Musings
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Christmas thoughts…
For years, Maya wanted to make a gingerbread house. She would ask, and I would think about the mess, the candy, my lack of crafty skills, the mess, and the what-does-one-do-with-it-after aspect, and say, hmmm….maybe. But never get around to it. A local supermarket has gingerbread house parties, where you can come and pay to make one there, which seemed a perfect solution to me, but I could never seem to get there and sign her up in time. By the time I found out about the party, it was either fully booked or fully over. So I would think, maybe next year, and feel a twinge guilty for not…
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What’s new, pussycat?
(famous black cat image, which I found here) I’m sorry, little blog, for neglecting you so. It’s not that I don’t care about you, it’s just that I don’t care about you as much as I used to. Harsh? Indeed. And I’ve noticed that many of my friends’ blogs are similarly neglected. Not sure what to do about it, but one option might be to, perhaps, come visit once in awhile, write here, and make more of an effort to go visit my blog friends. Sigh. So, aside from pancakes I made weeks ago, what’s new around here? Let’s see… Today is St. Nicholas Day. St. Nicholas was known for…
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Potpourri
I think my friend Cherry put it best when she saw this Baskin Robbins Thanksgiving themed ice cream cake. “I don’t know if I want it, or if I want to throw up on it.” Nicely said. Which segues so very well into politics these days, and a reminder of Will Rogers’ famous quote, “I’m not a member of any organized political party…I’m a democrat!” Gah. It sure feels like that some days. Pelosi has been an amazingly effective Speaker, what with health care and so on, and yet people blow her off and say the election is her fault. Obama has accomplished quite a bit in his first two…
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Nemesis
In this day and age when parents can look in the face of disease and laugh, can feel safe deciding not to vaccinate their children against the many diseases that are now considered completely preventable, can decide that in all actuality, many vaccines are suspect and may indeed be deadly or at least dangerous, it seems interesting to look back at a time before there were vaccines for many of childhood’s diseases. Personally, I distrust the idea that a disease that can do the damage to whole communities such as diphtheria, measles, rubella, small pox, and polio is anything to be taken lightly. But I also understand the concerns with…
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Meals on Wheels
Back when my mom had her own consulting business in the mid-80s, my Grandma was her book keeper and admin assistant. My grandpa was 20 years older than my Grandma, and so he was home. For awhile, he took advantage of the local Meals on Wheels organization, of their kind volunteers, of the money donated by different organizations and the city government, though I know he paid for the meals as well. A few years later, I met my father, who it turns out was (and still is) a volunteer for Meals on Wheels. They are an amazing organization, enabling seniors to stay in their homes when they might otherwise…
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Grammar Question…
(photo found here) What’s with the quotes? Really, don’t we mean, DO NOT EAT, as in the imperative, not as in a quote from a play or something? Ted brought me home some Secretariat movie swag (knowing my horsie love), and the binoculars came with some desiccant that included this message. I was confused. Should I eat it, or was the quote really a warning? Like, “Beware the ides of March” No. Probably more than that.
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What’s Wrong with this Picture?
(found here)
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Walking with the ghosts of my ancestors…
Last week I went to Massachusetts on a business trip. It was my first time there. While I was there, attending meetings, listening to the CEO talk, working to plan the future of my company, there was a part of my brain that was wandering around outside, looking for old houses and gravestones. See, my great-grandmother’s side of the family comes from that part of the country. She was born in New Hampshire, near the Massachusetts border, and she and her family left for California in 1902. Several years ago, I dug into the world of genealogy, which is more obsessed and time consuming than blogging was 4 years ago…
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What’s Wrong with this Picture?
I’ll tell you what’s wrong. It’s a Porsche. A Porsche Cayenne. Since when did Porsche get into the dorky car market? I thought Porsche was supposed to be sexy and fast and a fantasy car. This is SO not sexy or fantasy. Not sure if it’s fast. I saw one while I was out on my walk the other day, and I confess, I died a little bit inside. Porsche is driving fast at night under the full moon, top down. It’s tight corners and Risky Business and sex and loud music and fun. It’s hanging out at the ocean and smelling the salt air and hearing the waves. It’s…
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September 11 ~ Remembering Mr. Abad
Here we are again, and it’s September 11. Clearly this date will never be the same for any of us, just a simple day, perhaps a birthday or a wedding anniversary. Instead, we will all be brought back to that horrible morning in 2001, the day our lives changed. Back in 2006, I pledged to take part in the 2996 project, in honor of the 5th anniversary of that tragic day. Everyone who signed up was given a name of someone who died, and we promised to find something out about them, and write a bit about their lives, so that people will never forget them or what happened that…
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Skin Care Products
(Image found here. I did a search for ‘skin care’, and I was so horrified by what I found, that I couldn’t do anything but take a generic looking graphic. What was so offensive? Dozens, hundreds really, of pictures of white, mostly blonde, women in their 20s. One black woman, also in her 20s. One white man, also in his 20s. Skin care in your 20s is sunblock and zit creme. Totally not what I’m talking about here, in my mid-40s.) In your teens, your beauty regimen is all about nice hair and what color of eye shadow matches your top. But as you get older, it turns into skin…
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One Wedding, Three Babies, and a Funeral
(artwork by Amanda Dagg, found here) Keep beckoning to me, From behind that closed door, The maiden, the mother, and the crone that’s grown old. I hear your voice, coming out of that hole. I listen to you, and I want some more. I listen to you, and I want some more. She will always carry on. Something is lost, something is found. They will keep on speaking her name, Some things changed, some stay the same. ~The Pretenders, Hymn to Her That whole ‘circle of life’ thing is much on my mind these last few days. On Friday, I heard from my dear friend Janet that her father had…
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Friday Radmoness
I know, I’ve been pretty quiet lately. Sorry about that. Last Saturday I went to see my Grandma and my Great Aunt in Stockton. My cousin, who lives in Santa Maria with her two gorgeous kids, was in town, so I thought I’d go visit while they were there. Maya had cheer practice, so she and Ted stayed home. Usually when I go visit Grandma I like to take her and Aunt Flo to lunch, but times are tough right now, and with my cousin and her kids there (who are going through a tougher time than we are), I couldn’t afford to take everyone out. You know what? I…
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Bereavement
A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to one of the women on my Meals-on-Wheels route, Joan, and she told me that her doctor had put her on anti-depressants because she was depressed. She tried them for a day, and didn’t like the way they made her feel, and stopped taking them. I know that one day wasn’t enough time to determine whether they would work or not, and she’s not likely to find out. The thing is, the reason that she’s depressed? Her son died. He fell on the icy steps this winter, and broke his neck. She is understandably devastated. But she gets out of bed every…
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What are you thankful for?
This morning I was looking at the local paper, and I saw where a 2 year old boy had been mauled to death by 3 of the family’s 5 pit bulls. The tragedy that has hit that family has hit them hard, and I would assume they are now a family in crisis. The dogs (all 5) have been put to sleep. The grandfather, who owned the dogs, is in jail. My heart goes out to this family at such a horrific time. And I’m thankful that, at least so far, nothing that horrible has happened to me and my immediate family. Which got me to thinking about the different…