TWO THINGS I DON'T DO

Two things I don't do:

1. Go shopping the day after Thanksgiving.
2. Go out on New Year's Eve.

I always laugh and say, "There are AMATEURS out there!" suggesting that I am a PROFESSIONAL!

I used to be among the crazy people lined up at the Downtown Lazarus store to get whatever "Lazzie Bear" was being given that year. On December 3, 1979, the tragedy of eleven people being crushed to death at The Who concert in Cincinnati happened. The next year, on the day after Thanksgiving, I was in a crush of people at the air door at Lazarus, and a woman stumbled in front of me and I stumbled onto her back. Visions floated in my head of being crushed at that air door, like the people at the concert. I was able to keep from being injured and I turned around and left and have never again gone shopping on the day after Thanksgiving!

I don't drink and don't care to be around people who don't know how to drink! My usual New Year's Eve excitement includes: watching a movie; turn on the Times Square coverage at 11:45; kiss Gerald at 12:00; have a cup of eggnog with Les, listen to Dan Fogelberg's classic song Same Auld Lang Syne and then return to my movie!

And you say there's no excitement in my life!


Listen to Dan Fogelberg:

See the article about the Cincinnati Concert HERE.

NO MORE STUFF!

For one of my Christmas presents our friends Connie and Bob reproduced and framed my BLOG article from July 8, 2013.  See here:

Connie said that she had bookmarked the article as a reminder to herself to DE-CLUTTER and that she had been successful.

I have NOT been successful since writing the article and although I do not commit to New Year's resolutions, I am going to TRY this year to DE-CLUTTER!

NO MORE STUFF indeed!



This is the original article entitled THE STORY OF STUFF:

"NO MORE STUFF!" That is my new mantra. I don't want--or need--any more STUFF!

A friend and I are committed to "decluttering" our houses--and lives--she is doing better than I. Another friend, who is similarly suffering, sent the video "THE STORY OF STUFF" to me.

We moved to our current home on May 1, 1984. "STUFF" was stored overhead in both 2-car garages, the workshop, the attic and basement. I haven't seen any of that STUFF above the garages since 1984 and I recall some of the STUFF that is there; since I haven't needed the STUFF in all these years, why don't I just get rid of the STUFF? Why not give STUFF to needy families or donate to Goodwill? There are lots of options.

Somehow--one of our spare bedrooms is now full--of STUFF! I was going to have a "Fundraiser Yard Sale" and kept storing STUFF in the spare room, but Gerald hates all the work and little revenue associated with yard sales and he said, "I'll give you $200 NOT to have a yard sale!" I am easily persuaded as the spare bedroom will attest.

Whenever I bring home new "STUFF", Les will say, "I was just saying how we needed another one of those."

Oh, did I mention that I stopped at a garage sale yesterday and bought some "storage items"? One is packed with a bunch of picture frames I found while sorting STUFF in my library.

While sorting in the library, I found some books from authors I have no interest in reading; obviously I had gotten them for people who like Grisham, Baldacci, and Kellerman, but had neglected to give them to them. My brother said that he'd already read them and a friend will choose any she wants and then the rest to go Goodwill!

Succes d'estime!

JUST TWO MORE DAYS!

In a store, two days before Christmas, I was in the Express Lane as I had only two items.  In the next lane was a couple with an overflowing cart, with a huge bag of dog food across the top of the load. The woman began loading items onto the belt and as she picked up the dog food, another item fell to the floor. She and the man both leaned over to pick it up and I could see the looks between them and I heard an audible growl from the man.

OOPS! Another item fell to the floor and as they both leaned over to retrieve it I could see their tempers flaring and he slammed the item back into the cart. 

They noticed that I was looking at them, so NATURALLY (some would say it's NOT natural), I began singing, "Have a holly, jolly Christmas",  with my best Burl Ives homage.

They both began laughing and I said, "Just 2 more days!"

THE WAYBACK MACHINE

My brother likes to listen to a program on local radio on Sunday night called Looking Back. In the program, the radio personality uses the term "The Wayback Machine".  Of course people of my generation understand the reference because Rocky And Bullwinkle was a popular television show when I was in high school; it was aired prior to American Bandstand; we watched both programs daily after coming home from school.

I loved the characters, the segments with The Wayback Machine, Mr. Peabody, Natasha and Boris, Fractured Fairy Tales, Mr. Know-It-All, and Dudley Do-Right, but my favorite was at the end of each episode, which was always a cliff-hanger, and the announcer [I later learned was William Conrad] would intone dramatically, e.g.: one about Rocky being trapped on a mountain: "Be with us next time for AVALANCHE IS BETTER THAN NONE--OR--SNOW'S YOUR OLD MAN!" I loved the puns.  A friend and I would constantly be using "OR" references, much to the irritation of family, friends, and teachers.  I sometimes do it today!

Algebra was my first class of the day and my friend and I would be chattering animatedly about the previous day's Rocky and Bullwinkle episode. After tiring of hearing us, one day my Algebra teacher, Mr. White, said, "Great minds run in the same channel OR fools think alike." Touche, Mr. White!

Mr. White did not have a pleasant smell about him and I think that he wore the same clothes all week long. He wore different ties occasionally but his white shirt was dingy and his trousers were always shiny on the rear and one could see chalk residue on them from the previous day. [It just dawned on me that they were from a suit which, of course, was not washable and needed to be dry-cleaned; he probably couldn't afford to have them dry-cleaned!] He would also have little bits of toilet paper stuck to his face where he'd nicked himself shaving. I thought about giving him one of my father's styptic pencils.

I did well in Algebra--with the help of my brothers--and although I am sorry that I do NOT remember Algebraic formulas today--I DO remember Rocky and Bullwinkle!  Hmmmm?  It's interesting that the term "Wayback Machine" is now an internet colloquialism for past events!

HOKEY SMOKE, Bullwinkle! We're still relevant!  Listen to the opening theme:

BURNING A HOLE IN MY PALATE

We received several gift cards as Christmas presents. 

My nephew Mark's wife Kim and I went shopping on Boxing Day and I told her to choose between Olive Garden and Red Lobster to go for lunch as I had gift cards for both restaurants.

When I told Gerald where we had gone for lunch, he asked, "Were the gift cards burning a hole in your PALATE?"

I so love a good pun!

BOXING DAY

I have often thought that BOXING DAY would be a great holiday!  My brother Les said, "You already do it because you're outside the stores waiting for them to open at 6:00 AM!"

 Read the article below:

BOXING DAY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
Boxing Day in the United Kingdom is the day after Christmas Day and falls on December 26. Traditionally, it was a day when employers distributed money, food, cloth (material) or other valuable goods to their employees. In modern times, it is an important day for sporting events and the start of the post-Christmas sales.

WHAT DO PEOPLE DO?
For many people Boxing Day is a time to recover from the excesses of Christmas day and an opportunity to spend time with family, friends, and neighbors. Some people choose to go for a walk in the countryside, while other flock to the post-Christmas sales in large stores that often begin on Boxing Day. Some people even spend part of the night and early morning queuing to get into the stores when the best bargains are still available.

Boxing Day is also an important day for sports events. Traditionally, using dogs to hunt for foxes was a popular sport amongst the upper classes. Pictures of hunters on horseback dressed in red coats and surrounded by hunting dogs are often seen as symbolic of Boxing Day. Nowadays, fox hunting is outlawed. Horse racing and football (soccer) are now popular sports.

PUBLIC LIFE
Boxing Day is a bank holiday. If Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, the following Monday is a bank holiday. If Christmas Day falls on a Saturday, the following Monday and Tuesday are bank holidays. All schools and many organizations are closed in this period. Some may close for the whole week between Christmas and New Year.

Many stores are open and now start their post-Christmas sales on Boxing Day. This makes December 26 a very important day for many retailers. Many public transport services run on special timetables. Many people travel to visit family or friends in this period, so bus, plane and train services can be very busy.

BACKGROUND AND SYMBOLS
There are a number of stories behind the origin of the term "Boxing Day". It used to be customary for employers to give their employees or servants a gift of money or food in a small box on this day. This is still customary for people who deliver letters or newspapers, although the gift may be given before Christmas Day. In feudal times, the lord of the manor would gather all those who worked on his land together on this day and distribute boxes of practical goods, such as agricultural tools, food and cloth. This was payment for the work that they had done throughout the passed year.

Other stories relate to servants being allowed to take a portion of the food left over from the Christmas celebrations in a box to their families and the distribution of alms from the Church collection box to poor parishioners. These traditions have evolved into the Christmas hampers that many large employers distribute, although these are now often distributed in the week before Christmas.