Sandi Chats

It's Monday morning, that time when we look forward into the new week and begin to make some plans for what we will be doing or needing to do. With the 4th of July being on Saturday, this might figure into our plans so that we can be prepared for the big celebration. And what a celebration it should be, honoring this great nation by remembering our origins! Maybe this year more than most as our history seems to be being erased a bit more each day. Anyhow...I keep promising some recipes, so today I will make good on that promise, or threat, however you see it. This came to mind as I was looking toward the week and thinking of meal ideas. So this is today's dinner...Garlic Butter Steak Bites. We have some round steaks in our freezer, and they truly do not grill well. Ours always end up tougher than leather, and while they don't taste bad you just get tired of chewing them. So this is what I use for making this recipe, although any steak will work. Garlic Butter Ste...

I always begin a new year anticipating the upcoming months and planning all that I will do in that time. I used to call them "new year's resolutions" but now I just add them to my "to do" list. Every upcoming year is a blank slate ready to record another year of my life. Most year's I have a plan or some idea what the year will hold. Of course, life is unpredictable and stuff happens that changes my plan, but generally I have a rough outline of a new year.  But my outlook for 2020 didn't even come close to what has been the reality. I don't even remember when I first heard the term "Coronavirus" but it sure didn't raise any red flags with me. Just another strain of the seasonal flu, I thought. Still not convinced I wasn't right about that, but that's not a discussion for here and only hindsight will expose the truth.  Since the first of the year we've each had one cold...maybe that was the Coronavirus! But whatever it wa...

48 years! That's how long we've been married...tomorrow. That's a big number which represents nearly three-quarters of our lives. And yet it's all gone by in a hurry. Seems only a few short years ago that we took the plunge. It probably helps that we got an early start on our lives together. We were both 19 when we got married. The odds were definitely against us. Neither of us had a real vision for the life we wanted or the maturity to carry on for the long haul, but we learned as we went, not without some troubled times, but we still survived them. I'm sure there might have been some side bets on how long our marriage would last, but I'm pretty sure none of them were forever, or even half as long as we've lasted.  Even scientific data says this was not a good union. We were both first-borns, which means we are both bossy, opiniated and feel the need to be in charge...and I will have to admit that most of the problems we've had come from this charac...

I am flattered! Someone actually wants to hear from me. I see I haven't posted in more than two months, my bad!, so my sister messaged me with a request to "get to blogging"!  Verbal conversations are not my forte. I do OK one on one, but within a group, I am a flop at conversation. First of all, I am not a fast conversationalist. I tend to think about my words, which is not a bad trait, but by the time I have figured out that I might have something to share that won't offend anyone, the conversation has moved on to another topic. And then, if I do say something, my voice tends to be quiet and doesn't carry well, so most times no one even hears what I have to say. Good thing I am a good listener! But I have the floor when I am writing! I can ponder my words and everyone can read or not, whichever they choose. So blogging is for sure my best mode of communication. The biggest problem in the last year and a half is that I am at home and not where the action is s...

I have never, even in my wildest sci-fi dreams, imagined that we would be in the shape we are today...quarantined from the rest of the world due to the Coronavirus. We are feeling fine, but since we just recently came from a very populous area and traveled through 6 states coming home, we feel, and it is recommended, that we need to self-quarantine for two weeks after traveling. Social distancing seems to be the general state of the country these days. What are all of you doing with the time you have alone? We are managing to keep ourselves busy and amused, but look forward to the days when we can get out and among people. We can be thankful for many things in all this. For starters, it's the electronic age. Even though we can't be in each other's physical presence, we can call, text, Skype, email, Facetime, and probably a whole bunch of stuff I've never heard of or know how to do. There are virtual everythings, and we can even take a trip virtually. We have been to...

Well Christmas 2019 is in the books, and we are almost ready to step through time into 2020! Since I failed, once again, to get Christmas cards out, I will take this means to recap the year and extend our holiday wishes to all our friends. 2019 began with a huge change as I retired at that time. Looking back now I realize it was a bit like stepping off into thin air. I had been at my job for over 20 years with all the security that afforded me, and now that security blanket was gone. But it was also freeing to realize that I didn't need to be at work tomorrow. We saw a dream come true when we left the cold and snow of Nebraska for sunny Arizona at the end of January. If you kept up with my Facebook group from that time, you know how that went. If you didn't, rest assured it was all we had imagined and more. We bummed around on the Arizona desert for two months, managing to miss the worst winter Nebraska had seen for many years and all the subsequent flooding. We embarke...

As a poor person, I am always intrigued by stories of people who have made money or gone from rags to riches. Possibly the reason for this intrigue is the hope that I will eventually discover some secret that will help me become rich. So far the secret hasn't really made itself known to me, but I have reached some interesting conclusions. When I think of rich, I am talking fabulously rich. History is full of examples: 1. The oldest example I can come up with right off the top of my head is King Solomon in the Bible. He amassed a vast empire of wealth and opulence in his lifetime. The Bible talks of his unusual wisdom, which I am sure contributed to his ability to amass wealth. However, it also says he had 700 wives and 300 mistresses, which would bring his claim to wisdom into doubt! However this also contributed to his wealth in that many of his wives were given to him through alliances made with neighboring kings. Pretty sure that King Solomon made each of these business de...