A Thanksgiving without left overs?

No leftovers! What? That is almost unAmerican! But it happened.

Well, it's weird. I got 'some' leftovers;
1. corn (boring),

2. cookies and brownies (fattening - but I ate them any way),

3. creamed spinach (I don't know about anyone else, but I don't trust creamed spinach that's been sitting out. It looks bad enough when it begins, but it's ending ...don't know that we would recognize it!)

4. a pumpkin pie that I made for my son Bill who did eat a piece and the rest they gave to me because Bill went to Gainesville to see the Gators do something -- something with sports and a ball of some kind.

5. raspberry tea (guess no one liked it so that gave it to me)

6. 2 globs of stuffing. I ate it for breakfast.

7. 2 packages of the 4 packages of rolls that I had brought. They are the Hawaiian Sweet rolls, so I've been eating them, and I'm sure I've gained 6 pounds.

8. Now I ask you, how can anyone have a successful left over feast with that?

So, I decided I am cooking a Turkey dinner. What day? Maybe Monday or Tuesday. Depending on wheather or not the turkey I buy is frozen. I have a friend who didn't know that you had to thaw the turkey, so she cooked it frozen. Interesting. This is the same friend who preheated her oven to make cookies and didn't know that her husband had loaded all the dishes, tupper included in the oven....the smell revealed all.

Anyway, I'm going to cook the whole shebang and I think this will become my Thanksgiving tradition. After Thanksgiving - I'll cook a proper Thanksgiving meal for all the people who didn't get the proper amount of left overs for a proper go at a second time around with Thanksgiving! Hey, sounds like a plan!!

Go ahead and be thankful right out loud

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has." ~ Epictetus ~

Ah, Thanksgiving ...it was so much easier when I was not one of the cooks! Hahaha.

What a child waits for on Thanksgiving Day is just to be called to the table. Then, they graduate to setting the table. Then, they bring the food to the table and then, they all try to disappear before clean up and hope that Aunt Nan and Aunt Sheila just keep on washing those dishes!

It's like a graduation process, this participation in the food preparation for Thanksgiving ....

After I moved away from home, there came the day I was assigned things to bring - it began with bringing paper plates and napkins (she's young, she can't cook yet). Then, rolls were added to my list. Maybe after that, I brought some cans of something the corn or green beans, or maybe the cranberry sauce.

Then one day, after I had kids to be called to the table -- I made the turkey! and someone else brought all the other stuff. (And since then, my daughter has made the turkey!! Of course, now, she wouldn't eat a turkey ever/never.)

And then one day, I made everything, and people came and brought stuff besides what I made!

I became exhausted, and held a new appreciation for my mother and mother in law, but it was always a great time.

Many Thanksgiving years in the Tallahassee house, I put three tables together in the dining room, so we could all sit down together. Nobody cared that the tablecloths didn't match. What a challenge that was to get the food on the table, still hot, at one time! -- and to make my mother in law SIT DOWN so we could say the blessing! She was always serving, serving, serving, and still is, bless her heart.

But all the Thanksgiving memories are good.

I remember when my oldest niece was born. My sister was in the hospital for an extra day because of a complication, and we had Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant after our visit with her and our newest family member, first niece, first grandchild...

This year we are having somewhere between 22 to 25 people for Thanksgiving dinner. How much food is that? If the turkey leaves the train station at 4 PM and travels at 35 mph (hahaha, not really...turkey's never take the train, know why? They don't have to - they fly!)

How much turkey per person? One is called upon to do the math, but only after one decides whom to believe. One site says if you are cooking a 12 lb turkey, that's leaving the train station at 4 PM going 60 mph (hahaha, not really, I just threw that in there about the train station) -- one site says 1/2 lb person, one site says it depends on how much turkey you want them to have, another site asks you what else are you serving (like anyone has just turkey?).

Anyway, up to a 12 lb turkey, so it says you are to figure 1 lb of meat per person. But if your turkey is 12 lbs, you decrease that to 3/4 lb per person. I haven't figured out why that is ....We have two 10 lb turkeys and one boneless turkey breast, and one ham, and 25 people. Oh well.

I love the answer to How much Turkey to buy for 40 guests. Actually, I could put in here plenty of discussion on line on how much turkey you need per person, and they are hilarious -- as people can get cheeky being asked to pinpoint such things as How Much Turkey Do You Really Need?

The winning answer, and it's mine is -- It all depends.

1. Do you want leftovers?
2. Does everyone eat turkey?
3. Don't forget kids will waste, so you have to figure them a least a half of the adult serving not a quarter. Parents will put the food on their plates, and they may or may not eat the turkey depending on how good the Sweet Potato Casserole is.
4. Are Des and Gene and Don going to be there? Then add an extra turkey to serve the three of them.
5. Count up what you think you need, and then buy more than that.
6. Bring ziplock bags to send home the leftovers in.

I know the story of Thanksgiving is being told differently than when I was in school. I know that a lot of people don't believe in the Pilgrims and Squanto and the first founding fathers sitting down together. But, all that aside -- What can you do on a day about Thanksgiving?

Just be Thankful. Right out loud. Go ahead and be thankful. Tell your spouses, parents, children, friends, neighbors ~ anyone you need to ~ all the things that you are thankful to them for. No one gets through this crazy world without the help of someone. So go ahead and be thankful - and say it right out loud. No better sound could you make.


"Thank God--every morning when you get up--that you have something to do which must be done, whether you like it or not. Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you a hundred virtues which the idle never know."
~ Charles Kingsley ~

Thanksgiving Week 2007 - Day Two

1. Woke up late. Again. (Must make note: see therapist for underlying reason for waking up late when there is so much to do!)

2. Wash hair. Haired turned out worse than it ever has. Ever. Wore a pony tail. (Must make note: Don't bother to wash hair on busy days. Wear a pony tail.)

2A. Put contact lenses in backwards. When wearing monovision contacts this makes everything blurry.

3. Went Shopping. Did not have a pencil to cross off items on list that looked like it had been through the washer and dryer and than rolled in oatmeal exploded from the microwave. Bought pencil.

4. Came home. Unloaded groceries. Found that I had bought wrong Items for Madam Blueberry's special dessert of something that looks like a turkey you can eat. Got too many of one thing and wrong thing of another thing.

5. Went to work.

6. Came home from work.

7. Cooked dinner.

8. Turned television on to catch Oprah. Immediately turned it off, as Oprah's show was about buying gifts that costs way more than I make in a day for each gift!

9. Wrote down a list of things to be grateful for --

10. Turned on some music and danced

Thanksgiving Week 2007 - Day One/half way through

1. Got up late. Very late. I've been getting up at 7:30 AM and today I got up at 9:45. I thought, surely, _surely_ I had my clock set it's usual 45 mintues fast - at least. But no. I had overslept.

2. Went to Home Depot. I needed plants. Doesn't everyone need plants during Thanksgiving week when they have so many other things to do besides buy plants and play in the dirt? I took my mother in law, so I'll count that as a good deed.

I am expanding my butterfly garden. I bought a Scarlet Milkweed along with a couple of other things. I want to build a Butterfly House! I'll expand on that later.

Mr. B says I have attracted a new type of bee in my garden. It's one he's never seen and he has been stung by many bees. I got stung last week, and good grief, I thought I would cry forever!! Anyway, I want to help bees and butterflies exist.

3. Exploded my oatmeal in the microwave. Good Grief. What is the matter with me. Do I not think I get enought attention?

4. Go shopping. Make list. Come to terms with the fact that you will make more then one trip and it's okay!!

What do you Want Then?

1. Want wealth? Then don't need much.

2. Want happiness? Then be happy.

3. Want food? Then work.

4. Want music? Then sing.

5. Want to be comfortable? Then relax.

6. Want to bear the mark of a distinct individual? Then think for yourself.

7. Want to live life without regrets? Then learn from everything that happens to you.

8. Want to be right all the time? Then plan on learning to live alone.

9. Want to be loved? Then love people unconditionally

10. Want to turn your whites a creamy salmon color? Then wash them with yours daughter's pink socks!

Kitchen Confessions

1. My oven is full of salt. There was a fire in my oven. A big fire. I stared at it for a little while and then said some Mark Twain words under my breath. Thought I might be in a wee bit-a trouble there, and salt was the only thing I could think of. I had no baking soda. And I did baking soda once and it's a bigger mess than salt. Salt works. And, I'm here to testify, salt does not change after you turn on that self-cleaning unit. Salt is still there waiting for you.

2. I opened the burritos on the wrong side. I never notice that one side is correct or incorrect. I am not of the generation that recognizes these types of rules.

3. I cut through all the plastic things that say "tear here" with a knife. If I tear them, they do weird things that defy scientific terms of explanation of all things plastic. I detest them actually. I'm not sure what would make me happy. I think if someone just served me a burrito, that might make me happy.

4. I forget to run my dishwasher.

5. I spill things in that teeny weeny tiny little space between my oven and the counter top, gosh, I am still seething at the person who invented such a thing as that space. It's like you might as well put up a sign that says, "Welcome all bugs of any species. Come dine in the crawl spaces of my oven walls."

6. I never clean my refrigerator often enough. That is one of the problems of refrigeration. It keeps bad stuff as well as good stuff at a reasonable temperature. But soon, there will be no mistaking that you need to throw*X* out. However, sorry to the one who tried to eat something that was nearing it's time of being *X*, but not quite reaching *X* point, still looks like a *V* maybe ...Nahhh, stay away from *V*, too. I think too much refrigeration is responsible for global warming.

7. These are not necessarily in the correct order of importance, but I store things in whatever I find handy to put a left over in. I've put whole pots in the 'fridge. I know all about the to quick cooling of pots ruining the pots (how do you think I found out?), but that does not stop me. When I am in a hurry to get out of the kitchen, let's say it's almost time for Ugly Betty -- anything could happen.

8. That's all I can handle posting right now. The tea kettle is whistling away and that means that steam is going all over everything and there won't be any water in the kettle when I get there ...and, oh yeah, burnt pot bottoms, hmmmm, that's another thing....

From "Just Here for Now"

It's a Friday -

Again --

When I first started blogging, I lost my blog. I'm not sure why now, that was so long ago and life continues on at a perpetual pace of 5th gear with a grinding tranny and unbalanced tires. But since this was my official first blog post, ever in the whole entire world, I wanted to save it and I decided to repost it ---

So here I am, and there you are, and we are looking at the same sky.

You be well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's a Friday
August 26, 2005


I do believe it's the last Friday of the month of August. August being such a long month. And August being the reason February has only 28 days because of being jealous of Julius and all...did you know about that? Augustus Ceasar was jealous that Julius got 31 days in his month of July, so the calendar had to be redone so that Augustus got 31 days in his month. But I don't think that's what makes August a long month ~ I think it's because it's hot. And somehow when we get to August, we are ready for a change. But that is probably not the case in Figi.

Perhaps I should introduce myself. Hello. I hope you are doing well and all is fine in your world.

My world is crowded with things to do.

I am married with children.
I am older than most of my friends.
I am taLLish with hair that graying, and I can't decide what to do about it.
I am bad with commas and proper spelling, but I try.
I am currently homeschooling one daughter who is 30 somewhere in her head, but 15 according to her birth certificate.
I have two boys that are not living at home. One is living on his own, and the other is attending a junior college and rooming with his brother. Look for the expansion of that relationship! LOL!
I am a mediator for many.

Today was a normal day by most standards in that it was boring and I was safe. I say safe because there is a war in Iraq and I can't quite understand a war in which men and women are dying and we are safe at home going through the drive through windows of the bank and shopping at our local markets.

In all of history, I am trying to remember about times that wars were fought and people were comfortable in there homes watching their favorite tv program ~ well, it just doesn't seem right that there should be a war and not all are involved. I find this very confusing, and honestly admit, I feel some guilt about it.

I don't mean to leave you feeling down or sad. But if you are a person of prayer, please pray for those young men and women who are serving in the armed forces.

And in my part of the world, it's that time of the evening where one would go and clean a kitchen and make their husband lunch for the morning ~ yes, he is working on Saturday.

And I am leaving on a trip tomorrow!

So ~ this is my first official blog posting. I guess now ~ I am a blogger!

tu tranquilo,

Miss Roxie
(who really is, Just Here For Now)

God, clouds, diamonds and love

Got time for a chat? It's kind of a long story.  I
hope I can remember it all, so I need to get it down
before I forget it ...

I was taking my 8-year-old nephew, Zack, to Hebrew
School. As we rode along, over to the west we saw this
beautiful sun setting into this dark cloud formation
and the sky was brilliant with the sun streaming
through those ominous clouds.  Somewhere in between
talking about the clouds being dark and the sun
shining through them and marveling at their beauty,
Zack asked me if God had a beard.

I told him, "Well, I didn't think so myself, but that
people might think so because people most often think
of things in a way they can understand, and they might
think that one as wise as God might have a beard, in
their minds.  I said I thought God was more like the
clouds than like an actual person like we are.

We talked about what God might be like if he wasn't
like a man, and how God would be like clouds.

I told him that we can see clouds, and we think
because we can see them that we can feel them, and we
think we can imagine exactly how they feel.  I asked
him if he had ever been in an airplane.  He said no.

I told him that when you are in an airplane, you can
fly over the clouds and you can clearly see them, they
even look like you can walk on them! But when you fly
through them, they don't appear like anything you have
seen from the ground or from above them, but you know
you are in them.

He declared to me, "But clouds are made of water!!
And you would be flying through water!"  I told him,
yes, but the water was "fine, fine, fine."..He
interjected quickly "Why did you say fine, fine, fine?
Why did you say fine three times?"

I said I used 'fine, fine, fine' three times in an
effort to explain something that is more than you can
imagine it to be from the word you actually know.  I
used the example of 'really, really, really tiny' -
"How tiny is that?" I asked him.  "Oh yeahhhhh", he
said, and I could tell by the way his voice sounded
that he had gotten the idea.

And we went back to talking of what God would be like.

I asked Zack, "What is the strongest, most beautiful
thing you can think of?"

"Diamonds," he answered.

What a  a very good analogy was to be made from his
choice of examples of what God might be like! -

I agreed with him that he was making a very good
point. I began, "A diamond was a good example of
something that illustrated people thinking they know
what something is, but that they might not really know
what it is because if they didn't know about diamonds,
had never even seen a diamond, and didn't know what
the properties of diamonds were, they would think
diamonds might be ...what?" I asked him,---and he
filled in the blank ...'glass', he answered assuredly
.

Then we talked about the different properties of
diamonds and glass (I'm not even half way to our
destination yet) - Zack knows all the differences
between diamonds and glass!! LOL -- He gave me a
qualified, scientific, genuine correct answer!

So, I said, God is like the diamond (we discussed the
good things about diamonds).  But, if someone doesn't
know about diamonds, they might think that God was
like glass, and all the while they might be thinking
they were looking at the very same thing.

Then, I asked him, how would you describe what love
is?  (hummms from the backseat)

"Can you see love?" I asked him.  (I hear, louder
hummmmmms, from the back seat) and I heard the door of
understanding open as he breathed, and I knew he did
understand.

He said, "You could sort of see love, but you really
couldn't because love is a feeling."

I said, "To me, God is like love, too.  Something you
can feel and maybe see evidence of, but maybe not see
clearly, but you do know it is love".

Then he said, "Without love there would be nothing.
Without love," he said (or more exclaimed), "Nothing
would be here at all.  If Adam didn't love Eve," he
said, "and didn't kiss her and make a baby with her,
there would be nothing here at all," he declared this
emphatically!!  I told him, he was right, that love is
that important.

We also talked other things; like about the sun being
93,000,000, miles away and that if you can't look
directly at it here on earth that must be an
indication of just how hot it must be, and Pluto not
being a planet and we couldn't remember the name of
the new planet, maybe it was Sharon, he said, but it
has a small moon and he could ride his bike around
it!!

Then, as we road past this little airport we pass
every Wednesday on the way to Hebrew School, he hoped
excitedly that we would see another airplane that
looked like it might land on us (as that had happened
last week).  "Remember that Aunt Sasha?  Wasn't that
cool?"

"Yes, it was, Zack," I said, "It was very cool."

Then we talked about what he wanted to be when he grew
up.  He said he didn't know. But, he wants to be
something that's hands on, but not dangerous.  Not a
fireman or a policeman because those things are
dangerous but he wants something that is definitely
hands on.  And he also said he can't bother making up
his mind now because what if he changes it when he
turns 9?

That's all I can recall at the moment, and I am
smiling.  There aren't too many things more
stimulating to the mind than riding to Hebrew School
with Zack on a Wednesday afternoon.



~~Zack's Aunt Sasha

a/ka Miss Roxie

Thoughts in a notebook

The shelves fell down again. I found an old notebook of mine -- here are some of things I have written down. These things are not dated but I got this notebook in the year 2000.

These thoughts can be recognized by some people, I am sure. I'm not taking credit away from people, I just had these things written down. I'm sure some of these things are paraphrased established quotes from someone, or even exact quotes. I have no wish to offend any writers.

1. You can't give away what you don't have. Do you have love?

2. There are no justified resentments.

3. No blame - no responsibility

4. All living creatures will respond and will cease to feel fear or enmity or anger in the presence of those who can send love in response to hate.

5. Don't die with your music still in you.

6. You can't get wet from the word 'water'.

7. A closed mind looks for ways to be offended.

8. Have a mind that is open to everything but attached to nothing. (I have some question marks after this thought and the name 'Thalopa'.)

9. No one knows enough to be a Pessimist.

10. Progress can be made in yourself if you can make an effort to give up your personal history and let go of some of the things from the past.

11. You can't solve a problem with the same mind that created it....Albert Einstein

12. Admit your error and choose differently and you can free yourself from blame.

13. We love the things we love for what they are....Robert Frost

14. Savor the moment. It is true that life is short. Live each moment one at a time. Slow Down. Find things to Savor. Find things that will wholly devour you. Find something that gives you life - something that will uplift you. Color!

15. Called Leslie from the Sushi Bar.

Life is Art

"A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man
who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman;
but a man who works with his hands and his brain and
his heart is an artist. -Louis Nizer, lawyer
(1902-1994) ~~

And I thought that kind of applies to me, too. And
many of you - if not all. I mean, I do work with my
hands, my little brain and my heart. I'm an artist in
this life in a way, I think. I like myself when I
think that. It feels better than some of the other
things I think about myself.

Then I was thinking - what is my medium? Myself? My
Wit? My never ending quest for information? My desire
to understand the people I am raising, so that I can
help them continue on in the world? And a zillion more
questions.

Art doesn't reproduce reality.  Art takes a spin around
it and allows things to be seen from different angles.
Is that what we do as we walk around and interact with
our children and our families and friends and strangers?
Are we not inferring some type of reality?  I.E. life is
good or life is bad, or life is boring, or life is nothing
but a string of days that are hard work?

But everything I touch is a tool. I have
to decide how to use it best to represent what I want
to have known ... or what I want to say. And then
someone else can interpet the cookies as they will?

All this, and I am still not sure of my specific
assignment. Just have an endless list of questions.

Yesterday I wanted to count all the lives I have come
in contact with and my head got really like
--boy-oy-oy-ing --. I just couldn't recall.

I had a down moment this weekend.  Just a crash and burn,
I think from so much activity.  Some people call them
'bad moods' - 'black clouds' - 'being stressed out' --
Whatever it was, it's over now.

I have recovered my heart.



   

What? What day is this and where am I?

The week has passed quickly by -- maybe it's been two, I'm not sure. I'm feeling as if I put two into one, though.

1. The bug people are going to reimburse us for the cost of replacing our shelving. (Thanks to my oldest son's cool, calm and collected way of handling things.

But, I can't complain. Because if I did, what if all the people that do things for me just suddenly stopped doing those things?

One thing these kinds of incidents do to me (I didn't post about what happened in CVS) is give me a desire to make my world a little smaller, as far as interacting with people is concerned. So, I do that for awhile, and then I venture out again. I try not to get too overly annoyed with people and things they do, but, it happens. But people do things and I get annoyed with them. (Not that there aren't nice people -- see how I am? I keep undoing my doings.)

2. Bill is in Gainesville for the Gator Game.

Sean is in New York. His girlfriend, Kellie, whom we all adore, goes to school at Columbia, and Sean is enamored with New York City! This is his second time there. Kellie has family there and Columbia is located in an area that allows them to walk and enjoy the sites of the city. So, Sean, is having a good time if Noel (the tropical storm force that followed him up the coast) isn't doing too much damage there.

It's quiet here.

3. I had to work in my garden. It is so neglected, poor garden -- all out there waiting for me, growing and smiling and falling all over each others overgrowth ... I did some pinching back, and transplanting (maybe one shouldn't transplant in October? Oh, good grief, it's November already! But it's Florida, maybe that changes all the rules?)

4. I don't know

Do you have a shopping bag to call your own?

I have to admit, I don't -- have a particular shopping bag for my groceries from the store (or anywhere). And I say, shame on me. What am I waiting for? A personal invitation from a tree or some polluted lake?

Publix (the grocery store where I shop) is selling a bag for $25.00. There was a time that there was some confusion with Publix people who were bringing their own bags. (I know. It's so hard to believe something like that, but it's true.)

I don't need to buy one, I have plenty of bags around here I could use, but I'm thinking --"Why aren't I doing this? Why aren't I taking a bag with me when I go out?"

Possible Answer: It's not what I'm used, too, is about the only thing I can come up with aside from forgetting, which gets me back to not what I am used to.

And, I usually buy so many things at one time -- but, I'm seriously thinking about changing my lifestyle about this situation.

The store is close to me, so why can't I shop more often and take in my own bag? Or, I could just reuse all the freakin' Publix bags that I currently use for trash bags. One always ends up with too many of these brown plastic crinkle things.

Anyway, I might be late getting on the train, but I’m buying a World Pass and I'm going to make this lifestyle change. I'll put my own shopping bags in the car, and then they will be there when I need them. (Then, after I bring them in, I'll forget them again -- no, scratch that -- that's negative thinking -- erase, erase, erase!)

I want to make some lifestyle changes anyway. I don't see anything wrong with helping the environment as much as I can because I am after all, using it for my workstation.

The Battle of the Ants

...is not a new movie. It's a battle that's been raging in my home. I live in Florida. I know there are bugs, but these dear, dear little ants -- too many to make friends with -- are just everywhere to be found. I realize they need a place to go, and I realize that I have plants around my house and they like that, but ...

We were losing.
So.
We called in a Professional.

Yes, we bit the bullet and got prices and choose the best price, and the new bug man came to put down some stuff that will take care of our problem.

And is that all that happened?
No. Not quite.

I have mentioned from time to time, shelves -- shelves are very important in a small and tiny home. I love my shelves.

In the closet that has the attic opening, there are shelves on both sides, and across the back. Holding lots and lots of books and other memorabilia.
So.
The new bugman has to go up in the attic to fog the attic. It's to be done one time, and that is supposed to take care of that -- for at least a year, I guess.
So.
On the way down from the ladder (a three step ladder), the bugman tries to 'steady' himself, on the shelves in the closet.
When they came down, it was the loudest noise I've ever heard in a house. And, no, he was not hurt. One strip of the shelving was ripped out of the wall, three shelves come away from the wall.

He quickly told me that the shelves were not installed properly (didn't know that shelves in a closet were required to meet a code that held 200 + pound human beans), that they should not have been 'held up by just a nail' (good grief, like that was even a little bit true!), and, oh yeah, he said he was 'sorry about that."

(I have to admit, I stood there shocked at his reaction. The expression on my face was, expressionless. I have no expression for such an extreme lack of intelligence and common sense. After all, he did just cause a huge margin of damage in my house...I mean, somewhere, termites are laughing.)

Lots of books on my futon right now.

Looks like, the ants are (still) winning.

So.
I'm leaving this note on my door --

Dear Ants,

Please accept our sincerest and most heartfelt apologies. We regret calling in the likes of Human Beans to act as a mediator betwixt us and thee. Can you forgive us?

We wish only to live in peace. Perhaps we could make a peace offering to you. Perhaps we could deposit bread crumbs and/or dried cakes on the boundaries of our property for you to feast on. We could leave raisins, also. Rumor has it that ants love raisins, yes?

Please let us know if you accept our terms before the humans of the world do more damage to our home than you ever could.

And, just so you know, we are firing the humans. (They are rude and careless things that we sometimes find so annoying...)

Respectfully yours,

Your humble neighbors of the planet.

Can you indentify the source?

There are so many phrases that we use daily – have you given a thought to where they might have come from:

Do you know who would be credit for any of these:

1. X marks the spot
2. Shiver me timbers
3. Three sheets to the wind
4. As cold as any stone
5. Rhyme nor reason
6. In the twinkling of an eye
7. Hoist your own petard
8. It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.
9. Noise proves nothing.
10. No great artist ever sees things as they really are, if he did he would cease to be an artist
11. As you sow so shall you reap.
12. Let not the sun go down on your wrath.

Give yourself a little quiz. Share it around the blog boards, if you wish. Add a few as it goes round, if you wish. This is a unique little way to refresh your memory and redirect our focus should we find our mind needs a wee bit of a refresh.
Good day --
have a sunny one!

~~Miss Roxie

I lost my chocolates.....

not just once, but twice.

One of my marvelous sister in laws (I have two - and they are both the personification of the uniqueness of the mysteries of the differences in the world - they are absolutely marvelous. )

anyway,
Kim gave me a box of chocolates. For all the wonderful things I do, she said.

And these are chocolates from a very wonderful place - Hoffmans. Oh, my gosh, they are (not) to die(t) for! So, I wanted to eat these chocolates - without sharing. Now, we all know, deep down inside, that not to share is a sin.

But, I decided not to share, so I hide my chocolates after I had but one, and when I wanted another (I was really trying to pace myself), it was then I realized I couldn't find them! Much to my chargrin.

So, now, I became panicky, especially after a couple of days, and so it was that I confessed to my family that I had hid the chocolates from Hoffmans. I listened to all the outrage that was't bestoned upon me for the Chocolate Crime I had committed-- and then they helped me look for the chocolates, thinking, of course, there would be a reward in it for them when we found them, but....

We didn't find the chocolates.

Two days after that, I found them.
I was alone when I found them.
I ate one.
I still didn't want to share.
So,
I hid them again!

And, now, today, again, I cannot find them!!

I shall keep you posted on the Lost Chocolate Mystery. In the meantime, I shall keep the house temperature at 70 degrees, so as not to melt the missing chocolates!

All Out Of Love

...no, not me, Romeo.

Romeo, Romeo,
what was his whereart?
This he knew not.
He doth did love, but love for what?
He wearried foes and friends alike
with the fascinations
his love didth spike.

Everyone knows about Romeo. The Teenage Romeo in love with thirteen year old Juliet from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was "out" he said. And Benvolio asked, "of love?"

And which then, Madam Blueberry and I both sang the song by Air Supply, "I'm all out of love, I'm so lost without you, I know you were right, believing for so long...." and then we laughed.

Madam B is very irritated with Romeo's carrying ons. She feels he is so immature, and just in love with love, or what he even thinks love might be, and the physical aspects of love, and takes no time to get to know someone. I think she might want to smack him upside the head to prevent his troubles to come!

But, least anyway, I was just thinking that, yet, again, another Shakespearian phrase - Out of Love - made it to the airways with the song by Air Supply.

And then I realized Air Supply sang other songs using "love" and "out" -- "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" -- which, when I thought about it, that is what Romeo is doing. He's making love out of nothing at all! Well, maybe angst - Maybe he's making love out of the angst of not knowing what to do with himself.

Poor Romeo. Of course, it's too late to warn him.

"Why would Shakespeare write such a play?" I asked to no one in particular. This gives me pause. To think that I would, or even could, answer a question concerning why Shakespeare would do something. I am no scholar. I merely guess at the answers to mine own questions and musings. And we have only read to Act 2. There is much to understand here, no doubt.

But, if I had to make a quick stab at it, it would be to say that those young people who don't learn early to curb their implusive tendencies may quickly find themselves in a position to lose everything faster than they could breathe a heavy sigh or call for mommy.

Young people who come into families with much excess baggage and then didn't bother to exercise their own minds and thoughts and ideas about things, could swiftly find themselves drawing their sword against and possibly killing someone they are hardly accquainted with because ....because...he was unaware of his Observer. (Although, most young people these days don't carry swords, so it's probably not as much as a problem.)

And he
Was not thinking. Was not listening.
Poor Romeo. A slave to the emotion of wanting love, of wanting to be a man, and thinking his way of loving was the answer, just got all caught up in the moment! -- Thank you, William Shakespeare, for this Romeo who serves as a horrible warning of the question, Why did it all have to go and get so complicated?


More to come on Romeo and Juliet ~~

Where now?

It's not that I don't have anything to say. It's just that I haven't been saying it. It's like I turned 60 -- and I decided to get quiet. I have 16 posts in 'save for draft' ... I just can't bring myself to come out of the place I'm in right now.

I have so many things on my mind. And so many things to do. My 'to do' list is about 3 pages long and incomplete at that. Maybe everyone has one of those. Maybe they call it everyday life.

Right now, I'm calling it 'Overwhelmed' ~ which for me seems to be a constant state.

"Unless I accept my virtues, I most certainly will be overwhelmed by my faults."
~ Robert Coleman

(I have been counseling someone on this very issue)

"How embarrassing to be human." ~ Kurt Vonnegut

(I hear the news and read the paper and think, "what is _wrong_ with people? when will we stop hurting each other so foolishly and cruelly?)

"Have a heart that never hardens and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts."
~~Charles Dickens

(I like that quote. I want to be just like that when I grow up.)

"Always behave like a duck, keep calm and unruffled on the surface, but paddle like the devil beneath. ~ Lord Barbidan

(That is what I am doing, paddling as fast as I can and taking notes.)

The Mom Song

LOL!! Everyone should write a few verses of their own!!

I think I'll do that later.

Today I am 60

Wow. I never thought about being 60 until I was 50.
I never thought about being 50 until I was 49.
I never thought about being 49 until I was 48.
I never thought about being 48.
I do remember being 45. That's probably one of my last age memories.
All my children were born later than was normal for women who had babies - 29, 39, and 42. That probably made me wiser and more tired-er. And, at that time, part of the 'high risk' generation. Seems that changed. More women are having babies later and not being afraid of it. I wasn't afraid of it at any time. That's just when I happened to have my children.

I'm thinking - what's different today than yesterday? Maybe there are some things that are different than 10 years ago -- I'm not even sure about that. My kids are sure big.

I opted out of a big party. Just not my thing. I worked in my garden today. It was great. All I wanted was more dirt and more plants!

If there is any new wisdom for me this day, it might dawn on me tomorrow morning.

What I did this morning was call my mother. I asked her if she remembered her labor? "What?" she said.
"Your labor," I said, "don't you remember what you were doing 60 years ago today?"
"Well," it wasn't this early," she said!
Then she described the ambulance ride and how she had to go alone to the hospital because my grandmother couldn't drive, and my grandfather was at work, and my father was in the Air Force stationed in the Panama Canal Zone, so there she was 17 and off to the hospital all by herself!
My great grandmother got there before anyone else did and before I was born. Curly blonde hair and Blue-eyes which are both gone now. Blonde gave over to brownish reddish and blue gave over to hazel.

Actually, many things have given over to many things, but I guess when they come on slowly, you just don't notice them all that much. That could be good and and that could be bad. I suppose I've experienced a bit of both.

Well, I'm invited to have some sushi and wine with friends, so I'm off to do that. We'll play a little guitar and sing some songs.

I'll check in with myself tomorrow and see how different I am being 60. But somehow inside, I think I will always be 24.

With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.

William Shakespeare

Okay- well, I've got a few winkles...

If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older.

Abraham Sutzkever

I think that is what I'm doing! And it's really fun.

Old age: A great sense of calm and freedom. When the passions have relaxed their hold, you may have escaped, not from one master but from many. ~ Plato

Okay, well, I can agree with that, too....

The Door in the Dark and Tuesday

The Door in the Dark
~~Robert Frost

In going from room to room in the dark,
I reached out blindly to save my face,
But neglected, however lightly, to lace
My fingers and close my arms in an arc.
A slim door got in past my guard,
And hit me a blow in the head so hard
I had my native simile jarred.
So, people and things don't pair any more
With what they used to pair with before.

I had not realized that Robert Frost had a sense of humor so similar to mine. And, I didn't realize, like myself, he walked around in the dark straight away into things that could cause bodily harm.

My thing was a wall. My husband had moved a dresser in from the wall
about 6 inches.
And in the dark, that changes everything.
The wall, because it was not where it was before,
but there, right there in front of my face
now was a place,
a place that I,
gave no thought to protecting with my fingers and my arc --
me as well, encountered, a blow so hard my head bounced, and
I saw the stars that I'd seen last week while outside walking.
Methinks there were no comments regarding a flattering look for the new day.
Just - smash- and there was a road less traveled that had been discovered.
So what's new?
Me and Robert Frost on less traveled roads or more?
Maybe he knows a good story about the

Loads less washed?

Two loads in two baskets merged, tan and yellow could
Time to go was now you see, and I could not wash them both
But being one laundress, long I stood,
And looked through the piles of one as far as I could
to where it bent in the undergrowth
(as someone was gardening before morning toast!)

Umm, then there, look the other, just as fair
It may have shown the better claim
Because those grassy stains -
umm, were they wash and wear?
The wearer had brung in some flowers,
now there placed in a vase
to see in their splendor beauty,
Hardly to be ignored
so they each deserved the same reward.

And both that time did equally have
consideration for mud and stains
which one would I choose this day?
But knowing how laundry does not go away
To not come back another day?

I shall be telling this with a sense
that laundry stays and cares not hence
Makes not a difference to diverge and I --
Put the loads together since
Together, in the long run, it makes no difference.

And I so, now, apologize to those for whom this makes no sense,
and whom my be, a greater fan of Robert Frost
than me.