Greetings

Good bye 2005

Hello 2006

Happy New Years everyone

Movie Theaters

Took my grandson to see Narnia,
Lion, Witch and Wardrobe...
And the movie was enjoyable.

I rate movies by
1. theater 2.video and 3..T.V.
Meaning that is where they should
be watched. Narnia was a 2.
I enjoyed being with my grandson
so that is why we were in the
theater. But being there, also
reminded me why I don't usually
go there.

When I go to the movies, I like
to go to the matinee show. It is
cheaper, and less people. But
it always makes me wonder.

After all there are 100 seats in
the theater. And on most
occasions, there is about
10 to 15 people in there. So
why do they sit in front of me?
I mean, right in front of me.
They could go to the right of me.
They could be several seats
below me. They could even be
across the aisle from me.
I have even tried to sit up higher
or lower but they still sit in front
of me. And of course the adult
sits in the chair right in front of
me. So I am missing 10% of
the screen. And they shift from
side to side.. This is why I don't
like go to theaters.

And yesterday was almost as
bad. Now there were a lot more
people there. Probably 30 or even 40
there. Lots of kids with adults.
After all this is kind of a kids movie.

The movie starts, and the talking
starts in the seats behind me.
Previews, so I am not too upset,
but then it is getting louder. As
if they are in competition with the
sound. Yakky yakky yakky.. After
about 15 minutes of this I finally
turn around and glared. I was about
to ask them to go get coffee and
have a nice chat, and let the
rest of us enjoy the picture. You
see they were too old women.

I know, I am an old woman too.
But at least I have the sense to
keep my mouth shut when I am
in a movie theater.

Christmas Lights

Last night I went out around town
to see Christmas lights. I use to take
my grandson around when he was 5
to 10 years old. Now he is 15.

I was downtown picking him up
when I decided to swing thru some
of the old neighborhoods. And to
my surprise there were very few
homes with lights. One of the pricier
neighbors had about 20% of the
houses with lights. What happen
to the competitions between
neighbors?

Sandpoint lost one of their top
house displays man this year.
A man called Hansen always had
quite a display. Grinch and everything.
We drove by and half of it was lit and
the other half was not. But it was nice
to see his children had set it up, as he
had passed several months ago.

But even the stores were lacking.
The downtown streets of Oak, or Main.
The park had hardly any. Jones Park
did have a nice trees. At least 5th Avenue
had their trees lit. Like ballerina on each side.

Even my own town isn't much for lights.
BUT, our street can stand proud. Only
3 houses out of the 2 and half blocks
doesn't have lights.

Sadly, next week, it will be dark again.
Until next year. Hopefully more people
will get into the spirit of it. I guess the
high price of electric bills has a lot to do
with it. We only leave ours on from
6 to 8 or 9 p.m.

Follow Up of Dec. 15

This is a follow up on my blog
of December 15, 2005
Why Do These Things Happen?

Judge Issues Order Allowing
Evicted Woman To Return Home
House Can't Be Sold Until Jan. 12
UPDATED: 7:19 pm EST December
23, 2005
PROVIDENCE -- An 81-year-old
Providence woman evicted from
her home for failing to pay
a sewer bill will be allowed to return
after all.
That's after a Superior Court judge
issued a preliminary injunction
Friday on behalf of Madeline Walker.
The order means Walker's Chester
Avenue house can't be sold again
before a hearing on Jan. 12.
Walker was evicted from her home
of 53 years earlier this month. The
house has since changed hands.
The case drew Gov. Don Carcieri's attention,
he found a lawyer to take up the matter.
................................................................................
All of which makes me wonder...
what happens next. First you got the
$500, if they didn't pay it before,
will they pay it now? After all she and
the family knew for 2 years or more.
No one acted on that.

Seems the lawyer for her, thinks
she wasn't mental able to understand
the whole thing. But the thing is, her
daughter did. So have to watch this
to see how it comes out.

Then, also, she got to move back
in her house for Christmas..(I am
sure it must be for the feel good
effect) But first it was Out and
then back In and what happens
if this doesn't come out in her favor..
back Out again? That seems kind of
cruel... and will some one donate the
money? Then, of course, there could be the
person who buys it but lets the elderly
woman stay until she goes to a nursing
home or dies. Interesting.

Day After Christmas Shopping Conversations

He….I know they are nice looking,
but do you really need 20 goblet
glasses of 4 different colors?
And where are you going to put them?
She… Oh, I will find a place, we
need them for our parties.
He… what parties?

Mom, can’t we go yet? All these tree
ornaments are boooooooooring.. I want
to go home and play with my toys.

Girl 1…. Oh, just look at these. Aren’t
these so beautiful?
Girl 2…. Yea, I guess, just don’t give
it to me next year…

Two girls watching a woman fill her
cart. Girl 1.. did you see that woman?
Girl 2.. yea, those are the ugliest plastic
glasses I have ever seen, and she must
have bought 30 of them.

Little boy walking by with his mother..
So, if I go around this store one more
time with you, you will clean my
whole room?

To the Guy Who Reads my Blog Daily

Thanks for the good times…
the Memories…
Biking to the penny candy store
at the end of Beacon Street.

Helping out with the seine fishing
net with the folks, and us catching the
blow porcupine fish that we played
with. That blew up when scared and
deflated when it wasn’t.

The trips on the Mary Jo, picnics in
Fort Adams cove… and Jamestown cove.
The trips to Prudence Island. The
Bluegrass Festival while we ate on the
Mary Jo. The many boat races we saw.
How we laugh now about how you got a
rope around your waist and I didn't when
the folks taught us how to swim, by throwing
us off the boat. We figured they were
saving the family name. lol

The huge Navy ships that we rode by.
And the day that our little boat motor
got caught on their side net as we pulled
away. After Dad telling them what kind of
fish we were catching and with what. .
The Mayflower replica that we got to board.

The many years of haying. The rides home
on the loose hay, on top of the truck. It is a
wonder we didn’t slide off and get killed.
The runs across the barn roof and jumping
on the haystacks. Drinking out of the water
pumps the farmers had.

The stories we told on Friday nights, when
the folks went out for the night. Some of
them funny, some of them scary…

For the times you came and got me, to
calm down your acquaintances that got
rowdy, or were bullies.

The years of dishes on Thanksgiving with
the folk’s friends over for dinner.
The years of trying to out guess
each other on what Santa brought
us.

The times we, as a family, killed the chickens,
You running the headless chickens down and
me plucking feathers..

The rides we endured to horses show all over
the states. What did we do, while she showed
the horses? The times we walked Smokey all
night long when he had green grass colic.

Lobster, quahogs and cleaning a gunny sack of
scallops and buckets of oysters with
our families together. Making of the Stuffy’s
That we made in an assembly line, with our
families combined….

The trouble we got into and we drove our
parents to distraction. The times you
squealed on me, and I on you. The times
we cried about before, but laugh about now.

Happy 61st Birthday, dear brother….

Count Down

Well, we are on the count down.
4 more days and this will be all
just a memory to be stashed with
all the rest.

My daughter brought over all
my share of our cook off of Monday.
And I was finishing last night,
the candied orange and grapefruit
peels. It is a thing my mother use
to make.

You cook the rinds until they are
almost clear. Then cool and then
peel out the white stuff in the peel.
Cut in stripes about 1/4 in. wide.
Then roll it in sugar and let dry.
The King saved the day, as he
got out the food dryer and they
came out well.

Then the bright idea of tipping
them in chocalate. Yes, that
sounds good. But I found out
that boiling the choc. chips,
did not make a dipping choc.
Then I tried microwaving the
choc. to see if I could get it
thinned. Well, I don't know
if I should tell you what
happened next...

You see, the King and I have
gotten sucked into a new
program... DEAL OR NO DEAL
And he yelled at me, come look
at this guy... he only has 4 boxes,
left and he is going for it.

I only left for a few minutes...
I think.... the down side of this
I had the biggest, hardest, rock
of chocalate in a ball in a bowl.
I should also say, it was the
biggest DRY ball.

I froze it. Named it 2 12oz. choc.
Someday, I will take it out
and figure out what to do with
it.

Only 4 more days... and no
more days of holiday cooking.
YEA!! Going to our daughter's
for Christmas dinner after
church...

The rest of it it is all downhill
heading for Spring.

The Wedding

Monday afternoon was a day to behold..
We drove up in the woods to a lodge
for a wedding of a young lady I have
known since she was in school with
my daughter over 20 years ago.

This young lady just got back from
Kuwait and decided to marry the
young man whom she has known
for a few years.

She picked the right place at
the right time. We drove up to
the lodge and parked our car.

We were about to sit down, when
it started to snow. Just lightly. You
know the soft, slow dropping thru
the air. The kind that pictures are
taken of ... And that is what this was.

Picture a very large log lodge. With
very big windows. And as the snow
was falling, a red sleigh appeared
coming up the path. Stopping in
front of the lodge. Out steps the
bride, in white and white cape that
covered her from her ears to
her feet. And her 7 year old daughter
in white as well, and a white cape
also. They step up the stairs,
and down the deck to the door.
They stepped into the room, with
snow sparkling in their beautiful hairdo's.

They were helped out of their
capes, and then the little
girl walked to the aisle and
started to toss white roses
petals for her mother to walk
thru as she and her father were
walking down the aisle to the
waiting young man. Who beamed
with love for this young lady.

The rest of the ceremony was
lead off with the asking of...who
gives this woman away, to which
the father says, I do, her father.

It was a lovely wedding, and
you could tell how happy every
one was. Her parents, brothers
and sisters join in, welcoming this
young man into their family as
they took pictures. And his
family did the same for her.

I thought back to the days, that
this young lady who honored me
with the title of Mom2, and how
she was an awkward teen, of the
8th grade, growing in all directions.
And Monday, her wedding day...
she is the Snow Princess who
come to claim her Prince.

What a lovely young lady she
has grown up to be.

May the world be your apple,
may life keep you both safe.
May your love last until you
are both old and grey and more.
God Bless you, Shelly and Mike.

SPRING IS COMING!!!!

I am dancing... yes, dancing for joy
SPRING IS COMING...no really. It is
coming. How do I know, because today
in the mail I got my Tomato Growers
Catalog. And we all know that Spring
is coming, when our garden catalogs
start, right?

Ok, if you want to be a downer, I guess
I will try not to be so excited. But with
seed catalogs, I start thinking about it.

I don't want to hear anymore about
the festivies of the week. No, this isn't
about the Christmas vs Holiday thing.
This has nothing to do with the
commercialism of Christmas and etc.

This has to do with the cooking bake
off of yesterday. I had 4 recipes, that
I made up the dough this past weekend
for yesterday. My daughter did at least
that many if not more. And she was
running candy thru during the waiting
for the cookies to cook. So if we say she
did 4 recipes of cookies, that is 8
different kinds, and 3 to 4 pans of each
recipe. That is 24 to 32 pans of cookies.
Times 16 to 20 each...


And of course you have to taste one to make
sure it came out. We started with one cookie
each to test. Then we switched to one half of a
cookie each to test. After 5 hours, it was you
taste it, ........no, you taste it... no, that is ok....
you tell me how it taste.
And then the candies as well. We called in the
expert taster, my grandson.

I don't want to look at another cookie or candy,
or anything sweet for a very long time.

Which is a good thing......
I got on the scale yesterday...
Not good... not good at all...

Short but not to the point

This is going to be a day on the run.
Starting with barely a cup of coffee
and then go.

See today, my daughter and I are
going to do a cookie and candy
bake off. We both have been
putting together, cookie dough
over the weekend. And this
morning we have 3 hours to get
them all done.

We started a year or two ago
with a day or two of baking cookies
and candies, for the holidays.
But this year has been running
away with both of us. Each doing
our own thing. Shopping, and all
that kind of stuff.

Then at noon, it is get ready for a
wedding of a friend. Her high
school friend, who I get the
privilege of being called Mom2.

This young lady just got back
from Kuwait, after a year of
service. And now she is ready
to walk down the aisle with a
nice young man at 3 p.m.

So, off I go...