Looking back.. one more time...

Another one shot down the tubes, and a new one to louse up.

Another one down the tubes, and a new slate.

But looking back, it wasn't a bad year..

January was the start of the restoration of the truck.. The old body came off of the 91 Ford to be used for the 1947.

With me... I decided to do what I called Garage art. I painted a picture for each one of the kids...and one for my husband. You got to understand.. I don't paint.. So it was a cross between Grandma Moses and  kindergarten.

February brought word that a friend had died the November before. He died alone... so sad.. He was a great Beatles fan and old time music and such a lost to his friends.. he would be surprised.

March brought a new Pope... that even people like myself, who are not Catholic, think he is a great guy... and here being December we all still the same.

April brought a bombing in Boston, Which were caught, thanks to good camera work and witness... and Boston rallied with Boston Strong.

May brought the rods and old cars out of the garages and into our Lost in the 50's parade... 

And sunshine, and hopes of starting our gardens...

June brought flowers, and planting of the garden.. and yard art.

and sadly a young man named Snowden.. who stole computer files and ran to China and then to Russia...

July, brought 4th of July.. parades and cook outs.

Sadly Martin and Zimmerman became buzz words in the nation.

I walked my second  3K walk and my legs didn't fall off...

And the lost of my dear friend Virginia.

August brought news of 3 people close to me, who found out they have cancer... so again.. CANCER.. DAMN YOU.. DAMN YOU TO HELL.

We had two 50 year olds in August in our family...

And the painting of the 1947 Ford body parts by our sons.

September brought government shuts down... and garden slow downs.

Picking everything out of the garden, and processing the veggies.

Sadness as Labor Day reminds us that summer is over.

October brought the shutting down of the yard, wrapping up the hoses, the last roses of the summer, and Halloween on the rising.

It also was when I got to see my tombstone had been installed at the beach.   It is a bench for grandparents to sit with their grandchildren like I did.

November brought Thanksgiving ....

Sadly the mess of trying to get  Affordable Care Insurance...as the computers clogged  up.. is that a surprise? 

And the 50th anniversary of the shooting of JFK.

December... ah, the end of the year.. and we all wonder where did the year go.

So this was the year, that the King finally is getting work done on the truck..

I have been drove nuts by my possessed computer too many times, and over all we have been blessed with good health.. we have a roof over our heads, food for our mouths, vehicles that get us from point a to point b.. so far..  Our children are all safe and health as our grandchildren and great grandchildren...

So hope you have had as well.. and as you say good by to 2013 tonight.

Be careful out there... we? we will be celebrating our usual New York style.

Giving each other a kiss at 9pm (it will be midnight in New York) and say good night.

HAPPY NEWS YEARS, FOLKS..

OVER AND DONE WITH....

As of Friday  afternoon, I had 80% of the Christmas

decorations... inside and out.. in boxes. 

So the yard is naked.

An hour later, I had the ladder set up and went to get

the King who offered to help me.  yea, right... well, he

and the dog were sound to sleep in the chair.

So up and down the ladder.. 8 times.. and all the boxes

were put away. Even got rid of some of the stuff.

Got the other 20% boxed up by 6pm and up in the loft.

HARRAH, Christmas 2013 is done and packed away.

Got all the Christmas cards down, and wrote up the list for

next year, with the cards gotten this year... House is void

of all that is Christmas.. open spaces and all.

Yep, Christmas 2013, is done and over...

Happy birthday, bmw.. 

Christmas is for kids....

The birth of our Lord, is for all of us to celebrate...

but the holiday of Christmas is for the kids..

It is always so neat to watch a kid walk up to the Christmas tree, on Christmas morning..  Even if you put the tree up early.. it is still cool when the kid first sees it...  Their eyes lit up, with the color of the bulbs, and wonder of it all... how tall it is.. the tinsel that hangs, the lights that come on.. and blink...  It is a wonder land for them.

And then the morning of Christmas... the excitement as they run to the tree... all the presents... and if there is any that aren't wrapped, like a bike.. well, it is over the top.  Trying to slow them down is a trip and half... trying to write down who sent what to them... is not easy either... when they are toddlers.. they don't understand the need

to thank those who sent presents.  It is just all this color and all this paper that they can tear off..  They will even do yours, if you aren't careful....  And how many of us have let them help us unwrap  ours?

But when they get to be teens, it isn't the same. Kind of nice, when the teen appreciates the trials and errors of getting the right present.

But after they are grown and moved away.. well, it just isn't the same. You get to the point, you don't care if you put up a tree or not.  After all, it is just another day, just like your birthdays become...

And that is why God gave us grandchildren...  (smile) 

But even they grow up and move on... 

So Christmas comes.... it is coffee and maybe some coffee cake, as you stroll into the living room... you pick up the present for your spouse and hand it to them.. and you pick up your own... .............

You open it... tell them thank you, give them a kiss... sit and watch what ever is on the television that morning... drinking your coffee.

Oh, yea... you might look at each other and say.. Merry Christmas.

That is why I would never do Christmas as some others do.. open the presents on Christmas Eve...  after all, when you get up Christmas morning what is there to do??? sure is a big let down... and makes me sad. 

Makes it just another day, like yesterday or tomorrow.

No big deal.

So live Christmas thru your kids, and grandkids eyes... and enjoy it. They grow fast.. AND TO ALL MY READERS...

see you next week... enjoy your family.... 

MERRY CHRISTMAS....   

69 years later, and still tormenting the kid....

Today is my kid brother's birthday... he is 69.

Geesh, he is getting old.

Over the years we have had some good times,

some bumpy times.. as siblings do.

Lots of memories for sure.

Like when we were kids.. we had our bedrooms upstairs.

His was on one side of the house and mine on the other side. With the stair case between...

Mine had the door ... tiny as it was.. to the attic. The attic

consisted of, more of a crawl space. It slanted with the house eves. About 4 feet high at the wall side, and a foot as the eve side.

The door was only on one side. I don't know why there wasn't a door on the other side, as the crawl space was equal on each side.

BUT... I could remove my bottom draw from my built-in the wall dresser.  I could crawl  thru the hole and come out in the crawl space.  And I could travel down the side of the house to where my brother's bedroom was.  I would crawl down from time to time and make noises on his wall... and then crawl back fast to my side, in thru the drawer slot and put the drawer back. So when my brother would get upset and tell Mom, I was doing something to his wall.. I would be at my door and deny everything.  This worked for years. Until my brother got older.

And faster...

and I left my door open.... 

and he caught me coming back thru the hole.

When Mom and Dad would go out on "date" night, I got stuck with making dinner.  I was making hamburgers. We didn't have buns, we had white bread slices.  So I had put mustard on one side, ketchup on the other side.. and if it was a good night, cheese.

But one night, I had put the bread together, while I was cooking the hamburger.  I turn around and went to put the meat in the sandwich. His was gone.  So I put my meat in mine.. and I sat down and ate it.

We sat there eating for a few minutes... then it dawns on him, there is no meat in his.  Hey, it wasn't my fault he grabbed the bread too soon.

Then there is the time, when I HAD to take him to the Saturday morning movie show. He was a real pain.

Running up and down the aisle, wanting candy...  Well, one day he was in the bathroom, and laughing because he had chocolate candy, and I did not.  I was mad... where did you get that candy, I demanded! He told me I couldn't have any as he ate it all and laughed..  He showed me the wrapper and box... Heck at the age of 11, I didn't know what

EX-LAX was.  All I knew was, he didn't get to go to the movies the next day.  Then when I got home, and was laughing about how he had to stay home... he TOLD MOM, that I GAVE to him...  no explaining was going

to get me out of that one...  Just for the recorded.. I didn't and I didn't know what EX-LAX was. But I did think it was 

funny.

Now that we are older, we still do things, but on a much milder side.  Getting cards that are funny and gets to the other.  And when I send him his birthday card, I usually give him advise of what he will be facing when he gets my age. I am 4 years older.

Now we have a card that we send back and forth to each other.

Same card.. just signed again. it is on its 3rd year.  

This year I stuck in a small book with what was going on the year he was born.

Also came across some cassettes that Mom sent me in the 1970's, with them talking on it.. with his brother in law as well... funny, as when they were talking politics, they could have  been talking like it was today.

I guess tormenting the sibling, runs in the family. My father who was 2 years older than his kid brother, still did and they were in their 80's.

SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KID... from the old lady sister... Hang in there, next year you will be 70... and the best is yet to come.   So jump in.. the water is fine.. Being 70 is a blast. 

Ready or not...

Well, we are just one week away from Christmas.

Are you ready?  I am. In so many ways, I am.

I have gotten all the Christmas cards off at the end of Thanksgiving.

So if you haven't got one from me..or us.. then you aren't getting one.

I have the few presents that I give away.. taken care of.. The baskets are all done and all but two are delivered.  So that means my Christmas cooking is over... Thank God for that.  I am so sick of sweets.

And all the given sweets are eaten, I believe... with maybe one zucchini bread left.  My body is rebelling. It is asking what happen to the good food.

The green salads, fish and chicken.. What is with all this sweet stuff. And bloating with sugars and salts, from all of it and the flour, that I normally don't eat.

Got all the Christmas lights up in the yard and loving that...but not loving the idea that in little over a week from now, they come down and have to

go back up into the top shelf of the garage.  But don't want to think about that.. just enjoying the moment for now.  And talking to the King about taking a ride around town and see other's. We haven't done that for a year

or so. Use to take the grandson around to show him..but that really is YEARS ago.

So ready or not.. this is it... let's get this over with. 

As you can see I don't do Christmas well.  Almost a bah, humbug type of person. I lighten up about noon on Christmas afternoon or night.

So if you aren't back here before Christmas.. MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all.  

Caretakers for parents...

As time goes by, and we get older... some have to deal

with caretakers for their parents... Sometimes it is family.

Sometimes it is agencies.  And some times it is health

care centers, (use to be called nursing homes).

Over the years, there have been large families.. Use to

be in the same town. Brothers and sisters.  So when Mom

or Dad, started to fail, there was family members close by

to step up to the plate.

Some of them took the parents into their homes. To raise

the children and care for the parents.  In those days, the wife was the one who did most of it, as she didn't work.

Then wives started with careers of their own. But still with

so many children, there was enough support system. Some

would chose to stay the night with the parents.  Each choosing a night.

But now, that the boomers are coming into the scene.. it is

the years of fewer children.. The family average was 2 children.. Where in the 1940 and even 50's it was anywhere from 4 to 8 children. 

With fewer children, there is also the moving to different states from where the family home is.. Children are spread all over the states.  So the support system is lessen. And some times strained.  Especially if one child is still in the area of the parents, and the rest are far away. Leaving most of the support on that one child. Sometimes there are the out of area children who, maybe by guilt, complain about the care of the parents. And of course, the one or ones left in the town, aren't too thrilled with the siblings who complain but don't come help. Too busy, as if the ones in town, don't have a life and aren't busy. Leaving a strain relationship all the way around.

But now, as the boomers get older.. and the next generation coming up.. some without children.. where is the caretaking support system going to be?  Will strangers or friends, neighbors, be picking out caretakers and health

care centers for those who have no children.

So where will be the family caretakers?  And who will be taking care of you? 

After Dinner....

The King and I don't entertain often... we do a Thanksgiving with the family... and once in year we do a dinner for friends.

We are more of the, come to the house for a back yard cook out.

We do more of ours in the summer...

It is always nice when it all comes together. And even tho some might think we will kill each other before the meal is done... they would get a better picture of it after... When the meal is done and friends have gone home.   Because that is when we put things away, and clean up... and during this time.. we bond and talk over how it all went.. what worked well, and what we would change the next time..

And how lucky we are to have such great friends.

Summer backyard cook outs are easy.. just open it, cook it, and then put it on the table, and when it is over, throw the plates, cups and utensils away. Almost a wrap up the paper table cloth and throw in the trash.

Winter ones, are put it all ways, put the dishes in the dish washer with the forks, spoons and knives.  Then take them all out and put them away until next time. Wash the table cloth and napkins.

We do have containers for our guest to fill up for later, so we don't have much food left over.  Which we are glad to share with everyone.

So how do you do? Do you and your spouse, work together and talk after, enjoying how things went? 

Clean up on aisle 7 (known as the kitchen)

There are just some days, I have no business in the kitchen.

And this past month.. that has been at least 3 times. 

Like men, I tend not to follow directions.. I read them, get the jiff of them and then go with what I want.  Lots of times that turns out well for me.. (in case you were going to ask) but some days..

well, I should have clean the bathroom with a toothbrush.. it would have been better day.

I have in my freezer a container.. with the strongest lemon glob, that I know I can use it for something... just got to figure out what.  It was originally lemon bars. But the bars turn out like cement on the pan.

The top was fine.. hence that is why I saved it.  Which will be a challenge as I love lemon anything.. but the King positive hates lemon.

Then there was the deal of mixing and micro waving.. and mixing 30 seconds later.. and microwave again..  NOT  microwave for 1 minute..

as you can see, that didn't work out for me..  Well, I shouldn't say it didn't work.. as I had plenty of work for me.. as you can see.

It spilled all over the microwave.. and I had to clean the mess and then the walls, and the ceiling of the microwave.. NOT MY FAVORITE thing to do.

Yep, some day's cleaning the bathroom would have been better and easier to clean. 

My life is a muble jumble.....

I am a creature of habit for the most part.. which makes

me a very good New Englander.. especially a Rhode Island trait.

We don't like change.  Strolling thru life is what makes us happy.

But the holidays always has a way of its own. Then throw in computer problems.. well, it like someone is squirreling with my scramble brain.

Did my Christmas cards before Thanksgiving.. sent them all out but the great-grandchildren the last week of November. So that is done..

Then there is Christmas decorations.. which that is done now.. and the gifts..and I think I have that done.. never know when someone is going to slip you up with a surprise.  Over all we don't gift.. but we do give out baskets to our friends.  And now I have those 99% done... just have to put them together.  And give them.

Also around this time we do some entertainment ... we are not party people, but we do invite some people over for dinner.. occasionally. And we have that coming up on Sunday.

And my youngest daughter (only local child) and I get together for a cooking session. Usually do it at her house, but this year we are doing it at my house.

On Saturday. Always a fun time, full of laughter and joy.

I use to multi-task very well when I was younger.. But now.. with this old brain, I feel more like I am juggling things in the air and hoping to take care of which comes down. lol...  I will be so glad when January 2nd comes, of 2014.

Then I can breathe a huge sigh and say thank God I made it thru.  

"Inside work, women's work..outside work, men's work..."

These words have gotten the King into so much trouble..

He was telling me that a woman's place is in the kitchen.. after all,

"inside work, women's work....outside work, men's work..."

was the words that came out of his mouth...

I was stacking wood, and he was chopping it... I looked at him and said..

"Really?"  I put the log down on the ground and started to walk to the house... 

He asked where I was going, we aren't done here yet... he replied...  

I repeated his words back at him.  "inside work, women's work....outside work, men's work..."

He starts walking with me and says, I wasn't talking about you.  I said, Oh,so you don't consider me a woman?  NO, no, you are putting words in my mouth.

And then I put the finally nails into it... "Oh, you know how you like to cook?

Well, you can't do that... after all... outside work, men's work.. not in the kitchen.

And this has been a running joke for years since...  Costing him, from time to time.  Like the time I asked him to take the garbage out while I put a new bag in... and he repeated those words.. "inside work, women's work....outside work, men's work..." and laughed.. but wasn't laughing

so hard, when I placed the sack out on the deck, and told him.. it was now outside, in his territory....

 He even tells the grandchildren  that.. and now as men, they are repeating it..so guess I better educate the granddaughters..

Good thing I don't keep a grudge

Electronics are not my friends...

I hate it that we have become a slave to electronics.

And I hate it that the electronics are smarter than I am.

I gave up my cell phone over 7 years ago.  So the new

ones are really over my head. I see my kids, zip thru their

apps. getting information left and right. From prices of items

we are looking at, telling also what other stores around the

area are selling that product.  GPS  ready. Find a street...

take us to that street.   Take a picture, send it to someone

and they can see it.. answer questions about it and etc.

Do you want it, or not... Me.. I just want to dial the number

and have the person answer.

Which leaves me to yesterday... see I have a wireless phone at home. That phone gives me the chance to call any where I want with no extra charge and it has caller id, that is free. And $20 less than my phone bills were before.... Works fine, although sometimes the sound is slightly delayed, so you might interrupt someone who is talking because they took a breath, so you thought they were finished. But it is easy to overcome.

Have had it a year.  So far so good.......UNTIL yesterday.

I went to call a company... beep, beep and that was it.. Tried

the different phones in the house, to see if it was the phone or the system.  It was the system.  Which left me with NOW what?

After all, it isn't like the old landline, where you go to the neighbor and call on their phone and you get the office and help. This was what do I do, how do I call wireless?  Finally came up with the go to the Verizon site.  Figured out how to do a instant chat with a representative, who found out that the Verizon wireless was out of service in my area... So it was a matter of waiting until they got it fixed.  Which was only about 15 minutes.  Not bad at all Verizon,

but I guess I got at the tail end, as it went out around 6am. I discovered it at 8am.  But for those minutes while I tried to figure out what to do,... how to get a hold of the company... it was frustrating, and a little isolated.  Thank goodness my internet was not thru them.. so I had a choice.  But figured out .. I depend on electronics way too much.

but it is the necessary evil.   Don't even want to go to the subject of what goes on in my mind when my computer goes belly up.

(Crossed fingers), everything is good at this time.

Oh, yea, the phone call.. seems there is a LOOOOOOOOOOONG list for repairs of pipes... so it is take a number, so to speak and wait.

There were over 400 calls since Friday of pipes freezing and some breaking... so it is the waiting game.  Luckily they are on vacation so it isn't as bad as it could be. And hopefully it will be fixed before they get home.  

Water, water everywhere...NOT.....

This weekend has been a full weekend for the King and I.

We are babysitting the neighbors house while they go south

to visit family and friends...  So it is a "would you water my

plants while I am away". Which we are always happy to do.

But plans went array this weekend...

First off, we had the arctic wind of the north...come down from Alaska and freezing everything.  So Friday I went over to put the faucets on to the dripping system..  TOO LATE.. the pipes already froze.  The King tried to see if it was an easy fix with temps up in the house.. but not to be.  So it was called the plumber. And the answer was not good. 

Seems the door to the skirting had been left off.. and the wind whipped under the house and froze everything....  AND.. broke the pipes at least at two places.

So turn off the water at the street level... turn off the water heater...and put a space heater under the house early Sat. morning.  Got it up to 30 even though it was 5 below by that afternoon.  Heard air in the lines. 

The plumber is to be back to day to fix the breaks and hope the two are the only ones.. and putting up insulation type door that the King made for them..  So hoping by sun set everything will be back like normal.

Also, they turn off their paper route.. and someone didn't give the message to the deliver guy, as there was papers all over the place.

So got that stopped.. now if you can get the water to go.. they will be in good shape.   

PLANES, AND CELL PHONES...

Cell phones have their place.. they are good if you need to

find out from your spouse, is there anything in town that they

need, before you leave town.

One of my very favorites, and the only time I miss my cell phone, is in box stores. Any spouse who has lost track of their spouse in a box store.. knows what I mean.. Up and down the aisles...

up and around the side aisles.. and just before you are ready to kill such spouse, there they are... And just as ticked off as you are.  Cell phones eliminated that. 

If you are walking down the sidewalk on a beautiful day, and

some one comes up behind you .... talking... you turn around to see if it is you they are talking to. And women (don't know if men have the same trouble) when you are in the bathroom, and the woman in the next stall, starts talking.. you answer.. not once but maybe twice before it dawns on you... that you are an idiot.. because

she was on her cell phone.  In line at the grocery store, yakkity, yakkity, yak... You really don't want to hear how her toe nail was infected and what she did.. or her boyfriend is a jerk and yada, yada, yada...

And NOW, they are talking about letting people use their cell phones on PLANES... not texting,  but talking... Can you imagine... being trapped on a plane with over 200 people, talking and talking and talking for 3, 4, or 6 hours,( if you are going to Hawaii.)..OH, MY GOD..

And you are trapped there, no where to run, to escape...

Reason # 5 why I won't want to fly any more... and just the

thought of it, it might become #1 reason. 

Whose is it anyway?...

If it is mine.. it is mine.. if it is yours then it is yours.

Plain and simple.

If I find money, it is not mine.. I didn't lose money, so

it is not mine, so find the owner.

I have never been one for the nursery rhyme

Finders keepers,

loser's weepers.

Never been one to see something and call it mine.

as I said before... it is plain and simple...

if it is mine.. it is mine.. if it is not mine.. then it

belongs to someone else.. not me.

So how some people can claim something as their own,

when they know they did not have it or lost it, is beyond

my way of thinking.

Now granted, sometimes you find things.. and try your best

to find out who lost it...and you have to do something with it.

I have gave it to someone who needs it... after all it isn't right

for me to keep it.. after all it isn't mine.

It isn't because I am so perfect. My mother must have put the fear of God in me as a kid.. because even if you leave a dish at my house... with food still in it.. I can't wait to clean it and get it back to you.. after all .... it isn't mine. 

Blackmail the children...

This is the time of the year... that parents have control...

Control over their children... after all they can blackmail

them... by simply humming a little tune.. or if they have

to be a little more persistence, then they can sing the words..

" He's making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town

He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
O! You better watch out!
You better not cry
Better not pout"

Those words bring any child back into line...

Enjoy it while you can.. Because you and Santa will be the

top of the hill for at least the first hour of Christmas morning,

then all bets are off.

Too much food...

They came, we ate.... it was like a Roman Feast.. each year we all

gather around the table...  A Roman Feast, with so much food.

Except we were not dressed in toga's.  Which probably would

not be a bad idea, considering how we felt after we ate... and

dessert.

In our house hold, there is the sharing of the leftovers.. Containers

are filled ... each threaten with bodily harm, if they didn't take their

share.  Some even delighted in taking it home.. with thoughts of

eating leftovers that night.  Myself.. I didn't want to see food for

at least 24 hours and then only slightly.

Maybe next year, we will have turkey and green salad... Got to have turkey... and green salad will fill the rest.  Only trouble, we may not get any takers to participate in this new menu.

By the way, did you know that pumpkin pie taste good  for breakfast.