Merry Christmas, HO, HO, HO Christmas Season 2020
2020, what a year! Toilet paper shortage, who would have ever thought such a thing was possible? Store shelves have been empty in the past, milk, eggs, bread...during a winter storm, but toilet paper? The world is truly going crazy. This has been a year to remember for sure, especially in politics...but we won’t go there. I’ll just be glad to have it settled.
Our 2020 has been, shall we say, a year of expenditures. First the refrigerator in the basement quit working (not a big deal, it was old), but then the refrigerator upstairs quit also (the freeze side). So we were off to Best Buy (and other stores), looking for the best deal. While we were in Best Buy Cindy spotted a Kitchen Aid Mixer she’s been wanting, and it was “on sale”. But, and there is always a but, they didn’t have any (this was just before Christmas last year). Cindy just had to have it to make all the Christmas cookies. The salesman at the store told us the only one within 100 miles was at their store in Battle Creek, Michigan. (This is like 5pm) We looked at each other and said “Road Trip!” I told the salesman to call Battle Creek and put our name on it. I paid for it at the Fort Wayne store and off we went to Battle Creek. The mixer in hand, we headed for home, after a quick stop at a Pizza Hut. Once we got home, I ordered, online, a new fridge for the kitchen. The new fridge was delivered, the old one from the kitchen taken down to the basement, the old basement one hauled away. So...after cleaning the “new” basement fridge, it started working again...jeez, turns out I didn’t need a new one after all (except that the “old” basement one was toast). Oh well, Dad was right, the Geiger Zodiac Sign is the Turd. The rest of the winter went well. The holidays were pretty much the usual stuff, then the dreaded Covid 19 Apocalypse, and we all had to stay home for three weeks (didn’t think I would survive being locked in 24/7 with the wife for that long). That brings us to the next expenditure. We have a lot of gadgets around our house, including many things for the kitchen...all to make those delicious meals easier and faster, and OH so good. We have a gas stove (with a working oven), and two microwave ovens, one in the basement as a backup (a big one that will hold a 14lb turkey), and 2 NuWave air fryers (I guess it was a 2 for 1 sale, and you never know when you need a spare). What we didn’t have was an “Emeril Lagasse 360 XL Air fryer”, this gadget does it all. You can fry, deep fry, broil, bake, make toast, everything except mashed potatoes. Lord only know how we survived before without this miracle time saving, energy saving, healthy cooking, appliance in our home. But because of the dreaded Covid, we have to cook for ourselves, no more restaurants for the foreseeable future. Covid is going to get us all, but at least we won’t endure the ho-hum cooking, and so-so flavours of the past. With our new “Emeril Lagasse 360 XL” we will be in Heaven, food wise. To be fair, Cindy is a very great cook, Emril or not, and we all use this miracle machine a lot.
Well we survived the lookdown, and then summer came, and it was a HOT one. That brings us to the next big expenditure. Our main air conditioner finally gave up the ghost. It had been making a lot of noise lately, and I often wondered just how long it would last, and off to Lowe’s we went for a new 26,000 BTU air conditioner. With help, I got it installed, turned it on, and wait for it...it didn’t work. Now I’m just a little peeved (the Turd sign again). I called my grandson Chase, the electrician. He came over, checked it out and found out I only had 110 volts at the plug (suppose to be 220V). Another trip to Lowe’s, with Chase, to get what we needed to fix the problem. Okay, all better now and the AC is on. End result...there was probably nothing wrong with the old AC, Turd Sign again. Plus a new washing machine, ugh 😒
Time marched on, even in the heat of summer. Brian is doing well, now. He had to surgeries on his neck just before Christmas last year, spent almost a month is the hospital and rehab, practically had to learn to walk again. Still has a lot of pain, but it is in his lower back, and surgery is planned for February, if all goes well, and then back to the rehab people. Meanwhile, he’s holed up in his man cave down in the basement with his big TV, movies and video games. He pops up now and then to eat and play with the dogs. (Currently we have more dogs than children and grandchildren, and better behaved.) Daughter Sheri is doing dog 🐶 grooming at her home as a business. That will put her beautician experience to good use. Daughter Tracy is still living with us. That girl is a cleaning and organizing whirlwind. She has tackled the basement back to where I no longer need a map. I can see most of the floor now, and have started painting it. Now she has started on the upstairs, and the attic. In all her doings, she has found stuff I knew I had, just didn’t know where it was. (What do you do when you can’t find something? Go buy another one, once again it is a turd thing.) I took down our above ground pool a couple years ago, and finally this year we started putting all the bricks back. We don’t have a back yard, just this huge walled in brick patio. I had to re-lay about 1000 brick pavers, talk about a back breaking job. I’ll finish it next summer, but it looks nice now with it’s new water feature and fire pit, and lighted. Summer progressed. In March a cousin passed away in Michigan, but because of Covid, services were delayed till July. We had to travel to Graying, after some of the restrictions were lifted, to say our goodbyes. That is when the next 💲 lay-out happened. A New Car! You just can’t go to a funeral in last years model, everybody has seen you in that one (kinda like you ladies and your dresses, gotta have a new one for every new occasion, wouldn’t want to be seen in last year’s rag.) Truthfully it’s only new to us. I wanted a Corvette, but being practical, I settled for a shiny red Cadillac XTS. It’s sporty and goes fast.
For fun this year, Cindy, Brian and I made the usual trip to Manistee, and for an extra (men only) fun, Chase, Justin and I road-tripped (in the new Caddy), spelunking in southern Indiana and over to see the St. Louis Arch. Also, Grandson Chase just joined the Indiana National Guard, I couldn't be prouder.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Alan, Cindy, Tracy, Brain and the K9's
