Cleaning the fridge

When was the last time you cleaned out your refrigerator?  I mean empty the sucker and remove the shelves and bins.  Toss what you think might be an old potato and scrape the dark green (lettuce?) stuff off the inside walls.

If it's been less than a year since you performed this task, don't even bother answering.  I don't want to know you.

I want to hear from others like me.  The ones that keep putting the job off because really?  how dirty can the inside of the ice box be?

OMG!  Where does that crap come from???

I decided it was "clean the kitchen" day this morning.  I thought starting with the appliances was a good way to kick off the job.

The stove didn't take too long and, no, I didn't clean the inside.  Yes, I have a self-cleaning oven so wouldn't you think I'd use it more often?  Appears not to be the case.  Kind of like the windows that tilt in so that you don't have to go outside with a ladder to wash them.  I need to get around to that before the snow flies.  Or not.

Anyway, the fridge took longer than I thought because I decided to go "all the way."  I even struggled to remove those damn bins in the bottom and took them out to the driveway for their bath.

My shoulder aches and my back is a little stiff but worth it.

Tada!

I told Petey we're eatin' out tonight.  Can't dirty up the place.

New computer chair

It was time for a new computer chair.  The one we had served us well but had a boo-boo that even duct tape couldn't help anymore.

So off to the "zoo" to shop.

We narrowed the selection to two and decided we'd really miss arms and we were ready to switch from black to brown.  Yea, let's take it home and put it together.

As I was taping a "free" sign to the old one and getting ready to wheel it to the curb we both realized it didn't have arms and wasn't black.

No wonder the cop shows always talk about eye witnesses being unreliable.  

Taking items to the curb is fun.  We guess how long it will be before someone grabs said item.

We weren't around when it happened; dinner at the bar down the street.  I think we were gone about an hour and the chair wasn't there upon our return.

It was a good day . . . except for the fact that we now know we'd make horrible witnesses.

Changing times

As most of you already know, I'm a Sign Language interpreter.  99% of my freelance work these days includes medical appointments.

The other day I was "terping" for a client and I started thinking about the specialty field.

We're very fortunate to have many specialists that practice here in little ole Allegan but it didn't used to be that way.

When I was a kid and my dad practiced medicine here he was a GP; general practitioner.  He set bones, delivered babies, diagnosed serious illnesses/conditions, etc.

The only specialist, to my recollection, that we had in those days was a general surgeon.

The other big change for Allegan is the Allegan Medical Clinic.  My father was a "stand-alone-doc."  Now, with the exception of two physicians (that I know of) everyone is hanging out at the clinic.

Another little issue (I'm not complaining - just an observation) is that the medical people don't have the opportunity to look you in the eye anymore.  Everyone has a laptop that needs tending to.  All your history and current problems are entered with no eye contact.

There are many benefits to the new setups, for sure, it's just a change and difficult for many.

There's no looking back so we need to buck up and move forward.

                 The "boy doctor" came to Allegan in 1949.

Fair thoughts

Tomorrow is the last of our 9-day county fair.  

This is my 10th year working the main gate.

I believe I've seen it all but what I've seen most of is nice people.  I really mean it - nice, smiling, laughing, joking people.

I've enjoyed all of the days but my favorite is Veteran's Day.  I was so geeked because in years past I wasn't scheduled to work that day and I was on duty this year.

I was lucky that it wasn't slammed, crazy busy that I had enough time to look each vet square in the eye and thank them for their service.  

That was one of my highlights.  The only low light was the cigarette smoke.  Honestly, at times it seems as though every other car had at least one smoker in it.  People - you're killing yourselves!

The other observation is that people do NOT read signs.  Wow.  The prices for entrance and parking are posted right smack dab in front of every gate and still, I hear shocked responses when I tell them how much they need to hand over to me.

We've had great weather this year although tomorrow isn't looking too good but I'd venture to say 8 straight sunny ones has to be a record.

And . . . I had my first corn dog.  Yeah, baby!

Where have I been???

Right here and I have no idea why it's been so long since I posted a blog.

I'm sorry.  I know how y'all wait for my words of wisdom and how disappointed you've been.

I can see your sad little faces right now as you go to ellenalive.blogspot.com every day and see a blank screen.  Tears dripping down onto the keyboard.  Salt is not good for keyboards.  Did you know that?

I guess I was waiting for a profound thought to pop into my head but, so far, I got nuthin'.

So here's some random thoughts.  Well, maybe just one.

I was driving to a job in The Zoo (that's Kalamazoo, not the TV show which I am losing interest in) this morning and I noticed a lady behind me at a red light applying mascara.

Really?  Who travels with mascara in the car?  Do you think she had the rest of her make-up in the seat next to her too?  I can't imagine.

Ok.  I do slap lipstick on every now and then when the opportunity arises but mascara?  Yikes.

Ah ha!  I just thought of a reason that I've been away from my blog for so long.  I've recently taken a little break from my Cavallini paper obsession to lurk in the cereal aisles of local grocery stores.  

I started making beads using cereal boxes.  Empty of course.  Thanks to Pinterest for the inspiration.  They are big and chunky which I love and apparently others do as well so I've been busy.

How's that for an excuse?  Are you buying it?  Do you live close to me?  Would you please bring me your empty cereal boxes?  Thank you in advance.