Dunno

I went to an estate sale last week, drawn by the Christmas cactus. 

Along the way, these monkeys were so disturbing that I had to have them.

But the Christmas cactus was really superior, and only one dollar. Had to have it. The seller and I decided that this was the saddest looking one, and I hope to bring him back to life this year.

Home Sweet Home

The mama returned home today. Operation Jailbreak was a success.

This evening we raised a glass in celebration: buttermilk and white wine.

Donald Trump Pinata

All of the mama's hard work paid off, and she is coming home tomorrow. I am resting today, both in preparation and in recovery.

I thought I had the whole situation nailed after week one. One of our favorite caregivers came back to us after maternity leave, Mom's regular daytime caregiver introduced us to a friend of hers who is a sweetheart and has been a good fit. The agency provided some nice folks for weekend days...all I had to do was meet everybody, show them around the nursing facility and introduce them to Mom. 

Then our new mother found that her baby wouldn't take a bottle, so she had to quit. And was replaced by two separate people who I had to meet, show around, etc. And the agency sent both of them to the wrong address, so those were long nights for me. And after that week of adjustment, we're moving our base of operations back to the apartment and I have to go through the same process again with our 5 new caregivers because they haven't been to her place. Argh. After that everything should settle down?

mrguy and I went to the apartment yesterday to clean the fridge, install a commode and clean up the patio. While we were there, we saw this in a shop across the street:

Yes. A Donald Trump pinata, wearing a hat that has a Made In Mexico sticker.

So 2016

Deviled Eggs

I'm visiting the mama later today and she DOES believe in Easter. Therefore when I was packing her house this summer I made certain to bring along some baskets that I could use to make her future Easters festive. Yes, people, I am helping her celebrate Easter, despite what I just said earlier.

She loves malted milk balls and jelly beans, so I have those in large supply. I may dye an egg (this will be extra credit), and I also made deviled eggs. Is it wrong to have something called Deviled Eggs on the holiest day of the Christian calendar? Whatever. It's a pagan holiday and we all know it.

Although I am unconverted in some ways, over the years I have been converted from my former dislike of deviled eggs to an actual like of deviled eggs. Further than that, I was even converted to a like of a very specific type of deviled egg sandwich, thanks to Trzesniewski, the egg salad sandwich store in Vienna. There at Trzesniewski, in the shadow of the Loos American Bar, you can share a table with a local, drink a tiny beer and eat teensy sandwiches that are as weird as they are tasty. When I got home from vacation the only thing I asked for for Christmas was a ricer. I used it today to make deviled eggs for the mama. Here you go.

The setup:

The squishing of the yolks with my ricer:

The smoked paprika from our trip to Budapest, with my favorite little spoon:

And we'll see how the mama likes these. The Tony The Tiger bowl is just to crack her up: