More breakfast out

Breakfast out AGAIN, can we take all this?  We went to Panera's today.  Then we went to the bank, Aldi's and Walmart.  We got sandwiches at dinner time from Arby's.

Brenda came over in the evening with some stuff for her dad to put on ebay.

Little Six

We went to breakfast at Little Six Casino which is across town.  We used to go there often when we camped nearby at Dakotah Meadows.  They get my prize for the best French Toast and they have good thick bacon as well.  We went that way today to get our propane tank filled where we used to go in that area.  

We fixed some cod for dinner and stayed home for once!

Heat and IKEA

Yesterday turned out to be record breaking heat.  Glad we have air conditioning.  Today the heat was climbing but then a thunderstorm came along.  I could hear thunder for awhile, but thought it was the garbage truck!  Then exactly at 2PM there was a window rattling clap of thunder!  It rained on and off all afternoon and evening which included much thunder.

We went to IKEA again this morning.  Started with breakfast and then relooked at the things we want to buy and got the codes.  Next week we will have them trucked to our house.

Yesterday's heat----

Memorial Day

Memorial Day today.  In my childhood it was a time to honor all the deceased but now it seems to be a day to honor the fallen military.  Our family would go to Hulett, WY for a family picnic at my Aunt's house.  In the afternoon the kids would find someone to drive them to Devil's Tower so we could walk around it which also involved climbing on the rocks.   On the way to Hulett we would stop at a two cemeteries and put flowers picked from our homes on the graves of relatives.  It was a good day of old memories and making new ones!

Today Memorial Day seems to mean a day off work to camp, boat, etc.  I see all sorts of flowers and plants at a nearby cemetery.  I hate the artificial ones - I would rather have one dandelion than a bunch of plastic flowers!  A friend has told me that at the National Cemetery people steal plants from the graves - I hope karma finds them.

It is another hot day, no rain.  Can't remember a nicer Memorial Day weekend.  We have been rained out of campgrounds more than once on this weekend.

We got together with our daughters in the evening.

  

Hot again

We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, didn't have any shopping to do for once.  We came home and started to read the Sunday newspapers on the deck but it soon got too hot and humid so we moved inside.

Clouds moved in so we thought that it is not getting near 100 degrees as predicted but the clouds cleared and it got into the upper 90's!

We grilled some pork chops for dinner and also had corn-on-the-cob.


Plants on our deck, just getting a start!

Heat

Nice morning, we sat on the deck for the first time this year and read the newspapers.  I was in the sun about 5 minutes before I felt like my lily white skin was burning.  Moved to the shady part.  Need to get some tan!

We did stuff around the house and then went to Panera for dinner.  It was a hot day in the 90's, was good to stay in the air conditioning - we are not accustomed to such heat!

View from our deck---

More shopping

Ate breakfast at home for a change and then went out.  I still had $10 free money to spend at Kohl's and found a couple things on the clearance rack.l  Then we went to HyVee and got plenty of groceries.  We got a huge watermelon, not sure how we are going to eat all that!

We has some storms go thru last night making today very humid, had the air conditioner on most of the day.  We picked up "Wraps" for dinner at Chick-fil-a.

Sounds like we will have great weather for the long weekend, it usually is nasty.

More breakfast out, more Kohl's

Ate breakfast at Panera today.  Then I went to Kohl's in Eagan.  Didn't find much, could see why their clearance stuff was on clearance.  After that we dropped off a lot of stuff at a charity place that resales it for their operating money.   Then to Walmart for a couple of things.

Hot day, got to about 90 degrees and it is humid.  Our house stays cool but we have to run the air conditioner to take out the humidity.  Got some pizza for dinner.  We had a rain storm in the evening with a lot of lightning.

Clinic

Today I had my annual physical.  It had been a year since I'd been in the clinic and so I was surprised to see that it had been completely remodeled inside.  The registration was by the door rather than across the room and even the exam rooms were redone as well as the lab.

I had been told not to eat because of the lab work so after my appointment we went to Perkin's - I was hungry for their potato pancakes and they were good as always.  Then we went to Menards (second time this week) and Target.  We wanted to pick up some soda pop from Target that is on sale but the shelves were almost empty so will go back another time.

IKEA and Rhubarb

Today we went to IKEA.  Breakfast first of course, who can resist a $2 breakfast with scrambled eggs, sausage, potatoes and a Swedish pancake.  For once we were doing some serious shopping.  We found dinning room chairs we like, a display case and computer table.  Now we are on the "thinking about it mode" before we purchase.

We walked the entire big store and decided it was lunch time, after all they had a salmon dinner for $4.99.  We were ready for a nap when we got home.

I made rhubarb crisp with the rhubarb my daughter brought me on Sunday.  That took all my leftover energy, but it tasted great!

Darn squirrels

Cleaned the house again today.  I undertook cleaning the TV screen and just made it worse.  There were fingerprints,etc. on it from it being moved.  We finally got out some electronic cleaning wipes and that got rid of most of the streaks I had made.  Need to buy some electronic cleaning spray.

Some bad squirrel got into by new plant by the front door.  We got the plant fixed up and am going to get a gun - not really, but might get some spray that repels animals.  Or borrow my daughters dog, who has a reputation for chasing squirrels.

Sunday

Went out for breakfast as usual, then to Menards.  I got two pots of flowers, one for the front door and one for the deck. 

In the afternoon our daughters came over for a visit.  We grilled chops for dinner.

Trees by our house:

Flowers

We watched some of the Royal Wedding.  We had taped it so it was well done by the time we watched.  Then we went to Menards and Home Depot.  We picked up some plants at Home Depot.  I planted the planters on the deck railing later in the afternoon.  Each has one pepper plant and one sweet potato vine and then some impatiens and moss roses.  Hope they all grow and the planters look nice this summer.

It was cold out, had to dig out a sweatshirt.

Contractor and dinner

The contractor came this morning to do the small things we found to complete the water damage project.  He told us of some of the problems they ran into, interesting.  The still did a good job!  Afterward we went to HyVee for groceries.

In the evening we went to Friday's for dinner.  The have a good rib special going.  Then we made a tour of the campground where we used to stay. 


From a Native American friend:

Doctor and shopping

Don's annual physical was today, I decided to go along with him as his doctor is on the other side of the suburbs and I wanted to do go to Kohl's over there.  (I had previously visited the nearby Kohl's and depleted their inventory of the t-shirts I like.)  I did find some more of the shirts and three shirts on the super sale rack, two for winter.  I also got Don a couple shirts.  Good shopping!

We tried out the air conditioner in the new car as it is a hot day.  Worked fine!

Turkey and chairs

A good stay at home day and get stuff done.  I'm still working on getting my new cell phone set up like I want but about finished.  Left the hard stuff to last!

It's a beautiful day, trees are blooming!  We went to Baker's Square for dinner, today is their free pie with dinner day.  We haven't done this in a couple years so about time!  Our dinner was exceptionally good - turkey, dressing, cranberries and two sides of our choosing which we chose grilled vegetables and fresh fruit.   There was a choice of the regular size of meal or a smaller size, we chose the smaller size and there was plenty to eat.  We took our pie home, Don chose triple berry and I had the decadent chocolate peanut butter pie. 

After dinner we went to Target to look at chairs for our deck and got a two.  Only problem was getting them in our car as they are not collapsible.  Finally, we just put them in the trunk best possible and drove slowly home with half the chairs hanging out.  Good thing Target is only a few blocks from home.

Maybe we should get this outfit for one of the many squirrels in our yard!

Shopping

Off to Panera for breakfast.  Getting so we see a lot of the same people!  Then we went to Walmart for a few things and to also look at chairs for our deck.  Hard to decide - we want something that is sturdy, can take the weather, easy to move into the garage for the winter, comfortable and not too expensive.  I also looked at plants, this was just my pre-look before I start buying!

Came home and made phone calls, texts trying to get the house repair job finalized at last.  Time to draw the line and get it done.  I think I actually made some progress!

We grilled brats for dinner.

Monday again

What a messy house we discovered when we got up today.  Probably because I haven't put stuff away for awhile.  So we cleaned house, washed clothes, etc.  Done for the week, will be a new mess next Monday.

It was a cool evening so we decided French Toast sounded good for dinner.  I continued to try to set up our new phones and sign into everything.  What a job.



 

Mother's Day

We went to breakfast with our daughters and family.  Good food but an even better time visiting!  They gave me many fine gifts which I love, but not as much as I love them.

New Cell Phones!!!!

We decided we needed to get something done about our cell phone situation.  Our old phones are truly about to die.  So we went to a different Sprint store, there we got a young man who seemed forthcoming and answered our questions in a clear, concise manner.  We were impressed with what Sprint had to offer and signed up.  Our total bill - unlimited usage, two new, top of the line phones with damage protection is less than our old bill for very limited useage, no phones, etc.  We would still have to buy new phones at full price. 

We also got our insurance bill for our new car for two months until the whole bill is due.  We were almost afraid to open the bill but it was just for 89 cents!  Now we think something is wrong.

Cold day

Today was my mammogram appointment at 11AM.  We managed to get groceries and get them home before I had to leave.  Afterwards I went to Kohl's with my 30% off coupon.  I did a fair amount of damage to their inventory!  We then went across the street to Sam's Club for pizza for lunch.  My veggie pizza was very good!

It is down right cold outside.  Highs in the 40's with a wind.  I thought spring was finally here.

Long day!

What a day!  We had to take our new car to Edina for undercoating, overcoating and innercoating!?!  We got into rush hour traffic so it took us about an hour to get there.  They loaned us a car, a fairly new SUV.  We then went to south again to have breakfast, was about 10 AM when we were eating, hadn't had any coffee either so I had a headache.  There was a Sprint Cell Phone store next door so we decided to see what they had for a price.  The man seemed like a carnival barker, talked fast, hard to pin down no matter how hard I tried.  Bottom line it looked like a better deal than what we have with Verizon.  (Later I started checking around and found people have trouble with the Sprint billing and it is hard to get them to change the bill to what it they should be charging.)  Then we went to the Verizon store, they said we were on their best plan, nothing they wanted to negotiate.  From there we went to Best Buy.  We got a different Sprint story but still looks like it is less expensive.  We need two new phones so that plays into the whole picture.  Don't know where to go.

We decided to go home for awhile as the car wouldn't be ready until late afternoon.  We suddenly realized we didn't have a garage door opener and the front storm door was probably locked which has no key.  It took me a few minutes to realize that I can now open the garage door with my cell phone so all was good.  We finally got the car about 5 PM and decided to eat at QCumbers which is in the area of the car place.  We hadn't eaten there for a long time.  It is a salad bar plus.  Food was good and fresh.

It had been a long day!

Dark

We went to Panera for bagels again today.  Then to a place that buys returns and stuff stores can't sell.  It was a huge place, but nothing we wanted.  Prices were not that great either.  Then to Menards where we did find some things.  Finally to Aldi's for a few groceries and McDonalds for lunch.

The day started out nice but turned to rain by mid morning and stayed dark and wet the rest of the day.  We even had to turn the furnace on to take the chill out.  It was good to stay home for dinner.

Taco Tuesday

Looked like rain all morning, warm and very humid.

We got our hair cut,  mine was a mess.  Then off to the liquor store for some liquor and wine.  Now we are stocked up again!

Took advantage of it being Taco Tuesday!

Day after Sunday

Eek, house cleaning day.  It is a job but good to get it done all on one day so we can do what we want (or have to do) the rest of the week.

Nice day!  Got up to 86 for the first time this year. 

Good Sunday!

Out for our Sunday breakfast at Baker's Square today, has been a long time for that place.  One loud talking old man was complaining about everything.  Started every sentence with "I just don't understand why -----" or "It makes no sense to me why kids these days -----".  What a pain.  We then picked up a few things at Walmart and then to Menards.

Later Brenda, Becca and Sheila came to visit.  It is Becca's 21st birthday tomorrow.  She brought cupcakes from a vegan bakery.  They were very good!

Cinco de Mayo

We went to Paul's Market to get a patio tomato plant and a cherry tomato plant.  They have so many plants it makes me want to buy, buy, buy.  But I didn't.

I cleaned out my cloths that I no longer want and now need to make a trip to charity.  They are all good things, just no longer want them.

We had a steak dinner at the Grill in the HyVee grocery store.  It was good, they have bread that is almost like popovers.  The sky was turning dark so we rushed a bit as we wanted to get our new car home in the garage before a storm.  We made it just in time.  Not a bad storm, a little wind and rain.

May the fourth be with you!

We had bagels at Panera this morning and then went to HyVee for groceries.  When we came home, we left the car outside and got the garage door opener programed into my phone.  Now we can open and shut it with my phone and more importantly see (and get an alert) if it is opened when we are not home.  Also can check on the phone to see if the garage door is shut when we go to bed.

It is a beautiful day - as the local weatherman says - a TOP 10 day.  The snow by our deck which was at least 15 feet tall is now gone!  My daylilies are coming up.

Hawaiian volcano on the Big Island blows!

Thursday

Day at home, which is good.  I think my cold is FINALLY starting to break up.  I spent some time in the garage getting to know the electronics on the new car.  I got the garage door opener button programed, figured out how to open the gas filler door, set my seat so when I use my key fob it will adjust the way I want and got to know the navigation system a little.

Then I started to get the new garage door opener controls on my phone but need help from Don to push the button  on the machine.

Photo by my friend Sue Spahn

Happy May Day - late

Opps, tire warning still giving us problems.  We will try to calibrate this time.  We went for breakfast at Perkins.  I still have a cold and not eating much, so Don had to finish my breakfast.  Then we went to Menards and Bachmans.  Bachmans for a patio tomato which they haven't gotten in yet, so have to go back.  Hard not to buy other plants! Just too early in the season.  We still have some snow by our deck.  Not for long!


Yesterday!

Little Six

Breakfast out again, any excuse.  We went to Little Six Casino.  We used to camp close  and often go for breakfast at Little Six.  They get my award for the best French Toast, also thick bacon.  We went there because we needed to get our 20 pound propane tank (that we use for our grill) filled and there is a place where we used to go nearby.

We drove through the campground where we camped often in the past.  The trees have grown a lot, still a very nice place.

Car and Cat

New car has developed a problem, keeps telling us we have a low tire, which we don't.  Don checked all the tires and they are fine, so we took it back and they "calberated" , suppose to be OK now.  I tried to read the manual and got a headache.     

The cat continues to visit us and spend part of its day on our deck.  We would like to feed it but know if we do it will become "our" cat.  While I would like a cat, it just doesn't work for our lifestyle.

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