Out of the Dumpster, Endlessly Filling 1
1 Last
1 night
2 out of
3 the dumpster, endlessly
5 filling, sailing across pizza boxes,
8 a Brother laser printer, two Christmas trees (one
13 real, one not), uncounted unopened rolls of holiday wrap, U-Haul crates fighting boxes
21 from amazon.com for pride of place, and sack after plastic sack of garbage, I plucked unburied treasure. Floating across the detritus
34 of the celebrated sacred day of Jesus' birth rode three jewelry boxes, intact and filled with riches. I carried them home and spent an hour inspecting the contents. Let us proceed in numerical order:
55 One watch, crystal broken. One tie clasp, pseudo-gold. One set, unused, of London Fog button covers. One gold chain with one pearl still in the box and marked down to $1.99 from $3.99. Three religious medals. Four rings, two adjustable, two not. Five pendants, one of which is a quarter inch sliver of
89 quartz encircled in gold. Sixteen pairs of earrings, not counting the seven sets of hoops or twenty-two solo voyagers. Eleven silver charms (my favorites are the griffin, the steamboat, the ram). Twenty-two brooches interesting enough to intrigue Madeline Albright -- and me. Why would anyone throw-- oh, heck, let's be real. Somebody took revenge; you can almost hear "Oh, yeah? Well, I'll show you!" over the tinkle of "Eidelweiss" from the largest box. This is how it ends these days, not with fire or rain but with endlessly filling dumpsters.
by Mary Cartledgehayes
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
December 29, 2010
The Longevity of Art
I got a piece of art from my mother for Christmas. She owns Belle's Dolls, a doll studio on Middle Bass Island, Ohio, specializing in authentically costumed First Ladies and Presidents. She sculpted each of them from George and Martha Washington through the second generation of Bushes. My father would make the molds from her sculptures, and then she'd pour the dolls in porcelain and complete them with carefully researched costumes, hair styles, eye color, etc.
Mother's vision has failed, but she goes to a craft group every week. When I saw this piece, I fell in love:
When it comes to art, you just can't go wrong with feathers and tinsel.
It seems as though it would be shocking, Mother's transition from sophisticated sculpting and painting and styling to a mask like this, but I'm not troubled. The transition to the care center after my father's death hasn't been easy, but she's responded to the staff's efforts to keep her stimulated and motivated. She had a stack of five audio books (and tapes) for the blind on her Lazy Boy chair when we were there Christmas, and she loves the food and is grateful that she's no longer responsible for preparing it. The food is plain, as you'd hope when trying to satisfy nearly a hundred appetites, and she's satisfied.
Here's to a new year bursting with art, and joy.
Mother's vision has failed, but she goes to a craft group every week. When I saw this piece, I fell in love:
When it comes to art, you just can't go wrong with feathers and tinsel.
It seems as though it would be shocking, Mother's transition from sophisticated sculpting and painting and styling to a mask like this, but I'm not troubled. The transition to the care center after my father's death hasn't been easy, but she's responded to the staff's efforts to keep her stimulated and motivated. She had a stack of five audio books (and tapes) for the blind on her Lazy Boy chair when we were there Christmas, and she loves the food and is grateful that she's no longer responsible for preparing it. The food is plain, as you'd hope when trying to satisfy nearly a hundred appetites, and she's satisfied.
Here's to a new year bursting with art, and joy.
December 28, 2010
The after Christmas rush
We went to Ohio for Christmas, taking both Laramie and Koko along. Laramie sat on my lap the whole way. We let down a part of the back seat and spread a blanket across the back of the Jeep, and Koko alternately slept and peered over Michael's shoulder to help him drive.
We stopped on the way to my brother's on Christmas Eve to see Mother.
The dogs investigated everything, and Mother gave Koko a headband she made in one of her craft groups. I love the top she has on with the pretty birds; she hates it and fussed all evening that it didn't fit right. I was going to haul it off the next day, but it had already gone to the laundry before we got back to see her.
My brothers (Charlie on the left, Douglas in the red sweater) looking for a volunteer to take photos of us. (Michael was taking a nap and keeping Kitty from taking Laramie apart piece by piece in case he took a notion. Laramie was crazy interested in Kitty. Kitty turned into a real live caricature of the back-arched, fur-straight-up, wide-mouthed Halloween black cat; my, how that cat can hiss. Laramie decided to admire her from afar.)
We stopped on the way to my brother's on Christmas Eve to see Mother.
Mother wearing her new feather boa on Christmas Day.
My brothers (Charlie on the left, Douglas in the red sweater) looking for a volunteer to take photos of us. (Michael was taking a nap and keeping Kitty from taking Laramie apart piece by piece in case he took a notion. Laramie was crazy interested in Kitty. Kitty turned into a real live caricature of the back-arched, fur-straight-up, wide-mouthed Halloween black cat; my, how that cat can hiss. Laramie decided to admire her from afar.)
What a darling family!
And we're all smiling! I'd just looped the boa over the top of Mom's head, and she was tickled. I meant to have bangs that day but my glasses were on top of my head. As some of my daughter's friends say about her, we don't have foreheads; we have fiveheads.
December 24, 2010
Merry Christmas Eve day
A quick post because I'm off to bed (at almost two a. m.) so we can be up bright and early in the morning to pack the card and walk the dogs and pack the suitcases and the dogfood and gifts before heading north to see my mother and brothers for Christmas.
The trip is 300 miles, plus or minus one percent, but naturally will take longer traveling with dogs. We're building a nest in the back of the Jeep so Koko can stretch out; and Laramie will sit on my lap, because that's just the kind of little dog she is. I'm so excited I've had trouble getting to sleep for two days -- but that may also be because I've had numerous places to be and numerous interactions; and so when I get home late in the afternoon I'm dead tired and have a nap -- usually four or five hours.
Jennifer's box to me and mine to her are surely going to arrive tomorrow. I paid for Priority Mail without even gritting my teeth to be sure Jenn's would arrive on time. Something's wonky about the mail deliver in and around Greenville, North Carolina; it takes days longer than mail delivery anywhere else.
Monday I spent an hour in the post office and made many new best friends. I had four huge boxes with me, and one of my new friends recommended I go to Big Lots, where she'd just bought a dolly for loading boxes. Not industrial strength, but hefty enough for serious work. So off I went and there spent two hours looking at everything in the store. I did get my dolly; and then I got Michael's Christmas present: a rug cleaner. Steam heat, and the rug dries in half an hour. Amazing, don't you think? I'm pretty pumped about it and may ask if I can use it first. : )
He's been in six weeks of classes in his transfer to the technical department at work. Yesterday was the final exam, and he got a perfect score. Today was graduation, which included statements by several people in leadership positions regarding the strengths of the new techs. Michael's worked really hard; and he very much loves the work he's doing now and is looking forward to the next step (and has the policy and procedures manual on the ironing board even as we speak).
I'm going to get to see my mother for Christmas. This will mark the first time I've seen her on Christmas Day since 1966. After that, I was grown and gone; and the island is not a place to which you can easily return for a holiday -- especially when you live, as I did, in South Carolina. One year my brothers went home for Thanksgiving and were two days late to work because the weather changed, and they couldn't get off Middle Bass. That took care of that.
After an hour in line at the post office on Monday, I was back there today with three more boxes -- small ones this time. The line was shorter, too -- maybe 15 people ahead of me. And then I went to the drugstore and then to get my hair trimmed and then came home and lay down with Laramie for a nap. I woke up nine-ish and buckled down to clean the kitchen and wash four loads of clothes.
So we're virtually ready to go. The gifts are all wrapped, and I vaguely know what I'm going to wear. It's far too cold for me to worry about elegance, so I'm going with red, which looks great on me and which my mother loves. I'll be wearing my University of Louisville sweatshirt if it turns up before morning.
I'm leaving a number of things half done that I'd like to have completed before heading out; but that's always the case. They'll be waiting when I come home. And I've packed the crystal paperweight I got from the local chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists for Best Essay of the Year so that Mother can see it -- or at least hold it. Her vision's deteriorated; and I'm not sure how much she'll see of it but I can read the inscription to her. She's always been very happy when her children get awards.
Six hours up tomorrow and six hours back on Sunday; and lots of happy faces in between. I just love Christmas.
November 23, 2010
The Hapless Homemaker
I spent five hours cleaning the bedroom on Sunday -- a terrible accident, actually. I dusted a week or two ago and that led to my remembering on Sunday morning that I used to dust all the time -- like every single week. And vacuum, which was easy because the house I lived in then had all hardwood floors. So this whole homemaking thing seems to be taking over my life. I'm even planning to fix Thanksgiving dinner for the first time in 10 years, which is an amazing statement given that I cooked my first T. Day dinner when I was 19. I didn't miss it until day before yesterday.
I'm going to do a turkey breast rather than the whole bird, on the advice of my brilliant friend Lucy; and mashed potatoes; and possibly that stupid green bean casserole that hardens your arteries but is oh so traditional; and a can of jellied cranberry sauce, to be opened, placed on a dish, placed on the table, and later dumped, whole. down the garbage disposal. Deviled eggs, too, maybe. And I could look for a bottle of Riesling wine, which is my favorite because the aroma takes me back to being a kid in the vineyards cutting grapes. And for pie, we have a new variety. Rather than Derby pie from Kerns' Kitchen, we have a golden variation on same from Kerns -- a gift from the nice folks over at Today's Woman/Today's Transitions/Today's Families, which threw a gala lunch for us at The Melting Pot, which is a fondue place on South Hurstborne. I had not been to one before and, frankly, between the level of co-ordination required to get food to your mouth without giving yourself botulism and the sheer pandemonium of a crowd of people talking loudly, laughing, and waving little forks in the air gave my ADHD a run for the money. I came home and took a nap. Around eight I got up and wandered around and ate a major amount of black cherry ice cream and then returned to bed and slept until 10:30 a. m.
So -- dusting, sleeping, and buying a bird have become my tasks for the day, along with mailing Mother three scarves I think she'll enjoy wearing.
Meanwhile, I have an actual homemaking tip for the world. I don't know what the coat situation is where you live, but my compadre works outside and in, mostly out, and as a result has five or six heavy work coats plus four sets of Carhart whatchamacallits (lined bibbed overalls?), and we have a very small front hall closet. As a result, his coats have mostly spent the last two winters sleeping on the couch, except when I hung them up, muttering under my breath every time that I didn't get two master's degrees to spend six months a year hanging up coats. Well, I've been in a problem-solving world for the last three weeks -- my mother, my therapist, and I have each come up with brilliant solutions to problems. I'll get back to the others, but regarding coats (or, I suppose, mufflers and scarves and caps), the solution lies at Kroger's grocery store for a mere $1.99 each. They're plain wreath hangers in fake metal with a crook at each end. One crook goes over the door; the other crook awaits a coat, or scarf, or muffler. I bought six and am going back today to get at least six more. They are the best inventions ever; and the standard ones are too expensive to buy in quantity. These, though, are just durable enough to do the job and just easy enough to store come spring.
Heloise better watch out. I'm hot on her heels.
I'm going to do a turkey breast rather than the whole bird, on the advice of my brilliant friend Lucy; and mashed potatoes; and possibly that stupid green bean casserole that hardens your arteries but is oh so traditional; and a can of jellied cranberry sauce, to be opened, placed on a dish, placed on the table, and later dumped, whole. down the garbage disposal. Deviled eggs, too, maybe. And I could look for a bottle of Riesling wine, which is my favorite because the aroma takes me back to being a kid in the vineyards cutting grapes. And for pie, we have a new variety. Rather than Derby pie from Kerns' Kitchen, we have a golden variation on same from Kerns -- a gift from the nice folks over at Today's Woman/Today's Transitions/Today's Families, which threw a gala lunch for us at The Melting Pot, which is a fondue place on South Hurstborne. I had not been to one before and, frankly, between the level of co-ordination required to get food to your mouth without giving yourself botulism and the sheer pandemonium of a crowd of people talking loudly, laughing, and waving little forks in the air gave my ADHD a run for the money. I came home and took a nap. Around eight I got up and wandered around and ate a major amount of black cherry ice cream and then returned to bed and slept until 10:30 a. m.
So -- dusting, sleeping, and buying a bird have become my tasks for the day, along with mailing Mother three scarves I think she'll enjoy wearing.
Meanwhile, I have an actual homemaking tip for the world. I don't know what the coat situation is where you live, but my compadre works outside and in, mostly out, and as a result has five or six heavy work coats plus four sets of Carhart whatchamacallits (lined bibbed overalls?), and we have a very small front hall closet. As a result, his coats have mostly spent the last two winters sleeping on the couch, except when I hung them up, muttering under my breath every time that I didn't get two master's degrees to spend six months a year hanging up coats. Well, I've been in a problem-solving world for the last three weeks -- my mother, my therapist, and I have each come up with brilliant solutions to problems. I'll get back to the others, but regarding coats (or, I suppose, mufflers and scarves and caps), the solution lies at Kroger's grocery store for a mere $1.99 each. They're plain wreath hangers in fake metal with a crook at each end. One crook goes over the door; the other crook awaits a coat, or scarf, or muffler. I bought six and am going back today to get at least six more. They are the best inventions ever; and the standard ones are too expensive to buy in quantity. These, though, are just durable enough to do the job and just easy enough to store come spring.
Heloise better watch out. I'm hot on her heels.
August 27, 2010
Kentucky State Fair - Christmas trees, crafted dolls, and colons
This was the big winner for Large Decorated Christmas Tree up to 6 feet high. It's a police tree, with a car and police station underneath, red and blue lights on the white tree, and an assortment of a dozen or so ornaments in the shape of policeman -- one looked like a Christopher Radko blown glass, one was made from that Fimo clay stuff, and the rest were a variety, including a Santa policeman.
The photo below is from Division 4312, Handmade Dolls or Toys
In person, she really rocks. She's an adult woman in jeans living life to the fullest. I think the technique for her was felting.
Not only does the fair feature expansive exhibit halls showing the work and possessions of Kentuckians, but various organizations also have booths. Every county was, as far as I could see, represented. I saw the army, the national guard, the air force, and the FBI, which was giving away a prize."What prize are you giving away?" I asked.
The person behind the table pointed to a pair of bicycles. Hmmm. Don't know what I expected: handcuffs, maybe? A shoulder holster? A blank signed search warrant? Anyhow, apparently they're hiringg. Division of Fish and Wildlife had a huge booth and had various pelts, including two from the non-native phythons in Florida that have taken to eating pets and pigs and whatever else they want, because there are no natural predators for pythons in Florida. They'll be lucky if they don't end up like Guam, where the brown snake (an inadvertent consequence of the vast number of combat planes arriving with stowaways during World War II)has consumed virtually every species of bird to extinction.
Health agencies also sponsor booths, and my favorite was the one with the walk-in colon.
February 8, 2010
The Laundry Basket Game
I'm going to share the secrets of the Laundry Basket Game.
What you do is get a clothes basket, set it in the middle of the hallway, and when you empty the clothes drier, put all of the items into the basket. Repeat. The goal is to see how close you can get to the ceiling before somebody breaks down and puts the clothes away.
A variation is the "Damn it, if you'd shake them out before you put them in the basket instead of rolling them up your jeans and shirts wouldn't have those big wrinkles in them."
We had it up over thirty inches Saturday morning, not counting the stuff that fell out on the floor when my compadre rampaged through it looking for clean socks and drawers four days running. We'd have set a new world's record after I washed and dried two blankets, but he wasn't feeling well, so I put the cozy warm blankets on him rather than in the basket. And then I hung up the hangable things and put all the underthings away. Whatever's left is rising 8 inches above the basket rim, and I've got clothes in the washer heading for the drier now.
Lest you think my time has been devoted completely to Wildly Interesting Housekeeping Tasks, I mailed the last of the Christmas boxes this morning and have only another half dozen or so Christmas/MLK jr./Groundhog Day letters to get into envelopes. I can't remember what else I swore I'd finish before I went back on facebook, but December's completion has freed up a lot of space, what with gifts and wrapping paper and boxes and files all over the couch and coffee table.
Also, last week I dragged home a tree branch, plugged it into a large holder, set it in the corner behind the couch, hung all of the ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) I've received on its branches; and put underneath it a lovely electric vanilla candle that throws a soft light through the branches. This morning I found an even larger branch and dragged it home. My aim is to transfer the ATCs this evening -- unless I continue in this focused mode and begin working on my income taxes. In any case, photo of branch to follow because what you think it looks like and what it actually looks like are radically different.
What you do is get a clothes basket, set it in the middle of the hallway, and when you empty the clothes drier, put all of the items into the basket. Repeat. The goal is to see how close you can get to the ceiling before somebody breaks down and puts the clothes away.
A variation is the "Damn it, if you'd shake them out before you put them in the basket instead of rolling them up your jeans and shirts wouldn't have those big wrinkles in them."
We had it up over thirty inches Saturday morning, not counting the stuff that fell out on the floor when my compadre rampaged through it looking for clean socks and drawers four days running. We'd have set a new world's record after I washed and dried two blankets, but he wasn't feeling well, so I put the cozy warm blankets on him rather than in the basket. And then I hung up the hangable things and put all the underthings away. Whatever's left is rising 8 inches above the basket rim, and I've got clothes in the washer heading for the drier now.
Lest you think my time has been devoted completely to Wildly Interesting Housekeeping Tasks, I mailed the last of the Christmas boxes this morning and have only another half dozen or so Christmas/MLK jr./Groundhog Day letters to get into envelopes. I can't remember what else I swore I'd finish before I went back on facebook, but December's completion has freed up a lot of space, what with gifts and wrapping paper and boxes and files all over the couch and coffee table.
Also, last week I dragged home a tree branch, plugged it into a large holder, set it in the corner behind the couch, hung all of the ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) I've received on its branches; and put underneath it a lovely electric vanilla candle that throws a soft light through the branches. This morning I found an even larger branch and dragged it home. My aim is to transfer the ATCs this evening -- unless I continue in this focused mode and begin working on my income taxes. In any case, photo of branch to follow because what you think it looks like and what it actually looks like are radically different.
December 23, 2009
Christmas Sights
My granddaughter Lizzie just celebrated her sixteenth birthday wearing a darling jeweled green chiffon dress. Green has always been her color, as evidenced by the charming hat she picked out to wear for her first Christmas.
This photo shows Liz at the Miss Seneca High School pageant in November.
December 19, 2009
What Child IS This? by Mary Cartledge-Hayes
My friend Claire just sent me a message on facebook saying she couldn't find a copy of this piece anywhere in her house and wants to use it in a sermon tomorrow.
This story first appeared in the Winter 1985 issue of the Christian feminist journal Daughters of Sarah. One Sunday I was tracked me down in Sunday school; there was a phone call for me in the church office. The editor of The Witness (Mary Lou... Mary Ann... Somebody help me here) had just read the story and wanted to use it as the editorial for their Ash Wednesday/beginning of Lent issue. (Hadn't thought of it that way, had you?) The story appeared in The Witness, Vol. 68, No. 2, Feb. 1985. Other lore surrounding this piece is that somebody almost fell off a bus in Chicago when she read it. Nancy Hardesty became one of my dearest friends when we met at a conference and, over the closing meal, I told her I'd had some things published in Daughters. She asked some questions, and I mentioned the story about Jesus being born a girl. She immediately teared up and said, "I love that story." And here it is, almost 25 years later and as new and relevant now as when I wrote it.
All rights reserved.
December 17, 2009
Happy holidays!
December 10, 2009
The Quilts of Cookie Day
Originally uploaded by Ka-ching
Cookie Day was Saturday in South Carolina -- the first time in years. Since the last one, I've taken up quilting and given blankies to this person and that. I requested they bring them to Cookie Day so I could get photo. This is some friend of Mary's who was there for the day.
December 3, 2009
I feel a list coming on.
The thing about making lists is that the important things get done before you put them on a list. Then you forget you did them. When you look back at the list, you wonder who the slackard is around here.
*
What did I get done from last week's list?
--15 Holiday for Heroes cards sent to Red Cross.
--------Family addresses updated, although not yet communicated. Actually, I got it emailed to Aunt Mary, who was asking, but her computer broke down, possibly before she received it. However, my cousin Danny in Italy is going to email Mary's next-door neighbor in England.
--KFW request for funds mailed on the postmark date of December 1, with the help of several friends who responded to my e-mail saying, "Here's the plan. What's the financial payoff?" Remind me to tell you what I learned about micro-lending from the experience.
---------Baby clothes in car for Layla.
--Major delivery to Goodwill -- and I listed everything before I took it, because if I guesstimate I always lowball myself.
---------Made two of the many phone calls I needed to make.
*
I didn't manage to fire those miserable folks at the Bank of America yet, but it's still on the top burner.
*
I cleaned out and tidied my closet. Outfits are now arranged per day -- blouse, sweater, jeans --on one hanger. No, I didn't iron anything, but at a glance I can decide what I want to wear.
Important because it was in the 50s/60s here earlier this week and low tonight is to be 31.
*
I decided I'll continue to put my compadre's shirts on hangers when I take them from the dryer but if he balls them up in a wad and stuffs them in a clothes basket with everything else when he empties the dryer, they can rot before I hang them up.
*
I learned the other day that my great-nephew Carson, Amy's grandson, has broken up with Sponge Bob Squarepants. His new love? LIGHTNING QUEEN!! from the movie "Cars." And today I found an ornament I bought last year or the year before that has Lightning on it. Carson's going to be a happy boy.
*And now this happy woman is off to pack some more things into the car. Let's all hum a few bars of "On the Road Again."
*
What did I get done from last week's list?
--15 Holiday for Heroes cards sent to Red Cross.
--------Family addresses updated, although not yet communicated. Actually, I got it emailed to Aunt Mary, who was asking, but her computer broke down, possibly before she received it. However, my cousin Danny in Italy is going to email Mary's next-door neighbor in England.
--KFW request for funds mailed on the postmark date of December 1, with the help of several friends who responded to my e-mail saying, "Here's the plan. What's the financial payoff?" Remind me to tell you what I learned about micro-lending from the experience.
---------Baby clothes in car for Layla.
--Major delivery to Goodwill -- and I listed everything before I took it, because if I guesstimate I always lowball myself.
---------Made two of the many phone calls I needed to make.
*
I didn't manage to fire those miserable folks at the Bank of America yet, but it's still on the top burner.
*
I cleaned out and tidied my closet. Outfits are now arranged per day -- blouse, sweater, jeans --on one hanger. No, I didn't iron anything, but at a glance I can decide what I want to wear.
Important because it was in the 50s/60s here earlier this week and low tonight is to be 31.
*
I decided I'll continue to put my compadre's shirts on hangers when I take them from the dryer but if he balls them up in a wad and stuffs them in a clothes basket with everything else when he empties the dryer, they can rot before I hang them up.
*
I learned the other day that my great-nephew Carson, Amy's grandson, has broken up with Sponge Bob Squarepants. His new love? LIGHTNING QUEEN!! from the movie "Cars." And today I found an ornament I bought last year or the year before that has Lightning on it. Carson's going to be a happy boy.
*And now this happy woman is off to pack some more things into the car. Let's all hum a few bars of "On the Road Again."
November 30, 2009
Best. Illustration. Ever.
The wonderful artist Silvia Habib has done it again. Above you see her illustration for my December column in Today's Woman magazine, along with my first of eighteen hint for having a happy holiday season:"1. Raise your expectations. You deserve a pony this year, whether you get one or not."
But there's more! Because this is what comes next:
"2. Lower your expectations. You aren't getting a real pony. Get over it. (but you can color the one on the other page)"
I've never seen a better example of writer, illustrator, and editors working together. I wrote the piece. Silvia came up with the pony idea. And the editors added that critical line "but you can color the one on the other page." We are totally brilliant, doncha think?
If you live in Kentuckiana, you can get a copy of the magazine at Kroger's, Whole Foods, entrances to hospitals, and a gazillion other places. If you aren't local or aren't mobile, call and order this issue or a year's subscription. (There's a small charge to order a single copy; subscriptions are $18.00 a year.) Today's Woman: (502) 327-8855.
November 29, 2009
Ack.
Perhaps it's time to make a list. Prioritize. Create order amidst what feels a bit, shall we say, rumpled.
-Clothes are washing.
-Dishwasher is loaded.
-Sheets are changed.
-Suitcase is unpacked.
-Mail (including 30 or so postcards, some dated a week ago but I haven't made it to the post office for stamps) is in the car.
-I just brought the silly pink Christmas tree from the garage. I'll haul the rest of the Christmas stuff later, but pink tree is so foolish it lifts my spirits.
So -- what else?
-Get manuscript back in mail to mentor-ees tomorrow.
-Get 2010 themes for Today's Woman (we're having attachment issues) and find out if February is a column-less month again this year.
-Call brilliant cartoonist Marie Davis and explain health crises that kept me from reading at the last Day's event.
-Update family address list.
-Mail family address list to family.
-Buy envelopes for mailing.
-Make Cookie Day invitations. (I'd have done this sooner but it was Thursday before I noticed I need to bake cookies this year; and Saturday before we found a date that works in SC.)
-Make Christmas stocking for my pal in Texas.
-Put together and quilt the 3 (4?) quilt tops I put together in August for Christmas gifts. (Not urgent; I've got weeks. Oh, wait: less than a month.)
-Write request to Kentucky Foundation for Women. First figure out which of the two projects will be the most beneficial. [Okay, that's due December 1. It should be second on the list.]
-Find baby clothes Jennifer sent for me to take to Jessie's baby. Put them in car.
-Find quilt I made for Tabatha's Allie so I can take it to SC. Put in car.
-Take stuff I've set aside for Goodwill to Goodwill.
-Be sure not to give Goodwill the baby clothes for Layla or the quilt for Allie.
-Call Terry.
-Call Nancy Hardesty.
-Call Tasha.
-Balance check book.
-Pay bills.
-Close Bank of America account. I've had an account with them for 20 or 30 years, but they've become impossible to deal with in recent months. I can't reach a single human being by telephone AND everyone I know in financial difficulties with a B of A mortgage is getting hostility and indifference rather than support, encouragement, and the assistance the bank is supposed to be providing.
-Change automatic deposits that go in to Bank of America account.
-Scan some of my Holiday for Heroes cards to post on the blog. Find envelope large enough for cards; take to post office; mail on December 1 because the arrival deadline is December 7.
-Return to Midas to get a duplicate receipt because the one they gave me didn't show my current mileage; and the IRS expects to use the mileage noted on receipts FROM SERVICE COMPANIES LIKE MIDAS if they audit you. I'm guessing they haven't informed the service companies. Sooooo then what? Hmmm. Not the IRS's problem. Not the service company's problem. Who does that leave to pay the (inacccurately determined) penalties?
-Clothes are washing.
-Dishwasher is loaded.
-Sheets are changed.
-Suitcase is unpacked.
-Mail (including 30 or so postcards, some dated a week ago but I haven't made it to the post office for stamps) is in the car.
-I just brought the silly pink Christmas tree from the garage. I'll haul the rest of the Christmas stuff later, but pink tree is so foolish it lifts my spirits.
So -- what else?
-Get manuscript back in mail to mentor-ees tomorrow.
-Get 2010 themes for Today's Woman (we're having attachment issues) and find out if February is a column-less month again this year.
-Call brilliant cartoonist Marie Davis and explain health crises that kept me from reading at the last Day's event.
-Update family address list.
-Mail family address list to family.
-Buy envelopes for mailing.
-Make Cookie Day invitations. (I'd have done this sooner but it was Thursday before I noticed I need to bake cookies this year; and Saturday before we found a date that works in SC.)
-Make Christmas stocking for my pal in Texas.
-Put together and quilt the 3 (4?) quilt tops I put together in August for Christmas gifts. (Not urgent; I've got weeks. Oh, wait: less than a month.)
-Write request to Kentucky Foundation for Women. First figure out which of the two projects will be the most beneficial. [Okay, that's due December 1. It should be second on the list.]
-Find baby clothes Jennifer sent for me to take to Jessie's baby. Put them in car.
-Find quilt I made for Tabatha's Allie so I can take it to SC. Put in car.
-Take stuff I've set aside for Goodwill to Goodwill.
-Be sure not to give Goodwill the baby clothes for Layla or the quilt for Allie.
-Call Terry.
-Call Nancy Hardesty.
-Call Tasha.
-Balance check book.
-Pay bills.
-Close Bank of America account. I've had an account with them for 20 or 30 years, but they've become impossible to deal with in recent months. I can't reach a single human being by telephone AND everyone I know in financial difficulties with a B of A mortgage is getting hostility and indifference rather than support, encouragement, and the assistance the bank is supposed to be providing.
-Change automatic deposits that go in to Bank of America account.
-Scan some of my Holiday for Heroes cards to post on the blog. Find envelope large enough for cards; take to post office; mail on December 1 because the arrival deadline is December 7.
-Return to Midas to get a duplicate receipt because the one they gave me didn't show my current mileage; and the IRS expects to use the mileage noted on receipts FROM SERVICE COMPANIES LIKE MIDAS if they audit you. I'm guessing they haven't informed the service companies. Sooooo then what? Hmmm. Not the IRS's problem. Not the service company's problem. Who does that leave to pay the (inacccurately determined) penalties?
November 8, 2009
H1N1 flu and the lesson of Eyam
My essay in Today's Woman this month is about responding to H1N1 flu. In the essay I mention the village of Eyam in Derbyshire (where my father's from orginally). The bubonic plague arrived with a shipment of cloth, and the village quarantined itself, thus saving the north of England from the plague. This postcard shows the important places around the village except for the Rose Cottage, which is either is Eyam or something I dreamed into existence. Silvia Habib did her usual magic with the illustration. If Santa can wash his hands in a birdbath, the rest of us can certainly do so in warm water ten times a day. Clean hands are the first line of defense; and quarantining yourself until your fever has been gone for 24 hours is the second.
December 25, 2008
December 21, 2008
Today's news
Two articles in today's Courier-Journal especially interested me. The first was a recounting by C-J columnist James R. Carroll of his Christmas visit to the White House. The enormous tree in the Blue Room is decorated with ornaments from each of the states. Pictured here are two of the Kentucky state ornaments. The one above was painted by Linda Pierce and the one below by Thomas L. Gaither.
A little research revealed that the ornaments begin as silver plastic orbs somewhere between grapefruit and soccer ball size. I hunted down a few more photos on flickr.com, but you can see the entire series (including the other four from Kentucky) at the White House website.The C-J also carried an AP story by Greg Bluestein about the economic wreck of Lake Hartwell in South Carolina. The story included a photo of Big Water Marina, where I took sailing lessons in 2002. Where there was water, there is now dry land. "The number of occupied boat slips has dropped by about 80 percent, and Davis [the owner] is warning the rest of her customers to get out while they can." She expects the lake to end up at 35 feet below normal levels. The cause? Drought, for sure, and some residents think it's also their water being toted off to supply the needs of Savannah and Augusta, Georgia. The 56,000-acre manmade lake, created in the 1950s, is down about 18 feet.
December 11, 2008
Cookie Day and the art of Silvia Habib
Cookie Day illustration by Silvia Habib in December 2008 Today's Woman.I'm just home from a fabulous luncheon at Tarfi's Bistro on Bardstown Road. Today's Woman, the local Louisville magazine for which I write a monthly column on wellness, put on the holiday event for their staff and writers. It's the annual opportunity for a far-flung group of writers and photographers to meet, greet, eat, and cheer each other on.
(Silvia Habib, who so wonderfully illustrates my essays in Today's Woman, couldn't be there; she lives in Israe. We missed her dreadfully; everybody connected to the magazine delights in her artwork.)
I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to steer you toward my December essay on my own personal favorite holiday: Cookie Day! If you decide to throw a celebration of your own, call me; I'll help you frost the sugar cookies.
December 10, 2008
The Sniper Snowman -- revised edition
So there I am at Kroger's, minding my own business, checking out the soft and squishy holiday toys, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a shoot-'em'up snowman. This one sings. As in "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way," crack, pop, crack. The final crack is accompanied by the tip of the rifle in the snowman's arms turning red hot, or at least a hot red.
I took a photo with my cell phone and when I looked at it again this morning I saw how cute this little fella is. He's costumed like a hunter out of the L. L. Bean catalog, with a green plaid coat, a red plaid hat with flaps that would cover his ears if he had ears, as well as the standard coal eyes, carrot nose, and wide goofy grin.
So this is what I think: I think the Christmas decorations are planning to overthrow the shoppers this year. They're armed and moving into our houses, one at a time. If I were you, I wouldn't hang these guys at the back of the tree. I'd keep 'em front and center where I could keep an eye on them. I'm just saying. Sniper Santa was bad enough, but now that everybody's in on the act you can't be too careful.
I took a photo with my cell phone and when I looked at it again this morning I saw how cute this little fella is. He's costumed like a hunter out of the L. L. Bean catalog, with a green plaid coat, a red plaid hat with flaps that would cover his ears if he had ears, as well as the standard coal eyes, carrot nose, and wide goofy grin.
So this is what I think: I think the Christmas decorations are planning to overthrow the shoppers this year. They're armed and moving into our houses, one at a time. If I were you, I wouldn't hang these guys at the back of the tree. I'd keep 'em front and center where I could keep an eye on them. I'm just saying. Sniper Santa was bad enough, but now that everybody's in on the act you can't be too careful.
Sniper Santa, Part III
In my continuing quest to find postcards with the map of Kentucky, I ventured to a number of stores I haven't been in before, including famed Wish's Drugstore in Whipp's Mill Center. This independent store has been in business forever, is a proud sponsor of Keep Louisville Weird, and is filled with products you can't find anywhere else.
Case in point: a Santa-less sniper ornament. The centerpiece of this one is the rifle, with a camouflage ball cap and a set of antlers hanging from the stock.
I nearly broke down and bought this one, not least because I want a photo to illustrate this conversation -- and, also, this ornament was $4.95, compared to $11.95 for the Sniper Santa and $14.95 for the Sniper Nutcracker. Nevertheless, I left it in the store.
I also left behind an action figure, dressed in black, looking like Ken but meaner. He was on sale for $1, which I thought incredibly inexpensive, especially given that his massive machine gun was strapped on in a strategic position just below his waist. Then I found his colleague, who was wearing camouflage attire and had a rifle as tall as he was. And to round the trio of wise men was a Safety officer, recognizable by his bright orange jumpsuit and plastic sign that read "Safety."
Sniper Santa and the Three Wise Action Figures. Sounds like the name of a band.
Rock on.
Case in point: a Santa-less sniper ornament. The centerpiece of this one is the rifle, with a camouflage ball cap and a set of antlers hanging from the stock.
I nearly broke down and bought this one, not least because I want a photo to illustrate this conversation -- and, also, this ornament was $4.95, compared to $11.95 for the Sniper Santa and $14.95 for the Sniper Nutcracker. Nevertheless, I left it in the store.
I also left behind an action figure, dressed in black, looking like Ken but meaner. He was on sale for $1, which I thought incredibly inexpensive, especially given that his massive machine gun was strapped on in a strategic position just below his waist. Then I found his colleague, who was wearing camouflage attire and had a rifle as tall as he was. And to round the trio of wise men was a Safety officer, recognizable by his bright orange jumpsuit and plastic sign that read "Safety."
Sniper Santa and the Three Wise Action Figures. Sounds like the name of a band.
Rock on.
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