One Fun Day

 

Annie left here with Bill at around 7 a.m. yesterday.   

She would be catching a flight to Seattle and then going to a Super Bowl potluck party with friends at a neighborhood bar. 

"If Seattle wins, we'll be going downtown, " she told us. 

While Bill was driving her to the airport, I cleaned house and started leisurely putting out goodies for the family Super Bowl party we would have at our house. 

A few weeks ago I bought a couple of boneless pork shoulder roasts from Wood's Meats and put them in the freezer. 

Two or three days ago, I started with one and then two in the slow cooker, throwing in vinegar and barbecue sauce and some seasoning.  The roasts cooked slowly for almost two days.

Once cooked, I pulled the pork, mixed it with more barbecue sauce and then froze it again. 

It thawed out in time for me to warm it up in the slow cooker for yesterday's party. 

Our menu was highlighted by pulled pork with Kaiser buns. 

An aside:  Great story about the Kaiser buns.  I purchased them, along with several other bags of groceries, a couple of weeks ago. 

As usual, I wasted no time putting the groceries away. 

A few minutes later, I realized that the three barrettes I had purchased were nowhere to be found. 

Upon looking through the plastic bags in the garbage, I could find no barrettes or the sales slip for the groceries. The latter seemed a little odd because I distinctly remembered the clerk handing me the slip. 

Finally, I called Yoke's and told them about the missing item.  They said they would note it and that, on my next visit to the store,  I should pick out some more barrettes and go to their hospitality counter. 

All went well with that, and life moved on. 

 

Saturday, it was time to thaw the kaiser buns---three packages' worth in a sack in the freezer. 

When I emptied the bag, barrettes fell out with the buns, along with a sales slip. 

Long story short, someone at Yoke's will some day purchase some barrettes that have already done some time in a freezer.

Back to the menu:  deviled eggs, warmed-up pizza, coldslaw (which is great on pulled pork), green salad, chips, cookies, cheesecake from my sisters and Seahawk-themed cupcakes from Willie and Debbie. 

Willie and Debbie came in time for the preliminaries and the game, while Barbara and Laurie came later after putting their horses in the barn. 

We ate, we visited, we laughed and we cheered---a lot!

Our group loved every minute of yesterday's game and its halftime----amazingly creative, colorful, meaningful and heart-tugging. 

Our dogs loved the hand-outs and hugs.  When the game ended, we knew Annie would be headed for downtown Seattle and the celebration. 

In the meantime, we would have quieter but enjoyable aftermaths to a phenomenal Super Bowl victory where the winning team is from our general region. 

It was pretty much a positive, exciting and joyful experience from beginning to end, even for our pups.

The food was good, and we'll be munching on leftovers for a few days.  

YAY, SEATTLE!!!

Happy Monday.  

A powerful moment with a  classmate bond. 

This from Twitter:  HC Mike Macdonald and NBC host Maria Taylor were classmates together at Centennial High School in Georgia. 

 Tonight, Maria presented Mike with the Lombardi trophy in front of the whole world at the Super Bowl. 

 One of the coolest moments in school history.

Super Sunday, Oh My!

 

Foster says he wants you to all have a Super day, filled with fun, food, family, friends and good cheer. 

He also says he's rooting for Seattle, along with the rest of his family. 

Happy Super Sunday!!

May your day be filled with great memories. 

🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈

GO, SEAHAWKS!!!

Saturday Slight

 

Twas really dark when I got up this morning. 

Then, I learned that Bill had already been on a 3 a.m.  reconnaissance drive in the neighborhood. 

He does that whenever the power goes out. It's a scouting mission to see how far the power outages extend.  

In this morning's case, some people on Selle Road had power. 

Some people to the north on South Center Valley Road had power and some people on Forest Siding across the tracks had lights. 

Apparently, the outage affected just a small area in the neighborhood.  Annie saw that there was an outage on the Northern Lights website.  Eventually we saw trucks go by, and then the lights came on.

Here at the Lovestead we never have to worry to much about lights in the darkness because Bill, the Eagle Scout,  has accumulated an arsenal of flashlights and lanterns which he strategically places around the house. 

So, we didn't suffer much or for very long. 

Many thanks to Northern Lights for restoring our power so quickly. 

💡💡💡💡💡💡💡

In other news, it's a definite sports weekend, and, of course, the excitement is building in this household for Seahawks fans who hope to see our team win it all tomorrow. 

In the meantime, the Gonzaga men and women are playing today, and the Sandpoint High Bulldog girls will be playing for a chance to go to state as their district tournament opens tonight.  

Good luck, Madi and the team. 

We'll be watching the ZAGS men and hoping they rebound from their loss to Portland. 

Oh yeah, there's the Olympics!  

So much to watch and so little time. 

Which reminds me.  

I'd better get my pulled pork out of the freezer and let it thaw for tomorrow's Super Bowl party.

So, will keep this a true Saturday Slight and wish everyone a great day.  May your favorite sports teams win. 

Gonzaga vs. Oregon State

3 p.m. PST 

View on KHQ Channel 6 or ESPN+

GO, ZAGS!!!
  

It's been a while since Foster wore his Seahawks T-shirt.  

After about a dozen year's drought, he'll be wearing it again tomorrow. 

The Eyes Still Have It.

 

One of the neighbor goats soaking up the sun. 

I didn't even go through that door, but I was still dilated. 

The tech apologized for having to squeeze those piercing drops into my eyes but said it was necessary to see the general health of my eyes. 

When then the doctor came in, he used a few instruments to look at my eyes up close and personal. 

When he was done, he showed me the pictures that had been taken of the inner workings of my eyes. 

The repaired retina is visible but still in fine repair.  He said I would have a macular scan from now on but nothing to worry about now. 

In fact, he said he could not find a lot wrong with my eyes.  He would give me a prescription if I want to sharpen up the distance but said it probably isn't necessary. 

And, he saw the cheaters hanging around my neck for close up stuff.  That was a choice I made when I had my cataracts removed.  

I wanted to see things at a distance and knew that the Co-Op spectacles for close up vision are still fairly cheap. 

So, I walked out with dilated eyes and a euphoric sunny-day feeling that I had passed my eye exam at almost 79 with maybe even an A.  Adding frosting to the cake, I even passed the blood pressure test. 

It seems, however, that the dilation lasts longer than it did in the past.  Still, it wasn't bad or blurry enough to keep me from taking off for Bonners Ferry a couple of hours later and picking up our pork at South Hill Lockers. 

Just had some of those pork links . . . very good. 

Knowing Bill was driving to Spokane and that he and Annie wouldn't be home for a few hours, I took some extra time and drove the District 2 Road north of the Kootenai River, where my dilated eyes saw a few neat farm scenes. 

Since I rarely drive that road, the barns along the way provided some new subjects for photos, as did the chickens crossing the road. 

This time it looked like the chickens were crossing the road to get the mail.

I drove back through downtown Bonners and then on home to unload the pork. 

Of course, there were more photos along the way and throughout the day that made me very happy that my eyes still have it. 

It's a really good feeling to be able to see the beauty and wonders of this world.  It's even better to document it and share it with others. 

I wish everyone in this world would use their eyes for seeing the good and that they were not so blind when the bad is staring them right in the face and they just look away. 

Maybe more eye exams and more dilating are in order. 

As for me, I'll keep doing my best to see and share the positive. It's a truly uplifting feeling.

Happy Friday.