Catching Up

So much has happened since the 18th when I last blogged. The wedding was lovely, but filled with a lot of tears. I wish mommy could have been around to at least hear about it.

Last Thursday was also the one year anniversary of her passing.

I took the day off and went to the park to commune with nature. And get some good coffee

I took loads of pictures

So The Wedding Is Tomorrow

My nephew is getting hitched tomorrow.

Can I just say I want it to be over.

In my 45 years...I've managed to avoid weddings at all costs. In fact the 4 weddings I did attend all happened before I graduated high school. My brother's 1st wedding when I was 2 months old, my sister's friends wedding, my sister's wedding and a wedding of a cousin. That's it. I've avoided all others.

I hate them.

I think they are a colossal waste of money and time.

My household is in an uproar and I just want to de-stress and get back to semi-normal. Also I just want 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

A Child Of The Water

I was thinking on things these last few days, and I realized most of my favorite places involve water. Not necessarily the beach, but a river, a creek  or a lake.

I do love the Atlantic City beach..but I've always loved Lake Erie. I've a renewed love for our Monongahela River, thanks to finding the 2 boat docks in Mon City. The Aquatorium has a beautiful view of the valley as does Tubby Hall Park

The Ohio in Wheeling is beautiful especially by my favorite suspension bridge

Lake Erie was always a favorite spot of mine from the time I was little

Look at my view from high atop the tower

Oh and there's Pymatuming and the fishies and geese!!

Guilty Comfort Food

We made this fabulous beef and noodles this week. We being my nephew and sister, since I worked.

Its a very simple recipe of only a roast, noodles and a simple broth that's made in the last hour of cooking.

It was absolutely fabulous and something I know my mama would have adored and would have had us make over and over.

Mama was a big fan of chuck roast. but most of us didn't like the basic recipe. We all love Mississippi Roast and any variations.

This one was such a winner and I wish I had the recipe years ago, because I know it would have made her so happy, especially since EVERYONE loved it. Heck. I'm pretty sure my dad would have loved it too. Those thick egg noodles would have won him over in an instant.

If you want to try it..and really, you do, here's the link to the recipe https://www.thecountrycook.net/crock-pot-beef-noodles/

Pain...I has it

I hate having 2 nights off from job 2 in a row.

Why?

That gives my feet time to feel like they can stop hurting. Or rather my one foot that hates the concrete floors at my store.

2 days off and I'm pain free, until I step inside.

Then....

ARGH!!

And there's really no shoe that makes it feel better, especially when you are standing in one spot all dang day..or half a day or whatever.

A Cemetery Tale

No Oct is complete without a cemetery story, right?

Well I have one and its not really a spooky one, but a strange one.

I was taking photos down at the Monongahela Aquatorium a few weeks ago, and a guy was telling me about the witch's tomb that's located there.

Poor Josephine Colvin, is the witch in question. If you look up her obituary, there's no way she's a witch, but her family does have a huge and unusual monument.

I was also at the cemetery for another reason. A friend of mine passed away in 2016. I didn't know about it for until last year, as she had severed ties with me for political reasons years before. I always thought of her and I was heartbroken to learn she had passed. We may not have always seen eye to eye, but she was a good friend and we had some great times together.

So as I was traipsing about the old section, a little blue car comes flying up the hill from the lower end of the cemetery.

OK, didn't think much of it, though the cemetery isn't a race course, as my father would say. I finished taking my pictures and went to look up the location of Mary's final resting place. I started to drive looking for Sec 26. I found it and pulled over and began to hunt down her grave.

I make a bend and there's the blue car and another SUV pulled together and two people around 55-60 I'd say, sucking face on the hillside.

I think I gave them a scare as I came swishing about through the leaves.

I can't imagine anyone finding the cemetery a romantic place to go for some stolen kisses, though from their age, I'd say they were meeting there to hide from their spouses. It wasn't very long after I walked by that they got in their cars and headed off.

Weirdness

I did find my friend's grave though, and I had a good cry over her.