10 month resolution check

1. Tackle a project once a month - I crammed this in by scanning pictures and editing my blog. Woo! Score - 5

2. Finish my book, begin editing it, and start writing book #2 - This one is done. Score: 10

3. Learn the next step in the writing career (i.e., writing a synopsis, querying an agent, etc.). - Yes. Did this too. Score: 10

4. Adopt a healthier lifestyle (including eating, exercising, sleeping, and vitamins) - Health issues curbed the exercising, but I did well with sleeping and eating. Score: 8

5. Use more Wyndham points this year than last year - This one can’t really be completed until the end of the year, but I sold points, and I did some traveling. Hmm... Score: 9

Total: 42 out of 50 - Feeling strong, although the last one might be iffy.

Monday morning recap week 8

We're at the halfway mark. Already? I remember writing at the start of football how quick the offseason flew by, and now I'm bemoaning how fast the football season is moving. People, Christmas is around the corner!

Steelers play on MNF, so once again, I had a stress free football watching day.

Other:

• I was wondering...do you think Drew Brees, returning after several weeks from a thumb injury, feels added pressure to win since his back-up Teddy Bridgewater did such a bang-up job of winning?
• Colts Adam Vinatieri missed his fourth and fifth FG attempts. We youngsters now at the midway mark understand. The mighty have to fall sometime. Age is a bitch. 
• Although several other kickers missed on Sunday. Maybe Adam just got up in this week's curse.
• Worst weather this week goes to Buffalo, where wind gusts were recorded at 30 mph with a possibility of 50 mph. It was also my drinking game of Sunday. A shot down the gullet every time Scott Hanson said the word "wind." I mean, please...did the man not see last week's 49ers game?
• Saquon Barkley came back with a flourish last week. Not so much at the start of the Giants/Lions game where a Daniel Jones errant throw backward tumbled about the field. Instead of picking up the damn ball, and maybe he just had a brain fart on the rules of football, Barkley gave a well-that-didn't-work shrug before his wits returned, although frankly, I think it was the Lions defender in his peripheral vision. By then, it was a day late and a dollar short because the Lions had the ball and were in the endzone for the touchdown.
• I still can't get over seeing Joe Flacco in a Bronco uniform. He still doesn't look any happier than he did wearing purple and black, and boy, was he frustrated in his postgame interview about the calls being made for a team that's 2-6. "Getting into field goal range isn't that tough. What do we have to lose? Why can't we be aggressive in some of these situations? That's kinda how I feel about a lot of the game today."
• The Bengals organization, playing in England this week, tweeted: "Different country, same mission." Uh, seeing as how they are winless, what exactly are they saying?
• And speaking of England...how bright is their field in that stadium? The turf on my television is as brilliant a green as the Seahawks' yellowish-green trim on their uniforms. And against the Ram's bright blue/yellow uniforms? It was pure torture every time the Redzone threw them on the screen.
• Continuing on the England subject...are these Europeans really fans of the teams? Or are they just football junkies who grab the flags offered at the stadium to wave for a chance to get on TV. The Rams were well represented. How many Los Angelos fans are really living in England?
• Chargers Melvin Gordan had a nice run before getting stopped right at the line into the endzone. He relied on his teammates, who pushed him across. He did not extend the ball and risk a smackdown fumble. Smart thinking.
• Scott Hanson got hung up an unsportsmanlike conduct call in the Jags/Jets game. Jaguars Leonard Fournette was stuffed by the Jets' Brian Poole. Fournette hopped up and did one of those aggressive moves guys like to do where they pretend they're going to chest bump but stop inches away. Poole didn't flinch but clapped his hands like he was having a manic episode and had no control of his limbs. The ref threw the flag. Ridiculous penalty, but I guessed that Fournette was the culprit and figured it was due to something he said. Hanson thought it was against Poole, and he couldn't stop discussing it. Later, he interjected that perhaps Fournette had said something that caused the flag. And here I didn't think anyone was listening when I screamed out loud at the TV.
• Can the Bucs get any sadder? On offense, Winston had barely handed the ball to Dare Ogunbowale before - get this - HIS OWN TEAMMATE, Breshad Perriman in motion from wide right, ran into Ogunbowale for the tackle. "What was that?" Scott Hanson exclaimed. "One of the worst plays of the year." Yeah, we in Tampa shake our heads. At least they have some wins under their belts.
• If I were a coach, I would absolutely shut-down celebrations. Nothing gets me more fired up than a team celebrating a touchdown when they are still behind.
• Best redemption? Adam Vinetari making up for his missed kicks to seal the deal on a 51 yard FG for the win. Us youngsters never doubted him. Age is just a number. 
• Second best redemption? Emmanuel Sanders scoring the first TD of the game after being traded this week by the Broncos to the 49ers. A strange move, I thought, by Denver, but really, you're going from a 2-6 team to one that is undefeated. I know Sanders wasn't happy with the move but scoring the first touchdown of the game? Priceless. I love Sanders. Hated to lose him in Pittsburgh. I take him every year on my fantasy team. 
• And the 49ers had no problem securing six sacks, three by Nick Bosa, before heading to the locker room. 

NFL picks 2019-2020 week 8

Last Week - 11-3

Overall - 57-49

Madison - 2-2

Tom - 6 - 5

Tom: "I was six of eleven."

Me: "That's not how it shows on my yahoo account, so I do it this way; wins and losses."

Madison: "His percentage is better than mine."

**

Minnesota over Washington - Was never worried about this one.

Seattle over Washington - I think Seattle bounces back from last week's loss with or without Matt Ryan.

Buffalo over Philadelphia - Maddy's pick. I'm letting her talk me into the games I'm undecided about. Not sure this one is a good pick, but what the hell.

Chargers over Chicago - Maddy's pick. I said the Chargers were not doing so well these last games, and Madison said that on Sunday, they were going to charge into Chicago and take a win. 

Detroit over Giants - Maddy's pick. After I said I was going with Detroit and Tom yelled Detroit from the other room. We're so professional in our picks.

Tennessee over Tampa- Oh, Tampa, I don't know what happens with you guys.

Indianapolis over Denver - Andrew Luck, who?

Rams over Cincinnati - As long as the Rams aren't getting cocky this week.

New Orleans over Arizona - The Saints are doing flying with their backup quarterback. 

Jacksonville over Jets - Maybe the Jets pull it out his week or maybe not.

San Francisco over Carolina - I think the 49ers remain undefeated.

New England over Cleveland - Yeah, the Browns wide receiver got cocky and made some bold predictions which Bill Belichick used to fire up his team. Oh, Cleveland, why?

Houston over Oakland - Maddy said Oakland right off, but I gave some stats, and she changed her mind. Then we went back and forth. Oh boy.

Green Bay over Kansas City - Oh, how the Chiefs have fallen.

Pittsburgh over Miami - Good thing for MNF, the Steelers, have a faithful following that will be watching. The good thing is we play well on MNF, but that doesn't mean I think this game will be an easy one. We can't seem to pull out the easy ones.

PA trip 2019 - Oopsy daisy

The plan was to have dinner at Stephanie's house in Hershey on Sunday. Lois gave us the assignment to prepare a potato dish. She had a recipe on a card and potatoes from her neighbor's homegrown garden. We would need to make a run to the store for cornflakes.

This dish is one that my MIL makes often. It's one of Darcy's favorites. I offered up that my MIL uses Simply Potatoes hashbrowns, therefore, eliminating the time of peeling and boiling potatoes. I'm all about ease of time management when it comes to cooking.

Lois: "But then what would I do with those potatoes?"

We set off for the grocery store later on Saturday. I remarked at how I would like to exam the price of bacon being as it was nine dollars in Florida. This is an area that drives my brother crazy when he visits the Sunshine State, and he is always comparing the price of bacon in Florida to other parts of the world. From the produce department, we passed by the bacon neatly lined in one of the refrigerated displays in the aisle. FYI - bacon in Pennsylvania ranges from four to seven dollars.

We had other things on our list, but I was in charge of the Simply Potato hashbrowns, which Lois was willing to try. I later learned that she was humoring me. At the time, I liked getting my way, and so I marched through the store looking for the hash browns.

Shopping in a different grocery far from home shouldn't be complicated. I mean, there are the usual departments; meat, produce, deli and bakery. From there, are the in-betweens. It isn't rocket science, but for the life of me, I could not find the Simply Potatoes brand in Karn's Grocery. I resorted to asking in customer service where a nice lady directed me to the deli area and to the very refrigerated display, albeit the opposite side, where I had studied the bacon. Armed with my Simply Potatoes hashbrowns and a massive box of cornflakes, Kim and I were ready to cook.

Lois made us peel and boil and add her potatoes. Whatever. They were delicious. We ate them, and the cornflakes, for days.

Later on Saturday, Kim and I took Maggie and Kevin to Chocolate World. As we left, Stephanie texted that she would like us to stop at the Giant grocery store nearby for buns. We ran directly to the bakery and secured the buns.

One day later, I was dropped off at Giant again to secure a few items, including bacon and more Simply Potatoes hashbrowns. Since I knew where everything was, I volunteered to be let out at the curb while Lois, Kim, and Maggie sat in the car. The plan was to have breakfast for dinner, and so I stopped in produce and picked up some fruit and then moseyed my way toward the refrigerated display where I knew the bacon and hashbrowns resided.

The display was there, but the items I needed were not.

I checked that I was in the deli section. I checked the display. Nothing but meats and cheeses. What?  Muttering under my breath, I hoofed it around the area, looking for the bacon and hashbrowns. Nothing. Slowly, irritation seeped its way into my veins. I marched on to the meats where our bacon is housed in Florida's number one grocery, Publix.

Nothing.

There was; however, an employee hiding down a hallway where restrooms were located. She wore a shirt that said, "Questions? I have the answers". Fabulous. I approached her. She acted like she didn't see me. She turned her back, where I could read the slogan on her shirt more prominently, and studied the wall. I moved in closer. She spoke to a mother going into the restroom. I continued edging her way. She peered over one shoulder to see if I had gotten tired. I pounced.

Me: "I'm looking for Simply Potatoes hashbrowns. Could you tell me where those are? I was here yesterday, and they were in a case by the deli, but now they aren't there."

She sighed, wrinkled her brow in thought, and then spoke into a small, black device attached to her collar.

Her: "I have a customer looking for hashbrowns."

Me: "The Simply Potato brand. They aren't frozen."

Her: "In aisle 23."

Me: "And bacon?"

Her: "Same aisle, with the hotdogs, by the frozen stuff."

Muttering about incompetence and piss poor employees, not to mention shirts that lie, I walked to aisle 23 and discovered this grocery had refrigerated cases like our frozen cases, and there was the bacon. There were no Simply Potatoes to be found. I headed back to the deli, where I was sure I had bypassed the damn hashbrowns.

Again nothing but meats and cheeses.

I spied another employee sitting in between the deli and produce at a small kiosk selling wine. He sat, chin in hand, looking bored. He was not wearing the t-shirt alerting me to his helpfulness.

Me: "Hi. I'm looking for Simply Potatoes. It's a brand. They sell hashbrowns and diced potatoes. They were in the display case right there in the deli yesterday. I was just in here yesterday. I bought some from that case. Now they are gone. Can you help me?"

Him: (sighing and speaking into his small, black device attached to his collar) "I have a customer looking for hashbrowns."

Me: "Simply Potatoes. It's a brand, and they aren't frozen."

Him: "Simply Potatoes brand. Not frozen. They were in the deli yesterday. Uh-huh. Okay. My manager is checking. He moved them yesterday but doesn't remember where. He's checking."

Me: "Great. Thanks. I know I'm not crazy. I just bought them here yesterday."

He didn't care. He went back to contemplating his life or whatever he'd been contemplating before I'd approached. I moved out of the way in case customers wanted wine. I stood nearby. Three minutes went by. No one bought wine. The kid rolled his head and saw me. Back into the device, he went.

Him: "Uh, the customer is still waiting on the hashbrowns. Okay. Ma'am?"

Me: (ignoring the ma'am comment) "Yes?"

Him: "My manager said, aisle 23. If there aren't any there, then they are sold out."

I thanked him. Maybe I rolled my eyes. Then off I went muttering under my breath very unkind things about Giant Grocery and the employees and the managers. I checked by the deli again. I went to where I thought the damn Simply Potatoes brand should be. Nothing. I gave up and went to the checkout line.

Where I found Kim and Maggie entering the store.

Maggie: "Grandmother sent us in to look for you. She said you'd been gone for half an hour. What have you been doing?"

Checkout Girl - "Did you find everything today?"

Me: "No, I did not. I could not find the Simply Potatoes hashbrowns. Which I purchased in here yesterday. Apparently, the damn store was reconfigured between my visit yesterday and my visit today because the items I needed have been moved. I mean, what the what! That's craziness. And I know I'm not crazy. I had to ask yesterday at customer service to find the potatoes. You guys could seriously benefit from studying Publix brand grocers in the south. And, the only reason it has taken me so long is that the employees here aren't willing to help. Present company excluded, of course."

Checkout Girl - "I'm so sorry."

Me: "I mean, it's nuts. I was just in here yesterday. I'm not crazy."

Kim: "You mean when we bought the hashbrowns?"

Me: "Yes, exactly. Yesterday. We were right here."

Kim: "We bought buns here. We bought the hashbrowns at Karn's."

OOPS.

Maggie couldn't wait to tell the story to everyone we ran into.

Yeah, yeah, kid, I'm from Florida. We have a lot of senior moments in that state.

Foreshadowing

On Friday, as we drove from the airport, Lois asked me if I'd ever been in a Prius, the car that she drives. I said that I thought that was the car my neighbor drove, or at least she drove a hybrid. Lois then asked if I knew anyone who owned a Prius, and we had a discussion on hybrids and how well she liked the car.

On Saturday morning, I told Kim that most times, when I left town, Tom tended to make giant purchases. 

Kim: "Like what?"

Me: "Like he bought a refrigerator once when I was gone. And then another time he called and asked what I thought about a white van."

Kim: "He was going to buy a van? Without you?"

Me: "Yes. I told Tom not to buy a car without me. Luckily, Madison is home with him this time."

On Saturday night, Madison called me via Facetime. I was at Stephanie's house, and it was crazy, and it took some time before Madison got to the point of her phone call. Which occurred after I mentioned that I heard her and her father talking that morning via the inside camera we have in our house.

Madison: "What were we talking about?"

Me: "I don't know. Something regarding technology."

Madison: "Funny that you mention that. Because we bought me a car. It's a Prius."