dark chocolate-covered soy nuts

Trader Joe's has discontinued production of their dark chocolate-covered soy nuts, a product which was often referred to around our household and my costume shop as "chocolate crack."

I am crestfallen. First the dried rhubarb, now this.

If anyone out there finds packages of this addictive commodity remaining on your local TJ's store shelves, I'm willing to pay for both the product and the shipping charges to have them sent here.

:-(

A weekend trip to Kansas, to honor Grandma Katie

Even though the circumstances were sad, it was a joy to get to spend a weekend with the N family, when ordinarily, we wouldn't have visited them again until probably August. We got to meet our new niece, Kasiah and Shea's daughter Kallan, whom we had thought we wouldn't meet until nearly her first birthday. And we got to visit with cousins and other extended relatives whom we haven't seen in years because we aren't usually there for extended-family gatherings. What follows are some photo-highlights of that weekend.

Our rental car was awesome. Not bad for almost the cheapest one available. B's license renewal had not yet gone through, so I was the only one allowed to drive it. Not a problem. Let's just say it was as fun to drive as it looks.

During part of Katie's memorial service, we gathered around her to hold hands and sing, if you could call it singing. The pastor was kind enough to take a few shots of everyone from the upper balcony while this was going on.I am not going to include any other photos of Katie's service here, but I have a few others from the church service, as well as some that I took at the cemetery, so if anyone who was there would like me to share them with you, please don't hesitate to ask. Katie looked beautiful in a light-blue dress that I recognized from previous occasions. This is all that I am going to say about the service, because there are some things for which words are both too much and not enough, and this is one of them.

After the service at the cemetery, there was a feast of church-lady food in the church basement. Casseroles, salads, you name it - if the ingredients include velveeta, ground beef, and/or gelatin, it was on the menu. Some kind-hearted women from the local community had prepared all of it. I was very impressed. It felt so right to be surrounded by family, and feeding our hungry bellies with this comfort food that I would never eat here at home.

After lunch, the family gathered at Katie and Merlin's house until well into the evening. This is the view from behind their house. It looks out over a little valley. It had snowed there a few days before, but for the duration of our visit, the weather was unusually mild, almost lovely.

Jocelyn tries on my slippers:

I feel really bad for not having taken a single picture of Nathanial over the weekend.

Rhonda and her dad, Lindy:

Kallan, Kallan, Kallan...

She was not pleased about getting her nails trimmed.

A funny thing happened on the way to the costume shop...

A few days ago, the day started just like any other normal day. I got up when it was still dark out, showered, dressed, toasted a bagel, slid on my coat and shoes, walked out to catch the bus, rode the bus to work, put my lunch in the fridge, sat down at my desk, and noticed my feet...


The thing is, most Dansko clogs feel pretty much the same on the inside, even if the outside looks different. I have the two pairs next to each other in the closet, and they just slide on, so I don't really need to look at my feet in order to don them. Fortunately, I work at a costume shop, where we have a bedroom-sized closet filled with, among other things, lots and lots of shoes.

Grandma Katie

B's Grandma, Katie Neola N, passed away today - technically yesterday, as I am writing this after midnight. She was 91 years old. We are going to Kansas/Nebraska to attend the funeral and be with B's family. I have a lot that I would like to say about Grandma N, so I will probably add to this post at a later date.

Added March 12th:
It is nearing two months since we went out to be with the family and say goodbye to Katie. I have gone through one of those snowball work phases since we flew back, and I have started a handful of posts since then, but I am just now finishing them. This addendum is long overdue.

Katie is survived by her husband, Merlin. Merlin and Katie were married for 67 years. They have 15 grandchildren including their spouses, and 12 great-grandchildren. I am proud to be counted as one of their grandchildren through my marriage to B.

I always just called her Katie, not Grandma Katie or Grandma N. I have always called B's parents, Jerry and Rhonda, by their first names. And no one ever corrected me when I spoke to Katie and Merlin by their first names, so I was happy to do so. I guess I feel honored to be allowed to do so. I had always assumed that her name was Katherine, but her parents named her Katie at birth. For some reason, this pleases me.

Katie was my father-in-law Jerry's mom. Rhonda, my mother-in-law, told me something that I decided would be the thing I would share on my blog, to honor Katie: Rhonda told me that there was never any question that Katie loved her. From what I understand, she treated her daughters-in-law and son-in-law like they were her own children. All those mother-in-law horror stories that people tell, none of those ever applied to Katie. Rhonda credits Katie with being the best example she could have been as to how her children's spouses should be treated.

I love Rhonda and Jerry and the whole N family. I cry each time we have to leave them. I can talk with Rhonda for hours, and when I ask myself who my best friends are, Rhonda gets counted in that circle. And so, even though I'm sure that Rhonda could have become the wonderful mother-in-law that she is even without Katie's example, I want to thank Katie for having been so good to Rhonda, because Rhonda is so good to me.

Katie, you are loved and missed.

freaky temperatures

The most recent prediction that I have seen for the expected high temperature in Philly today is 72 degrees. If these keeps up, I may stop whining about how much I miss California weather. This IS California weather.