~ Blogging for peace ~

I am showing off my latest creation for the next BlogBlast for Peace.
This is a reminder to go visit Mimi, founder of the Peace Globe Movement in the Blogosphere, and get instructions on how to get your peace globe ready for Nov. 7.

What a wonderful man

I met the 98-year-old World War II veteran I wrote about Tuesday in person yesterday. He is indeed a quipster who knows how to work a room...
He had led me to believe on the phone that only a few people would be at City Hall to honor him. Try close to 100, mostly friends, since his family is quite small.
He teased me about stuff, then asked sweetly, "Do you still love me?" with a twinkle in his eye. I hesitated. He didn't like the fact I hesitated.
Everyone laughed as he cracked joke after joke. He said people are living longer today, and if you are miserable you will live longer yet.
I stayed longer than I had planned. He had a line of well-wishers waiting to say hello to him and he asked me to stay so we could chat a bit.
What could I say? Certainly not no. That's not a time to be in a rush.

At the end of the party, he asked me again if I still loved him.
You can guess my response.

Another Chinese toy recalled

Time passages

Yesterday I had what I thought was going to be a brief phone call with a man who is turning 98 tomorrow. As it turned out, the conversation wasn't brief. He is quite the talker.
What amazed me was at that age he was lucid, and he could even hear what I was saying to him.
It was inspiring!
He went into the Navy during World War II at age 35 and recently attended a reunion of his shipmates, all much younger than he. They were all "18 or 19" at the time, he told me. He was full of stories.

Tomorrow our mayor is honoring him on his birthday with a ceremony and refreshments at City Hall. This youngster served on several commissions in the past and is the oldest World War II veteran in our city.
I'm looking forward to meeting him tomorrow.
To be continued...

Let there be art ~

Posting another video today, because I can.

got Diet Coke?

My son says this has been around for awhile, but it's the first I've seen of it. Diet Coke and Mentos video...Turn on your speakers and give a look-see.

Update of previous post...

Here's part of the talk by Henry Lee I attended last week:

Lee injected humor into his presentation, joking about what he called “the stages of aging.” The first, he said, is “you forget names.” Audience members nodded in agreement.
“The second stage is you forget faces,” he said, and again those in the audience nodded. "The third stage is when you go to the men’s room and forget to zip up,” Lee joked, and startled audience members laughed.
The fourth stage of aging, he added, “is when you forget to zip down.”

Humor at serious seminar startles

My job is certainly interesting, if nothing else.
On Wednesday I attended a workshop that dealt with the issue of elder abuse. Unfortunately there must be a lot of it going on out there.
The more famous of the two keynote speakers was Henry C. Lee, the world-renowned forensic scientist. He's a truly brilliant man, seen as one of the top experts in his field.
I've watched him on TV and read about him and the high-profile cases he has been involved with for years (i.e. O.J. Simpson, JonBenet Ramsey, Laci Peterson, among others). Little did I know that he is hysterically funny.
Lee regaled the audience of health care, social work and law enforcement professionals (about 175 people) with stories about his experiences. He had everyone laughing out loud. Many of us were startled at first at his humor. He knows how to keep his audience interested.

If he ever retires as a forensic scientist, investigator, defense and prosecution consultant as well as chief emeritus of the Connecticut State Police (a job that pays $1 a year, he said) Lee definitely has a future in stand-up comedy.

Hmmmm...thinking, thinking

I'm considering starting up a second blog. The name of it would be "Too Sensitive For My Own Good."
It could be quite interesting. To me, anyway.

There goes the bride

marriedtothesea.com

Mi-mi-mi ME!

Odat posted this "When I Am Famous" meme today and I thought I'd give it a whirl...

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)
Humphrey Hyundai

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
Chocolate Chocolate Chip

3. YOUR “FLY Guy” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)
Pvil

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Detective Pink Cat

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
McDonald New Haven

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)
Vilpa

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)
The Blue Milk

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
Hugh Charles

9. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy)
Rose chocolate

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names )
Kathryn Donald

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
Moran Minneapolis

12. SPY NAME/BOND GIRL: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)
Autumn Tulip

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “y”)
Apple Jeansy

14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)
Waffle willow

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) The Blog Fog Tour

I'm not tagging anyone, just recommending doing this for a bit o' fun.

Back by popular demand: more self-revelation

A couple of problematic things come to mind to share.

One is that I can't stop saying "Woopsie Doodley Do" when something goes awry.
For this problem I am blaming Ned Flanders (the Simpsons' next-door neighbor for you non-viewers). He is extremely clean-cut, doesn't swear and is always saying dorky things. On Sunday night's episode he said "Okilly-dokilly."
I'm all for making up words, but I'm starting to annoy myself.

#2 Am I the only person who consistently gets bitten by fleas when I go to discount stores? If this isn't annoying I don't know what is. I get bites on my ankles and around my waist. They just jump off the merchandise and head for my skin. Fortunately it doesn't happen in the supermarket I patronize.
Ralph doesn't have this problem. Neither do our children. My skin must be sweet...

All for now. Stop by again soon.

Take a hike

Helping the hungry and homeless in our community was the reason for the fund-raising walk that we, along with many others, took part in Saturday.
I was happy that Kid One was able to come home this weekend to be with us as we strolled along the riverwalk.
We ended up doing the four-mile round trip. Here are Kid Two and Kid One starting the walk. I was strolling behind them with a friend.

<----- resting on bench


goofing around on bench ----->

(notice bunny ears)



We saw some nature...I don't know what kind of long-legged bird this is sitting by the river.
Note to self: do some research.

Return trip...notice river to Kid Two's right, and highway bridge above.


When you come upon this idyllic-looking scene you almost forget how close you are to a highway bridge and a busy street filled with fast-food restaurants, supermarkets, stores, gas stations and, well, you get the idea.

This recreational trail is beautiful and has become extremely popular in the two years it has been in existence.
The walk to help the homeless and the hungry is now in its 10th year. We used to walk a shorter, less scenic route along city streets.
The event has become a tradition, and once again the organization sponsoring it has raised money and awareness to help the less fortunate among us. We felt good to be a part of that effort.
~
Here in Connecticut, another major fund-raising walk, this one to raise money to find a cure for breast cancer, will be held Oct. 14 at Bushnell Park in Hartford.
Click here to sponsor Mags, who is walking in the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event with a team named in honor of the one and only Empress Bee.
Bee is a wonderful woman (she calls herself crusty) who was recently diagnosed. She has so many friends in the blogosphere and rightly so.
Coincidentally our daughter, who attends college nearby, told me she will be taking part in the Hartford event with a team of friends from school.
A donation of $5 is all that is asked. I felt good making this small donation and I know you will, too.

Keep on walkin'

Um...I'm out of shape. I know it. But nevertheless I am taking the Iron Woman challenge (well, not exactly) this morning and walking for a good cause.

It's a four-mile round trip.
I've been training. Sort of. Walking in the morning around the neighborhood...

Our daughter is home from college and she will join me and her brother to walk for a local organization that operates a homeless shelter and food bank network.

We do the walk every year, and I'm glad that she wanted to be with us to participate again this year.
Now to just wake those two teens up.

She can see clearly now, I hope

Yesterday I took my mother to have cataract surgery. She seems to have come through it all with flying colors. She was one of six women the doctor performed similar surgery on yesterday, one after the other. Sort of a surgical assembly line...
I recognized one of the women, a former neighbor, and met her son in the waiting room.

My mother didn't mention anything about pain, thankfully. No doubt the worst part was the fasting that goes along with getting ready for such a procedure. And the waiting around.
Now she has two kinds of eye drops to use for a while.

She got a good report from the doctor this morning after he examined the eye and now he wants to take care of the other one in a few weeks.
Her response? "Can't we wait?"

Some need to learn patience

This morning when I was driving home from the store I slowed down as I saw a mini-school bus, the one that transports children with special needs, with its yellow caution lights on. I stopped as it neared a house.

The impatient jerk in the pickup behind me didn't care for my caution. He gave me one of those motions with his hand, like what's going on? What are you stopping for?
The red lights came on as the bus stopped and pulled to the curb. From the house emerged a mother with a small boy who has a disability. He was wearing a helmet (don't know the technical term) and needed steadying as they went down three steps.
It looked like he has cerebral palsy.

You'd think I'd be accustomed to seeing someone with a disability, since Ralph uses a wheelchair. But I am so used to him getting around quite well that it barely registers with me that he is in it.
Seeing that little guy struggling just to get on the mini-bus was a painful reminder of how good we have it in our family.
I only hope the idiot in such a hurry behind me was paying attention.
I'd like to think that he was.

Working behind the scenes

Our dear daughter has surprised us, in a good way, by getting involved with the TV station on campus. She enjoys it.
She is learning to use a TV camera and she can handle audio in the control room.
She has reviewed a restaurant (on tape) while seated at a table inside the eatery. And she has directed a cooking show, aimed at those students who live in the on-campus apartments equipped with mini-kitchens...
Sounds like it's a lot of fun.

She may never forgive me for using this photo taken by one of her friends. She's apparently in the control room at the station.
I haven't asked her because I don't want to spill the beans that I'm using the photo.
Bad mommy.

Fat chance

marriedtothesea.com

Christmas Jar update

It's getting closer every day.
The holiday season is on its way...

In three short months we'll be decking the halls, wrapping presents and trimming the tree. I cannot sing so I didn't mention caroling...but more power to you if you do sing Christmas carols, or even Jingle Bells.

On April 18 I wrote about the idea of starting a Christmas Jar. I did indeed start it, but little did I know that two months later Ralph would get laid off. We have a bit less cash on hand than I had planned. But I want to continue with it.

The jar is in the kitchen and it holds spare change. I just counted the coins and so far there is $8.95 in the jar. Not too much. I may have to wait until Christmas '08 to give it away.

Has anyone else taken up this idea?

Mmmm...fudgy

My loving husband (Ralph for those who don't know us yet) has started counting and recording his daily caloric intake. He is being quite diligent about it. And I commend him.

Today I plan to bake a batch of fudge brownies with walnuts.Is that being mean?

Friday fun

Dipping into the e-mail bag today:

**A man was sick and tired of going to work every day while his wife
stayed home. He wanted her to see what he went through so he prayed:

**"Dear Lord: I go to work every day and put in 8 hours while my wife
merely stays at home. I want her to know what I go through, so please
allow her body to switch with mine for a day. Amen. **

**God, in his infinite wisdom, granted the man's wish. The next
morning, sure enough, the man awoke as a woman. He arose, cooked
breakfast for his mate, awakened the kids, set out their school clothes,
fed them breakfast, packed their lunches, drove them to school, came
home and picked up the dry cleaning, took it to the cleaners and stopped
at the bank to make a deposit, went grocery shopping, then drove home to
put away the groceries, paid the bills and balanced the check book. He
cleaned the cat's litter box and bathed the dog. Then it was already
1P.M. and he hurried to make the beds, do the laundry, vacuum, dust, and
sweep and mop the kitchen floor. Ran to the school to pick up the kids
and got into an argument with them on the way home. Set out milk and
cookies and got the kids organized to do their homework, then set up the
ironing board and watched TV while he did the ironing. At 4:30 he began
peeling potatoes and washing vegetables for salad, breaded the pork
chops and snapped fresh beans for supper. **

**After supper, he cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, folded
laundry, bathed the kids, and put them to bed. At 9 P.M. he was
exhausted and, though his daily chores weren't finished, he went to bed
where he was expected to make love, which he managed to get through
without complaint. **

**The next morning, he awoke and immediately knelt by the bed and said:
- "Lord, I don't know what I was thinking. I was so wrong to envy my
wife's being able to stay home all day. Please, oh! oh! please, let us
trade back." **

**The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, replied: "My son, I feel You have
learned your lesson and I will be happy to change things back to the way
they were. You'll just have to wait nine months, though. You got
pregnant last night." **

2 fur 1 ?

Now that I have some much appreciated cat name input from my blogging friends, there's another wrinkle to report...
Actually I knew Ralph was considering getting two felines, but now he is almost insisting that would be just the thing for us. They could keep each other company, says Ralph.
Well, yes, I suppose they could.
If we get two, and I'm still saying "if," what would we name them?
Peanut butter and Jelly?
Salt and Pepper?
Mutt and Jeff?

Isadora & Milo??

Name that cat

We hope to get a kitty cat soon. If it's a girl, the four of us are agreed on calling her Isadora.
"Isadora is adorable." Cute, no?

If it's a boy, we have several suggested names posted on the refrigerator.
1) Anson (historic significance)
2) Horatio
3) Milo
4) Boochie (my personal fave)

The children are voting for Milo or even Yossarian (think Catch-22).
Any ideas?

Luck of the draw ...

I feel like I have too much going on, and therefore don't know what to blog about...Just not feeling focused.
I did find this to share with my bloggin' friends. Have fun!

Your Luck Quotient: 66%

You have a high luck quotient. More often than not, you've felt very lucky in your life. You may be randomly lucky, but it's probably more than that. Optimistic and open minded, you take advantage of all the luck that comes your way.

How Lucky Are You?

P is for Pancakes!

I just LOVE making pancakes on a Sunday morning.
It makes me feel like Donna Reed, in a good way. (That's an early '60s cultural reference for you young'uns.)
Now if only our daughter were home from school to enjoy them. Breakfast is better when the four of us are together.

This morning I will be observing our "new and expanded" Sunday school class. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, several young families have started to attend our small church. That means kiddos and babies and crying (!) and such. The dear woman in charge is trying to get it organized. I'm one of the "teachers," and I use that term loosely.

I'm hoping the pancakes will sufficiently fortify me to be with those little darlin's for an hour.
UPDATE: Whew! none of the new children were there. Just the two original little guys who are brothers.

Tossing and turning

It's 3:37 a.m. and I wish I were asleep like the lucky people are right now.
Been awake for over an hour. :- (

Note to self: Just because you work from home doesn't make you immune to work-related shit affecting you.

Something happened at the end of the work day yesterday that threw me - and got my anxiety machine going full speed ahead.
That's why I'm awake. And blogging.

OK, that's all for now. G'nite.

One definition of will power

Going to a meeting early yesterday morning of a newly-formed board on which I was asked to serve and not having a donut.
They were just Munchkins, but nevertheless I only had coffee.

That was a step in the right direction, wouldn't you say?

Patti the Good, where have you gone?

Today for the newspaper I wrote about someone who is possibly, allegedly, involved in male prostitution.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

I'd rather write a good novel

toothpastefordinner.com

M is for Monster, P is for Poison

Odat also had this monstrously fun quiz on her blog...I've done it before, but I did it again. I never knew I was poisonous.

Get Your Monster Name

P.S. Odat: don't you have red hair ?

I held Chunkaccino!

And it was worth the wait.
Speaking of weight, he has a lot of it.
This is me with Adam yesterday at a restaurant. We were at Ralph's sister's 50th birthday dinner.
There were 24 of us, mostly family. I'm glad it wasn't a surprise party...Less stress all around.

I didn't get to hold Adam at his Christening party last Saturday. I had to wait a week for my turn. But I got a turn, and he didn't spit up on me or anything!
It's hard to believe this is the same baby born three months prematurely back in February.

As you can see from his football jersey, Adam is already a huge fan of the New England Patriots. Or at least his dad hopes that is the case.

The real me

Odat has this quiz over at her place this morning so I was happy to play along to discover my inner self. Give it a try!

Get Your Sexy Name

I used my full name so that I would get more words. I'm feisty like that. The quiz coincided with the post I had diligently prepared for today. I thought it was the perfect lead-in! Thanks, Odat!

~ This is a story about four-letter words and moi. ~
I once had a co-worker who thought I was sweet and innocent. Maybe I was, I was under 30 at the time.
She was startled at the end of a workday when, exasperated, yours truly came out with that four-letter word that starts with an S and, well, you know.

"S***?!? From Alice in Wonderland?" former co-worker exclaimed.
The truth was out. She thought of me as Alice, or maybe even Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. What had I done to deserve such a title? I was just being myself.

You guys don't think that about me, do you?
DO YOU??

Please respond, gosh darn it, because as we all know, it's all about ME.

An A for Attitude

Thanks to all for playing along to guess my eight-letter word that begins with A.

Sari was right, but I didn't want to say anything until a few more of you dear readers weighed in.

And Odat agreed with Sari, I might add. So she also was correcto!

What I need to develop is some "attitude."

Not adultery, as one of you whose name I won't mention but it rhymes with China, said.

Whew, glad that's over. I feel better revealing that teensy bit of my life.

Too much to digest, too much to distract

I can't believe it. I'm trying to write a story for the paper. I think I have come down with a case of writer's block.

First one in many years.

Nervous now.

Maybe if I keep typing here on my familiar Blogger dashboard template thingy I can soothe myself and an idea will pop into my head.
Where to begin? At the beginning.

Deadline looms.
5 p.m. ~ or thereabouts.

That's all for now. Back to story. . .

Character flaw

I've come to the conclusion that I need to develop something. Something that many folks already possess.
It's not my work ethic and it's not any anatomical parts (well, maybe, but I think it's a tad too late). It's something else, something that has never been my forte.
Hint: It begins with an A and it has eight letters. Any guesses?

Mis-fortune

I visited the fortune cookie lady and this is what I got (didn't like the first two).
Thanks to Linda, my fellow Nutmegger, for the link.

Give it a try, says I.

My Fortune Cookie told me:
Another good night not to sleep in a eucalyptus tree..
Get a cookie from Miss Fortune

Adam makes us all smile

On Saturday we attended a wonderfully happy family event: the christening of little Adam, who was born in February, three months too soon.
These days he is what his Uncle Rick, his proud godfather, calls him: "a chunkaccino."
Adam has grown from that skinny little guy in the incubator to a baby who is in the 90th percentile for his weight. When he was born he was a mere 2 pounds, 12 ounces. What a cute baby he is now.
Adam is still kinda sleepy, because he is actually only three months old.
His mother and father were all smiles Saturday as they doted over their little miracle.

Our day was already chronicled on Sunday by my one and only, Ralph, but I wanted to add my 2 cents.

(And I thought Empress Bee would like some cake).

Taking a work break ~ look what I learned

You Are a Chihuahua Puppy

Small, high strung, and loyal. You do best in the city with adults - young kids could crush you!

What Breed of Puppy Are You?

Thanks for the quiz, Odat! Never thought of myself as a Chihuahua ~

Self-revelation: Part 2

I've only had one pedicure in my life, thanks to a gift certificate, and now I think it's time for another.
Yes, I'm talking about toenails again (see previous post). I enjoyed the pedicure I had. It was quite relaxing.

The problem is I remember hearing about someone whose toes fell off or something when she got an infection after a pedicure.

Should I ignore that report, spend the $$ and get a pedicure?
Or should I just use those foam toe separators and do it myself in the privacy of my home?

Self-revelation: Part 1

I can no longer skirt the issue. Dear Mimi Pencil Skirt is right about this. I should reveal more of myself. I know it's therapeutic.
Even giving out the teensiest bit of info makes me feel like I'm making a friend or two who is reading this.

Here goes: (deep breath taken)

1. I had a heckuva time this morning cleaning my toenails. Yes, I said toenails. Revelation: I like to putter around in my flower garden barefoot. Hence, dirty toenails. Which sounds gross, but I can get earthy now and then. And we are going to a Christening and luncheon today and I'm breaking out my summer dress-up outfit so I had better be clean.

2. I'm genetically predisposed to shyness. When we are out in public, Ralph does most of the talking. I talk, but he really gets going.

That's all for now.