I received this in the mail today.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL,
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!
2025 HERE WE COME!!
My spouse and I have just returned from a delightful two-day visit with family in the Milwaukee area. We had a grand time but I didn't/couldn't blog for two days. We got home this afternoon, and, I must admit, after five hours on the road, and some continued shooting pains from my cracked (but healing) sternum, all I wanted to do was to crawl into bed for a long nap - maybe 'til tomorrow. However, long before we went off to Milwaukee, some friends had given us tickets to the annual Boar's Head Festival at Plymouth Congregational Church here in Fort Wayne and made arrangements to meet us for dinner before hand. So, with some gentle encouragement from my wonder spouse (he had done all the driving after all) I pulled myself together, put on a cashmere sweater so I would feel dressy, and off we went. I am sooooo glad we did. Dinner at Henry's was delicious and just the boost I needed. Then the Boar's Head Festival turned out to be more wonderful than I had imagined. This was the 48th year for Plymouth to put on this production and they did an amazing job. I overheard someone saying that there are more than 300 people involved in the production. Visually the costuming and the tableaus they created (all very Medieval) were simply beautiful. The scenes reminded me of paintings from the middle ages, with angels or Mary and Joseph as the central figures, but then a variety of costumed towns people surrounding them. In the original paintings, various people would have paid, through patronage, to be included in the scene. In this evening's production the participants paid with lots of hard work to pull this all together. The music, woven through all the scenes, choirs and instrumental, was sublime. All in all an excellent experience, and one not to be missed. But tonight's was the last of four performances this year, so you will need to wait until next year at Christmas. Believe me, it will be worth the wait.
Tomorrow my spouse and I are heading for Wisconsin to visit our family there. One more Christmas celebration, yay! I spent part of today packing, making sure I have the clothes I need for different activities over the three days we will be there. Happily, my spouse packs for himself so I only packed for me. Not really a very arduous task. However, in February we will be going on a 19 day cruise around the Horn of South America. My spouse doesn't realize, and doesn't really need to know (he would just laugh) that I will start packing for that trip as soon as we get home from Wisconsin. Lucky for me, we have a guest bedroom with an empty closet. I will start accumulating clothes for summer (most of the trip) and winter (around the horn) and anything I think I might need in between. I thought, when we first read the description of this Viking cruise, that I would only need casual clothes, but on closer reading of new information sent, it seems that "smart casual - no jeans" is the expected dress for some dinners. Maybe I'll just stuff everything I can into my biggest suitcase and hope for the best.
There are, in many traditions, 12 days of Christmas, either beginning on December 13, St. Lucie's Day (and my birthday) and continuing through December 25, or beginning on the 25th and continuing through Epiphany. I think that second option is how we're doing it this year. Yesterday was the big celebration, gift exchange, feasting, etc. Today my spouse picked up his new car. You've heard the phrase "a kid with a new toy?" I've hardly seen him all day as he added, adjusted, and tweaked various parts. Tomorrow is packing day. over the weekend we will be celebrating Christmas with our oldest son and family in Milwaukee. On the 30th we will be joining friends for dinner, then attending the Boar's Head Festival. Then of course comes New Year's Eve and New Year's Day which we will be celebrating quietly at home. For Christmas my daughter and son-in-law gave me a lovely engraved wine glass and a bottle of my favorite wine, so I know how I'll be ringing in the new year. My spouse will be right here with me, with a glass of his favorite wine. And then it will be January and our first anniversary will be almost upon us. What a year it has been.
There were sixteen of us as we sat down to dinner at noon today. Two tables with eight at each table. It worked out beautifully with eight of us in the "over forty" category at one table (the dining room table with the larger chairs) and eight of the "under thirty" category around the expanded table in the breakfast nook. I wanted this to be an opportunity for my grands and their significant others and my spouse's grands to get to know each other better and it really seemed to work out that way, lots of talk and laughter coming from that table. It's such a joy for me and my spouse to sense our families blending.
And speaking of my Wonder Spouse, he was the chef extraordinaire! The meal was amazing - ham, sweet potatoes (my contribution), pineapple stuffing, rolls, cherry pie, apple pie, whipped cream, fudge, and, from the guests, deviled eggs, cheesy potatoes, and cookies. True confession here, the rolls and pies were from our favorite Amish bakery.
All in all, it was a very fine day. "And to all a good night."
Joyous and blessed Christmas Eve everyone. We attended the traditional "Nine Lessons and Carols" service this evening at a new time, 5:00pm. This time was changed from the traditional 10 or 11 pm service to allow more young families to come and it seemed to have worked. The church was full, and baby voices were heard. It was a lovely service retelling the story of Jesus' birth in songs and scripture readings. Every hymn I longed to hear was sung, from "Away in a Manger" to "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" to "Silent Night" sung by candle light as the church lights faded. It was a blissful way to begin Christmas.
And now, as we do some final prep for Christmas dinner tomorrow:
'Twas the night before Christmas
and all through the house,
not a creature was stirring
except Wonder Spouse.
This could go on for a while. Tomorrow we'll savor whatever he's concocting. I'm heading for bed. Perhaps a vision of pineapple stuffing will dance through my head.
Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night.
To add to our frustrations this afternoon, which were many, I just accidentally deleted everything I had written, making this the perfect end to a very aggravating day. Don't ever let your wrecked car be impounded by Parker's Towing. After three hours of arguing about whether or not they would accept payment from our insurance, and lots of phone calls between agents and managers and clerks (one of whom I mentally named Snarly) simply to allow us to visit our poor Subaru one last time, to get the license plate off, we finally, finally were allowed to do so. I'm pretty sure no one else could see the steam coming out of my spouse's ears but I certainly could. I can't wait for them to send us a Satisfaction Survey.
Today, again thank you to my west coast brother for the info, is "National Cookie Exchange Day." In my much younger, but still old enough to have children, days, I vaguely remember being involved in some cookie exchanges, and they were fun, but honestly I've never been that thrilled with decorated cookies. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing them and eating them, I just don't want to be involved in making them. The cookies I make to share are more likely to be snickerdoodles or chocolate chip or molasses cookies. Happily, I have great memories of my grandchildren helping me make those kinds of cookies. Especially snickerdoodles. If I had to make a big batch of these cinnamon sugar delights (and what would be the point of making a small batch?) my grandchildren would delight in rolling the dough into balls and then rolling the balls in a mixture of cinnamon and granulated sugar. Then carefully arranging them in rows on the cookie sheet. They were delicious served with a glass of milk, especially right out of the oven. As an added bonus, there was usually enough of the cinnamon sugar mix to sprinkle on buttered toast for breakfast the next morning. I may not be the master of elegantly decorated cookies, but I am near the top when it comes to easy to make, fun to eat comfort cookies. Happy holidays everyone.
My west coast brother informed me earlier today that today is "National Look at the Bright Side Day." As it turned out that was very good advice. My spouse and I set out this morning on a pre-Christmas series of errands, pick up the ham we had ordered, pick up the bakery rolls, buy a few groceries, etc. All was going well, until about a mile from home, CRASH! BANG! POOF! we collided with another vehicle (a big old tow truck to be exact) who didn't stop as expected at the four way stop. A policeman later informed us that there have been several accidents at that intersection. Actually not very comforting to know. That poof! that I mentioned was the airbags inflating very rapidly. Did you know that it costs $5,000 to replace a deployed airbag and there are almost always two involved, making any accident where the airbags go off considered a total? Did you also know that airbags smell funny and leave lots of white dust floating in the air? I didn't either until today. I sat there in the passenger seat, stunned and bemused, watching white stuff float around a sad deflated big old balloon, while trying to figure out if I was hurt. I was, my chest hurt like someone had walloped me with a ball bat. You've obviously figured out that, since I'm able to write this blog, the whole episode could have been much worse. My spouse was fine, able to get out of the car quickly, have civil conversation with the other driver, call 91I, take pictures of the damage (considerable), talk with the police, etc. My son, who lives right around the corner from us, came as soon as I called him and helped us get everything out of the car, wave good bye to our faithful Subaru, and then drive us home. The next stop was the ER where I spent a fun afternoon while the professionals checked for any possible damage to my chest. Did you know that, once they have determined, after a CT scan and other fun tests, that a person has a cracked sternum (which I do) they then need to check to make sure one doesn't have a bruised heart (I don't)? That's why we're looking on the bright side. Especially now that I'm fairly high on pain pills. In case you're wondering, my wonder spouse was able to buy everything on our list, and Christmas dinner will go on as planned. Although I may not be hugging everyone as firmly as I would like to. Cheers everybody. Keep looking on the bright side.
Today, according to my west coast brother, is "Underdog Day." This is how he spelled it, but I'm not sure if they mean an underdog like someone who is downtrodden or the amazing Under Dog of cartoon fame. Today is also "Cathode-Ray Tube Day" when we salute whoever invented these tubes and the role they played in the development of television. In one entry the invention was credited to Karl Ferdinand Braun, with a nod to Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton. For details look them up. I'm pretty sure that our first color television, which we purchased in 1969 (just in time for the first moon walk) had cathode-ray tubes, or CRTs if you prefer. It certainly wasn't flat and light weight. Which brings me back to Under Dog. My first spouse and I quickly discovered that there was a lot of fine tuning involved in getting the color right in dramas, news casts and other similar shows involving real live people. On the other hand cartoons showed their colors brilliantly. Since we both worked during the week, Saturday mornings became our favorite TV watching time. Such classics as George of the Jungle, Rocky and Bullwinkle, and, of course, Under Dog satisfied our Saturday morning thirst for fine TV watching. If you were also watching these cartoons way back when, I know you won't judge (they were very funny) and if you never watched them, I'm really sorry.
Today evolved around me from noise, the demolition of my husband's shower, which involved lots of thumping and bumping, to music. After listening to thuds and banging all day, we now have a shower lined with Go Board by Johns Manville. This material is, I am assured, far superior to ordinary dry wall. It won't disintegrate or dissolve or get moldy behind the ceramic tiles if the calking happens to develop cracks, which, after 20 years or so, it probably will. So tomorrow and Saturday should actually be quieter days. Affixing tiles to the walls can't be that noisy, can it? But that's for tomorrow.
This evening, after the tile team left at 6:30pm (they do work long hours) my spouse and I went to the Holiday Pops. Music is a lovely antidote to rhythm-less noise. It was a joy to hear the Fort Wayne Children's Choir sing, and the Philharmonic choir and orchestra were as wonderful as always. Now I can go to sleep with melodies like 'The Twelve Days of Christmas,' 'Rudolph' and 'White Christmas' weaving through my dreams, instead of thump, bump, clatter, bang. Hooray for Christmas music.
Happy Wednesday. (One week 'til Christmas). According to my west coast brother today is "Answer the Phone Like Buddy the Elf Day." I'm told that Buddy the Elf says "This is Buddy the Elf. What's your favorite color?" It's up to you to decide if you want to answer the phone that way. Personally, I think a simple "Hello" works well. But how many of us actually answer the phone these days? I much prefer texts and emails. However, today is also "National Wear a Plunger on Your Head Day" if you want to celebrate in a different way. Again, I'm just a bearer of information. I don't recommend this at all, especially in the weather we're having. A wooly knit stocking cap or a Russian style hat with fur lined ear flaps is much preferable in my opinion. But, if you want to attract lots of attention, the plunger might be an option. Do make sure it's a clean one. And don't stick it on too hard if you're bald. You might create some suction there and you will be wearing a plunger, whether you want to or not for a long time. Of course you can ask someone in your family to help you get it off, but you will need to wait patiently until they stop laughing.
Today, again thank you to my west coast brother, is Wright Brothers Day. Quite coincidentally, Mr. Wright from Wright Brothers came to our house today to start the process of renovating our kitchen. Not one of the original brothers of course. He came with his assistant who is not anybody's brother, but has some very good ideas for spiffing up a kitchen. Thirteen years ago this same company did an excellent remodel of the kitchen in the last house I owned. Wright Brothers Renovation and Design is the name of the company, and I am happy to recommend them. We will be meeting with them on January 3, to get their estimate, and, if that's acceptable, to pick the style of cabinets and flooring we want. Such fun. But, about those original Wright brothers - my maternal grandmother's maiden name was Wright, and I was always told that we were related to the Wright brothers and also Frank Lloyd Wright. I know that last is true because when I was in my teens, an attorney came to our door with a check for my mother from the estate of Frank Lloyd Wright. Evidently he died without a will, and his assets were being divided among all the living heirs that could be found. I believe my mother's share was $38. Woo Hoo! Isn't it great to be related to someone rich and famous? Perhaps I should ask today's Mr. Wright for a family discount?
My west coast brother has informed me that today is "National Chocolate Covered Anything Day." Anything??? I don't think so. First of all, just to clear things up, I readily admit that I am a chocolate lover, especially dark chocolate and I know that chocolate is good for me. It is after all made from a vegetable. Beans are vegetables, and chocolate comes from cocoa beans so it's a vegetable, probably even a health food. It is also, as every thinking person knows, it's own basic food group. I'm sure it was somewhere in that food pyramid that we learned about in science class when I was in elementary school. But, coming back to today's topic - chocolate covered anything??? I don't think so. Strawberries, bananas, marshmallows dipped in chocolate, yes of course, that's fine. Many kinds of nuts and peanut butter balls are enhanced by dipping them in chocolate. But, I don't care how delicious the chocolate is, there are some 'delicacies' I will not be trying. I've heard of chocolate covered grasshoppers, ants and crickets. I'm told they are nice and crunchy, similar to chocolate covered nuts, but I will not be taste testing these toothsome bites. "But Luci," you may be saying, "maybe these poor people don't have anything else to cover with chocolate." Really? Almost every primitive culture I've ever heard of grinds grain and creates some sort of bread or cake. Chocolate covered cake sounds way better to me than chocolate covered walrus blubber. To quote Marie Antoinette, "Let them eat cake." Actually, I just Googled that quote and learned that there is no proof that M. A. ever uttered those words. I think what she probably said was "Let them eat chocolate."
My spouse and I have just come home from visiting my 90 year old cousin who lives in an assisted living facility. We took her a Christmas gift and visited for a little over two hours. As we walked away from her apartment, we each commented on what a pleasant visit it had been. On reflection I realized that the main factor that made it so enjoyable was the fact that she never once mentioned her aches and pains. She can't walk very much at all, gets around on a motorized scooter, and has, as you might expect, some health issues, but none of that came up in conversation. Instead we talked about the horse she had some years ago that had once been a circus performer. We talked about various trips she and her husband had taken over the years (she especially like Alaska) but thought Hawaii was a little too 'high brow' for her. She was also very interested in a trip we're planning. Of course we exchanged news about various family members, and she talked about the wildlife she has seen out side her patio door. She also, just in passing, talked about the dearth of interesting men in her facility. "They either can't hear or they only have one leg."
All in all, it was a very nice upbeat visit. I hope I remember, when it's my turn to be visited, to talk about anything and everything except what ails me, and to keep my sense of humor. I want to be like her when I grow up.
In this season of holiday treats, I would expect a special food day to be about some kind of pie, but not pumpkin, that's reserved for Thanksgiving. National Fruit Cake Day also makes sense, although fruit cakes seem to have gone out of style. I may be the only person in the US who really likes fruit cake. Or maybe some kind of special dish like green bean casserole (a classic) or my husband's pineapple stuffing (less well know but delicious, especially with ham)? Anything like that would make sense, but, instead, my west coast brother informed me that today is "National Biscuits and Gravy Day." This would have been a great thing for me to learn, because I really do love good biscuits and gravy. 'A Divine Encounter Cafe' here in Fort Wayne makes the very best, and biscuits and gravy is my favorite restaurant breakfast or brunch. Sadly, by the time I got my brother's text today, it was well past brunch time. But now that he's whetted my appetite, we will find a time this coming week to go there. Happily, my wonder spouse also enjoys breakfasts out. Hmmm, Friday might just work??
First, for those of you who can't wait to find out, the German Pyramid worked like a charm last night, and it was a delight to watch.
So today was already off to a good start when we fell asleep at a little past midnight after watching the hypnotic movement of that pyramid. Very soothing.
This morning, as we listened to our usual morning radio show, I learned that today is "Lost and Found Day" and that some famous person (I didn't catch the name) said that 80 is the new 60. Both of these bits of information resonated with me because today I turned 80. Yes, I have made it to the big 80! As my spouse kindly informed me, I am now an octogenarian. He still has seven months to go.
I have obviously lost my youth somewhere along the way, but I have found so much more, demonstrated by the fact that we had a cake and ice cream party this evening with 14 of my nearest and dearest. I love all of my family. I blew out the candles (only two, an 8 and a 0) and they all sang happy birthday to me. As far as 80 being the new 60, I have mixed feelings. I wouldn't mind looking 60 again, but being 60 would mean going to work every day, and I really like retirement. So, no thank you, I'll just stay where I am. 80 and healthy and loving life. I am blessed.
When you read this blog, you'll understand why my first post was incomplete. For some reason, the whole story after the picture disappeared. Nothing about this situation was easy, but I'm trying again. My husband owns a German Pyramid, or, if you prefer, a Weihnachtspyramide. It has two tiers of little figures (a nativity scene) and a propeller on top that rotates in the currents when candles are lit at the base. Here's a picture of it. It's about two feet tall.
My husband owns a German Pyramid, or, if you prefer, a Weihnachtspyramide. It has two tiers of little figures (a nativity scene) and a propeller on top that rotates in the currents when candles are lit at the base. Here's a picture of it
Or at least feast your eyes on every mountain. Today, according to my west coast brother, who lives near mountains and appreciates such things, is "International Mountain Day." When I think about this, two international mountain experiences come to mind. About 17 years ago, on my first ever trip to Europe, we flew into Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, then took a flight south over the Alps to Italy. Now there are some real international mountains. My friend, knowing that this was my first trip to Europe, kindly let me sit by the window. It was a crystal clear day, and as we flew over the Alps they seemed to go on and on forever. All snow capped and so beautiful. I do remember thinking at one point that if the plane crashed it would be a rough hike to get out of those mountains. Then I reminded myself that if the plane crashed, being able to hike out would probably not be an option. So I relaxed and enjoyed the view.
The second international mountain experience happened this fall when we drove to and through the Canadian Rockies. Again we were blessed with a crystal clear day, and my wonder spouse was driving, so I could relax and enjoy the view. And enjoy it I did. We both agreed that it was like driving through an OMNIMAX movie. Beautiful vista after beautiful vista unfolded before us. I took some pictures but they simply didn't do it justice, so I decided to just relax and enjoy the show, and what a show it was. God's 'handiwork' indeed.
Today is "Dewey Decimal Day." My west coast brother shared this information with me and it made me curious. So here are some fun facts about the Dewey Decimal System. It was first presented in a 44 page pamphlet written by Melvil Dewey, an American librarian and educator, in 1876. He had been working on the system for three years prior to that. Before the DDS, books were arranged in libraries in order of acquisition. This did not make it easy to find what you were looking for. Mr. Dewey decided that there had to be a better way and he created it. Over the years, there have been 23 major revisions of the DDS, the latest being in 2011. So yes, it's still going strong. It's currently being used in 200,000 libraries in over 135 countries. If you haven't been to a library for a long time, you'll still find rows and rows of mostly non-fiction books shelved by their DDS numbers. What you won't find are card catalogs, those cabinets filled with little, but very deep, drawers full of cards listing the author, title, etc. of each book in the library, and where it could be found. It's all on computers now. As it should be. When I was in high school, decades ago, I loved to volunteer in the school library because it got me out of study hall. We had it all, the DDS, the card catalogs, the little stamps to stamp the due date on the card that fit in the pocket inside the front cover of the book. Come on, I know at least some of you remember those things. What our little small town high school library also had were some rather adult (to my innocent mind) novels. "A Town Like Alice" (my all time favorite book) and "Kristen Lavransdatter" come to mind. Wow, I just discovered, while Googling the spelling of Lavransdatter, that the book is available as an audio book now. Those we did not have way back then. As I recall, the book was at least 800 pages long, so prepare yourself for a long listen, but, if you have a long driving trip coming up it might be worth checking it out. Happy reading everybody.
This was a day of learning for me. I'm always happy to learn new things, even if I don't appreciate the immediate value, but in one case today the value in time saved was immediately apparent. I had noticed, just in passing a few weeks ago, the small sign announcing UPS service on the front of our local Do It Best store. I live on the east side of Fort Wayne and, until I saw that sign i thought my nearest options were way south of Fort Wayne near the airport or way north of town on Dupont Road. Since my west coast brother told me yesterday that the best way to send a package to them was by UPS, I happily took the two packages I needed to ship right around the corner to Do It Best this morning. They were wrapped, clearly addressed, excessively taped and, I thought, ready to go. A helpful front counter clerk pointed me to the correct counter, at the back of the store, where I found another very pleasant clerk ready to help me. There was NO LINE. Of course that could change as we get closer to Christmas, but today the whole process was so easy. Just one thing surprised me. When I set my two boxes (one for the east coast and one for the west) on the counter, she said "Are you shipping something or dropping off?" Well, that perplexed me, because I was expecting to need to drop off my packages, if I wanted them to be shipped. So, being not too proud to look dumb, I asked her what the difference was? It turns out that you can go on line, fill out all the necessary information, and have the official label on your package when you carry it in to the store. Thus saving about ten minutes of the clerk's typing time. A valuable lesson learned that I hope I remember eleven months from now.
My west coast brother has informed me that today is "Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day" and my west coast sister-in-law has requested that I 'travel back in time' to revisit my blue Mustang adventure. So here's the whole story. The year was 2007. My daughter-in-law's mother and I became good friends after my son and her daughter married and gifted us with two adorable (naturally) granddaughters. She was divorced and my husband had died in the year just past, so we decided to take a trip together. She was able to take advantage of a time share on O'hau, about 20 miles from Honolulu. I agreed to take care of the car rental for the week. My 'out law' (our term for our relationship) had flown from Phoenix while I had the longer flight from Fort Wayne. She waited for me at the airport, and when I arrived, about 10:00pm, we went to the car rental kiosk where I thought I had a car reserved. They did have my information but informed me that the only car they still had available was a Mustang. We looked at each other, smiled, and agreed that that sounded OK. When we were taken to the car we discovered that it was a beautiful bright blue convertible. We had a wonderful week driving all around the island. I did all the driving since the lease was in my name. I know, such a tough assignment. A lot of the driving was along the coast, such amazing scenery. The only challenging drive was on the morning, still dark, when I drove my out law to her early morning departure flight. Did you know that the major, and only interstate, and yes, that's what they call it, leading to the Honolulu airport is six lanes in each direction? We lived to tell the tale, but, while I would happily go back to Hawaii, I will not make that drive again.
Today is Pearl Harbor Day, "a date that will live in infamy" and yet I wonder how many people my grandchildren's age or younger have ever heard of it. Is it taught in US History these days? I really don't know but I hope so. I asked at the downtown library recently for a copy of a current US history book, middle school level or older and was told that the library doesn't stock text books. I'm sure they have their reasons but I was disappointed.
Seventeen years ago my 'outlaw' (my daughter-in-law's mother) and I took a trip to Hawaii. We stayed near Honolulu in her time share, while I provided the transportation in the 'only rental available' - a bright blue mustang convertible, great fun to drive but I digress. While we were there we took a Duck Boat ride around Honolulu and then out into the bay to visit the memorial. The memorial is built over the USS Arizona which was sunk on Pearl Harbor Day. As you walk around the memorial you can look down through clear panes of glass at the ship which still lies on the bottom. It was a very moving and also very eerie sight. Everyone there was very quiet and respectful. It's not something I particularly want to revisit, but I'm very glad to have seen it once.
Usually, when my spouse and I come home from some theatrical production, I am bubbling over with enthusiasm for what we have seen and anxious to share the experience. Not so this evening. We went to a production of "Christmas My Way, a Rat Pack Holiday Bash" which featured six singers, three men and three women, and a key board, bass and drums musical group. I will say the instrumental music was good, and the singers all had decent voices. They could certainly carry a tune far better than I can. But the show just didn't seem to come together for me. There were duets, there were jokes and solos, jumping from Frank Sinatra hits to familiar holiday songs. It wasn't all bad. Their version of "The 12 Days of Christmas" was funny and the final song, sung by all six, "I Did It My Way" was well done. In their defense, we had terrible seats, right up front and off to the side, definitely not the best seats at Arena, and the dinner before the show was a disappointment. The same company catered the meal at the last play and the brisket was amazing. This time around they served us grilled pork loin with golden raisin glaze. It was dry, tough and hard to cut and the glaze was almost nonexistent. My spouse did get three raisins, I got none. The herbed carrots were ripple cut slices, gray in color and tasteless; really not good to look at at all, let alone eat. On the up side, the au gratin potatoes, dinner rolls and Merry Cherry Holiday Fluff were all good so we didn't starve. Even better, we were given free tickets to this show. We will definitely be going back to Arena. Most of their shows are very good, but this one may have proved the old adage, at least for us, "You get what you pay for."
Earlier today my west coast brother informed me that today is "Bathtub Party Day" and "National Blue Jeans Day." Since I am not old enough to have been around during Prohibition, I have never made bathtub gin, nor do I think that holding a party in my bathroom would be my first choice. However, I am very fond of blue jeans, and will celebrate by wearing them any chance I get. In fact I was a blue jeans trend setter in my youth. In high school (but not to high school, we were only allowed to wear skirts) I wore my brother's jeans because we were both equally skinny and women's jeans weren't long enough for me. But even earlier than that when I was six years old, I received my first pair of blue jeans. Little girls didn't wear pants much at all back then, except for snow suits. These were great jeans because they were lined with plaid flannel (which showed because the cuffs were turned up) making them wonderfully warm to play in. Coincidentally, a few years ago my west coast brother and his wife gave me a pair of flannel lined jeans for Christmas. They are farm people so they know where to get such things. Happily blue jeans never really go out of style so I will be wearing these lovely warm jeans quite a lot this winter. Now that I'm thinking about it, I should have worn them today. When we woke up the wind chill was -5. Of course by Sunday the temperature is supposed to be up to 50 degrees. Fort Wayne winters are hard to dress for. One type of jeans you will never see me in are the stylishly ripped and frayed kind. Not only do they look cold, but my legs are not as toned as they once were and bulges through the rips would not be a good look. But happy Blue Jeans Day everybody, wear them any way you like them.
Today, according to my west coast brother, is National Sock Day, National Cookie Day, and National Dice Day. Quite an array, I'm sure you'll agree. I don't play dice games much, except Backgammon and Yahtzee, but the little guy that I tutor and I have recently discovered a board game using a large 12 sided dice and six ordinary six sided di. Each player rolls the large dice, then the smaller ones and tries to find the numbers that add up to the number on the large di. If you can do it, you get to move that many spaces. If not, you loose your turn. This is such a simple game, but very ingenious, and tricky. He doesn't even realize that he's adding. This has become our 'play' time when all the reading work is done. But enough about dice. I am not going to comment on cookies because I'm trying to avoid food talk for the next couple of weeks. Of course there are the cookies that show up on my phone, laptop and tablet - very annoying but nicely calorie free. That brings me to socks. Notice that it's National Sock Day; not socks, sock, singular. There is a reason for that. One of my all time favorite humor writers, Erma Bombeck, once observed that it's a sad but true fact that socks do not mate for life. It's so true! Different people deal differently with this dilemma. When I take my socks from the dryer, I match them up, two by two, setting aside any leftovers, and roll the tops down, trapping two socks together, then I stuff them in my tightly packed sock drawer, where they can't wiggle around and come loose. My spouse, on the other hand, simply matches up his pairs of socks and folds them together - no rolling - and lays them on a shelf in his closet, where they can just hop off and run away if they want too. I think he's taking a terrible risk, but at least I know what I can give him for Christmas.
Today is "Let's Hug Day" which sounds like a great day to me. My west coast brother who sent me this information is a very good hugger himself, and so is everyone in his family, which makes visiting them quite wonderful. I am a person who loves to be hugged. Happily I come from a very huggable and hugging family. My mother was a wonderful hugger, which came in very handy when I went through the inevitable breakups that come with high school romances. My father would give my brothers and me one-arm hugs when we kissed him goodnight. No lip kisses in our immediate family just foreheads or cheeks. I used to laugh when my father would look up at me from his chair when I kissed his forehead, causing it to wrinkle in deep horizontal grooves that tickled my lips. Interestingly, those deep wrinkles aren't nearly so funny when I see them in the mirror now. But back to hugs. Some people are just natural huggers (my wonder spouse is one) and you know that it's ok to hug them just about any time. Some, not so much. My first husband, who was an only child, was a fine hugger to me but I never saw him hug his mother. They would shake hands if they hadn't seen each other for a while but never hug. Happily, by the time my first husband and I had been married for several years, my mother-in-law would hug me, and she quickly learned to hug her grandchildren. Going through life never hugging anyone would be very sad I think. Lucky for me, I live where hugs abound.
Today is Safety Razor Day according to my west coast brother, and he does seem to know about these things. Do you remember the Christmas movie about the boy who wants a Red Rider bb gun, and his parents refuse, because, as they told him repeatedly, "You'll shoot your eye out."? Well, I had a similar experience in my youth except it involved a safety razor. I was a freshman in high-school and desperately wanted to shave my legs like the cool girls did. However, my mother was convinced that if I used a safety razor I would cut my leg off, or, at least slice an artery. Now I grant you that I was not particularly coordinated in those days. I was a five foot, ten inch bean pole, with flailing arms and two left feet, so my mother had some cause to be concerned. She was a kindhearted person though. For Christmas that year I received a lovely little red Lady Shick electric razor. I used that for my legs for some time, finally switching to a safety razor in college, with an occasional nick but no serious blood loss.
According to my west coast brother, today is "National Pie Day" and "National Christmas Lights Day." Since I have vowed to myself that I will post no more blogs about food, at least for 24 days, I will skip any pie talk and go straight to Christmas lights. With my wonder spouse's help (after I managed to get one super long string of lights hopelessly tangled on and off the tree) we did manage to get all of the lights on the tree. We were just in time to celebrate National Christmas Lights Day. Tomorrow we will start adding the ornaments. I wonder if tomorrow is "National Ornament Hanging Day?" I think it should be.
