched.
6. My daffs are blooming! And the Siberian squill!
   
   
   
   
7. Hearing the loons on the lake. There was a pair transiting last Tuesday and making a lot of noise when I got home from the polls.
8. When Smokey says, "Is it time to play Boggle?"
9. Opening the sunroof on my car in summer. Feeling the heated car seat under my butt in winter. 

Ten on Tuesday, the sammie edition.

My Ten Favorite Sandwiches.

1. Hot pastrami on rye. No lettuce, no tomato, no mustard, no mayo, no cheese. Just the hot pastrami and the rye bread, please. The last couple years I was working, this, plus a generous scoop of the best potato salad on earth, was my lunch on most days. The Brothers Deli was in the same building, you see.
   
   
   
2. Ham on rye. Now you can add lettuce, tomato, cukes, maybe some Swiss cheese. Still no mayo nor mustard.
   
   
   
3. Roast beef on rye -- are we sensing a theme here? -- with a little horseradish. Lettuce, cukes, sprouts are okay, too.
   
   
   
4. Hot beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and lots of gravy, aka a commercial. Actually, this is probably my favorite of all time, but I didn't think of it until I saw this photo while looking for the roast beef sandwich. Smokey laughs when he sees this on a menu because he knows I will order it.
   
   
   
5. Turkey with a little mayo, sweet pickle relish, and salt&pepper. Any kind of good bread will do. And it has to be turkey left over from Thanksgiving or Christmas; the deli sliced turkey just won't do.
   
   
   
6. Italian sausage sub with sauce and peppers. I discovered these at Sammy D's in Dinkytown when I was in college.
   
   
   

That's it. I kinda got out of the sandwich habit while I was gluten-free. I have had some great sandwiches at various dining establishments over the years, but these are my faves.

Ten on Tuesday, the cheesy edition.

When I was a child, I did not like cheese (among a number of foods; I used to be a picky eater). That has changed somewhat.

Ten Favorite Kinds Of Cheese.

1. Vermont white cheddar. Years ago we were on a brief trip in New England and bought some Cabot  Crowley white cheddar. It was the beginning of love. We continued to order it by mail on and off for years.
   
   
   
2. Sharp cheddar.
   
   
   
3. Cojack. Melted atop a bed of corn chips. Mmm, nachos!
   
   
   
4. Bleu. I haven't been able to reliably find good bleu cheese around here. Yeah, this is the cheese state and all, but apparently Polk County is anti-bleu cheese.
   
   
   
5. String cheese. Nice little snack.
   
   
   
6. Feta. Crumbled in a tossed green salad. Cubed in a Greek salad. Feta is a staple in my fridge.
   
   
   
7. Pepper jack. Melted on a sandwich, mmm.
   
   
   

There are other delightful cheeses to be consumed on occasion -- mozzarella, provolone, brie, camembert, gouda, edam, etc. -- but I am still not a cheese fanatic.

Ten on Tuesday, the pot of gold edition.

Carole has given us a fun challenge this week: what would we buy if we found a pot of gold. She didn't specify exactly how big the pot was, or what the price of gold was when we found it, so I am going to assume the pot is essentially bottomless and the price of gold is whatever I want it to be. Hey, this is my imaginary pot of gold, right?

photo credit: bob really pissed off the leprechauns via photopin (license)

Ten Things I Would Buy If I Found A Pot Of Gold.

1. A new brain for my husband. Or maybe a bit more common sense. More on that later in the week.
2. A new car. Don't know exactly what kind, but it would be a wagon, have all-wheel drive, have every bell and whistle ever put into a car (heated seats, fabulous stereo with Bluetooth connectivity, climate control, and probably a lot of other things that were invented in the last 19 years since I bought my last brand-new car), and be rated a Best Buy by Consumer Reports.
3. A new iMac, also loaded with every bell and whistle available.
4. Finish the remodel of this house. This would probably include some new furniture, too.
5. Pay someone to do any pre-sale fixing up at the Minneapolis house. And sell it post-haste.
6. Have my cleaning lady come 1-2 times/week instead of every 3 weeks.

Okay, now I am running out of things I want that money can buy. So I would probably start donating. Oh, yeah, I'd buy the new library that we we have been raising money for. After that I would have the fun of giving money away. 

 

Ten on Tuesday, the anticipation edition.

Ten Things I Am Looking Forward To Right Now.

1. Going to visit Elder Son at the end of the month.
2. Teaching his three little neighbor girls how to knit. Got a couple skeins of bulky yarn and US#10 circs for each of them. Gonna wind the skeins into cakes and do the cast ons and a few rows ahead of time for each one. Then they are gonna learn garter stitch.
3. Knitting the Gradient cowl kit (or scarf; haven't decided yet) I got from Churchmouse Yarns & Teas.
4. Blogging about the three (3!) new pairs of socks I knit.
5. Getting a new dishwasher because ours broke this weekend and Smokey cannot fix it and we are reduced to this.
6. The next snowfall, which will cover the dogs' leavings on the deck.
7. The days getting longer. Someday there will be twelve hours of light. And there will be great rejoicing.
8. Seeing whether the daffodil bulbs in my garden survived the septic tank digging and repairs, which involved digging great holes in the garden.
9. Putting out bird feeders in the spring and luring back all the birds we used to have.
10. Seeing the spring kittens emerge.

 

 

Ten on Tuesday, the Valentine week edition.

Carole asks, What do I love? Here we go. You may take as given that I love Smokey and Matthew (Younger Son) and Andrew (Elder Son) and Lucy The Intrepid (Senior Dog) and Misha The Shy (Junior Dog) and Hannibal The Fluffball Of Doom and En Esch The Stoopid.

 

Ten A Whole Bunch of Things I Love.

1. I love computers. Really, all things electronic -- tablets, smartphones, smart TVs, remote controls, tiny beepers, all of it.
   
   
2. I love flowers. Especially the ones that smell good, like lilacs and lilies of the valley and old roses and stargazer lilies.
   
   
3. I love where I live, which includes the lake and the birds and the deer and the rabbits and the raccoons and the bears and the porcupines and the otter(s) and the fox(es) and the butterflies and the bees. I even kinda like the skunks. I do not love the mosquitoes or deerflies.
   
   
4. I love the feel of yarn and the contentment that comes of knitting it.
   
   
5. I love putting on handmade socks.
   
   
6. I love rummaging through the stash and the ideas that come of it.
   
   
7. I love burying my face in Hannibal's fluffy, silky fur.
   
   
8. I love hearing, Hey, mom! when I answer the telephone.
   
   
9. I love reading in my adjustable bed every night before I go to sleep.
   
   
10. I love playing computer word games with Smokey.
    
    
11. I love knitting while watching TV in the evening with Smokey.
    
    
12. I love a glass of wine in the evening, perhaps accompanied by chocolate or cheese.
    
    
13. I love the sound of spring peepers when they emerge from their winter hideaways.
    
    
14. I love being able to open the sunroof on my car on a warmish winter day (like yesterday).
    
    
15. I love the heated seats in my car.
    
    
16. I love my car.
    
    

Ten on Tuesday, the guilty pleasure edition.

Recently I read somewhere that the term "guilty pleasure" should be banned, mainly because if something gives one pleasure there should be no guilt involved. Or something like that. In any case, I think we all know exactly what is meant by the phrase. Here are mine.

My Ten Guilty Pleasures.

1. George Thorogood and the [Delaware] Destroyers.
2. Bedtime snacks. I would probably lose ten pounds if I could cut these out, but... A couple glasses of wine, crackers, cheese, olives, nuts, whatever (not all at once, though).
3. Taking the long and/or slow way home so that I can listen to more of my audiobook, when I really should get home more quickly because I need to [whatever task I am avoiding].

Hmmm. I can think of lots of other things that give me pleasure -- no snickering in the peanut gallery! -- but none of them cause guilt. Yay for guilt-free living!

 

Ten on Tuesday, the snowshoe edition.

Ten Types Of Footwear I Own*.

Clogs:

 

 

 

Rain & slush shoes:

 

Winter boots:

 

Snow boots:

 

Sandals:

Sneakers.

 

Crocs:

In the past I have also had ice skates, rubber beach shoes, ski boots, and snowshoes. That was then, this is now.

* In the order of wearing frequency. As you might surmise, I totally go for comfort and utility. Style is a poor second. 

Ten on Tuesday, the HAPPY! edition.

What a great topic Carole has given us today -- if we think about what makes us happy, it makes us happy! How can we lose?

Ten Things I Am Happy About Right Now.

1. It is winter and I am wearing handknits every day. 
   
   This is last winter. We don't have quite this much snow. Yet.
   
   
2. There is a lot of winter left and I mean to take advantage of it with the handknits. Yeah, I may be weird but I am liking winter this year. The forecast for warmer temps makes me sad :-(
   
   Next Sunday is starting to look good, though.
   
   
3. I finished a pair of fingerless gloves for Tamar. (I'll take them to the post office today, Tamar!)
   
   
   
4. Smokey bought me a largish container of fresh blueberries last week, and I am having blueberries in my oatmeal every morning.
   Blueberries in cooked or baked goods are my favorite.
   
   
5. There is leftover lentil stew for lunch. Yay, leftovers!
   
   Not mine. The black beans in mine colored everything dark.                       photo credit: anthimeria via photopin cc
   
   
6. I only have two more pairs of promised fingerless gloves to knit.
   
   Tamar's will be #7. #s 8 & 9 and I'm done!
   
   
7. My laundry/craft room is organized!
     
                            Before.                                                                              After!
   
   
8. Yesterday Younger Son helped my fix my Dropbox so it syncs again. All those green check marks make me happy!
   
   
   
9. I got a new iPad Air last week! It replaces the one that caught on fire last summer.
   
                                                                                                          photo credit: 에누리 블로그: 약간만 다른 세상 via photopin cc
   
   
10. I have several knit projects all lined up with yarn and pattern in a bag. ready to go.
    
    Now I just need to finish some WIPSs.

Ten on Tuesday, the winter fun edition.

Ten Twenty Things To Do To Make Winter Bearable.

1. Knit something warm and wooly to wear the next time you go out.
2. Knit something for summer. It will come...eventually.
3. Toss and sort the stash. You will find inspiration.
4. Read an engrossing book, be it a mystery novel, a romance novel, a historical suspense romance novel, whatever. The main thing is that it be totally engrossing.
5. Cook up a pot of soup and bake some bread -- yeast or quick or muffins or scones -- to go with it. The house will smell amazing for hours. 
6. Cook up something in the slow cooker. The house will smell amazing for hours.
7. Eat spicy food to warm up your life.
8. Build a fire in the fireplace to enjoy while doing any of the above.
9. Fill squirt bottles with water tinted with food coloring. Use them to draw pictures in the snow.
10. Blow soap bubbles outside when the temp is below freezing -- the further below, the better.
11. Invite the neighbors over to enjoy any of the above, as appropriate.
12. Go for a walk in a park or the woods or along a county lane after (or during) a snowfall. Dress a bit more warmly than absolutely necessary; you can shed your hat or your gloves or unzip your jacket if necessary, but if you are cold it won't be any fun. Take your camera along, keep it inside your jacket to stay warm until you need it. Outdoors is beautiful after a snowfall.
13. Dig out your ice skates and re-learn how to skate backwards.
14. Rent some skis, cross-country or downhill, and explore a golf course or park in winter.
15. Take your sweetie (and kids, if you want) for a weekend getaway. Go somewhere with an indoor pool.
16. Take a MOOC (massive online open course). Learn about something new.
17. Volunteer to listen to early readers read aloud at a local school. Early readers need all the encouragement they can get.
18. Do a[n anonymous] random act of kindness. Stand back and watch the results. Feel warm inside.
19. Read seed catalogs. Plan a garden. Plant some seeds now in a pot on a sunny windowsill -- basils and mints grow quickly.
20. Treat yourself to some lovely scented bath salts and/or lotions. Pamper yourself for an evening (or a day or a weekend -- whatever).

Ten on Tuesday, the intentional edition.

Like most of us, I am mostly crap at following through on the traditional New Year's resolutions. The only one I have come even close to following was the one of January, 2013, wherein I went on a yarn fast. In the following twelve-plus months, I impulsively bought one skein of laceweight, a couple skeins of DK merino for a gift, and a skein of sock yarn that was practically free because it got me over the free shipping threshhold. (Yes, I can rationalize with the best of them.) I have slipped from the "fast" to a more of a "starvation diet" on yarn purchases, and am knitting down my stash slowly but surely. Will I knit the last of it before I slip away to knitter's heaven, that place where yarn never tangles, the patterns are always clearly written, and coffee and tea and adult beverages are only an arm's-length away? And an infinite number of good things to watch on Netflix? Time will tell. for now, I am knitting as fast as I can.

Anyway.

A year is really too long for me to think about carrying through on a single intention, but I seem to have started the year with one without any premeditation; I shall endeavor to carry on with it as long as possible.

I shall clear the decks.

On the weekend between Christmas and New Year's, I organized my laundry/craft room. Although the impetus was to find a place to put a possible knitting machine*, the endeavor was a lovely way to start the new year. It deserves a post of its own, so no more here.

Organizing that room gave me the bump to finish a couple of long-neglected projects, each of which also deserves its own post. Considering that neither one took even an hour to finish, I felt considerable self-loathing at how long they had sat.

The next step is to organize my office, something that has haunted me, literally, for years. As Smokey put it, Your office is scary. But it will happen, a little bit at a time.

I have some other parallel goals for the year: step back from some volunteer activities in order to have more time for myself (and accomplish my other goals), clean up various little rat's-nests of clutter around the house, see our attorney to update our wills, get a living will and/or health directive written and distributed, get my paperwork in order. (In case you are wondering, no, neither of us is in imminent danger of dying, but it is so much easier to take care of these things when one is healthy.)

Well, there you have it: my intention for 2015. Clear the decks. Organize the hell out of my living space. Clear the clutter. Dispense with the unnecessary. Eliminate the unneeded. All of this meshes with our newish, retired status. Deal with this crap so our kids don't have to.

 

* Not gonna happen. No place for it, plus my iPad barely works (new one on order) and my computer is dying; those item are far more important to me than a  possible knitting machine.

 

Ten on Tuesday, the best of 2014 book edition.

Like many of us, I am a devoted reader. Mysteries and thrillers are my favorite, but I dabble in almost anything. Nonfiction is generally consumed via audiobooks. Biographies are my favorite nonfiction, although I just realized I haven't read nor listened to any of those for several years. I liked science fiction in my teens and early twenties and have read several in that genre this year. Since the early 2000s I have kept a list of the books I read and the books I didn't finish; that last list gets longer every year -- so many books, so little time.

My Ten Favorite Books of 2014 in Reverse Chronological Order.

1. Blackout and All Clear / Connie Willis. Sci-fi/alternative history. The author started out to write one book, but it got so long the publisher divided it into two (which clocked in at 491 and 641 pages, respectively; good decision, publisher). Willis has several other books based on this same premise: in 2060-ish Oxford, post-grad historians are required to time travel back to their particular period of specialization. These two books feature historians going back to the London Blitz, 1940. Lots of good characterization and action and history. I don't generally care for historical fiction, who knows why, nor conventional sci-fi, too much effort involved in understanding the world the author has created, but I enjoyed these two tremendously.
2. Still Alice / Lisa Genova. My pick for book club. A novel written by a neuroscientist about a woman, a 50-yo Harvard professor, with early-onset Alzheimer's. The book was uncanny in the way it put the reader inside the head of the title character; every time I had to put it down -- to visit the bathroom, to make dinner, to check my email -- I felt for the first few seconds as though I had Alzheimer's.  This author has a couple other novels dealing with brain disfunction that I want to read.
3. Sparrow / Mary Doria Russell. Huh, another sort-of sci-fi, sort-of time travel book. As I said, I have been dipping back into this genre in 2014. This one is a little heavy on the spiritual for me -- several of the main characters are priests -- but still it was a gripping story.
4. Wave / Sonali Deraniyagala. Nonfiction. The author, a economist, and her family -- husband (also an economist), two children, parents -- were vacationing on the southern beaches of Sri Lanka at Christmas, 2004, when the tsunami hit. She lost everyone she loved. The book follows her through the aftermath of grieving -- shock, age, shame, depression, and eventual resolution. The book is short but powerful.
5. The Children Act / Ian McEwan. McEwan is one of the few authors that I will read everything they write. (Jane Smiley, John Sandford, Tana French, and Kate Atkinson are the others.) A female London judge must rule on a case where a 17-yo boy, backed by his family, refuse a life-saving blood transfusion for religious reasons. Rich characters, disturbing choices.
6. Lock In / John Scalzi.  Oh, jeeze, another sci-fi? Yep, I really did get into that genre in 2014. The audiobook was narrated by Wil Wheaton. Note: I follow Scalzi and Wheaton on Twitter; they are both intelligent and funny and self-deprecating and entertaining.
7. Flash Boys : A Wall Street Revolt / Michael Lewis. Nonfiction. Lewis is another author I like. He writes mostly about the disgusting things that go on on Wall Street and in the financial community at large. Because of my background in brokerage and tax accounting, I find this wildly interesting. YMMV.
8. Until Tuesday : A Wounded Warrior and the Dog Who Saved Him / Luis Montalban. Nonfiction; memoir. I originally read this book because it was about a dog, but it turned out to be at least as much about dealing with the VA and the aftermath of war injuries, both mental and physical. I gave Smokey my library copy to read because I knew both subjects would be of great interest to him, but eventually I had to return it unread. I found a used copy online, and he took it with him to the hospital to read during his stay. But circumstances intervened and he didn't read it until recently. He was enjoying it so much that I went on Amazon and found a second book by that author about his and his dog's adventures, intending to give it to Smokey for Christmas. Imagine my surprise and dismay when I opened the Amazon box and found that it was a children's book. "Age: 4 - 8; Grade level: Kindergarten - 3." Still, I gave it to him and we had a chuckle over my tendency not to read the fine print. (He still enjoyed the book.)
9. The House of God : The Classic Novel of Life and Death in an American Hospital/ Samuel Shem. Elder Son was reading this when he came home for Christmas last year, his last year of medical school. Apparently, this is a book that every med student and intern and resident reads at some time because it is an irreverent and largely authentic novel about residency and the lunacy that [we can hope that only] sometimes prevails. He thought I would find it appalling; in fact, I loved it.
10. The Man in the Window / Jon Cohen. This novel was recommended by none less than Nancy Pearl, the legendary Seattle librarian. Simultaneously tongue-in-cheek and warmly humorous, it was a completely enjoyable read. 

Ten on Tuesday, the Christmas to-do list edition.

Ten Things On My To Do Before Christmas List.

1. Make cheese ball.
2. Defrost ham for Christmas Day.
3. Wrap presents.
4. Buy ingredients for enchiladas for Christmas Eve. Done yesterday.
5. Put Christmas tablecloth on dining room table.
6. Bake pumpkin  pie(s).
7. Pick up some cans of whipped cream for the pies.
8. Plug in the tree and make sure the lights work. Done right after Thanksgiving.
9. Buy wreath for front door. Gave up on this one because I couldn't find the wreath hanger.
10. Finish Christmas letter. Done last Monday.
11. Email Christmas letters. Done Friday and Saturday. 
12. Snail mail Christmas letters. Done Sunday night.
13. Clean Elder Son's room. Cleaning lady comes today.
14. Stock the beverage refrigerator with Leinie's Creamy Dark, Elder Son's beer of choice.

As I may have mentioned, I don't do much in the way of Christmas baking or decorating any more. Our tree has stood fully decorated but unplugged in a highly visible but little used part of the house for several years. The Christmas letter, a wreath for the door, and celebratory food for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day -- I'm done.

When I think about what I used to do it makes me tired. One year I threaded lights through a wreath and a 16' swag for the front entrance. I would set up a Christmas village on the piano or the mantel. Hang the hand-knit Christmas stockings. Buy a real tree and decorate it. Take down the clock in the dining room and hang the two framed needlepoint nutcrackers I made. Electric candles in all the windows. Hang the red and green stained glass suncatcher in the window. Hang mistletoe in the entrance. Get out the Swedish angel chimes. Sheesh, I think I need to go lie down now.

Ten on Tuesday, the Christmas letter edition.

This week's topic is sooo easy, since we just finished drafting our Christmas letter. The 2014 letter is in the form of a newsletter and I will give you its ten headlines, plus the paragraph about each one. It's like we knew this ToT post was coming!

Ten Headlines In Our 2014 Christmas Letter.

1. Beloved Dog Saved by Her Tail.
   

   Last spring we took our two dogs with us on an extended road trip (see below for more details on the trip). When we got home we let the dogs run free, to erase from their doggy brains the memories of motel rooms, kennels, and hours trapped in the van. Normally, the dogs come back within an hour when let out for a runaround, but this time, Lucy, the 14-year-old, was missing for more than a day. We searched and called without success. While posting Lost Dog signs on the second day, Smokey caught a glimpse of something white moving in the woods. He thought it might be a plastic bag, but upon investigation, he found it to be Lucy’s tail. That tail was the only part of her visible outside the brush pile into which she had, most likely, chased a rabbit. Wagging her tail saved her life. We dismantled the pile, carried Lucy on a blanket to our nearby car, and rushed her to the vet. She was too stiff to walk, and her eyes and mouth were packed with dirt and leaf litter, but within a day she had largely recovered. We cautioned her about the dangers of chasing critters into brush piles – according to a neighbor, that brush pile was full of rabbits – and she promised to be more careful in the future.
    

2. Local Wife Tries on Widowhood for Size.
   

   In March Smokey went for a total knee replacement at Fairview Medical Center in Wyoming, MN. For an unknown reason, the spinal anesthetic stopped his heart for eight minutes before the surgery had even started. Kathy heard Code Blue in operating room 1! a couple times on the hospital PA but kept telling herself that that announcement could not possibly have anything to do with her. When two of the nursing staff approached her with solemn faces, she realized differently. The good news, however, was that his heart had already been restarted and it was beating normally on its own. (For the curious among you, he saw no white lights, no tunnels, no departed relatives, nor his life flash before his eyes.) He simply woke up a few days later in the U of M hospital ICU in Minneapolis a bit dazed from all the medications and  treatments he had been given, including the medically induced coma. The heart stoppage was not a heart attack – his heart just stopped beating, no clots, no damage, no fibrillations – and he only missed four days of work despite having a cracked sternum and several broken ribs from the (perfectly administered and completely successful) CPR. Since he has always been kind of an idiot, it’s hard to tell if there was any brain damage.
   
   

3. Lifelong Student Pounds the Pavement Looking for Work.
   

   At age 29, Andrew graduated from medical school, plus earned a master’s degree in public health. You may now call him Dr. Jensen, although he does still respond to Andrew. That road trip we mentioned earlier was to observe the graduation ceremonies in Ann Arbor for the MPH and in New York for the MD. The latter graduation was held at Lincoln Center. He is currently doing his residency in family medicine in Sioux Falls, SD. (Remember how we told you last year all the best family medicine programs were in smaller cities?) After living in student housing and apartments for more than ten years he happily bought a vintage-1900, two-bedroom house not far from the hospital. Before his offer for the house was even accepted, he had rescued Moose, a very friendly and energetic 105-pound adult Rottweiler/golden retriever cross, from the local humane society. Andrew likes his job, he likes his house, and he really likes his dog.
   
   

4. Long-time Mental Health Professional Calls It Quits After 25 Years.
   
   In July Smokey completed 25 years as a psychiatric nurse with the Fairview - University of Minnesota Medical Center. He received a fishing rod/reel and a special pin to wear on his ID badge. Two weeks later he gave notice for retirement and two weeks after that he was gone. Former co-workers report the hospital is doing just fine without him. He is happy to say that he is getting around to projects long overdue, including getting rid of six cars since retirement. 
   
   ::sound of wifely clapping::
   
   
   
5. New Car Qualifies for Collector Plates.
   
   Smokey was delighted to find a new-to-him car to drive for winter, a 1993 Isuzu Trooper. His summer car has been a 10+ year-old Chrysler convertible; it was a little chilly in the winter. Since the Trooper is more than 20 years old it qualifies for collector plates, although because it will be his daily transport it requires regular plates. The Trooper is a four-wheel drive SUV with standard transmission, no air conditioning, no power locks or windows or mirrors, and it can only be shifted into 4WD when the vehicle is fully stopped. He loves that old school ambience. For the first time ever, Kathy and Smokey each have a four-wheel drive car. The boys wish that had been so when they lived at home and had to push our cars up the icy hill that is our driveway. Sorry, boys, it is a Jensen family tradition: when your father went to college your grandparents bought a dishwasher, a snow blower, and power lawnmower. 
   
   
   
6. The New Guy.
   

   After six years at the video post-production firm, Matthew changed jobs near the end of last year; he now works as a technical services representative at a small company that designs, builds, and installs computer storage networks. He has flown around the country to install and maintain clients’ systems, plus working with them via telephone, Skype, and e-mail. His phone and laptop are never far from his grasp, even when he is hanging out here at the lake. So far his travels have taken him to Los Angeles, San Jose, Las Vegas, Denver, San Antonio, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Williamsburg, Greenville (SC), and most recently, Oklahoma City. He has developed relationships with other technicians in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Russia, and China. In October he vacationed in Berlin for a week, staying with a technician friend there. He is having a great time and actually makes enough money to pay the bills with a bit of cash left over – a neat trick in today’s economy. After a year he is no longer the new guy; he is the one who trains the new guys. 
    
   
   
   

7. "80 Is Not Old. It Is Not Even 100."
   

   Smokey’s grandfather spoke these words on his eightieth birthday back in the 1960s. So when Smokey and Kathy reached their fortieth wedding anniversary on October 19, there was no weekend in Paris nor vacation at Club Med nor purchase of ruby jewelry. Like the Scandinavians they are, they just looked at each other and said, “Whew, 40 years is quite a while, isn’t it?” Then some friends took them for a nice breakfast.
   
   

8. Incombent Supervisor Loses Re-election By Seven Votes.
   

   Kathy ran for her fourth term as county supervisor last April, but because of redistricting and because she was caring for her late husband, she couldn’t knock on enough doors to get re-elected. No matter, she is immersed in community activities serving on boards and committees while doing volunteer work and fundraising for several of them, not to mention knitting up a storm every evening.
    
   
   

9. Help Make It a Merry Christmas for Everybody!
   Remember those that are less fortunate than you -- the single parents, the homeless, the mentally ill, those who can’t find a job with a living wage, the disabled, the ex-cons, the abused children, the addicts (except Brian, the alcoholic who got kicked out of Matthew’s apartment building for being such a dufus), and all the others that need a helping hand.
   
   
   
   
   
10.  And, most importantly, have a merry Christmas yourselves!

Kathy & Smokey