Well ... ARE We There Yet??

Yesterday marked either the end or the beginning of my 55th year on this planet (I can never remember if a birthday means you've just completed another year or you're starting another one!) and it brought to mind the question - "am I there yet?"  And where exactly is 'there'? Where better to contemplate that than on the blog I haven't updated hardly at all during this passing year!

I guess one of the questions a lot of ask ourselves when birthdays and such roll around is if we've managed to accomplish the things we had hoped to in life and as I look back over the more-than-half-a-century that I've been alive, I can only answer that with a 'yes' and a 'no'. Am I where I want to be in life now?  Not exactly.  Have I done the things I've wanted to do? Some - absolutely - while others are still in the hope-for stage.  Am I where I thought I'd be when I got to be this age?  Oh hells no!

First off, I have absolutely positively NO idea how I got to be in my mid-50s so quickly - especially when my mind is solidly stuck in my early 30s!  Not that I feel at all like I'm in my 30s when I try to roll my oftentimes achy self out of bed in the mornings or when my back starts twinging and my joints start aching if a storm is rolling in but for the most part, I don't feel like I'm as old as I am.  That said though, my memory has started to suffer from major lapses from time-to-time which I am going to solidly blame on menopause which I have the sneaky feeling I'm in.  I'm definitely at the right age to start wading through the hormonal changes that we women go through in our advancing years but it's kind of hard for me to tell exactly what's going on as I had that ablation a few years back and don't have the monthly indicator that so many other women do.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you, as I don't miss that at all but as I've only had the occasional "gee, it seems kind of warm in here all of a sudden" flash and the "oh my gosh, I'm going to bust into tears over that?" sort of moments, I'm just not positive where I stand with my hormonal levels. If not remembering why I walked into a room, being unable to think of the name of someone I've known for years, and not being able to grasp the right word even though it's on the tip of my tongue are any sort indication of those levels, though, then I've been in menopause for over a year now!

But advancing years and menopause aside - am I 'there' yet? Am I at a point in my life where I can say that I'm satisfied with the way things are going? That I'm where I thought I might be when I was a young kid of 18 or 21 imagining what my life might be like as an older adult? Nope as I sure the heck never would have thought that at 55 I'd be twice-divorced with two older daughters still living at home who bicker with each other every chance they get while working in a stressful job where there was no hope of retirement other than whatever Social Security would provide as I live paycheck-to-paycheck.  I don't believe that's exactly what I had in mind as I started down the path of adulthood.

That said though, life could be a lot worse and I am ever mindful of that.  I could have NO job like so many others in this country (including those two bickering daughters of mine), I could have never fallen in love and had children that may or may not drive me crazy from time-to-time, and I could have a lot more physical ailments than a couple of herniated discs that like to predict the weather and allergies that seem to get worse as I get older.

I have had a lot of opportunities that others haven't had including the chance to travel to interesting places where I've met some terrific people along the way who have become dear friends; I have had the chance to not only enjoy my hobby of photography but to share that with others; I have made some fantastic friends though the miracle of the Internet; and I have a decent roof over my head complete with electricity and running water and never go hungry.

Those are things that I am thankful for so even if I'm not 'there' yet it's okay as I'm still moving forward and maybe someday I actually will get 'there'.  Even if I don't though, for the most part, I've enjoyed the journey and I hope the good Lord gives me the chance to continue on it for a few more decades though guaranteed if I ever make it to 85, I'll be sitting there wondering how I got to be in my mid-80s when my mind is still in my early 50s!

Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday yesterday, I appreciated every single greeting and gesture, and now if you'll excuse me, I do believe there is some cake in the kitchen that just might be calling my name! 

Birthday Reflections

A big thank you to everyone for yesterday's Happy Birthday wishes!  As far as birthdays go, I'd have to say that I had a pretty great one and it was relatively pain-free turning another year older.  I'm still not quite sure how I got to be 54 so darned fast but the reality of it is, I am and chances are really good I'll be sitting here in another year wondering how I got to be 55 so fast!

My friend Paula most definitely spoiled and made me feel quite special yesterday and Mother Nature even provided a beautiful backdrop after a week of truly lousy weather that was filled with heat, humidity, a threat of tornadoes, and a little more humidity thrown in for good measure.  Not exactly New England at its finest I must say! Still, after some initial cloud cover yesterday morning the afternoon turned out to be filled with beautiful blue September skies and not a bit of humidity - perfect weather for visiting a local British Tea Room for luncheon where Paula and I started our day. 

You can read more about our visit to Mrs. Bridges' Pantry at my other blog - The Distracted Wanderer - where I actually managed to keep it short for a change! I'm rather looking forward to making a return trip up there at some point having now had the chance to sample Lemon Curd and Devonshire Cream on a scone in addition to the "proper" English Tea Sandwich that I had for lunch along with some very delicious tea.  I think that my British grandmother would have liked the place - I know I did!

Following our lovely luncheon and a little poking around an antique store that was nearby, Paula then treated me to a birthday pedicure at one of the local nail salons but it wasn't just any pedicure - nope!  This one included a wonderful herbal leg and foot massage with a really nice lemongrass lotion and even hot stones for the ultimate in relaxation!  Ah, bliss!  I tell ya, I could get used to something like that if I let myself and I must say that my toes look much better than they did prior to walking in to the salon!

Now I've got pretty purple toes but no cruise ship to take them on - darn! Ah well, at least underneath my work boots, I'll know my toes look great! 

When I finally got home from my wonderful day with Paula, it was to find that Amanda had actually cleaned up the house in my absence - another great birthday present! She was going to bake me a cake but apparently we were an egg short of the required number so she's promised to bake one at another time now that I've rectified the egg shortage.

All in all, I've got say that it was a really great birthday - now, let's see if I can make it a great year! 

Thursday Thoughts & Things

First and foremost, a very happy 19th birthday to my baby who is up in Ontario and - as best I can tell - planning on staying there as long as she possibly can.  This is the second year in a row that Jamie hasn't been around for her birthday as she was up in Manitoba last year for her 18th and I missed her last year just as I'll miss her again this year. I'm not going to lie - even though I do miss her and wish she were home, I don't miss the constant arguing that she and Amanda seemed to want to engage in.  It would have been great if Jamie had been home for her birthday but she's technically an adult now and can make her own decision on where she wants to live.  Not that I ever thought it would be Canada though!  Anyhow, I'm hoping to take a trip up that way to see her soon and to bring her a few of her things and hopefully we'll be able to celebrate her birthday then - belatedly but better late than never!  In the meantime Jamie - happy birthday!  I hope you do something special for you today and have cake - ya gotta have cake on your birthday!

Secondly, yesterday marked the 6th anniversary of my blog which for some reason, I thought was the 5th anniversary!  Just goes to show how much attention I've been paying to this particular blog lately!  I've been a little swamped (overwhelmed?) with trying to keep up with "Travels With Nathaniel" and occasionally tossing something new up at "The Distracted Wanderer" in between work and everything else so this blog has sort of taken a backseat lately.  That's not to say that I don't think about posting over here - I just never seem to get the time!  Hand-in-hand with that is visiting other blogs as lately there just do not seem to be enough hours in the day!  Trust me, I do miss all of you and try to get around at least once a week but some weeks are gone before I even know it so please forgive me if I am absent more than I'm present.

A quick side note on this blog, I have decided to start doing the occasional paid post again as an offer was made and it was quite reasonable and a little extra money for wandering never hurts. Please feel free to ignore those posts, it will probably be quite easy to see which ones are the paid ones as they are going to be for travel destinations that I've probably never even heard of - never mind been to!  Unless of course I post about someplace you've been to - in that case, feel free to chime in!

Finally, in spite of all that's been going on lately - and it's been a lot it seems - Cyndi has been uppermost in my mind quite a bit.  I seem to be having more times when I get the urge to call her than before and every time I realize that she's no longer there, it still comes back and hits me upside the heart a little bit.  I was having coffee at work the other day out of my beloved Cancun coffee cup that she got me and out of nowhere I found I had a big ol' lump in my throat. Then today, while driving back from dropping Amanda at a friend's house in Quincy, Massachusetts yesterday evening I had lots of time to think and sure enough, Cyndi was there in the forefront of those thoughts.

I'd like to think that maybe she's up there watching over me a little bit though if I know her and the Mama Bear that she always was, she's up there watching over Daniel like a hawk (after all, that was her last name!) and making sure that they're treating him right at the home he's in.  I suspect she takes the occasional side glance to see how Angela is doing but as Angela received her Doctorate in History before Cyndi died, I'm pretty sure she's not too worried about her daughter who has always had a really good head on her shoulders. She most definitely took after her Mom!

Anyhow, with all of that thinking about my old friend and missing the heck out of her, it really came as no surprise that when I went back to look at my very first post on this blog, there was a comment from her.  Cyndi didn't comment often but when she did, it was always a gift and I'm so glad that I've got those little gifts scattered here and there throughout the last six years of writing.  I just so wish I had been able to talk her into her own blog but alas, she always felt like she never had anything all that important to say.  Well heck, it never stopped me!  

A happy Thursday to all! 

Greetings from the North Shore!

I know, you're all totally shocked and awed that I'm back up this way again, aren't you?! I'm doing some traveling with Nathaniel while celebrating Amanda's birthday at my favorite hotel which works out really well for her as some of the friends that she made while going to college up here are gathering to celebrate the day with her. Which leaves me free to wander around and take way too many more pictures!

Speaking of which, I was in Rockport last night and I got to experience some of that "magical light" that artists flock there for so decided to embrace a little bit of my own inner artist ...

Even though Rockport is a major tourist destination in the summer and there are way too many people around at that time, as I was taking pictures last night I could certainly understand just why people visit there and why they stay there. Personally, I could look at something like this for an awful long time and never get tired of it.  Maybe it just calls to the New Englander in me but I just love this picture even though I've never had a desire to spend my life on a ship or a boat!

Anyhow, I must off - there are wanderings to be had and history to be found and birthday Bismarcks to be brought back to the hotel room!

A very happy birthday to not just my oldest daughter who has somehow reached the age of 20 already but to my mother who is ageless in my own humble opinion! May both of their days be wonderful and the year ahead even better than today!

Monday Musings

Due to a new schedule change at work my days off have altered slightly and I'm now back to working a double-shift on Sundays, evenings on Monday, and another double on Tuesdays. I know a lot of folks say that they couldn't work 16-hour shifts but the way I look at it, I'm already there so what the hey?! Plus it gives me four full days a week off which is not a bad deal at all when you get right down to it.  On Wednesdays when everyone is still looking at their weekend being two days off, I've already started mine!  As for being back to working Sundays, I really don't mind them in the least as if you had to pick an "easy" day when it comes to 911, Sundays are usually it.  Besides, maybe there will be a resurrection of "Chick Flick Sundays" and I can catch up on all those movies I haven't had a chance to see since abandoning Sunday shifts!

I took Jamie out to a Chinese buffet on Saturday for a late lunch/early dinner as we had some errands to run and she'd been craving sushi (something all three of my kids love but for which I've never acquired a taste).  After eating we were given our customary end-of-meal fortune cookie and mine read "Remember three months from this date!  Your lucky star is shing."  Well, let's see, Saturday was June 11th so that means three months away is September 11th - a day that no one ever forgets anymore.  I'll have to try to remember to look back over the three months that passes between then and then and see if, in fact, there was a lucky star shining.

Oh, speaking of Saturday, that was the day I baked the Coconut Rum Cake for Rob's birthday that I had missed, remember?  I was going to bring the cake into work with me today but after sending Rob a picture on Facebook last night, he requested I bring it in then instead. I guess I can't say that I blame him as it did look good ...

Being the nice person that I am I did as requested and stuck around for a slice myself. Not to brag but it was good - really, really good!  That recipe is most definitely a keeper!  However, having taken the cake in last night meant that was going to be no cake tonight and I like sharing any new recipes with my dispatch partner Jeff, I decided to spend some of my new-found Monday morning time off today to bake another cake to take in with me this evening. If it turns out half as well as the Coconut Rum Cake did I'll share the recipe with you tomorrow. I've got an idea for another cake, too, but I think that one's going to have to wait a bit as otherwise my co-workers are going to accuse me of trying to make them fat if I bring cakes in constantly!

Yesterday I had the chance to spend some time with extended family at a birthday party for my Aunt Eleanor. She'll be 75 tomorrow which somehow just doesn't seem at all possible. I mean, look at her - does she look 75 to you?? She sure doesn't to me!

Speaking of birthdays, my Mom and Amanda will be celebrating their shared birthdays this coming Saturday when Amanda will be turning 19 and my Mom won't!  If you want to do the math, though, my Mom is her sister Eleanor's oldest sister by just a touch under two years - that should give you a pretty good hint!

Anyhow, back to the party ... naturally I took my camera along for the day and somehow I  managed to get talked into posing for a picture - something that I very rarely will agree to being that I am much more comfortable behind the lens than in front of it but I guess it's nice to occasionally be in the picture, too. The picture below is my Mom, my "baby" brother John and his wife Ann and Jamie and I. I guess you could say that it was my Mom with her baby and me with mine. Amanda was down in New Jersey visiting friends for the day so she wasn't there to be included nor was the rest of my my particular branch of the family tree; it's very, very rare that we all get together anymore.

Ah well, I guess that about wraps it up for today's ramblings; it was actually kind of nice to do a post about just this that and the other thing for a change. Maybe I'll have to make this a regular Monday thing, hmmmm ...!

Happy Thanksgiving to You; Happy Birthday to My Dad

I'm not sure what the mathematical equation is to figure out how often Thanksgiving falls on a particular date but I know that there were times when Thanksgiving would fall on the same day as my Dad's birthday - this year would have been one of them were my Dad still with us. Unfortunately, he's not but that doesn't keep him from being remembered not just this year but every year when November 25th rolls around.

So on what would have been my father's 76th birthday, I wish you all the happiest of Thanksgiving Days here in the United States as you gather with family and friends and celebrate the blessings of the past year as we hurtle rapidly towards a new year. Ferris Bueller wasn't kidding when he said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." ... Don't miss it!

Dad & I - August 1991

Renee Got Roses

In addition to myself, there are a lot of September birthdays at American Ambulance including one this past Monday for Renee, who is our Employee Scheduling Coordinator. Renee is married to John who is a very romantic guy and every year he sends her a dozen roses for her birthday. As she has an office in dispatch, we get to enjoy Renee's birthday roses right along with her and this year she even let me do a "photo session" at work with them. I thought I'd share!

Sure makes me wish I had a romantic John of my own ... maybe someday, huh?

Five on Friday - The Barenaked Version

Before I get into this week's Five on Friday set list I just wanted to take the time to say thank you, thank you, thank you for all of yesterday's wonderful birthday wishes both virtual and real.  I'm pretty sure I have never in my life received so many warm and wonderful birthday greetings from so many wonderful people.

From cards in the mail to being serenaded in the ambulance bay when I walked into work yesterday morning to hugs from my favorite paramedic (and another from one extremely cute EMT!) to lunch cooked on the grill by my supervisor and shared with some fantastic co-workers to all of the greetings on Facebook and those left here to phone calls from so many great people including a former co-worker who is majorly missed to lots of text messages sending greetings to the homemade flan that Chica brought into work yesterday evening to the cake that I came home to last night that Jamie baked (the very first cake she's ever baked!) I can't even begin to say how much it all meant to me.  I almost felt like Sally Field when she accepted the Oscar for Best Actress in 1984: "... I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!"  And that's really a great feeling - once again my thanks to everyone for making my birthday a very special day!

Now, all gushing aside, for Travis' Five on Friday meme for this week I was inspired by a song that Jamie has on her iTouch and was playing in the car the other day - Pinch Me by the Barenaked Ladies.  I had forgotten how fun their music is until I was listening to it again and the thought popped into my head (and actually stayed there long enough for me to remember it!) that their music would make a great set for this week's Five on Friday.

For those of you not familiar with Five on Friday, it's a great meme that was started by the host of Trav's Thoughts that gives us the chance to share some of our favorite music with you and maybe inspire the liking for something new or bring back memories of something old.  It's a great meme and it's easy to play along should you ever choose to do so.  Just click on over to Travis' set for this week and check out the simple instructions.  After you listen to this week's song choices here, of course!

Meanwhile ... Back on Amanda's 18th Birthday

My bad!  It's been over a month now since Amanda's 18th birthday and graduation and I've yet to do any posts on it - gasp!  That's it; I've gone and lost Mother of the Year yet again and I've got no doubt that I was really going to be in the running this year, too!  Oh bother!

Anyway, in an attempt to catch up on the blessed event(s), let me back up to Friday, June the 18th, the date of not only Amanda's high school graduation but also her 18th birthday - the type of occasion that only manages to happen once in a lifetime when the planets align in the proper order ... or something like that!

Knowing that this was an event of historical proportions, I had begun thinking early about what sort of gift to get my off-to-art-college-in-the-fall-wannabe-illustrator daughter.  What could possibly be good enough for this sort of monumental occasion; what could possibly say "I'm proud of you for making it through high school with my sanity intact and oh by the way, welcome to adulthood!"; what gift would stand head-and-shoulders over all gifts?  Wait!  I know!  How about a one-of-a-kind, drawn-just-for-Amanda, none-other-like-it-in-the-world piece of art by her most favorite illustrator Gris Grimly?!?

For those of you who have been devoted followers of this blog (and I thank you all!), you probably remember that Amanda had the chance to meet Mr. Grimly at a book-signing in Baltimore last October when we made our second trip of the year to Charm City to attend the slightly-late funeral for Edgar Allan Poe - an event that was being held due to the fact that Poe had never had a proper funeral when he first died in a Baltimore hospital back in October of 1849.

In addition to meeting her favorite illustrator at the book-signing (where I exercised my parental right to embarrass her as much as possible), Amanda also had the chance to hear him speak at Poe's funeral being that Mr. Grimly has illustrated two books of Poe's writings - Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Madness and Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Death and Dementia - and he had been invited to speak along with other people who had been influenced by E.A. Poe such as H.P. Lovecraft, Sir Alfred Hitchcock, and (the still-alive) Ellen Datlow! I know it probably sounds a little strange but it really was a very cool event and I'm really glad we went.  Not many people walking around today can say they attended Poe's funeral but I can!

However, I digress - as per usual!  Knowing that one of the things Amanda wanted most in the world was to someday own an illustration of her own by Gris Grimly, I decided to send him an email and see if he would be at all available to do a commissioned piece for her birthday/graduation.  I was a little leery of him having the time to take on an extra project being that he had been hard at work on illustrating the original 1818 story of Frankenstein as well as bringing his version of Pinocchio to life on film but when I received an email back, he said that even though he was swamped he'd be able to do a cool ink sketch for Amanda that would indeed be a special gift.

A few more emails back and forth hammered out the details of when I'd need it by as well as ideas of what Amanda might like - heck, I figured he could draw two stick figures and she'd be thrilled to pieces but obviously the man is a professional and there's no way he's going to put his name on something like that!  Wanting to make sure that I knew my daughter as well as I thought I did, I consulted with her brain twin and best buddy Sami and together we worked up a list of probably way-too-many ideas for the poor guy to sort through!

Shortly after that, I was emailed a pencil sketch of Gris' planned artwork for Amanda so that I could make suggested changes if I wanted to before he inked it in.  Changes?  Oh heck no!  Even just looking at the rough pencil sketch I knew that Amanda was going to be totally blown away by the piece which I had mentioned she was probably going to want to get as a tattoo someday also.  He took that into consideration while he was sketching and what he had shown me was perfectly Amanda!

While waiting for the final sketch to arrive I took the time to order what I hoped would be the perfect picture frame and archival matting to display her one-of-a-kind gift and then I had everything shipped to work so that Amanda wouldn't be the one to get the mail the day any of it showed up. She wouldn't have been suspicious about yet another picture frame arriving but a delivery from Mad Creator Productions would certainly have raised both eyebrows! There were a couple of times before the big day that I thought about giving the artwork to her early as I was pretty excited to see what her reaction was going to be but somehow I managed to wait until the morning of her birthday/graduation.  As a matter of fact, I even managed to wait until she had returned from her "reunion" breakfast with her father - an event she hadn't exactly been looking forward to but which she got through without any of the problems she anticipated.

For those of you who missed it on Facebook, I feel it's my obligation to post the video that I took of Amanda opening her gift even though it embarrasses the heck out of the kid (again).  After all, I can't possibly violate the Code of Parental Ethics that requires us to embarrass our offspring as often as we can and besides, I don't think her reaction is embarrassing at all - I think it's priceless! The only thing that would have made it better is if I didn't have to listen to my own voice. Ew.

In conclusion, I think I'm going to have to say that I chose wisely and that Amanda was really quite happy with her gift. A big thank you once again to Gris Grimly for taking the time out of his incredibly busy schedule to make my daughter's day and then some. All I can say is that it's a good thing I've got four years before I think about a college graduation present because I'm not sure how on earth I'm going to top that one!

*I'm not posting a bigger/better picture of the sketch itself which is titled "Crypt Courtship" as Amanda doesn't want someone liking it so much that they copy it and get their own tattoo before she does but trust me, the detail is amazing and then some!

A Belated Happy Birthday to E.A. Poe

Had he still been alive - and a darned fine feat that would have been! - Edgar Allan Poe would have celebrated his 201st birthday yesterday. Wow, I hadn't really thought about him being around all that long ago as he's been rather alive at my house what with having his painting hanging on the wall in the dining room just above that of H.P. Lovecraft.  How many of you can say that, eh?  Ha!  Not too darned many I bet!

Anyhow, Amanda celebrated the day by wearing one of her E.A. Poe t-shirts to school and then came home and did a new piece of artwork in honor of the dearly departed:

This particular piece of art was created using ink and - believe it or not - coffee!  After sketching out Poe, the paper was then painted with a fine layer of coffee and then inked over.  Makes for a pretty amazing effect, doesn't it?  I swear to God, I don't know where this kid gets her talent as I doubt I could even do one line properly on the man's cravat!

In sadder news for our beloved Poe and his fans in Baltimore, it seems that the "Poe Toaster" failed to show up with his customary birthday gifts.  Every year since 1949 on the 100th anniversary of Poe's birth (usually at night), a cloaked individual has left a half-bottle of cognac and three roses at the foot of Poe's tomb in the burying grounds next to Westminster Hall in tribute to the legendary poet; but for the first time in 61 years, no one showed up.  It's left the Poe Society mystified and baffled - as well as disappointed  those who made the pilgrimage to Poe's grave for this year's birthday observance.

Upon hearing the news Amanda immediately stated that we needed to go to Baltimore to rectify this injustice but alas - day off or not - driving to Baltimore at the last minute was obviously not on the agenda!  Perhaps if we lived closer I might have actually entertained the idea as it's a shame to see a tradition fade away but I'm sure the Toaster had a good reason for not being there.  Perhaps he was feeling crummy.  You know how toasters get sometimes!

Wednesday Wanderings ...

With a beautiful November day to enjoy yesterday (on my day off no less!) I thought I'd take some time to see if I could get some photographs of a train or two but alas, I may as well have stayed home and cleaned the dining room which desperately needs it! 

I've been trying to catch a train crossing over the railroad trestle pictured above but have had absolutely no luck so far. The trestle crosses the Yantic River in between the Upper and Lower Falls not too far from my house and even though it's quite photogenic in its own right, I keep thinking how great the trestle would look with an actual train going over it. Unfortunately though the New England Central Railway, which operates on those tracks, apparently has pretty erratic schedules so there's no telling when a train might go by.  After waiting there for well over an hour yesterday the only thing I was catching was cold so I finally decided to head south and see what I could find closer to the Groton/Mystic area.

After driving around some I found a railroad crossing in the Noank section of Groton that looked like it had some potential so I took up a position near the tracks and waited for a train or two to come by.  Amtrak is the primary operator on the tracks at that crossing and several Acelas blew by while I was there.  Obviously I was not having a good camera day as the best shot I got out of all of the ones I took was this one -

and even that one isn't all that great. Granted, the train was zooming past me at a pretty good rate of speed so getting a good picture was tricky but I'm sure a better photographer would have gotten a nice picture. At least I got a wave from the engineer and a cheery blast from the horn as they sped by so I guess the day wasn't a total loss.  I'm thinking of trying my luck at the trestle again today but we'll see as there really are other things I could be doing before going into work other than hanging out by the railroad tracks!

Speaking of things to do, I have a couple of suggestions for you today!  First off, you could pop over to Everything and Nothing and wish Akelamalu a very happy birthday as she's celebrating hers today over in jolly old England.  Akelamalu is a bloody brilliant writer who always likes to add an unexpected twist to her stories and she also goes on some of the most amazing journies through England that has me wanting to go over there even more than I did before - as if that were possible!

After you stop in and wish Akelamalu a happy birthday click on over to PEA's Corner and enter her Christmas Giveway 2009 by simply leaving her a comment saying "Hey!  Count me in!" - or something along those lines!   PEA, a real sweetheart from Canada, has put together a wonderful collection of snowmen including a soap/lotion dispenser, toothpick holder, candle, and other assorted snowman goodies that are sure to put a smile on your face and holiday happiness in your home.  "The more - the merrier!" for the contest PEA says and you don't even have to tell her that I sent you if you don't want to!

When you're done with those two things you're free to have a wonderful Wednesday!

"Getting old ain't for sissies." ~ Betty Davis

As I was sitting here thinking about the past year and wondering just where on earth it got off to and how it seemed like there was no way that another full year just went by, I was reminded of a quote by one of my favorite cartoonists, Charles M. Schulz - "Just remember, once you're over the hill you begin to pick up speed."

Ya know, that just might explain where the last year went! I figure at the rate I'm going, I'll be sixty before I even had a chance to get used to being fifty!

Even though I just spent the past year at the age of 50, with the advent of my birthday today I am now officially "in" my 50's. I know that probably doesn't seem like a big difference but when you're 50, you're still awfully close to 49 - just a short step backwards and there you are but when you're 51, if you take that step backwards you're going to have to trip over 50 before you can get back to 49. You're kind of forced to continue forward or suffer the possibility of a flat tire on the road of life.

Not that I've noticed a great deal wrong with being smack-dab square in middle age - well, except for the assorted aches and pains I suffer when trying to get out of bed in the morning, the more frequent mental lapses, and the need to want to take a nap every afternoon! Fifty really didn't seem that much different to me than forty and I rather doubt that fifty-one is going to be at all different than fifty but still ... I know that time marches on but does it really need to go double-time?? Why is it when you're a kid it seems to take forever from one Christmas to another but when you're adult you still haven't put away last year's decorations and it's time to put them up again?

Is there some sort of hole in the time space continuum, a rip in the fabric of time, silicone mixed in with the sand in the hourglass of time that causes the years to fly by as fast as they do? Why is it that when you're a kid you can't wait to be an adult but when you're an adult, you wish you had enjoyed your time more as a kid? Just why is it that when you get over the hill you begin to pick up speed? And who made the wagon we're sitting in so wobbly??

Honestly, I've got no answers but I do have some wonderful quotes about aging that I thought appropriate to share with you today as my gift to you. I'd also offer to share some cake with you today, too, but as you can see, it's no longer edible! Sorry about that! So, while you guys enjoy these quotes please excuse me, I need to go out and stock up on Geritol, Metamucil, and some good vitamins!

Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened. ~ Jennifer Yane

Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children. ~ George Bernard Shaw

In childhood, we yearn to be grown-ups. In old age, we yearn to be kids. It just seems that all would be wonderful if we didn't have to celebrate our birthdays in chronological order. ~ Robert Brault

The first sign of maturity is the discovery that the volume knob also turns to the left. ~ Jerry M. Wright

Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself. ~ Tom Wilson

The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age. ~ Lucille Ball

Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle. ~ Bob Hope

Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life. ~ Herbert Asquith

Dinner and a Show

It has been said that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" but I gotta tell you - it's not just Jack who suffers from such a calamity! Ever since I decided to move someplace that has hot water and a landlord that wasn't going to make me feel bad if I had the nerve to ask him to fix something, I've been using just about every available moment outside of work to get my worldly goods out of the old place and into the new. It's made for a stressful couple of weeks in more ways than one so when my son asked me if I wanted to go out to the Fuji Garden Japanese Steakhouse in Pawcatuck this past Saturday to celebrate his wife's birthday, I thought it sounded like fun and said "sure".

Amanda and I had joined Mike and Laura at the same restaurant two years ago and not only was it fun to sit at a hibachi table and enjoy the show that our chef put on but the food was also very tasty so I was definitely looking forward to the night out, especially considering I spent the entire rest of the day hauling things in and out of one house or another. A break was definitely needed! Before I went, though, I needed to stop and pick up a couple of birthday gifts for Laura though I was on my own as to what to get her as Mike had said the only thing she wanted was a night out.

After giving it a little bit of thought, I decided that it might be nice to get Laura some 'girly stuff' being that she lives with three guys - my son and two grandsons. To that end I bought her some coconut and lime soap and body lotion, a box of European chocolates, and a candle that not only looked exactly like a jar of maraschino cherries but smelled like it, too! The only thing missing was vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, and some whipped cream!

I ran home, quickly wrapped the gifts, and changed clothes before heading out to make the drive over to Pawcatuck, a small town near the Rhode Island border. Even though I hate to be late, I had a feeling I was going to be as traffic past Foxwoods Casino was its usual pain-in-the-driver's-seat no matter that their profits have plunged with the current economic status of the country. I guess people still figure they need to go out on a Saturday night and the casino is apparently as good a place as any.

Dinner was set for 6:00 and I got there at about 5 minutes past so met up with everyone else already sitting around the hibachi table. Joining us were Mike's friend and best man at his wedding, Bill (who also had helped Mike the week before in moving most of the furniture out of my old house - thanks, Bill!); Tom, an EB co-worker; and Beth and Eric, more co-workers. If it seemed strange to any of them that Mike's mom was joining them for dinner none of them acted like it and I didn't feel at all out of place around a table of young 30-somethings. Besides, isn't 50 the new 30? I think I read that somewhere and if that's the case, I fit right in!

Our table was the one on the left and because I'm a dope lately and totally forgot to bring my camera, I got the above picture from the restaurant's web site. The other picture in this post was taken with my cell phone camera so it isn't of the best quality but I think you'll get the general idea!

When I arrived everyone was ordering sushi, something that I really haven't been able to get into even though two of my three kids just love it. Mike told me that he was going to give the sea urchin (Uni) a try as he'd heard it was supposed to be good. Yeah ... okay ...! Bill, who is apparently quite well-versed in the stuff, was having an assortment of sushi for dinner as opposed to a hibachi meal and when the platter arrived, I had to admit that it all looked and smelled good even though it isn't something I care for. It made me laugh, though, when Mike tried the Uni as his face was similar to that of a baby's when you give him or her some new food to try - somewhat quizzical and perplexed and not quite sure whether to swallow or spit! He said that the taste was okay but he didn't really care for the texture at all; either way I give him major points for being brave enough to try it!

Shortly afterwards our chef came out and fired up the hibachi grill - literally!

I love to watch these guys prepare the food as they flip their knives and spatulas, chop and dice at the speed of light, and crack jokes all at the same time. They are true artists at what they do and it's one of the most fun dining experiences ever! It's most definitely dinner and a show and well worth the extra charge that you pay to sit at a hibachi table. If you've never had the pleasure, may I suggest you try it sometime - I guarantee you won't be disappointed!

My steak and chicken was absolutely delicious as was the fried rice, noodles, and vegetables that I had on the side. Everyone agreed that the food was great and plentiful and there wasn't a single one of us who had room for dessert. Most everyone else was enjoying a bit of Sake with their meal but knowing that I'm a lightweight when it comes to alcohol, I opted to just have a diet soda. Because it was her birthday and Mike was driving, Laura was quite enjoying the Sake and the night out for her birthday and everyone really seemed to have a good time. It was a very nice way to spend a Saturday evening and I was really glad that I was asked to join in the celebration - it sure the heck beat staying home by myself and opening a can of soup to dine on amongst the packing boxes!

At the end of the evening, the leftover sushi was boxed up to be sent home with me for Amanda to have later (she was over at her friend Cate's for the night) and I headed for Norwich with a full stomach, the memory of a nice night out, and the knowledge that I seemed to have done a decent job in raising my son if his choice of wife and friends were any indication. Now I ask you, what more could a mother want?

A Birth Meme Followed By A Birthday!

Last week, Jamie of Duward Discussion did a post about her birth year which she was inspired to write based on a feature called "Old School Friday" that Wayne Hicks does each week at Electronic Village. Jamie invented her own meme from this and challenged us all to the following:

"Your mission should you choose to accept it, is to go to The Birthday Calculator and This Day In History to find all sorts of interesting stuff about you and tell the world all about it."

Well, who am I to back away from a challenge? Especially one made by a woman whom I greatly admire as a fellow history buff and one who is much more knowledgeable than I! To that end, I hied myself on over to The Birthday Calculator and came up with the following for September 9th, 1958, the day my mother gave birth to her only daughter:

I was born on a Tuesday under the astrological sign Virgo.

My Life Path number is 5. As someone with a Life Path number of 5, I may be "one of the most compassionate of people as the 5 is surely the most freedom-loving and compassionate Life Path". This gives me something in common with my most favorite American President, Abraham Lincoln, who also had a Life Path number of 5! Pretty cool I'd say! I'm also supposed to be a good communicator and know how to motivate people around me which would give me something in common with President Ronald Reagan but I don't know what his Life Path number is!

My fortune cookie reads: It takes more than good memory to have good memories.

I was born in the Chinese year of the Dog.

My Native American Zodiac sign is Bear; my plant is Violets.

As of this writing I am 18,334 days old which makes 50 years sound not so bad after all!

I share my birthday with Michael Keaton, Adam Sandler, and Hugh Grant so guess who I'm inviting over for a party next year?!?

There were some truly odd songs at the Top of the Chart in 1958 including The Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley, Tequila by Champs, Volare by Domenico Modugno, and one of my very favorites as a kid ...

My lucky day is Wednesday and lucky me, I work 16-hour days on Wednesdays!

My lucky number is 5, which is even better if the 5th happens to be a Wednesday!

My ruling planet is Mercury.

In 1958 there were approximately 4.0 million births in the US and approximately 1,452,000 deaths (9.6 per 1000). Doesn't quite balance out, does it?

My birthstone is a Sapphire and my birth tree is a Weeping Willow (why am I not surprised by this part ... "suffers in love but sometimes finds an anchoring partner."?!?)

Meanwhile ... on this day in history ...

In 1776 - the Continental Congress renames the "United Colonies," "United States"

In 1850 - California becomes the 31st state in the Union.

In 1893 - Frances Folsom Cleveland, the wife of President Grover Cleveland, gives birth to a daughter, Esther, in the White House.

In 1956 - Elvis Presley sings "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog" on Ed Sullivan's immensely popular show Toast of the Town.

In 1965 - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax pitches the eighth perfect game in major league history, leading the Dodgers to a 1-0 win over the Chicago Cubs at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles.

In 1966 - John Lennon meets Yoko Ono at an avante-garde art exposition. And imagine that - he releases "Imagine" in 1971 five years later to the day!

In 1971 - Prisoners riot and seize control of the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility near Buffalo, New York.

In 1976 - Mao Zedong, Chinese revolutionary and statesman, dies in Beijing at the age of 82.

Thanks, Jamie - that was actually kind of fun! Perhaps more of you would like to find out about your birthday and what exciting things happened in history then? If so, take up Jamie's challenge and then be sure to let me know so I can read about it and let Jamie know, too, as she'll be more than happy to link back to you!

Oh, and speaking of great days in history ... guess what happened on this date thirty-one years ago in 1977? Not only did Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat travel to Jerusalem to seek a permanent peace settlement with Israel after decades of conflict but it was also the birthday of the Blogosphere's very own CrAzY Working Mom! Talk about monumental!

Be sure to pop by Tisha's blog and wish her a very happy birthday as she celebrates the beginning of her 31st year on this planet! Oh - and here - have some cake before you go because what's a birthday without cake??

Happy Birthday, Tisha! Best wishes for many, many more!

'A' is for Apple - 'F' is for Frank ...

I am a firm believer that birthdays, no matter what age you're turning, are special and should be celebrated and acknowledged as that's the one day out of the year that you can call your very own - well, unless you're a twin or a triplet or one of those other multiple birth babies as then you have to share your special day with your brothers and/or sisters! Still, birthdays only come once a year and everyone deserves a happy one.

This past Monday was the birthday of Frank, a fella I've mentioned here in my blog a time or two. He's a fire inspector (more like a fire god) down at the Mohegan Sun Casino (where I have been finding it darn hard to get in my hours for training) as well as a part-time dispatcher at American where he once was quite the god there, too, if stories from the past are to be believed! Knowing that he was going to be working dispatch with us on Wednesday evening I thought it would be nice to bake an apple pie to bring for him as a belated celebration of the anniversary of his birth.

Here's the story of the creation of Frank's birthday pie ... Warning! You may find yourself beset with cravings for apple pie after watching this video!

Who says you have to have birthday cake in order to celebrate? Birthday pie is just as good! Now ... about that diet I've been meaning to go on ...

Happy Birthday to CallieAnn!

True story: my good friend and one of the sweetest, funniest ladies ever - and I know this for a fact because I just spent a great week with her in Rhode Island - is having a birthday today. Everyone deserves to have a great day on their birthday so if you get a chance please click on over to Scrappin' With Life and tell Callie Ann that I sent ya and you want cake! Or at least pie; pie is good, too!

Happy birthday, CallieAnnBrat, and may all of your fondest wishes come in on the next wave!

Happy Birthday, Sweet 16!

Sixteen years ago today I gave my mother a once in a lifetime birthday present - her first granddaughter. In addition to sharing a birthday, Amanda and my mother also share their middle name - Elizabeth. Originally I had wanted to name the baby who always seemed to have her big feet in my ribs Amanda Lynn but my cousin Amy had harassed me to no end as she said that sounded too much like a mandolin. Leave it to a bluegrass fan to point that out so Amanda Elizabeth she became!

Even though it seems to have become the norm for parents to now give their 16-year olds a major blow-out party I really can't afford one so later this evening we'll just celebrate with a cake and few friends while we save the bigger celebration for next weekend when Amanda, Darci, Cate, Amy, and I take on The Big Apple and a Mindless Self Indulgence concert at Terminal 5. I bet if I could somehow get Jimmy to sing "Happy Birthday" to her, albeit a little late, I'd be forgiven for not having a big party! Hmm ... I wonder ...

Happy 16th birthday, Amanda, and happy birthday to my Mom, too!

Amanda & Grandma celebrate their birthdays

Bunches of Birthdays

With the advent of summer also comes a lot of birthdays in my family - my grandson turns 3 on June 12th, my favorite aunt has a birthday on June 14th, Amanda turns 16 on June 18th, my mother turns an undisclosed age on the same day, and Jamie will turn 15 on July 26th.

I'll be going over to my son's home in Rhode Island for a slightly early birthday celebration for Mathew on Sunday but as far as the others go, things are still up in the air. I know that Amanda would like to do something special for her 16th but I've got no clue what that might involve and, unfortunately, it looks like Jamie is going to be spending her 15th birthday down in Florida at her Dad's. Somehow I don't think any invitations will be coming forth from down that way but I'm going to have to make sure I send her something special to celebrate the day.

They recently got season passes to Busch Gardens so maybe she'll spend her birthday there riding the rollercoasters that she's come to really enjoy - just like I did when I was her age and didn't have a bad back and knew no fear!

Still ... I'd really rather have her home for the summer ...

“Birthdays are nature's way of telling us to eat more cake.”

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We have had three birthdays in the Dispatch/Scheduling Department at work in the past week - which just goes to prove that September babies rule! - including my dispatch partner Jen, myself, and Renee who is the Employee Scheduling Coordinator. Hopefully that's it for a little while as my diet has totally flown out the window from all of the cake we've had on hand!

Speaking of cakes, I actually made that lovely beauty pictured above for Renee's birthday yesterday and I was quite proud of myself as it's been awhile since I've made a cake and I think it came out quite well if I do say so myself! Especially considering I made it in between reading and writing blog posts!

Renee likes anything chocolate - strawberries dipped in chocolate, chocolate-covered nuts, chocolate ice cream, hot chocolate, etc. - and even though I knew that one of the ladies in the Finance Department where Renee used to work before she came downstairs was making her a cheesecake, I wanted to make her a chocolate cake because when it's your birthday you should have whatever your favorites are, right?

With that in mind I decided to bake a chocolate fudge cake with a chocolate cream cheese filling and chocolate Dream Whip frosting. I had never done a chocolate cream cheese filling but it turned out to be quite easy (8 ounces softened cream cheese blended with 1-1/4 cups milk and then one 4-ounce package of instant chocolate pudding mix whipped in; refrigerate for 10 minutes; spread between layers). I even managed to expertly split my layers with sewing thread so that I had filling between three of them - I think Mags might have been proud of me! The frosting I made was a variation on one of my Dad's favorites which simply required a package of Dream Whip, milk, and sugar-free chocolate fudge pudding mix. Of course you have to keep the cake refrigerated because of the nature of the frosting but I suspect the cream cheese filling needs to be also.

Turns out the cake was quite delicious, not overly sweet but definitely chocolaty, and Renee was thrilled with it. It's nice to know that I still have some domestic abilities even though I don't use them too often these days! Now I'm thinking what might be real tasty is a lemon cake, lemon cream cheese filling, and a lemon Dream Whip frosting ... what do you think Miss Bee, how does that sound??

Happy Birthday to Sandee!!

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Happy Birthday to another fantastic September girl!

Please go by and wish Sandee at Comedy+ a very happy birthday!

I'm sure there's got to be cake somewhere cuz what's a birthday without cake?