Random 5 for March 4 – Fruitful week, smells, cleaning up, expectations, memories

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Wonderful, wonderful – This has been a good week. I did my taxes and although there was a little mud wrestling with the on-line product, it’s done. (BTW the issues had to do with Internet Explorer…again). Then I found a marriage certificate for great grandparents. Woo hoo! Gives me ages which translates into birth dates and more great parents for my research.

Gym update – It’s getting a little busy during “old people time” at the gym. It’s almost speedos time. Most of the people who exercise at the same time I do shouldn’t wear one! The smells have increased too. I have a great nose. The odor a combination of feet and vegetable soup topped by toe jam.

Feeling organized – Nothing makes me feel better than cleaning up and getting everything in its place. I won’t allow myself to start taxes until every piece of paper on my desk is dealt with. Bills paid, stuff filed or thrown. Feels so great. I don’t know why I don’t keep it up but in a few weeks there will be piles again.

Prepare for the worst – Hope for the best. A nor’easter (type of storm that comes up the east coast) came through this week. Everything depended on the track. A little one way and we get snow. A little the other way and it’s rain. We got a mix but it was too warm to stick around. We had a much bigger problem with winds. An hour north of us got close to a foot of snow. Yikes! #nosnowinmarch

A touch of Mom – I found an old recipe that my mother used to make. The best way to describe it is a German version of scrambled pancakes. Some people serve it with fruit and powder sugar but we had it plain with a salad. That was our version of Friday night pizza. (My mother never served pizza!) I was so elated that I passed it to my brother. He likes it too. We have similar tastes after all these years.

So how was your week?

 

81 thoughts on “Random 5 for March 4 – Fruitful week, smells, cleaning up, expectations, memories”

  4. You inspired me to log into the IRS site and see if our taxes are in there yet (we have an accountant do it). But nope, not yet. I’m never sure how long it takes for them to log it, or whatever the terminology is. We both breathed a sigh of relief this year, though, because my wife estimated perfectly for the quarterly paying of her taxes last year. Score! Congrats on getting yours done. – Marty

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  5. A crowd of workin’ out people indoor just creates a oppressive disturbance to my nose and eyes. Just not a gym person …too many secondary crowded PE gyms and dressing rooms, I guess – it’s a lot hotter/more humid here and the schools didn’t have AC or fans in those areas…ugh. Impressive you can stay dedicated.
    That recipe! Mom, who grew up in Central TX with a lot of German heritage families, always wanted powdered sugar and fruit on pancakes – Dad (more Scots-Irish-English) only used syrup- sorghum or Ribbon Cane if we were able to get some in a tin can each fall at the feed store. We often would have pancakes Sunday nights. (make some and post a pix! Interested in your variation – scrambled?)
    I never had pizza until in college. Probably why we were skinny growing up?
    Stay safe and warm. Looks ugly with winds and power outages. Late today we’ll have big storms as the end of it sweeps across here – for better or worse, the warm Gulf Stream (add in moisture from west MX that is winging in too) is now strong and will crash/push back again the front.
    Water wings or ski boots – what a choice.

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  6. My nose and ears are always working on overdrive. The stink… er, aroma in the gym could make me want to abandon the deal there but then I wouldn’t do a gym anyhoo because I feel so self-conscious. Glad you didn’t get the worst of the storm. It is a bit cold down south this morning… 🙂 Our week has been busy, I could use your organizational and shopping skills!

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    • I know. I put all the tax stuff away and not everything is littered with the ancestor research project again. I keep thinking I should put everything in a file folder when I’m done until I go back again but somehow I don’t!

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  8. I used to file things every week or two. Now, with filing some things online and others in the filing cabinet, some upstairs and some down, I let the downstairs filing pile up for months. I’ll have to take care of that before I start my taxes. I’m putting it off.

    My daughter in Rockville, MD, had two days of wind but no show.

    My sister and I were talking the other day about the taco dinners our mom made when tacos seemed like a new invention. She made them with corn tortillas, ground beef, a tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, chopped onions and iceberg lettuce, and shredded cheddar. Everything in a separate little dish, assemble your own tacos. We loved them.

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    • My mother did not make anything remotely non-German or American. I didn’t have pizza or spaghetti until I fell in love with it in the school cafeteria. (No canned stuff either!) When I was 12 I got a child’s cookbook as a gift. I make chili from that. I didn’t have Chinese food until I was working. I am always amazed that I like different ethnic foods. Any child would love make your own tacos! So cool!

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  10. We weren’t lucky enough to just have rain…snow and nasty winds that took out two large white pines. Gaps now in our natural border.
    Love the fact that you found an old recipe. Those are priceless..:)

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    • Yes but nothing is easy. I have her marriage license and her death certificate. Both are authentic. There are two different fathers listed. My older brother doesn’t know anything about this. Maybe a remarriage although I don’t know why you would put a stepfather on a death certificate. She was in her 60s when she died. Makes hunting for her siblings more daunting.

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  15. I’m with you, Kate ~ before I tackle a “desk” type project . . . things get tidied up. Glad you got through the storm with no major issues. And congrats on getting your taxes done!

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  19. Why is it our desks become such catchalls? Like you, I tidy mine up and 3 days later, it’s unpresentable! Dropped our taxes off and hoping to hear good news this year. Fingers crossed. I do Andrews online. This year he had a verrrrry small income, some of which was income from publishing his music. Of course no taxes were taken out onany of his income, so I feared the worse. He still won out because
    he was eligible for EIC. When he asked why he was getting so little back. I told him not to look
    a gift horse in the mouth, seeing as he paid in
    $0’s. Ha! One day he will come into reality… have another wonderful week Kate! ~Elle

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  20. We had some rain and possibly more to come. I’m hoping for calmer weather as we are supposed to be driving through the mountains to Reno next weekend for my birthday. They sent us another two free night deal so we’re gonna take em up on it. My husband makes potato pancakes with leftover mashed potatoes held together with an egg, is that like yours? I got our taxes done too. I can now clear off all the bits of paper and have a clear desk again.

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    • If he doesn’t scramble it probably not. My mother made potato fritters or pancakes but it was mostly potatoes. Kind of like latkes. This doesn’t have potatoes in it typically and is a cross between a crepe and pancake batter that gets scrambled in the pan while frying. Good luck with your bd celebration!

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  21. I thought about you when I heard the weather report. I’m happy to hear you escaped the nor’easter, Kate. We had howling winds Friday, but thankfully it wasn’t too cold. The poor little birds couldn’t hang on to the swinging feeders. I hoping for a more calm week ahead.

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  23. My mother made this too. Probably got it from yours. I absolutely loved it. Sometimes she added mashed potatoes and onions. Probably also from your mom. Loved that too.

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    • I love it too. I tried to make it a while back but my proportions were off. My mom made it with an iceberg salad with a viniagrette dressing (just a tad on the sour side). I’d pour the dressing over the top. It would be awesome with onions.

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  24. We had a major blow with big branches down. Loss of power for a while. Lotsa snow, which has now melted, mostly, in time for another storm tomorrow. Isn’t it fun, Kate, to get weather reports from all over! 🙂

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  26. We didn’t have the winter weather predicted that you did, but we had the winds. One gust blew out an upstairs window screen. Because I’m such a feeble woman [ha!] I let the screen lay out in the yard all afternoon until Z-D came home from work– so that he could put it back where it belonged. It’s important, I feel, to encourage the menfolk to help around the house. Give them a feeling of accomplishment. 😉

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  27. Hi, Kate – Was that German pancake recipe for ‘Smora’ or ‘Schmarren’? My grandmother used to make that all of the time when I was a little girl. I have been looking for an ‘official’ recipe for years….but to no avail!

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  28. Snowy, windy and cold! BUT………… it’s lovely and mild today following some rain overnight and most of the snow has gone! Jumper indoors is off! Big problem now is sand which has taken up residence in gardens, paths and roads. Gives a new dimension to the beach on your doorstep!

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  29. Feet and vegetable soup, oh dear! I’m half laughing and half grimacing!

    We got caught in that stormy weather, too. There was no precipitation for us, only wind. A trampoline from down the road ended up on our house. For once I’M the talk of the neighborhood! I am quite thankful we didn’t lose power like so many others did.

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