We’ve been working on the urn. Not finished yet, but here’s what it looks like for now.
For shoe:
Sticky, I love it!
Started Typing: 9:34 AM ET
Clicked Reply: 11:45 AM ET
Happy Mother’s Day to all applicable Mumpers! 
I lost my mom eight years ago, but for whatever reason Mother’s Day has never been particularly difficult for me (thankfully).
We had a serious thunderstorm late last night: I had just dozed off when the noise – from both the thunder and the rain (hitting the window) – woke me up. Today it’s breezy and partly sunny and currently a cool 60°F, going up to only 68, but at least there’s no more rain in the forecast until Tuesday. C’mon, early summer!
The College Hunks were supposed to arrive yesterday afternoon, but at 10:40am – as I was in the middle of drafting a post here – they called and asked if they could move my appointment up and arrive in ~30 minutes. That worked for me! I hadn’t done any prep yet, but it only took 15 minutes to add a bra and a baseball cap to my ensemble, strip the bed, put the coffee table in front of the piano (for easier maneuverability through the living room), and move the storage ottoman from the foot of the bed to another room.
They arrived almost exactly 30 minutes after they called, and everything went smoothly. The rain held off, and it was a cool day but not so cold that I couldn’t leave the front door and some windows open while they were working (with Bailey confined in the home office). Neither of the guys was exactly college-age or a “hunk,” but they were friendly and competent and that’s really all I hoped for. And they did add on the loveseat removal and new bed frame assembly! They said that technically they weren’t allowed to assemble new furniture (only furniture they had disassembled/moved), for liability reasons, but sometimes being a cute-ish female works in my favor. 
It also helped a lot that the bed frame was an easy-assembly, no-tools-required jobby…and, that one of the guys had the same frame at home. It truly was super simple to put together, but it was definitely easier for two people than it would have been for just me.
After they left I did some minor rearranging/reorganizing, and I’m quite happy with all of the results. Bailey hasn’t jumped up on the newly-lowered bed yet, but I think she’s low on energy at the moment because she hasn’t eaten much over the past couple of days due to the recent storms/rain (edit: she just ate her breakfast! phew!). In addition to being lower, the bed is now also closer to the wall: the previous headboard was slightly curved, which resulted in the bed taking up roughly an additional foot of space. Now the BR looks/feels bigger, which is nice. The “lower” part is for the dog, but the “get rid of the giant headboard/bed frame” part is something I’ve had in mind for years. The LR also looks/feels much better without a second couch in it. I have no idea when the new dog bed will finally get here (it’s been on back order for almost three weeks; I might call the company tomorrow), but whenever it does there’s a space waiting for it.
I did a minimal amount of volunteer-related stuff before starting this post, but otherwise it’s been a nicely quiet and slow morning. I have no plans/nothing else to do today, so I’m looking forward to a lot of quality couch time as I recover from yesterday’s rearranging/reorganizing. And I have leftover pizza for lunch…mmmmm.
FWIW, the added “(e)” still makes me chuckle. 
That is standard practice for BAE, but only since last year (previously, no salary info at all was included). The listed ranges will be pretty wide, because they’re all about the position’s corporate grade; not necessarily the job itself, or what the hiring manager might be willing to pay. When someone really has no idea of what kind of salary to expect/request, my advice is to target roughly the middle of the advertised range: the top end isn’t necessarily out of the question, especially if someone is a super strong candidate, but the middle is the safe zone.
(Hiring managers kind of hate that the ranges are advertised now.)
Yeaaahhh I’m gonna agree with “disturbing.” Definitely feels like There’s Something About Mary.
LOL!!
Nice to meet ya! But sorry to hear about the devastation in Tallahassee. Ugh.
I had my loveseat posted on FB Marketplace for a few hours one day last week, and got two messages: one asked “how long have you had it” despite the month and year of purchase being in the ad (I ignored that message), and the other quickly started to feel a little scam-y.
My ad said “cash or Venmo only”: she offered Zelle, which my credit union doesn’t support, so I pointed out the ad language and asked about Venmo. She said yeah sure no problem and that she’d transfer the money right then, and asked if pickup the next day at 5pm would work (I said yes…and, foolishly, gave her my home address). But, then she said Venmo was asking for an email address to confirm the receiving person’s info. Every time I’ve used Venmo they’ve asked for the last four digits of the person’s phone number, not an email address, but there’s an option for skipping that part (not to mention that I have a very unusual last name, so it’s not like she had to distinguish among multiple Mary Smiths): I told her as much, and suddenly stopped hearing from her. And I never got the money. And no one showed up the next day. I can’t imagine what someone would gain from having my home and email addresses…maybe those were “starter” requests, and she would have eventually asked for more sensitive info? Anyway, after those two responses – and after arranging for the College Hunks to deal with the bed – I decided to delete the listing and have the Hunks also take the loveseat away (they’ll give it to Goodwill).
Yay!
HA! 
Indeed. 
Ooooooo, that sounds good…I haven’t had an ice cream sandwich in years. I always liked the cheap, store-brand ones. 
That looks great!
I have a new handheld mixer, and wanted to put it through its paces. So I made a classic sponge cake from scratch and it’s now in the oven baking. Boy, even with a new powerful mixer it takes awhile to mount the egg whites and the egg yolks to a voluminous fluffy stage. It didn’t help that I worked out earlier this morning and my shoulder and biceps muscles were barely up to the task.
But we’ll see how it turns out. I love plain yellow sponge cake, and sliced strawberries and whipped cream will be good on it as well.
Happy Mother’s Day to all MMP Moms! 
My daughter is out of the country so I wasn’t expecting anything. Received a Happy Mother’s Day text around 6am; it’s noon where she’s at. Hubs came down a short time ago and asked if I had seen the card in the living room. I hadn’t as I went to mass then made breakfast for us (omelettes with red & green bell peppers, onions, green onions, tomatoes and cheese, sharp cheddar for me, swiss & mild cheddar for Hubs with avocado on the side and of course toast: DKB for Hubs and whole wheat for me), fed the fish and then sat down to mmp and watch tennis-Internazionali BNL D’Italia. So Hubs brought the card to me. The envelope was addressed to Grandma. I don’t have any grandchildren, just a grandog. So, the cover of the card says:
From the Dog
You give me toys when I want to Play,
You give me treats when I’m hungry,
You snuggle with me when I want love…
inside it says:
Guess I trained you right!
Happy Mother’s Day
then someone wrote:
Thank you for all the bacon, eggs, chicken, pork chop, bacon, turkey, cheese, bacon, steak, bacon, and rubs.
Love,
Bella
Yes, Bella gets lots of 
ok, this will be the last mention of Kroger gas pts. Just wanted to ask if you fill out the online survey each week? Hubs does and so that gets us 50 free pts per wk. You can fill it out every 7 days.
As far as your Toro mower, perhaps you could check with the Course Superintendant of local golf courses to see if they would want it for parts. I know that when my city’s golf courses replace their mowers, they keep the old ones for parts.
boofae sounds like a nice relaxing w/e (other than slaving for the mogs 
).
Going to work out on the NuStep now. Would like to relax the rest of the day but we’ll see.
She delayed the trip for a week because of flooded roads. It was a four car pile up that she got behind.
Not even sauce or cheese? (ETA: late to the party)
Not knowing Mary, I don’t know which, but possibly habit. Otherwise, just creepy.
My smoke detector goes off when there’s a lot of steam from the tea kettle or shower.
When my folks bought a new queen sized bedroom suite growing up, they found that the bed and long dresser wouldn’t go up the steps and make the necessary turns to their bedroom in their built-in-1860 house. Fortunately, there was a long, wide, almost door sized window at the end of the hallway right next to their bedroom door, so they rigged up a pulley and took it up over the porch roof and through the window. The furniture is still in that room and I figure that it will go with the house when Dad goes.
[quote=“Sticks_and_Scones, post:261, topic:1001177”]
We’ve been working on the urn. Not finished yet, but here’s what it looks like for now. [/quote]
I like it! Was your dad into Polynesian culture?
Happy Mother’s day to all of the MMP moms!
Sis left for Dad’s this morning and is almost there now. Yesterday, we went into Nashville to Smart Art, where she got some cool fabrics and trims, along with some rubber stamps to work with clay. I picked up a good quality ink pad with a refill bottle, some trim and a Cricut cartridge (got out of there for under $8 with the Mother’s day sale). Then we went to south Nashville, stopped at a panderia for coffee and an empanada, then next door to K & S World Market, where we picked up some produce for her to take to Dad’s and some spices. After that, we hit the taco truck for a torta to bring home for supper (I made a salad to go with to make it healthy and all).
Nelson has been curled up in my arms every time that I’ve sat down this morning. I think that he’s glad to have me back to himself and not to compete with the two pooches that Sis brought (his father and auntie).
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
Daughter is with FCD prepping for her interview. Roxy is in the basement watching TV. MIL is napping in he’d bed. Higgs is napping at my feet. I think it’s time for some yogurt and blueberries.
Funny you should mention this, I normally don’t (or forget), but was looking closer at the receipt today and saw it, so just finished filling it out. NOW that is the last mention of Kroger Points (at least for this thread). And an interesting idea for my old Toro. And sounds like you’re having just about the perfect Mother’s Day.
Have dined at Logan’s Roadhouse (Meatloaf day!!) and bought a couple towels (bath sheets for $7 each) at Ollie’s. Never did find anyone selling the NY TImes, tried all 4 places that normally have it and not a one to be found. Probably the delivery person didn’t make the rounds today. Might look again later after my gym session. 77F now and N.O.S., so might try to get outside a little more (yard could stand mowage but I’m waiting for Wednesday like my weekly schedule tells me too.
Sticky Buns, something of a tropical flavor to it, IMHO. The finished product should be great.
Oopsie, glad the Hunks were amenable to the assembling, sounds like things are shaping up. And nice dealing with the scammer, hope a real buyer comes along soon.
Lucky, haven’t had sponge cake in a long time, I don’t have a mixer but might have to look into one…
red, Nelson is just reclaiming his territory.
FCM, enjoy the rest period before the next outbreak of ???
Man, there’s just so much happening with everyone!
We need new smoke detectors, and we really need CO detectors, too. I looked at some last time I was in a hardware store, but I got a bit overwhelmed by the choices. There’s no easy way to wire them in, so we need battery-powered ones.
Hey, FCM, did you see this?? You could join Costco! I hear they have a lot of great bargains. 
I keep thinking about joining and then getting put off by the membership cost and the realization that our household is no longer big enough to justify the giant packages of stuff.
Zakalwe, I hope the infrastructure repairs go quickly. Good for you for being an active part of the community effort!
FCM, I’ve been thinking about you and MIL a lot. What you’re going through reminds me vividly of the four years we spent with my FIL in the household, but mainly the last six months or so. It’s very good that you have hospice services set up; just remember to call them, not 911, when the inevitable crisis comes.
I used to get a tiny bit of relief from the incessant repetition of stories by changing the script and drawing FIL out a bit. When he opened with a line of a well-worn anecdote, I’d pretend we were having an actual conversation and ask him a question about some aspect of it. So, when I was cooking dinner and he’d come in and stand right by my elbow to start reminiscing about how MIL used to cook the same dish differently, I’d give him a prompt to tell me about his favorite dish from childhood, say - anything to bump him out of the ad nauseam repetition. But mainly, you’re welcome to complain to us about it!
I just finished a book called “Being Mortal” by Atul Gawande, a surgeon who became interested in how we handle end of life care and the ways we discuss (or don’t discuss) it with doctors.
Thanks for all the good thoughts folks!
Latest update is over 300 poles broken (and expecting to top 500) plus 91 transformers damaged or blown. They’re having to fully rebuild entire circuits in the damaged areas. 300+ mutual aid electrical workers are working with our crews and more are expected today.
Multiple friends still without power and not sure about the office building. Seems unlikely, but you never know. We’re probably near the top of some priority list.
This morning was 2 packs of bacon, 20 eggs, and a crap ton of waffles. Can’t wait to see my water/electrical bill next month! 
You’re evil! 
I don’t imagine that’s an item that someone has sitting in a warehouse ready to go - at least not in such quantities. Hope I’m wrong and the grid is up an running in record time.
Daughter and Roxy just left. It’s nice and quiet again. I’ll start the rice steamer in about 10 minutes. I’m hungry already…
You’d be surprised. After all, transformers do blow on their own. But as I understand, that’s something our mutual aid agreements cover as well. We can borrow some from other utilities and then just buy them a replacement for their stock. We’ll probably also have had more than the usual number around since hurricane season is almost upon us.
All is sunny and nice in Lake county Ohio. However, down in Shaker Hts theres a Swat situation going on. Bus’s have been rerouted and all. They think it may be the perp who killed a policeman yesterday.
Job situation; who knows, every time I get hired I get an aftershock from covid and get fatigued or sneezy, and they don’t understand.
I need to win the lottery.
I’m never doing the month of May again. I just found it that a former Doper, Zappo, passed away yesterday. Sal was one of my closest friends and one of the ones I called when Cristi (Persephone) died. He drove me to my wedding in his caddy, telling me if I wasn’t sure I wanted to get married, he would take me anywhere and explain at the church. We’d lost touch for more than a decade but when we found each other again, we went back to the friendship like no time had passed.
May can take it up the ass. I’m done with this month.
That’s a great thing about the electrical utilities. When we have monster snow/ice events in the mitten and they take out vast amounts of electrical service, the electrical workers from down south come up to help restore service up here. So, we’re happy that our electrical workers can come south to help out when tornados/hurricanes hit.
{RealFish}
I wasn’t even halfway through my workout on the NuStep when the trots hit. So, I spent most of the afternoon in bed texting with friends wishing them Happy Mother’s Day. Most of us live in the same city but one woman lives on the other side of the metropolitan area. I suggested that we get together for lunch on Wednesday at a restaurant with outdoor seating. Friend who lives about 20+ miles away said she could make it so I let everyone else know; we’ll see of the 10 people in the group, how many can actually make it. Found out one woman had a pacemaker recently implanted, one woman recently had colon surgery and one gent is having cataract surgery on Wednesday. It sometimes sucks getting old.
Daughter FaceTimed and we spoke for 34 minutes.
I’ve decided to just have chicken noodle soup for dinner to baby intestinal tract.
Howdy Y’all! We deheathenated and then went over to the parish hall for a bit afterward. Glad we did cause there were several breakfast casseroles, thus N.O.L. got taken care of in a most wondrous way. Then it was back to da cave for nappage, sloth, and day drinkin’. Sup got made and et, the kitchen got cleanded up and the biiiiiig trash can has been hauled all the way down to the road for pickup tomorrow. Not 'tis chill time.
In response to the ummm queries about not messin’ around with a gay man and his furniture, well, that is sump’n that’s just not done. Add to that the fact that this was furniture (most of which I still possess) for a brand new home, and, suffice it to say it was not pretty. Taters I could indeed have charged admission. I threw the perfect hissy fit right there in the show room. JDD (I did not yet know OYKW) was with me and later told me he was impressed with how I let everyone know what I thought of them, their mamas, and their dawgs, yet did not raise my voice, but everyone knew I meant bidness. The very next day, as I stated earlier, I had furniture. A gay man agonizes over his furniture choices and once a decision is made ain’t nuttin’ gonna stand in the way of him and his furnishin’s.
MOOOOOM it does seem like some of the signs are there for MIL. It’s hard to know exactly because there are rally times, but mostly it is stuff like sleepin’ a lot, confusion, and disorientation. FCD is a good son for takin’ her to church, especially since it is not a place he especially wants to be.
Cookie glad grandson enjoyed the concert. Hope you feel less achy now. Uncomfortable sittin’ is not a good thing for us old folks.
Taters sounds like the pups did decide to enjoy the pool. I saw the pics on the book of faces. Yay for the goodie basket from daughter!
MetalMouse nuttin’ says Happy Mother’s Day like a bouquet of last minute flowers from the Kroger. Glad you were not sore and worn out from yesterday. Hope you were able to beat the crowds out to eat. I am sure there were ravenin’ hoards from mid-morning on. You want furniture done right, get a gay man to go shop with you. Bonus points if he tells the salespeople he’s gay. I think they will get the point.
Sticky_Buns tres cool urn!
Oopsie you minx! You purposely put on that bra and baseball cap to entice those men into assemblin’ your bed frame and remove that loveseat. GO YOU! I agree about the cheap sto’ brand ice cream sammiches. They always seem to be the best to me.
Lucky that sounds so nummy! We do pound cake with fresh strawberries and for real whipped cream and it’s always soooooo gooooood!
Cat_Glove AWWWW! What a sweet card from Bella!
red glad you had a nice visit with your sis. Nelson is just givin’ you lots of Mother’s Day love.
**Real_Fish, so sorry to hear about Zappo.
Evening all. Made it over to the gym and did some serious pedaling (1,000 calories burned according to the bike computers) over 2.5 hours (rest breaks, y’know) so should break even for the day. Just had a couple braunschweiger sammiches, am living dangerously since their sell by date was Saturday. Just hate to waste anything. Have send a Happy Mother’s day text to Sis-in-Law, so familial duties have been met. Getting cloudy outside and there is a good chance of rain for most of the week, so soccer may have ended for the year a bit earlier than planned.
Coppertone, just read the story on the Shaker Heights thing. Back in the 60’s-70’s when I lived there, Shaker Heights was the ‘hoi-polloi’ place with all the snooty moneybags in the Cleveland area. Don’t know if it still has that reputation, and probably was a shock to their system. Hope something works out on the job front.
Real Fish, didn’t know Zappo, but sounds like a good soul and one I would have enjoyed meeting. My condolences.
Cat Glove, hope the lunch date comes off and you don’t have to trot anywhere during it.
And that’s all from this neck of the woods. Catch y’all on the next MMP.
He loved all things Hawaiian/tropical.
Again, a thing that I saved and don’t remember why…
I’m so sorry to hear about your friend.
So, are you coming up to Ohio, or am I coming down there??
I made my (now famous) tortellini and cheese for my mom for Mother’s Day along with some pillsbury crescent rolls and a very lightly sauced pulled barbecue chicken. It was pretty tasty and it’s a good thing because when I was making the sauce for the Mac and cheese, I accidentally dropped too much flour into the butter, so I had to make much more than I intended. We already put part of it in the freezer.
It was brilliant. That recipe for sponge cake was spot-on. It was light and eggy and tender. There was plenty for our strawberries and whipped cream dessert, and enough left over for tomorrow and also enough to freeze an additional generous chunk. I do love a plain fluffy yellow cake, and I’m amazed this one turned out so good, because I didn’t have any cake flour in the cupboard like I thought. I made it with regular flour and it came out fine.
I guess I’m going on a lot about it because I’ve never been much of a cake baker. Now that I’m retired, I have time to actually tackle more time-consuming recipes.