#2987 pdin 6 - three things: the fam

 1. MT's surgery. Yesterday my husband had an outpatient surgery to repair the torn meniscus in his left knee. The procedure was done in about 30 minutes, and he was in recovery for another 30 minutes or so. We got to the surgical center at 7 AM, and we were home by 10 AM. Yesterday he felt good. The knee was still numb and he was pretty pleased that he hadn't taken any pain relievers. He did spend the day resting, so that was good. Today he felt good until the numbness wore off. Now he is taking some ibuprofen,  but he still feels good, much better than before the surgery. The knee has been bothering him since January, and he just pushed through the pain. I'm glad he got it fixed. 

2. T is doing much better. In August my son had surgery to remove a herniated disc from his back. He started doing physical therapy at the beginning of September. He has been working on getting stronger in his core and legs to be able to stand upright again. The hernia was pressing on a nerve in his leg and it was less painful for him to be bent in half to walk. Slowly but surely, he is getting more upright, and I am so relieved about it. Here's a pic of him today:

handsome!

3. I am feeling happy! I took a selfie with the most beautiful tree in my neighborhood.

I love fall

This pic doesn't even do this tree justice. The colors are so vibrant and varied: red, orange, yellow and even a bit of green. It is so pretty!

I'm happy for another reason, too: I am going to retire at the end of the year! I feel so fortunate to be able to stop working when I am still (fairly) young. MT is semi-retired - that is, he isn't working for anyone else, and just focusing on our rental property empire LOL. I don't know exactly what I'll do, but I have lots of hobbies that will keep me entertained. I also want to learn stuff, and the University of Utah has a learning program for retirees. I'll be looking into that option. I don't want to earn a degree or write papers and take exams. I just want to learn for the sake of learning. I'd love to learn more about art history, philosophy, and maybe even literature. These are classes I was too busy to take during my undergrad years. I have big plans to de-clutter the house and to turn my office into my Sandy cave. I really do have lots of ideas. 

Oh my gosh...I'm truly so excited about not working. It's been challenging to get up early and go to work when MT is still in bed reading and lounging until he's good and ready to get up and moving around. I felt a little jealous. There are some things that I will miss about work, but there is a whole bunch of things I won't miss like the work itself, commuting, meetings, early mornings, and long days, to name a few. I'm a little nervous about it, too, but mostly I'm excited.

Whew! That's all for today. Talk to you here tomorrow!

#2986 pdin 5 - vacation memories - day 13 Amsterdam (17 Sept)

still smiling in soggy Amsterdam

 In the previous vacation memories post, I told you we went to bed at 8 PM because a driver was coming to take us to the airport at 3:15 AM. It sucks to wake up at 2:00 AM when you are on vacation, but if you have to, you do it. 

We arrived in Amsterdam in the morning and a driver was waiting for us at the airport. In fact, he kind of chased us around until he caught up with us. We were slightly off our game because of the early hours, so I was thankful the guy took such good care of us. Our other initial contacts with drivers had been iffy on this trip, so Amsterdam guy was great. 

Our hotel, the Hotel Estherea,  was in a very nice location on the Singel canal. Of course, since we arrived so early our room was not ready, and probably not even vacant yet. No worries, though. The staff stored our luggage and invited us to have a coffee while we planned our activity for the morning. 

I'll be straight up with you: I loved this hotel. It was so over-the-top and I totally loved it all! It was pretty.

having a coffee under a chandelier

living the dream

Lizzie had tickets booked for the Dutch Resistance Museum, so she prepared a map and off we went. It was gray and rainy that morning. It was really more of a persistent drizzle. I wasn't cold and I wasn't really wet, but I felt damp. My umbrella was still keeping me dry, but it was looking a little the worse for wear. I was hopeful it would last the rest of the trip.

My initial impression of Amsterdam was that it was not as clean as the other cities I'd visited on this trip. I saw more garbage in the streets and against the buildings. In a certain part of the city, the smell of pot is very strong. I was a little put off by the rain and I was kind of tired. There were people riding bikes everywhere and you do NOT want to walk in the bike lane. You will get yelled at and a little bell will be rung aggressively. However...I was happy to be in Amsterdam. I liked what I was wearing. My shoes were waterproof and comfortable. My umbrella kept my head dry, and I was walking around a cool city with my sister on my way to a museum, so I really couldn't complain!

Here are photos from our walk that morning:

strolling through a pretty neighborhood

classic

it really looks like this!

Dutch Resistance Museum entrance

walked through a little park with houseboats in the canal

Lizzie is s sassy stroller

adorable!

I loved the canal houses. All of them are different and they are all sort of leaning since the whole city is built on a swamp. It's a charming place.

A quick thought on the Dutch Resistance Museum. We chose to see it instead of going to the Anne Frank House. Since our time in the city was limited, we had to make some tough choices. The DRM was one of the most unique museums I have ever been through. The layout and presentation was phenomenal. The audio tour is so very well done - I was very engaged with the museum. It was an interesting way to learn about the history of the Netherlands in World War II. Highly recommend.

After the museum, it was time for lunch and we found a cute pub that looked inviting. I had a really tasty cheeseburger, and Lizzie had a big Dutch meatball with mustard and bread. We shared an order of fries with mayo, of course, and had a beer. It was great. 

lunch is served!

Side note, there were was a group of fathers and their children at a table near us. The kids got bored, as kids do, so they went exploring and ended up at the bar. You mostly don't see this scene in Utah.

kids checking out 16 taps at the bar

On our way back to the hotel, we walked through an area with shops. I remember we went into a bookstore, as we do, and when we crossed the street I smelled a gorgeous smell. Not pot; waffles, specifically, stroopwafels. Since it was on my list of food to try, I had to do it. The woman in the shop was so nice and explained exactly what the treat was all about. You can buy them already made or get a hot, fresh one, which is what we did. I had the classic, two thin crispy waffle wafers with a layer of hot caramel in between. Lizzie had the same with the added pizzazz having one side dipped in chocolate. I liked it a lot.

what a face

Fun fact - it's not easy to eat a hot caramel-y stroopwafel, balance your umbrella, and in Lizzie's case, her phone, and walk at the same time. 

We got to the hotel to check out our room and rest for a bit. Our room wasn't big, but it was cute and comfy. Apparently each room in the hotel is decorated differently. Ours had kind of a jungle theme.

yes, I am delighted with this room and this hotel

It felt good to relax for a little while and just be off our feet. Our fun wasn't over yet, though, because that evening we went on a canal cruise. We gathered up our rain gear once again and headed out. We walked to the dock - it wasn't too far from the hotel, and I was expecting one of those big canal cruise boats, but our boat was quite small. It did have a covering over the seating area and plastic sheeting for windows, so we were dry. We were also the only passengers. Two young men were our hosts; one was the skipper and the other was the tour guide. They were adorable, and we enjoyed talking to them about our travels and learning about Amsterdam. We couldn't see much because it was raining and we were in a small boat, but it was fun and we learned some stuff.

our own private tour

I was starting to get into the Amsterdam groove by now. I think at first I was kinda bummed that I wasn't still in Prague but Amsterdam grew on me.  A couple of pics of the city at night:

they call these the dancing houses because they are leaning into each other

look at that spire in the background

Claude Monet painted that spire from the window on the 2nd floor

Fun fact: the master Impressionist painter Claude Monet spent time in Amsterdam and stayed in the building in the photo above. At that time, in the 1870s, he had a lovely view of the the Zuiderkerk and painted it in each season. 

Another fun fact: over 15,000 bikes per year get lost in the canals.

On our way back to the hotel, we were taking an ussie, and a young woman stopped and offered to take our photo. Always let a Gen Z take your photo. They do a good job and make you giggle while it's happening.

good times!

Back at the hotel, we decided to go to the lounge for a snack before bed. We had fries with mayo and some bitterballen because the cute guide on our canal tour told us we had to try it. They are like a croqueta in Spain, but made with kind of a thickened stew meat. You dunk them in a bit of mustard, and yeah, they are good. We washed it down with Heineken, and it was all very Dutch.

bitterballen with the Dutch flag, fries, and Heineken

One more day of vacation to tell you about. I'm planning to write that post on Sunday. I am five for five on my daily November posts. I hope you'll come back tomorrow when I'll be writing about three things.

xo

#2985 pdin 4 - a prompt

For the past year or so, I have been using writing prompts in my journal. I'll write about whatever I want, then I will respond to the prompt for that particular day. It adds a little extra fun to my regular journaling by making me think about something that maybe wouldn't occur to me to write about. 

Sometimes coming up with a topic to write about every day can be challenging, so why not respond to a prompt when I don't have much to say?

Here is the list of prompts I am using this month:

Today is Nov 4, and the prompt is: Your preferred method of communication.

My preferred method of communication is writing. At work, I like it when people send me an email with their requests and information because then it gives me something tangible to refer back to when I need clarification. It is also more helpful to me to have an email that I can drag to a task list so I can make sure the thing gets done. In my personal life, I like to get a text. I really like to get mail; it is so wonderful to get a nice handwritten card in the mail! It's true that in written communication you can't always get "tone," but I think that's more on the writer.

A recent trend that I don't like in written communication is using AI to write for you. I don't like it at all! It's weird to read something from a person and you know they don't speak like they write - but it's because they are not writing it. It's just sad to me that folks feel like they need to lean on ChatGPT or something to communicate. Use your words. Use your words.

See you tomorrow!

#2984 pdin 3 - basic fall b*tch

 Autumn is by far my favorite season. All seasons have good stuff about them, of course, but I love fall most of all. I love the cool mornings and evenings and the warm afternoons. I love the softer light. I love standard time. I love the colors of the leaves. I love wearing cozy sweatshirts. I love football. I love the Major League Baseball post-season. I love the start of basketball and hockey season. I love slowing down at this time of year; the lull between the summer and the holidays. I feel myself thinking about wrapping up in a quilt, having a nice cup of coffee, and reading a book all day. (I don’t actually do that, but I think about it.)

The weather yesterday was incredibly wonderful. The temperature was in the mid ‘60s, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and it wasn’t even a little windy. After I walked the dogs in the morning, I declared that it might be a Hog Wallow day. MT was into it, so we had lunch at Hog Wallow Pub in Cottonwood Heights. The pub has the nicest patio! As you can see, the trees behind MT were all yellow and there were leaves actually falling around us. I worried a leaf would fall in my beer, but that did not happen.

Me and the Mr.

It’s fall!

While I have you here, take a look at these photos to see how quickly the leaves changed colors:

Red Butte Garden, October 5, 2025

Red Butte Garden, October 25

Isn’t that cool?!

That’s all for today! See ya tomorrow for more random thoughts!

#2983 pdin 2 - vacation memories day 12 - Prague (16 Sept)

at St. Vitus Cathedral // ussie by Lizzie

It's our last day in Prague and we need to see lots of stuff! The plan was to explore the west side of the Vltava River, including Prague Castle and parts of the Mala Strana (Lesser Town). We got an early start because the hotel would not have water from 7:30 am to around 7:00 pm, so we wanted to get out and about before the water was shut off.

Why was the water being shut off, you may be asking? The City of Prague was doing some work on the waterlines in the area. The hotel assured us they would provide bottled water for drinking as well as buckets of water for flushing and washing. Oy. We just decided to spend most of the day out and about.

I wanted to have a traditional Czech breakfast of a kolach and coffee, and luckily there was a kolacherie not far from the hotel. A kolach can be sweet or savory. Lizzie and I each had a sweet and a savory. Here's a pic of mine:

kolaches

The kolcach on the left is nutella with lemon curd, and on the right is ham and cheese. The bread is slightly sweet and chewy. I thought they were both delicious. After breakfast, we walked back through the square and stopped in a cool academic bookstore where I bought a blank notebook, which I call my TBW books (to be written), and postcards. We passed by this magnificent and ginormous statue in Old Town Square:

Jan Hus Monument in Old Town Square

The walk to the castle didn't take long, probably about 20 minutes, at least to get to the steps going up to the castle.. The steps were long and pretty steep; it was about three quarters of a mile uphill. We had to stop a few times along the way, and we were not the only ones stopping to catch our breath. Here's a pic of the stairs from the top:

the stairs to Prague Castle

It is free to enter the castle grounds, but there is a fee if you want to walk on the Golden Mile (the medieval shopping street), the Old Royal Palace, and the cathedral. We chose not to pay and just wander at our leisure. You can also schedule tours, which we had for Monday, but the tour was cancelled as I explained in a previous post. There was still something going on at the castle because the police were checking underneath vehicles, and there was quite a few police and military personnel on site. 

The castle is a grouping of individual palaces where the noblemen lived, the main palace, and the cathedral. Prague Castle is enormous. Most of the individual palaces are now museums, but there is still official business done at the Old Royal Palace. In the middle of it all is St. Vitus Cathedral which is incredible. We stared at it for a long time.

the back of St. Vitus Cathedral

the side of St. Vitus Cathedral

front of St. Vitus Cathedral

If/when I get back to Prague, I'm going in there!

Here is a pano of the Old Royal Palace. There appears to be some squinching of Lizzie's hair on the right.

Old Royal Palace

We wandered around the grounds looking for the gardens. We found sort of a canyon with paths, but we couldn't quite figure out how to get down there, then we decided maybe we didn't want to have to work our way back up, and there were other things we wanted to see, so we kept moving. 

We stopped to have a beverage at Cafe Sternberk in Sternberg Palace - no, I didn't spell those incorrectly, they are different - then we went into a small sculpture garden where we felt we had to pose like a couple of the statues:

There were also cardboard cutouts of knights in a gift shop, and we had to put our faces in those:

the knight was tall, and I am short

Lizzie's hair wouldn't fit in the helmet

We left the castle and wandered around looking at whatever we could see. There weren't as many tourists outside of the castle, and the old streets were quiet. The farther we got from the castle, the emptier the streets were.

the Archbishop's residence with St. Vitus in the background

a quiet street in the castle district

We made our way over to Strahov Monastery. We considered going into the library there, but decided to go to the pirovar (brewery) instead for a bite to eat and a beer, of course. The beer was excellent.

cheers!

After this snack, Lizzie and I decided to make our way down the hill to see a few more things that were on our list for the day. What I can tell you is that no matter how you choose to get up to Prague Castle, it is uphill. I think I'm glad we got all our climbing over with in the straight shot up the stairs. Coming down through the charming streets was a delight. 

Prague!

so pretty!

I'm a sucker for a flower shop

There were a couple of gardens Lizzie had researched that we wanted to see. One of them was hosting a private event, so we couldn't go in there. Guess we'll save that for next time. The Vrtba Garden was open and we paid a small fee to enter. It was small, and so beautifully designed and maintained.

From Vrtba Garden, it wasn't far to the Lennon Wall, so we figured we'd better see it. It wasn't pleasing to me at all. I'm sure at one point, it was cool, but now it's just a mess.

Lennon Wall

 

However, just down the street, you can see this:

the water goblin Kabourek watches over Devil's Stream

A fun fact I learned walking around the Mala Strana is that the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda took his last name from a Czech poet, Jan Neruda. We passed by the Hotel Neruda and I wondered if Pablo Neruda had spent time in Prague. He did visit the city, but didn't stay long, I don't think. Cool name, though. I think I might like to stay in this hotel. I really liked this side of the city.

We went back across the Charles Bridge, admiring both sides of the river and the beautiful bridge itself.

on the Charles Bridge looking at the west side of Prague

another pic of Prague from the Charles Bridge

By the time we made it back to the hotel, I had logged over 19,000 steps, just over eight miles. I was beat! It was good that we tired ourselves out, though, because we decided to get to bed around 8pm in order to be able to meet our driver at 3 am for our ride to the airport to catch our flight to Amsterdam at 6 am. We had a quick dinner at the restaurant near the hotel, watched the crowds gather for the Astronomical Clock "show" then went upstairs to bed.

pooped out in Prague

The next vacation memories post will be about Amsterdam! I plan to write about it on Wednesday.

See you tomorrow!

PS pdin stands for Posting Daily in November :D