The Grandsons

Merry Christmas little guys!

Breakfast with friends

I went to church this morning especially to see P&D and the kiddos a couple of hours sooner than our planned rendezvous for brunch. (We miss them very much since they moved to Bloomington.) He would wait, church not being His thing and all. Post mass, we had coffee and donuts in the hall and socialized. Then it was off to brunch at Jen's and Jer's. Jer made a nice broccoli quiche and I took a sausage potato bake--yum. Throw in Jen's home made pumpkin bread and yummy fresh fruit salad and it was half-way to nap time.
After a delightful visit, we went home with the P-G gang following close behind. We had a few little gifts to exchange, extending our visit just a little longer.

Then Kate dropped by bearing gift of her home made Jamaican eggnog! Woo-hoo! Had a couple of cups of that and I was the rest of the way to the afternoon nap. It was nice day.

Check out my Slide Show!

Holidayus Interruptus

Well, heck. There is nothing like getting sick to spoil a party. A bronchitis gone south put Me in the hospital for a couple of days, causing us to have to cancel our annual family dinner party this Saturday. Big disappointment. Good news is, I'm on the mend and generally quite a healthy gal.

So, I'm getting some help with the Christmas tree from Him, and trimming will be sparse but the spirit is there. I'm glad to be getting better--at home.

Not my idea to take a picture in such a place, at such a time.

But there he was with his little pocket camera capturing my

beauty even in illness (2nd day, feeling better).

Back In My Day...

I was at the grocery yesterday getting some things. Bread was among the things we needed. There was a young woman shuffling through the loaves of bread muttering, then she spoke to me saying, "I remember when bread was just a dollar--now it's almost $4 a loaf!" I gently touched her arm and looked her in the eyes and said, "Honey, I remember when it was 15 cents."

Amazing. In the 50's I would be sent to the store to get a loaf of bread that cost 15-cents. It was sliced white bread. The "better" breads (whole wheat, etc.) might have cost a few cents more per loaf but there wasn't much call for them in my blue-collar, working class neighborhood. We didn't buy that much bread in those days anyway since we usually had homemade biscuits and cornbread, and on special occasions, like Christmas or Thanksgiving, we would have yeast bread (home-made dinner rolls)--priceless.

Wanna see a couple of silly people?

Click here: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1174234987

When life gives you lemons...go direct traffic.

We have a 96 Caravan Sport that has more than 150K miles on it and it has been through a lot. He purchased it from an acquaintance when that acquaintance was going to trade it in on a new vehicle. The reason for the trade-in: it had high mileage, mechanical problems, the aquaintance had several kids and needed more reliable transportation. The Perfect Vehicle! thinks He.

He is a mechanical guy and is good at repairing things. I can't even list the things that have been repaired on the thing--oh! excuse me--the van. But, we have had it for about 4-5 years now. Problems were fixed as they popped up and for the most part--aside from a minor rear-end collision (another story), and a front-end collision (still, another story), sideswiped (who knows?), vandalized and stereo stolen, air conditioner motor burning out so no AC in the summer except "4-90 air" (four windows down--90 mph), etc., it has been a decent enough vehicle used for hauling house rehab stuff. It's his workhorse--and the dog's car. But whenever He'd go anywhere with it He might say, "keep your phone turned on in case I break down."

Well, last week the right front tire picked up a bolt and washer from the road somewhere and I noticed it upon hearing the clickity-click-click sound it made against the roadway. It happened while on the way home from errand. Amazingly, the tire didn't go flat. A few days passed before deciding to take the van to get the tire fixed. He convinced me that he was too busy and that if I drove slowly (not over 50 mph), I could make it to the tire shop to get the tire replaced. Okay. I took it. The hole in the tire was plugged successfully. I headed home.

It was a cold day and it was raining lightly, the heater was on and the windows fogged up. So I turned on the defroster. Did you know that the defroster works through the air conditioner? I didn't and He admitted later that he didn't either.

All was well until I exited the freeway 44 at Vandeventer and stopped at the red light at the bottom of the ramp. The traffic was heavy and lights are timed long. The engine started sputtering, choking and nearly died three times while I stared blankly--the vehicle's life flashing before my eyes. Then it died. I took a deep breath and attempted to start it again. It started but promptly chugged to it's death again.

The light changed to green and the traffic that had lined up behind me began to move. Hazard lights now on, I rolled the window down and started waving traffic around me. A semi-truck was barreling down the ramp toward me so I decided I needed to get out of the van, put the hood up and to go to the island for safety. I resumed waving at traffic to go around. During this time I had managed to call Him and He was on his way. The rain was cold and there was a mild wind--winter was in the air. Oddly, I had a smile on my face as I directed traffic around me, imagining myself as a traffic cop, wishing I had a whistle.

Three or four light changes occurred and only one person stopped to help me; a young man had pulled over across the street and ran over to offer his assistance, made several suggestions, tried a couple of things, and seemed very savvy about engines. Smoke began to billow from the engine. Ackkk! Just then, He arrived. I thanked the young man explaining that my husband was here now, is a mechanical guy and is good at repairing things, and that He could take care of it. I watched the young man cross the street and go back to his car. As the young man passed Him, I recalled a time in the early 70's when I was single and had a flat tire on the side of a busy road in Sacramento, in the rain, and a similar young man stopped to help me...ahhh, but I digress.

The repair was simple upon discovery of the relation of the AC to the defroster. The AC was simply disconnected. So, the van still sits proudly outside. It had made it through another crisis and neither of us was no worse for the wear. Also, I discovered that I can be calm in a stressful situation and I could direct traffic quite well.

Here we are in December

Remember when I was griping about the heat last summer? Well, I'm not griping now. Finally, we are into the heart of Fall and slipping into Winter. The leaves on the trees were just blasting the shades of gold and red colors before dropping from their branches. Beautiful. Greta even loves it. She wants to go outside to lie on the deck and watch the goings on in the back yard, chase an occasional squirrel, and sniff the trail of the possum or raccoon that had visited the yard during the night.
As I sit here sipping my coffee in the quiet of the early morning, watching the sunrise, the dog at my feet, and He is still upstairs sleeping, I can't help but feel gratitude for everthing we have: Friends, family near and far, peace, no fear of hunger or war on our doorsteps, and many other such things we tend to take for granted.

That's it for now. Go smile at a stranger.

Christmas Stories, History and Traditions.

Please click on your desired link
The Christmas Story
Famous Nativity Paintings
Christmas Greeting
Christmas Bells
A Kidnapped Santa Claus
Is there really a Santa Claus?
The History of Santa Claus
History of the Christmas Tree
Mistletoe
Winter Festivals & Traditions
Fruitcake
PoinsettiasChristmas Lights
Christmas Stockings
Christmas Gifting
The song: 12 Days of Christmas
The Nativity Scene - Creche
The Three Wise Men or Kings
The Gift of the Magi
Countdown to Christmas Calendar
Name The Real Christmas Trees (online quiz)
The Candy Cane Christmas Symbol
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
Origins of Santa's Reindeer
Advent
Christmas Carols and Caroling
Christmas Cards
Holly
Christmas Tree and Ornaments

2nd Floor Bathroom Progress

Put on your rose colored glasses and use your imagination to look at the progress so far. He has been working on it almost every day between other projects--the business, storm window for the stained glass, craft projects for gifts, frame for my painting, and shelves for my candles and soaps--but we're not sure it will be ready by Christmas. That's okay.

Things to do today

Every Thanksgiving, Me and He go out of town to have the Big Dinner at his mom's house. And every year, I make a small Thanksgiving meal at home a few days before. This way we can enjoy our own left-overs, etc. The following is my plan for our Thanksgiving.

• Things to do today:
  
  Clean the kitchen and get the turkey ready to put into the oven to bake and then get interrupted by “Him,” asking me to run to Home Depot to get some screws.
  
  Go to HD, look for the screws, look for someone to help me find the screws, finally find the screws without help. Go home with the screws and finish getting the turkey ready for the oven, and then remember it is Monday and I can get a haircut for ½ price before noon. Put the turkey back in the fridge and go to the salon I’ve been using for a couple of years—call it superb trimmings—wait a long time to get a fairly bad haircut. No, to get a really bad haircut.
  
  Stop on the way home to get gas in the car because the gauge is on empty and the little red gas tank light is getting brighter and brighter. Watch the charges go up on the pump but notice there is no gas going into the car. Get the feeling you are in a surreal dream when you pull the nozzle out and see that it is completely dry, there is no gas coming out, but you have been charged $2.46 cents for some air. Call attendant.
  
  Go back home and put the turkey rub on the turkey, put it in the oven, and then go to the store to get stuffing, etc., for the rest of the meal. Notice an organic pumpkin soy frozen pie and decide to try it. Forget to buy chicken broth.
  
  Go back home where “He” wants me to leaf-blow the shin-deep leaves in the back yard—leaves too deep to easily find the doggy-doo for cleanup.
  
  Spend 1-1/2 hours blowing leaves, stir up the leaf mold (allergic to mold so wear a respirator/mask but the mold will get me anyway). Find the doggy-doo after I step in it.
  
  Start coughing with a croup.
  
  When the turkey is done, put the pie in the oven and start prepping the stuffing. Notice I forgot to buy chicken broth, so use some of the drippings from the turkey to moisten stuffing—not waiting to let drippings cool enough to scoop off the fat.
  
  By now it will be too late to run back to the store for anything. There is no time to prep the veggie medley because “He” is hungry. So, reach for the frozen peas and put them in the microwave to thaw and heat while whipping up some gravy (using the turkey drippings that haven’t cooled enough to scoop off the fat).
  Serve dinner, eat, cleanup and start first load in the dishwasher, serve some organic pumpkin soy pie, throw out the awful pie, relax, and watch some TV. The rest will wait until tomorrow.

The foregoing were the actual events of the day.

Thanksgiving Wish

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

Annonymous

They're Creepy and They're Goofy

A Short History of Halloween
A Holiday from History's Darker Days

by Rhetta Akamatsu

Published Oct 24, 2007

Nearly 2000 years ago, a people known as the Celts occupied the land that now includes Ireland, Scotland, and much of the rest of the UK, plus part of northern France. To celebrate the end of the harvest and to prepare for the dark, cold, difficult winters, the Druids, Celtic spiritual leaders, held a celebration, known as Samhain. This marked the beginning of the New Year, about November 1st by our calendar. During this celebration, it was believed that the spirits of the dead would return to prophesy about the coming year, giving necessary warnings and information without which the Celts could not hope to survive. While animal sacrifice may or may not have been part of the Samhain celebration, the priests did wear the skins and head of animals as they told the future, and this is one of the origins of our tradition of wearing costumes at Halloween.The ghosts would also sometimes cause mischief and play cruel tricks, so to appease them, the Druids would collect food from peasants as an offering for the spirits. This is possibly one source of the tradition of trick or treating.As Christianity became the dominant religion in Europe, the old Celtic festivities became a problem. Some time in the 1800's, when Boniface IV was the Pope, he declared a new holiday, hoping to replace Samhain and other pagan harvest festivals with All Saints Day on November 1st. Somewhat later, the Church added another holiday, All Souls Day, to honor the souls of the dead. All Saints Day was also known as All Hallows Day, and it's eve, October 31, became known as Hallow's eve, or Halloween. All Souls Day also had a tradition which probably contributed to the "trick or treat" tradition. On November 2, it was customary for Christians to go door to door asking for "soul cakes," more like bread than what we think of as cake, with currants in it. In return for the soul cakes, the visitor would promise to pray for the souls of the dead from that household, who were believed to be waiting between heaven and earth. Prayers would speed them on their journey to heaven.

When the Romans came into power, many of their customs were absorbed by the Celts. Among these was the worship of the goddess of the harvest, Pomona. Apples were her sacred fruit, and bobbing for apples is probably a remnant of some ritual of her worship.Jack-o-Lanterns originated in Ireland, where there are no native pumpkins. They were originally hollowed out potatoes or turnips lit by candles, and they got their name from a famous trickster named Jack who is featured in many Irish folktales. When Jack died, neither God nor the Devil would take him, and so he was forced to wander the earth, looking for somewhere he could rest, with only a stub of a candle in a rotten turnip for light and warmth. In America, pumpkins were sturdier and obviously better suited for carving, so they took the place of potatoes and turnips in our Halloween tradition.So, remember as you enjoy your Halloween frivolities with family and friends, you are tapping into traditions that are older than Christianity, from a wilder, colder, darker time in human history.

Where have I been? It hasn't been fun.

Some of you are asking why I haven't posted for a while. I've still been too busy, but it hasn't been fun.

I was in California helping my elderly mother whose health has deteriorated. I was cooking, cleaning, running errands, and taking her to multiple doctor's appointments. The visiting nurse was coming. A nutritionist was coming. And, a social worker was scheduled to talk to her about options regarding assisted living, moving in with one of her kids--something.

She has a husband who is 4 years older, but his health is failing too. He is a stubborn man and very difficult to deal with.

So that is where I've been.

I've Been Busy

It has been more than a month since I've posted. And, for those of you who keep checking for new news, I've been here, but I haven't been here. What do I mean? I've been here, at home, around town, here; but not here, not at the blog, not up to the usual tasks. What have I been doing? I've been volunteering.



For the past few years I've volunteered to work at the neighborhood's Historical Shaw Art Fair http://www.shawartfair.com/ . This year I managed to volunteer to be the Volunteer Coordinator. My job was to recruit up to 300 volunteers to work on the days of the fair, October 6th and 7th, as well as pre-event and post-event activities. I can't think of anything to say to make all this sound humorous. Maybe I'll laugh about it later.

The planning starts every January for the Art Fair held every first weekend in October. A committee of ten or so people meet every month to plan and report the progression toward this event. As we get closer to Fair date, the work steps up and I become less and less available to my life as I knew it. In July, it is summertime, hot, humid and miserable. I don't feel like cooking, cleaning or smiling. Got to start actively calling for volunteers: newsletters, posters, phone calls. Got to get them into the data base and days at the office become more frequent, then longer. Mistakes must be corrected, shifts must be switched, and begging and convincing must be done. Ditto for August. Ditto for September, except the begging gets to be more desperate.

Finally, the weekend came--and then was gone. My head was down most of the time, looking at lists, checking boards, directing volunteers, handing out t-shirts, problem-solving. Collecting money, handing out programs, greeting fair goers. Blah, blah... All this with our table and tent directly behind the bandstand that boasted some good, but very loud bands. (The volunteer table will be moved next year.) "He" even pitched in, working for three days to help set up, then as admissions chair for two days--that's the person who gets to ride around in a golf cart from admissions gate to admissions gate and pick up the cash from time-to-time then taking it to the "bank." On the second day, the cart broke down then He was afoot all day, walking, I would guess, at least ten miles back and forth and around the fairgrounds. All this with good humor. I was impressed.

I took my camera to take some pictures, but only had time to take a couple at the very beginning. I'll try to get some from friends and post them for you. Anyway, there is no rest for the weary wicked, as I'm now off to the West Coast for a week or so. That will be the next post.

If we want a better world to live in, it starts with you and me and our communities.

Our Old House.

We bought this old house in 1993 with plans to restore then flip it in 3 to 5 years. Fourteen years later we are still here. The house was built in 1897 in the Shaw neighborhood. where most structures are brick and built between 1880 and 1920. /http://stlouis.missouri.org/shaw/

To the right is a picture of our second floor bathroom (picture taken in May) as it has been for the last, oh...10 years? Yes, just about that long. But we are happy to report some progress. "He" has recently replaced all the old plumbing and electricity, added vents and strengthened floors, etc. Me? I supervise.

Below is a picture of the bathroom taken last week. So you can see that things are moving right along.

Amazingly, we have remained married through all this, and remained relatively happy. (?)

Owning and restoring an old house is a test of endurance. A real life money pit, it can test the bank account. Our dreams of flipping have faded as it is testing our mortality as well, taking much longer as we get older. We do wonder if we will be able to climb the stairs to use the bathroom when this is over. I've recently thought about where we might install an elevator to get us up and down the four levels of the house since He would have trouble leaving all this behind after having put so much into it: his sweat, his money, his satisfaction of having done it.

Oh well.

Well, it's like this, see...

I haven't posted anything for a bit because it appears that I've only been complaining about the hot weather. So, I waited for something new and exciting to happen to talk about. That's not working. It is pretty much same-o same-o around here. But I did have a tooth pulled last week.

A couple of years ago I had a root canal done by an aging dentist whose hands shook mildly as he worked. I was a bit worried about this but stayed in the chair and had the work done. Well, it's like this, see...

I developed a root canal infection.

I've copied information from an Atlanta Dental website that fully explains the problem.

There are several causes of a bad root canal. The most common reason is inadequate filling of the canals. The filling may not have sealed the entire canal space and an unfilled area at the end of the root contains dead nerve
material. This dead tissue rots, develops a root canal infection and results in
root canal pain.

A root canal infection can become serious and spread to other areas of the face and skull. It is not uncommon for teeth to die and get infected. Since the tooth is dead, blood can't enter the tooth and bring protective immune cells to kill the infection, so the problem grows. In most cases the infection spreads to the surrounding bone.

In most cases, a bad root canal can have root canal retreatment but the success rate of the therapy is much lower than with new root canals. If the root canal tooth
continues to have problems then root canal surgery or a dental extraction are
options.

I opted for the extraction.

I was referred to a reputable oral surgeon (with steady hands). The dental assistant called me in and as I approached her I said, "I want the gas! Just give me the gas." She laughed as she showed me the chair.

So, the tooth is out now and I'm recovering nicely, thank you very much, and getting back to a regular schedule.

Our Grandchildren and "Adopted" Grandchildren

Gadszooks! It has been hot.

thinking cool thoughts...



It is August after all, keep that in mind. But this August in St Louis could possibly be the hottest August on record. I believe it. But anything over 90 degrees is too hot to me.

I don't remember the summers being this hot when I was a kid oh, so many years ago. I grew up in California where the temperature also reached the 90's to 100's degrees, sans the brutal high humidity. But, as a kid, we could run around half-naked through sprinklers and play in wading pools. Now, I become irritable when I have to spend any amount of time outside for anything.

St Louis summer is a bummer,
I'll take the Autum, Winter, Spring
Keep your Summer, heat and dampness
that always makes my clothing cling.

I want the coolness even coldness,
Not the heat that makes my face red.
I'll take the cold nose and chilly toes and
let me wrap between the throws
of blankets on my bed.
--sentiments by me

Have you heard of National Night Out?

The national date for this event usually falls on the hottest day of the year (so far). This year was no exception. Tuesday evening, August 7th, the temperature reached 101 degrees with the heat index at 109-111 degrees. I didn't need to know what the humidity was--I was miserable enough.


Our block has had a street party every year since before He and I moved to the City in 1993. It's America's Night Out Against Crime! The "24th Annual National Night Out" (NNO), a unique crime/drug prevention event sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch (NATW), has been active since 1981, but I had never heard of NNO before moving to St Louis. It's a good thing. Except for the time of year it is held.



Despite the oppressive heat, we may have had the biggest turnout at our street party ever. Our dedicated friends and neighbors braved the conditions and cooked, baked, and brought their good humor to the middle of the street where we set up tables, bales of hay, chairs, wading pools, and sprinkers. The theme was "The Wild West" so we wore silly cowboy hats and red bandanas--and yes, we wore clothing. We caught up with the news with old neighbors and met new neighbors. We spoke of neighbors who moved away and who we miss very, very much. We discovered that we will have a new addition to the block next February--Kim and Dave are expecting.

Please enjoy the pictures...leave your comments.

Hot August Day

We went to breakfast at the neighborhood Grill and Provisions this morning and enjoyed some good 'ole eggs and sausage with hashbrowns; He had whole wheat toast and I had an english muffin. This was a treat for us since we have been on low fat diets since he had his "cardiac incident" in February. However, we got back home hot and full. I slipped the dog a sausage I brought home from my plate, then slipped into my recliner for a nap. It was 10 a.m. and this was a "dog day."

Ever wonder why they call the hot, sultry days of summer “dog days?” Well, I looked it up and
the brightest of the stars in Canis Major (the big dog) is Sirius, which also happens to be the brightest star in the night sky. In fact, it is so bright that the ancient Romans thought that the earth received heat from it.

In the summer, however, Sirius, the “dog star,” rises and sets with the sun. During late July Sirius is in conjunction with the sun, and the ancients believed that its heat added to the heat of the sun, creating a stretch of hot and sultry weather. They named this period, from 20 days before the conjunction to 20 days after, “dog days” after the dog star.

So now you know. (Thanks Wilstar-d0t-com)