Odds and Ends

 I don't have a specific topic for this evening's blog.  Instead I will give you a quick glance at things that have interested or amused me lately.

First you may remember this picture of a jigsaw puzzle we had started that I posted some time ago, on November 9 to be exact, when my topic was chaos.

Today, November 14, we have brought order out of chaos.  I think it took us ten days to finish it.  It felt longer.

It is a fiedishly tricky puzzle with many oddly shaped pieces and a strange picture, but very colorful.  Once we have disassembled it, we will happily give this puzzle to anyone who wants it.  Absolutely no charge, all 1,000 pieces guaranteed to be there.

But enough about puzzles and on to other silly things.  Today an abundance of Christmas catalogs showed up in the mail.  I was delighted to see that my favorite little catalog was among them.  Not because I ever buy anything from it, but because they sell sweatshirts and t-shirts with clever sayings on them. I have told you before that I am easily entertained.

Here are some of my favorite wearable messages for this year:

"I'm not arguing, I'm just explaining why I am right."

"Since there is only one of me, does that make me endangered or a limited edition?"

"I really don't mind getting old, but my body is having a major hissy fit."

"I never question my wife's choices. I'm one of them."

"Sometimes it takes me all day to get nothing done."

"I thought growing old would take longer."

"Wi-Fi went down for five minutes so I had to talk to my family.  They seem like nice people." 

"So far this is the oldest I've ever been."

"Sometimes I feel old... then I realize my sister is older."

That last one was for my west coast brother who inspires my silliness.  Recently, in one of our text exchanges, I mentioned to him that both of my children are in their 50s now.  If that makes them middle-aged what am I?  His response - upper middle aged.  I can live with that. 

Spicy...

 This afternoon, while waiting on-line for a Zoom meeting to start, several friends and I started talking about spices.  I really don't remember how this topic came up but it evolved into quite a discussion.  One friend mentioned using 'all spice' to season a beef roast.  I may have to try that; she says it's delicious and makes the kitchen smell wonderful too.  I've only ever used it in pumpkin pies. 

After talking about various spices and how we have learned to use them over the years (from moms or mothers-in law, and sometimes husbands) the discussion shifted to how we organize our spices.

This led to a debate not unlike the great toilet paper debate of 1977.  In that year the advice columnist Ann Landers was asked if toilet paper should hang down over or under the roll.  Some years later, in  a speech, she said she had received 15,000 letters on that subject.  I think one of our church custodians remembers this debate, and the strong feelings on each side, because in each of our Ladies' Room stalls (sorry if I'm being indelicate here) there are two toilet paper holders and on one the toilet paper hangs over and on the other under.  

But back to spices. The debate became about how we store our spices.  Some favored a spice rack on the end of the kitchen cabinets while others thought a shallow cupboard dedicated to spices was the way to go.  Several agreed that the spices should be arranged alphabetically, while others opted for a 'by size' arrangement with the smaller, shorter containers in front.

As I listened to this discussion I realized that when my spouse and I had our kitchen totally remodeled two years ago, we really didn't make any specific plans for storing spices.  It's a beautiful kitchen but there are no spice racks.  So, after the meeting, I went to the kitchen to see how our spices are stored.  I think I have admitted here before that my wonder spouse does most of the cooking, which explains why I had to double check where the spices are.  Don't judge.  I did plenty of cooking when my children and grandchildren were young. 

It turns out that most of our spices are stored in this tall skinny cupboard between the microwave and the refrigerator.  A quick glance told me that they are definitely not in alphabetical order.  Our system seems to be 'keep the most frequently used spices near the front.'  It works for us.

I explored a little further and discovered this white plastic bin full of more spices hiding in the lazy susan under the kitchen counter.  We probably should try to organize them --- maybe someday?? when we can't think of anything else to do.  I'll be sure to let you know, when that happens, how we decide to organize them. 

Fancy that....

 My west coast brother felt that I should know that today is "Fancy Rat and Mouse Day."  Although I am not at all fond of rats or mice, I felt I should look into this.  

The day was celebrated, beginning in the 80's, to encourage people to consider adopting these 'intelligent and affectionate domesticated rodents' as pets.  They do have some good points, I guess.  They are small, don't have to be taken for a walk, don't eat much, and don't smell bad as long as you keep their cages clean, but I don't ever remember them being particularly affectionate.

Charlotte, on the other hand could be very affectionate.  She would curl up in my lap and let me pat her.  Charlotte was a boa constrictor. Not a very large one, only about four feet long.  She came home to live with us one summer.  My daughter and her boyfriend at that time, had purchased Charlotte as a pet during their sophomore year in college.  Her boyfriend's mother absolutely refused to have a snake in her house, so she spent the summer with us. 

Charlotte stayed in a large terrrarium most of the time and it was down in our basement family room, so she really was no trouble. Her 'pet parents' kept her living quarters cleaned and made sure she was fed and watered.  It was the feeding procedure that I was reminded of when I learned what special day today was.

About once a week my daughter would go to the pet store and bring home a little white box with the sentence "Somebody loves me.  I'm going home." printed on the outside.  

Well, it was true.  I'm not sure if they were fancy or not, but Charlotte did love those mice.  I will spare you the details of her dinner manners.

Armistice Day

 Today, November 11, was originally called Armistice Day, to commemorate the end of fighting and the signing of the armistice between Germany and the Allied Forces in 1918, bringing an end to World War I.  

On June 1, 1954, President Eisenhower officially changed the name to Veterans Day to honor all veterans, not just those who served in WWI.  At that time it included veterans of WWII and the Korean War, which ended on July 27, 1953, and veterans of previous wars.

While I honor all veterans, on this day I like to remember those most closely related to me.  My family tradition includes a veteran of the Revolutionary War.  My first husband's father served in WWI.  My father served in WWII.  My first husband served during the Korean Occupation, after the end of the Korean War.  My oldest brother served in the Army in Viet Nam, my west coast brother was in the Air Force, my brother-in-law served in the Army, my wonder spouse designed and developed munitions and missiles, my daughter and her first husband served in the Army in Desert Storm.  She and her second husband served until very recently in the Air National Guard with several deployments.  

Those are the veterans I honor today and I celebrate the fact that none of them were killed in action.  My oldest brother did have his ankle badly broken in Viet Nam.  He was an MP and was breaking up a bar fight when it happened.  Because of that injury, he got sent home much earlier than we expected.  We all thought that was a very good break (pun intended).

Happy Birthday dear daughter...

 Today is my daughter's birthday.  She is my youngest child, therefore she will always be my baby, even though she is 53 today.  She has had an eventful life, happily full of many more good times than bad.  I remember the day of her birth quite clearly, although she tells me she has no memory of the event.  I was only in labor for three hours.  She was always in a hurry. 

Her childhood was normal, or at least I like to think so.  She had girlfriends, she did well in school and she had a steady boyfriend in highschool (her first true love).  She never did drugs, although she did get her first tattoo, and her first piercing when she went off to college. 

She married her college sweetheart (the coach of the co-ed Rugby team on which she played).  After college they both joined the army. After several years of service, including time in Iraq, she retired from full time military service but joined the Air National Guard.  She had two children, a boy and a girl, my adorable grandchildren. Her first marriage ended in divorce, but her father and I were there to help her pick up the pieces.  Now she is happily remarried to a wonderful man who is a loving step-father to her children.  

In her 40s my daughter surprised me by going back to school.  She graduated top of her class as a Surgical Technologist, and has worked in that field, very successfully, for the last ten years.  

This year she embarked on her favorite career so far.  She is a grandma, and the full time baby sitter for her adorable grandson.       I think she would agree that it's been a good life so far, and there are so many great times still to come.  

Happy birthday my darling daughter. 

Here she is at 52, with her handsome husband and that adorable grandson (my great grandson, of course).

an example

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "National Chaos Never Dies Day." I sensed a truism there so I decided to look into this a little more deeply.  Here is the explanation I found:

This unofficial holiday acknowledges that daily disorder, stress and unpredictability are a permanent part of life, rather than temporary problems to fix. Instead of fighting the madness, the day encourages people to take a breath, let go of things they cannot control, and find a moment of calm or humor amidst the routine.

I like this idea.  I find that taking a deep breath often helps me feel more relaxed and in control.  Sometimes it takes more than one breath. 

So, to add a moment of humor to your day, and celebrate the chaos in our lives, let me show you what my spouse and I are up to.

Does this look chaotic enough for you? My wonder spouse and I bought this 1000 piece puzzle on our recent trip.  It looked like it would be fun, but it is proving to be very tricky indeed, with odd shaped pieces that fit in at weird angles and very strange one eyed characters.  This is really all the chaos we need in our lives right now.

Such a day...

 
Today is an entertaining day.  First of all, according to my west coast brother, today is "Cook Something Pungent Day."  He also provided me with a word of the day - paronomasia.  

I'll get back to the word in a minute but first a comment on pungent food.  According to Google 'pungent' means 'having a sharp, strong or piercing smell or taste.'  It was probably good that I had never read that definition before I tried "Pungent Beef" at our favorite Chinese restaurant.  I get it medium spicy and it is soooo good.  I never order anything else for my main course.  

It is a guideline of mine, perhaps silly but I don't care, that if I discover a meal I really like at any given restaurant, I will order that same meal whenever I go there.  Examples are Stuffed Shells at Zianos, Chicken Palermo at Casa's,  Meatsa Pizza at B'Antonio's, the Bacon Cheeseburger kid's meal at Culver's, Lupita's Platter at Dos Margaritas, and, of course, Pungent Beef at Wu's.  But enough about food.

Paronomasia, my word of the day, which I admit I had never heard before, means a play on words or a pun.  Here's an example - The bicycles couldn't stand on their own - they were two tired.

Shakespere was quite a fan of paronomasia and you can find many examples in his works, if you listen carefully.  Here's one in Richard III. "Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer by this 'son' of York."  Son, sun -  get it?  One of my favorite directors use to say that Shakespear never used one word where ten would do. He did love his words. 

Here are some more contemporary examples of paronomasia (what a great word):

The computer ate my homework, it had a byte.

The astronaut's career was looking up. 

The archaelogist's career is in ruins.

The beekeeper married his Honey.

Enough.  I have spent ample time on this, which is appropriate since today is also "National Ample Time Day."