Comments on Comments

Is it me or are the weeks going by really quickly? Seems like it was just Sunday and now here it is Sunday again! I guess as the days grow shorter, so do the weeks!

Anyhow, what did I write about last Monday? Oh yeah, it was Mo's Manic Monday Meme where the word of the week was "Light"! I posted a couple of pictures that I had taken around town that used light in different ways - one of a local church that has a floodlight that illuminates a beautiful blue door and the other of Christmas lights strung across the downtown streets ...

Desert Songbird said ... Those lights over the street look just like the lights in Mags's photo! The blue door is great. The lights on the church have a wonderful blue glow.

For those who asked, the floodlight itself is not blue, it just seemed to photograph that way and I believe the light is there for both safety and beauty!

Tuesday was once again a two-fer with my first being Another Mindless Post - Sort Of! which Amanda commanded asked me to write! She had attended two Mindless Self Indulgence concerts over the weekend, taken lots of great concert pictures, and wanted me to show them off - which I did in the form of a slideshow complete with music from Tub Ring, one of her favorite new bands ...

Last Minute Lyn said ... Wow I'm sure she had a great time, she sure took great photos!

carol g said ... What a great experience for Amanda - and great photos too!! I just asked my 37 y.o. son (soon to be 38) if he had ever heard of MSI... nope. The up side was: BOY DID I MAKE HIM FEEL OLD :O)

Travis said ... You are aware, I'm sure, that you have added to your epicness by deciding not to attend and letting her go with her friend.

Why thank you, Travis, I hadn't thought of that! Lyn, Amanda says 'thank you' and Carol, your son can take heart that not a lot of people have heard of MSI - you kind of have to have a teenager who's crazy about them to be in the know! Lucky me?

My other post for Tuesday was this week's Creative Photography Meme (formerly contest) entry in which I featured a nightshot that I had taken of a clock in front of our local courthouse that I then converted to black & white and titled "Time Standing Still" ...


For some reason, a lot of people seemed to think it was spooky ...

Claire said ... "Time Standing Still" is a great title for it, or "This is a spooky clock, where time freezes and monsters leap out from another dimension to suck out your brains". I think mine is rather catchy....

Patti said... Beautiful nighttime photo, Duchess Linda. (wink) You captured a spooky atmosphere. Actually it looks like it could have been taken in Paris.

Alas, Patti, Norwich is far from Paris but I guess it has its good parts and Claire ... well, what can I say when it comes to Claire?!? I think I shall keep my title, thank you very much, and next time I go down there I'll be looking out for monsters now!

Back to work on Wednesday so I left everyone with I've Got a Question - You've Got an Answer where the question was -

Do you decorate for the holidays and, if so, have you done so?

Sandy B and Dick said ... Since we just got home from our cruise, I am late in decorating. Only have a wreath on the front door and a bow on the mailbox. Will only put up a few decorations (stockings, small fiber optic tree, candles, etc.), since I have to 'undecorate' right after Christmas before we head south to FL. I'm gettin' lazy about decorating as I get older, and just enjoy the kids' houses all decked out!

tarheelrambler said ... Yes...well, if I'm perfectly honest, Mrs. Rambler did the decorating and I brought in the ladder and carried the boxes of decorations for her. I also put together the tree and placed it on top of the entertainment center out reach of the cats.

Amazing Gracie said ... Nope and nope...haven't since my kids were little and we went to my mom's house and now, for years - they've been on their own.

I hadn't actually done any decorating myself until yesterday when I finally got enough ambition to put out the light-up deer and take the fiber optic tree out of the box; a short post on that follows below this one. At least it looks a little like Christmas around here now but not like anything you'd see in Better Homes & Gardens!

Thursday brought me The Superior Scribbler Award from fellow Connecticut-ian (or whatever we're called!) Ralph at Airhead 55. Acceptance of the award required me to tell you seven things about myself so I tried to find a few interesting things ...

Bud Weiser, WTIT said ... Did the dentist clean your teeth before the ceremony?

Sandee (Comedy +) said ... You're not claiming California anymore. Got something against Stockton now? Bwahahahahaahah.

Maddy said ... I'm so glad you explained that the dentist was a Justice of the Peace, you had me worried for a moment there.

Okay, first off - no, we didn't get our teeth cleaned or get free dental floss samples or toothbrushes or anything like that. We just got married in the reception area (which with a start like that, I guess it's no wonder the marriage didn't last!) And as far as forgetting to list California along with the other places I've lived - that was a big oops and just goes to show that I shouldn't write posts late at night after working long shifts! As a matter of fact, I lived not only in Stockton, California but also in San Bernardino and Long Beach. Sorry to the Left Coast!

I was Looking at the Sky on Friday with Tisha (her new meme!) and posted a picture of a sunrise over Norwich that I took a few months ago - prior to getting my Nikon though a lot of people thought I had taken the picture with it; just goes to show what a great job my Kodak Z712 did! In addition to the picture, I pointed out the new holiday decorations on my blog header and I also had a little fun with the Elf Yourself program and had Morgen, Callie, and myself put on our dancing shoes for a turn around the barn floor ...

MightyMom said ... ok, I don't know which is more odd ... a squid with a candycane, an elf dancing with a pitch fork....or a yankee doing the Cotton Eye'd Joe!! But thanks for the laughs all the same, and that's a beautiful sunrise you got there too!

Empress Bee (of the High Sea) said ... well if i can't post my nekkid photos of sarge looking at the sky then i'm just not going to play. the end.

Lois Grebowski said ... It ain't right seeing Mo shimmy! Bwahahahaahhaah! Love the holiday decorations!

Honestly, it's probably better to see Mo shimmy then to see me dance as I've got two left feet in real life and couldn't do the Cotton-Eye'd Joe if my life depended on it! At least nothing that looked remotely close to it! Seriously, though, if you want to have some fun, go Elf Yourself and your friends and family then sit back and laugh!

Finally on Saturday I was pretty well tapped-out for the week and needed to get some stuff done around the house so I opted to do another short meme that has been making its way around the blogosphere. It's All About Me answers ten quick little questions that are ... all about me! Once again, I seemed to have left out California though in my answer to longest car ride ...

Callie Ann said ... OH Honey, are you blocking California out of your mind? To me your longest car ride was a Uhaul with a son and all your stuff going from one coast to another. To me that is your longest car ride and rumor says you did it a couple of times. Have a great day, sweetie.

The reason I didn't list that trip, Callie, was because I thought they were asking for longest car ride that was all in one shot, though I could be wrong. Truth be told, I've made the drive cross-country a bunch of times but one of them was with 6-year old Mike in a rental van with all of our worldly possessions in the back.

The last drive from California was in 1993 when my brother flew out to Long Beach and we drove back to Connecticut with Mike (who was 11 by then) and Amanda, who was 8 months old, whilst the husband was out to sea somewhere. Just for the record, I moved back to Connecticut because I was expecting Jamie at that point and the ex was going to be out to sea more than he was going to be in port so I wanted to be home where I could get some help if need be.

That wraps up another week of Comments on Comments. I hope you'll come back this week and find something worth leaving a comment on so perhaps I can feature you here next week! I'll try to write something interesting for you! Everyone have a great Sunday!

Oh Deer! It's a Tree!

Martha Stewart would be horribly disappointed in the pathetic amount of holiday decorations at my house but considering I don't expect the Domestic Diva to be popping in for eggnog anytime soon I'm not going to worry about it!

I spent the majority of today (the first Saturday I've had off in a very long time) trying to clean and de-clutter the house enough to at least put my light-up deer in front of the house and take my 3-foot pre-lit fiber optic tree out of its box.

Mission accomplished and now my back is aching like I've been run over by a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer! Ah well, at least there are a few Christmas decorations up and Jamie won't arrive home on Thursday thinking her mom has turned into the Grinch ... yet!

Pardon me now while I go crank up the heating pad a little higher ...

It's All About Me ...

This little meme has been making the rounds and considering I can't think of anything brilliant to write about today, I thought "why not?" and decided to do it. I wasn't tagged by anyone and won't be tagging anyone else so not to worry if you're afraid I'm going to smack you with another meme because it ain't gonna happen!

1. Five names you go by: Linda, Linnie, Linda Loo, Mom, Dispatcher Orlomoski
2. Three things you are wearing right now: slippers, bathrobe, 9/11 remembrance t-shirt
3. Two things you want very badly at the moment: a fireplace with a crackling fire, someone to share said crackling fire with
4. Three people who will probably fill this out or maybe will or maybe won’t: Sandee, Ivana, and Lois - because they've all already done it!
5. Two things you did last night: worked, watched Ghost Adventurers on the Travel Channel with my co-workers
6. Two things you ate today: frozen blueberry waffles, an orange
7. Two people you last talked to on the phone: one of my work supervisors, Amanda
8. Two things you are going to do tomorrow: work for 16 hours, watch movies at work
9. Two longest car rides: New Jersey to Oklahoma City (I shared driving duties with my friend Carol); the Wisconsin Dells to New Jersey (for that one I was hyped up on NoDoz and drove straight through!)
10. Two of your favorite beverages: hot tea and hot coffee

If you want to grab this one and do a quick and easy meme, feel free and then let me know so I can come over to check it out but as I said, I won't tag anyone. No doubt my friend Erik will be glad to know that I didn't tag him again as I seem to have been picking on the poor guy unmercifully lately!

Have a splendid Saturday! I'm going to spend some of mine doing more than just thinking about getting my small Christmas tree out of the box and actually doing it! At least that's the plan ... ! Which is always subject to change ... !

Looking at the Sky on Friday with Tisha

Last week my friend Tisha at CrAzY Working Mom ran into a bit of a roadblock with the folks at Skywatch Friday (they didn't like her writing posts about things like diet supplements and the like) and hence "Looking at the Sky on Friday" was born. If you want to join in there are no restrictions that I am aware of unless you post pictures of naked people looking at the sky on Friday - I think that might be pushing the envelope just a little!

My picture for this week is one of the sun rising over Norwich as seen from the parking lot where I work which I obviously took a little while ago as the sun hasn't risen over Norwich much at all this week and it certainly didn't rise this morning either! Come to think of it, I wasn't in the parking lot at work this morning either and, unless I want a face full of rain, the only looking at the sky I'm going to be doing at all this Friday is via pictures!

Speaking of looking, I attempted to give my blog a more Christmasy look by drawing Santa hats and passing out candy canes to the residents on top of my header. You'll notice that even the squid got one! As you can tell, I'm definitely NOT the artiste in the family but considering I did the drawing with Paint and the thumb-mouse on my laptop I don't think it came out too bad. Of course, now you can see why I never participate in Doodle Week when it rolls around! Hey, Claire, you paying attention here?!?

Oh ... and while I'm on the topic of Christmas ... I had a little fun over at Elf Yourself and thought I'd post the results of that here so you folks could enjoy a chuckle or two and maybe be inspired to go on over and create your own Elfin' fun!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Whew! All that dancing has worn me out! I'm darned lucky I didn't throw my back out! Ah well, may beautiful Friday skies be above you wherever you may be!

The Superior Scribbler Award

I recently received a nice little award from Ralph of Airhead 55 who received it from Leora of Here in HP who got it from Robin of Around the Island. Where it came from before that, I'm not at all sure but I was quite pleased to have it end up on my blog especially considering that I was in the good company of other awardees Patti at Late Bloomer Boomer, Lynn of A Tired Mama, Tammy from Queen Size Funny Bone, and Dianne of Forks Off the Moment. I'd have to say that Ralph really knows how to pick 'em when it comes to great bladies - that's blog + ladies for those of you who have yet to learn to speak the Queen's English!

The only 'hitch' with this award is that it comes with a couple of rules:

• Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
• Share 7 facts about yourself, some random, some weird.
• Tag 7 people (if possible) at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
• Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Ah ... seven more things that I need to tell you about myself ... that might be tough but let me see if I can come up with a few things that might be at least a tiny bit interesting ...

1. Even though I may sometimes walk through cemeteries to take pictures at night, I will not sleep in a room with an open closet door.
2. I have lived in Maryland, Florida, Arizona, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Texas, New Jersey, and California in addition to Connecticut.
3. My first car was a 1975 Chevy Chevette, color blue.
4. I have listened to people being shot on the other end of a 911 call and, let me tell you, that sort of thing stays with you for a very, very long time.
5. I've tried skiing once in my life at a place in Lake Tahoe and that, my friends, was not pretty!
   
6. My first marriage took place in the reception area of a dentist's office in Wrightstown, New Jersey (the dentist was a Justice of the Peace).
   
7. I once took an Amtrak train from California to Massachusetts and it was a very pretty trip and great way to see some of the country. The food was pretty good, too!

Whew! And there you have it - seven more things you might not have known about me nor ever thought to ask! Now, for those Seven Superior Scribblers that I can pass this award on to ...

• Jamie of Duward Discussion
• Rob of In Times and Out Goals
• Lois of Lowdown from Lois
• Erik of The Fire Insider
• Carol G of A Letter to Me
• Sarah of My Wonderful Life

Enjoy your awards and I'll look forward to learning even more about you from the comfort of my home business (i.e., couch!) when you post your own seven things!

I've Got a Question - You've Got an Answer

I've yet to actually do any sort of Christmas decorating here at home and am still in the "thinking about it" stage. However, with just a touch over two weeks until Christmas I suspect if I'm going to do something it should be soon, right? Hmmm ... Maybe Saturday?

Fortunately for me, the ladies in the billing office at work did their Christmas decorating last week so I took advantage of their Christmas spirit and snuck downstairs to take some pictures after everyone else had gone home so that I could put together the above collage!

Which brings us to the question of this post ...

Do you decorate for the holidays and, if so, have you done so?

Creative Photography

Roger has changed things up a bit over at the Creative Photography blog and done away with the weekly contest replacing it with a weekly photo meme instead. I guess it was just too hard to pick a winner from the great submissions plus creativity is probably a very hard thing to judge as it's all pretty subjective - just like art and photography in general.

So, instead of vying for a badge to put on one's sidebar, the idea now is for people to post a photograph, put a link up at the Creative Photography blog, and then go check out the other entries. Sounds good to me as it gives me a chance to share some of my pictures and not worry about whether they are worthy of winning an award or not. Cool, right?

This week's Creative Photography Meme submission is a picture that I took last week while out fooling around with some night shots. I converted it to black & white as I think it just looks better that way and gives it more "pop" ...


This is the clock that stands in front of the courthouse in downtown Norwich and the chauteau-esque looking building behind it is one of the downtown banks. If I had to give it a title, I might consider calling this picture "Time Standing Still". What do you think?

Another Mindless Post - Sort Of!

So ... while I was working my nether regions off this past weekend, Amanda was out doing one of the things she loves best - attending a couple of Mindless Self Indulgence concerts in the area. As part of their continued IF tour, they were playing in both Providence and New Haven this past weekend and with the band that close of course she had to go!!

Because I'm a pushover, I got her the tickets as part of her Christmas present but I told her that there was no way that I was going this time as I had to work, there was a snowball's chance in a warm climate that I would be able to get the time off, and -frankly - I figured she'd have a better time without her mother tagging along even though I have been deemed to be "epic", "awesome", and "amazing" (just to name a few adjectives) on the MSI forum that Amanda frequents. Apparently the child speaks well of me to her friends!

Anyhow, my greatness aside (!) ... there were two bands opening for MSI at these shows ... Leathermouth featuring Frank Iero of My Chemical Romance fame and Tub Ring who hail from Chicago. Amanda was more excited to see Tub Ring perform as she had heard that Curtis RX, a member of the band Creature Feature (whom I did a post on awhile back) was going to be playing guitar with the band as a guest. Excitement abounded!

Bright and early on the morning of the first concert in Providence, Amanda and Robert took up a place in line outside of Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel and even though they were there at 7:00 a.m. for a 7:00 p.m. show, there were already four people ahead of them in line. Amanda sent me a text that they were "MCR fan-girls" and were apparently there to see Frankie while not giving two hoots about MSI or the other band. Throughout the day Amanda kept in touch with me via text to let me know that she hadn't frozen yet, that she and Robert were taking turns popping into the nearby Dunkin Donuts shop to warm up, and that Steve Righ? of MSI fame had walked by and talked to her a little bit.

Finally it was time for the concert to start and Tub Ring took to the stage first followed by Leathermouth, whom Amanda didn't really care for, and then her favorite - Mindless Self Indulgence. Naturally Amanda and Robert stayed after the concert to chat with the band members (MSI is really good about that sort of thing) and Amanda had a chance to talk with Curtis RX; she told him that it was nice to see him on the East Coast and asked when the new album was coming out. Artist that she is, she also mentioned to him that she was trying to draw a comic based on one of Creature Feature's songs and he thought that was great and for her to send it off to him at MySpace when it was done.

The next concert was being held at Toad's Place in New Haven on the Yale campus and Amanda and Robert met up with some of the other members of the Nation of Crackers, the MSI forum to which she belongs and who think I am all that and a bag of chips (for reasons that I won't go into here). For this concert they didn't get into line until 11:00 and there were only about six or seven fans in front of them. As a note here, it's important to point out that one has to get to a concert ridiculously early if one hopes to be really close to the barrier and/or stage as what's the point of going if you can't be potentially crushed in the front of the crowd?!

When Tub Ring took to the stage to open the night this time, Amanda and Robert were right in front of Curtis' side of the stage and about 15 minutes in, Curtis spoke to Amanda from the stage and said, "Hi, I already broke a string!" At the end of their set Amanda yelled out "I have part of the comic finished" and he told her to meet him at the merch ('merchandise' for those not familiar with the lingo) stand in five minutes.

Of course she did and they had a chance to talk about comics and future concerts and Amanda getting a job so that she could pay for their next CD and concert tickets on her own (yay!). I guess they even talked about the weather when Curtis told her that he wasn't used to the cold being that he was from California so she told him that she was a Californian herself (born in Long Beach). Apparently they had a nice chat and she sent me a text all excited that she had made a new friend.

Being that she was so close to the front of the stage, Amanda had the chance to take some pretty good pictures so she asked if I would put them together in a slideshow for her and post it on my blog. After all, she reminded me, this blog is supposed to be about her, too, and this is exciting stuff for a 16-year old so how could I not write about it?!? Well, when she put it that way, I guess that I couldn't so without further ado may I present to you Tub Ring (whose music isn't too bad!) featuring Curtis RX of Creature Feature! -


Maybe the kid could have a future in concert photography if the whole art thing doesn't work out?!? Considering the video doesn't show Amanda's pictures off to their best, if you'd like to check out the pictures in a "better" setting then be sure to go check out Delirious Photography - Amanda's photo-page on MySpace!

Manic Monday - Light

Due to my whacked-out work schedule lately, I haven't had a chance to participate in Morgen's Manic Monday Meme but with things being semi-back to 'normal' I thought I would join back in with this week's theme of "light". How lucky for me that I actually had some pictures dealing with light that I took last week when I was out freezing my fingers off in an attempt to take some night photos. I knew they'd come in handy at some point!

This first picture is of the Park Congregational Church which sits on the corner of Broadway and Crescent Street right across from Norwich Free Academy where Amanda attends high school. It's a very pretty church which was established in 1784 and, if you've been a regular reader for awhile, you might remember this church from my Steeplechasing in Norwich, Part III post (which was inspired by Princess Patti's steeplechasing escapades in her part of Connecticut!)

Even though there's nothing particularly spectacular about this shot, I figured it fit the theme of "light" as not only is there a lovely light post in the middle of the picture but there's that lovely beam of light emitting from the floodlight to the right. Oh, and just for the record, I love the blue door on this church!

This next picture is one I took of the Christmas lights in downtown Norwich near the courthouse and looking towards Franklin Square. Again, there's nothing spectacular but the Christmas lights strung across the road fit the theme of "light" quite nicely.

The lights really do look a lot prettier in real life than they do in this picture but at least it gives you a bit of a glimpse as to what downtown Norwich looks like around Christmas.

As I've said, I'm still experimenting and learning when it comes to night shots with the Nikon but I'm hoping that once I learn the nuances of light and exposure and all that good stuff a little bit better then I'll have some better pictures to show you. In the meantime, Travis said he didn't mind if I experimented on you folks!

Be sure to see who else lit things up over at the Manic Monday Meme and have a wonderful Monday no matter where you are or what you're doing!

Comments on Comments

How does Sunday manage to get here so fast and why am I never prepared? Oh yeah ... now I remember ... because I work too much! Oh well, in these times of economic recession and financial insecurity, it's nice to know that I'm doing my part to inflate Uncle Sam's coffers with the taxes I pay on all that overtime, right? Sigh ... meanwhile ... back at the blog ...

Monday's postm Caption That Photo!, once again gave my readers the chance to show off their funnier sides and you didn't disappoint me with some great captions for the photo at the right. As promised, I let Amanda pick out the winning caption and, what a surprise, she went with these two from a California gal with a great sense of humor ...

katherine said ... hey mom.... take this for your blog! and
okay seriously .... "mindful indulgence"

And, of course, I have to give a shout-out for my favorite

Star8278 said ... Man, this organic crap tastes just like plastic!!!

Thank you to everyone for playing along, I get a real kick out of reading your creative and funny comments and as soon as I can find a good picture, we'll play again!

On Tuesday I wrote two posts; the first was a short one about my Christmas Cash Crisis - Again! in which I lamented the fact that I am apparently not smart enough to put money away in a Christmas club and end up being short, once again, at the most commercialized wonderful time of the year. Leave it to my friend from Texas to be a smart aleck ...

MightyMom said ... get busy and make your kids and grandkids something special! you know, with all that FREE TIME you have!!!

Thanks, Sarah, I'll get right on that! NOT!

My second post of the day, The Legend of Chief Uncas and Indian Leap, told the story of the legendary Mohegan Sachem Uncas who faced down a mightier force of Narragansetts and made a leap across the Yantic River that went down in history. I tried to make the tale as accurate as possible but I'm not positive that it is due to the conflicting stories I found during the research of the post. Still, it's a great story that gives readers a glimpse into the history of Norwich. One of the local boys thought I done good ...

Erik said ... Awesome, awesome post Linda!! You know I'm a history lover just like you, and this was a great post. Kinda wish CPTV, PBS, or someone would make a movie or documentary about this. Granted someone made "The Last of the Mohegans" with Daniel Day Lewis, but it wasn't the same story... Still a good movie though!

I'm with you, Boukie, I wish someone would dig more into this and do a documentary - I'd watch it! I'm glad you liked my version!

On Wednesday I continued to take a look at the area around Indian Leap with Yantic Falls in Pictures & Music in which I took a good number of my pictures and set them to Native American drumming music. Obviously I take way too many pictures but slideshows set to music are a great way to display them! The post inspired the following comment and question ...

Jeni said ... Loved the video and music -quite some awesome sights, Linda. BTW -don't remember if you mentioned this in your earlier post -just wondering here -what is the distance across the river at the area of the Indian Leap anyway? Seems so incredible that anyone would attempt to hurl themselves across a gap like that, doesn't it?

Good question, Jeni, and I had meant to mention that somewhere along the line but forgot ... at the time of Uncas' leap across the gorge, the gap was around 50 feet or so however due to time and erosion it's obviously much, much larger of a gap now and you'd have to have wings on your feet to get from one side to the other - or a rocket-pack! Were anyone to actually try it and make it, it would be a whole new legend!

With my camera still firmly in hand, Thursday's post showed you Norwich's City Hall Lit Up for Christmas. The pictures were part of my first attempt at night photography with my Nikon and even though it was kind of cold and I didn't know what I was doing for the most part, I thought I got some fairly decent shots. A couple other people thought so, too ...

Lois Grebowski said ... Wow! That is one beautiful building all lit up! And your shots were uber-fantastic! You go gurl!!!! :-D)

PEA said ... My first thought was that it looks exactly like one of those Christmas houses you can buy to make a village...how beautiful it is!! I wish we had a City Hall that looked like that. Wow! I just love the way they've decorated it...I would just sit there for hours admiring every little detail! lol xoxo

Aw shucks, thank you, Lois, and PEA, you're right - it's very picturesque and Christmasy looking. I'll have to see if I can get some shots with some snow if we get some like they keep threatening!

On Friday I did two posts again ... the first one was I've Got a Question - You've Got an Answer where I asked the question : When it comes to a Christmas tree, do you have an artificial tree or a real one?

The answers seemed to be almost unanimously in favor of an artificial tree for many of the same reasons that I had eventually switched over to one myself ...

carol g said ... Growing up it was the real McCoy. However, waaaaaaaaaay back then, the phrase 'artificial tree' was just a twinkle in someone's eye. Now we have a full-size (7 foot) artificial tree that came with the lights already strung on it... how I HATED to string the lights on the tree every year!!

silverneurotic said ... artificial. when I was growing up, my family would go every single year to buy a real Christmas tree...but it just got to the point where all my younger siblings just became "too old" to enjoy the process of searching for the "best" tree and my parents decided to go for an artificial. It cuts down on the mess as well so that's a plus.

Some, though, have a more sentimental reason for their Christmas trees ...

Bud Weiser, WTIT said ... I have a small tree like yours, that my daughter Jules gave me after my last divorce (10 years ago) She bought lights with it. And for the next few years she bought ornaments and a skirt, etc. She is still very sick and off in California. I don't hear much from her as I do with my other three. I always smile think of the happy (and well) 13 year-old who gave me a perfect lil' tree a decade ago...

I bet that tree brings back so many happy heartfelt memories for you, Bud. Thank you sharing that with us.

My other post for Friday is the beginning of a new meme that CrAzY Working Mom is working on being that she's no longer welcome at Sky Watch Friday (they have a policy against paid posts and Tisha, like myself, does them from time to time to help supplement our incomes a little bit). Looking Up at the Sky on Friday might just catch on like wildfire but in a way I kind of hope not because I prefer the smaller memes where I can visit everyone else. For this week I posted a collage of three pictures of the sunset that I took earlier in the week from my bedroom window ...

haleyhughes said ... You captured some gorgeous color in these shots. Very nice. And just because you're not an official part of the meme, doesn't mean you can't be watching the skies on Fridays. :)

Thank you, Haley, and I do tend to watch the sky no matter what day of the week it is as it can just be so gorgeous when we remember to look up rather than down. Tisha, good luck with this and I'll see what I can come up with for this Friday!

Finally, on Saturday, I was tagged by Mimi, Queen of Memes for The Countdown Meme and even though I didn't mean for it be a poignant post, it appears that it ended up that way. Me and my darned sentimentality! I received some very lovely comments on this post and one in particular from my friend Bulldog who is a heck of a guy even though he likened me to a battleship! I don't think he meant that I was large, gray, and hard as steel, though! It's a long comment and it brought tears to my eyes - happy ones! ...

bulldog said ... Very nice blog post! I actually learned a few things about you I didn't know already! Wow! That meme seemed like so much fun, I just might answer these questions, then e-mail you!

As for the man you care about - God, I wish I could make your most heartfelt wish come true. It literally brings a tear to my eye to see someone in this "place", and do you know how hard it is to make a bulldog-biker cry??? Just remember, you have the biggest support network of anyone I know, because whether you realize it or not, you are LOVED, dammit! So many folks in cyberspace & in REAL life gravitate to you like proverbial moths to a flame - why? Because you emit warmth, sincerity, and the capacity to love that would fill a fleet of tri-axle dump trucks!

Know what I like about you? You resemble a battleship! Yep, a battleship! Why? Hard as steel on the outside, all armor-plated with bristling guns, ect...but on the INSIDE (where it is thought to count), you have life teeming within: camaraderie, cohesiveness, intelligence, and direction! You have a purpose, Linda, and not to be the "dishrag" you sometimes think you are! A real purpose in life.

Well, that's enough rambling from a bulldog-biker & former Navy ROTC cadet who likes to see his words on screen. Just thought you should know - your presence enriches my life & the lives of everyone you know. BTW: I may not be Seth or JM, but I'm gonna smile @ you every chance I get! ;-

Thank you so much, Bucky - you really made my day with this but now I just hope that no one takes to calling me the S.S. Linda as a result!

As if the sentiments there didn't blow me away, my good friend the Princess Patti left her own wonderful comment ...

Patti said ... That bulldog is a cool cat. Your presence in the blogosphere and in real life enriches my life as well!

Were you guys trying to make me cry on Saturday?!? If so, you succeeded! Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement and letting me be a part of your lives just as you are so much a part of mine.

Now, everyone go out and have a great week - leave me a comment or two if you feel so inspired and perhaps you'll find yourself right here next Sunday!

The Countdown Meme

I recently received a royal edict passed down from on-high by the Queen of Memes herself that I had been tagged with the 10-9-8-7-6 ... Countdown Meme (the Queen procured it at Shannon's Moments of Introspection who had found it at Multifaceted Mama who pilfered it from Life Is Nothing Without Friends who frankly stole it from Freaky Poptart's Meme Obsession), and even though I can think of a number of really good reasons to spend Christmas in the dungeon at Bloggingham, I guess I really should do the meme so as to avoid that fate. Rumor has it the Queen is going to be serving up fruitcake and even in the best of circumstances, fruitcake should avoided at all costs, even if it means completing a meme that leaves you scratching your head over a bit of it and wondering how on earth you're going to get that part done? Ah well, I shall give it a whirl ...

Ten things you wish you could say to TEN different people right now:

1. Enough already!
2. Would it kill you to at least drop me an email to let me know how you are?
3. Stop calling, I am NOT going to answer the phone!
4. The hamper is right outside of your bedroom door.
5. Are you going to let me borrow that or not?
6. Why do you always ask me to make the dessert?
7. Don't eat the sand, eat a worm (well, okay, so that's not to a person but close enough, right?)
8. You really need to get over yourself.
9. So ... about that profit sharing ...
10. "The" is, in fact, a word that most people use in a sentence and is acceptable to use on the radio, too!
    

Nine things about yourself:

1. I had my tonsils out when I was 22 and couldn't speak for two weeks afterward.
2. I think Sean Connery is damned sexy.
3. I cry watching sad movies or reading a sad passage in a book.
   
4. I have three brothers - Mark, Alan, and John. My first husband's name was Mark, my second husband's name was Alan, the guy I love most in the world is named John.
5. I was the Class Secretary of my Senior Class - Windham High School Class of 1976.
6. I get choked up watching a parade, especially when marching bands go by.
7. I worked at McDonald's for just one day and never went back again even to get the paycheck.
8. I am related to the suffragette Susan B. Anthony on my grandmother's side.
9. Even though I don't sing very well at all, I used to sing in church choir when I was younger.

Eight ways to win your heart (this is the tough part as my heart has been in cold storage for quite some time now ...):

1. Above all else, have a sense of humor.
2. Be able to carry on an intelligent conversation.
3. Enjoy watching the occasional "chick flick" with me!
4. Romantic little gestures are a definite plus.
5. If you're either Seth or JM just smile at me or send me a cute text message!
6. Don't play games unless they're Scrabble, Cribbage, or something along those lines!
7. Enjoy a nice slow dance and candlelight.
8. You can have me at 'hello' as long as you're the right man saying it.

Seven things that cross your mind a lot:

1. Why on earth did I say I'd cover that shift for _______________?
2. Where is my economic bailout?
3. How did I end up with such a slob for a daughter?
4. How is it that I work all this overtime and I'm still broke?
5. Is it time to go home yet?
6. When is my next day off??
7. Do I even have days off???

Six things you do before you fall asleep:

1. Brush my teeth.
2. Plug in my cell phone.
3. Turn on the sound machine and set it for 'thunderstorm'.
4. Worry about a plethora of things both real and imagined.
5. Wish I didn't have to get up so early in the morning!
6. Roll over on to my left side.

There - meme done and fruitcake dungeon avoided! I hope that my answers shall pleaseth the Queen! I'm not going to tag anyone else even though I was tempted to throw this one at Rob, Erik, and Jean-Luc just to get a guy's take on it but in the spirit of the season, I'm going to let them off the hook - unless they don't mind being on the hook and want to do it out of the kindness of their hearts! Uhm ... men do have hearts, right??

Oh, and speaking of hearts and men, today is the birthday of someone that my heart still cares a great deal about so just in case he still occasionally pops in to read (and I'm pretty sure he does though he'd never admit it) may I just say a very happy birthday and I hope that the coming year brings you all that your heart desires. Stay safe and yeah, I still miss you.

Looking Up at the Sky on Friday

I was over visiting at CrAzY Working Mom earlier this morning admiring her Sky Watch Friday photo and mentioned in a comment that I had thought about participating in the meme myself but just had never gotten around to it. Shortly afterward she emailed me back and told me not to as apparently there are rules about not disclosing in every single post when you do any sort of paid link or what-have-you. Apparently a site-wide disclosure isn't good enough so Tisha decided to do a sky picture on Friday anyway without participating in the meme.

Considering I have a TON of sky pictures but just not the time to visit everyone who does a major meme (like Wordless Wednesday or the Photo Scavenger Hunt on Saturdays), I thought it would be nice to post a couple of sunset shots I took this past Tuesday and link back to Tisha. Maybe she'll make it a weekly thing and we'll just do it together .. after all, you never know when I might write about a term life insurance quote or something! Have a great Friday and don't forget to scroll down and play along with "I've Got a Question - You've Got an Answer" below this post!

I've Got a Question - You've Got an Answer

Before I get to today's question, just a couple of little side notes that I wanted to pass on ...

First off, today is the birthday of one of the most patriotic guys in the Blogosphere - Sarge Charlie! Obviously you can't have a birthday without cake, especially if you're married to the Empress Bee who lives and breathes for cakes and cruising!, so for the Sarge, I found a nice patriotic piece of pastry to help him celebrate his day! Best wishes for a fantastic birthday and a terrific year to follow, Sarge!

Next, today wraps up the annual Christmas party over onboard the U.S.S. Enterprise that Captain Jean-Luc Picard is hosting and I actually managed to make it to the party this year. If you'd like to read my guest entry (along with my sorry attempts at writing dialogue!), please click on over to the Enterprise Christmas Party (Part 5) - my entry is the one in the middle - obviously! While you're there, please wish my good friend Jean-Luc a very happy Christmas!

And finally - the question for today's post. I got to thinking about this one the other day when I was thinking about getting my little three-foot pre-lit fiber optic Christmas tree out of its box so that I could at least make some attempt to decorate for Christmas -

When it comes to a Christmas tree, do you have an artificial tree or a real one?

Growing up we always had a real tree and I swore up and down that I would never ever in a million years have an artificial tree. Yeah ... well ... if there's one thing I've learned in life it's that you should never ever say never because once you say you're never going to do something, guess what you end up doing? Exactly!

Due to the small living room and overcrowding of furniture, not only do I not have a real tree anymore but I've even given up the full-size artificial tree for a very small one that I just pop out of the box and plug in for instant Christmas decorating. It's actually kind of sad and I miss having a full-size live tree that fills the house with the wonderful scent of pine but until I get a bigger place, I guess a small tree is better than no tree, right??

Now - over to you!

Norwich's City Hall Lit Up for Christmas

This past Monday evening was a little cold but very clear so I decided that the time had come for me to take the Nikon out for a spin and see if I could figure out how to do a little bit of night photography. To that end, I headed off to downtown Norwich and City Hall in particular - which is lit up every year for Christmas and looks fantastic!

Because I'm still trying to learn how to use this new-fangled camera, these pictures aren't as clear as I would like but I wanted to share them anyway just so you could see how beautiful City Hall looks.

Isn't it pretty? I have been using one of these picture as a screensaver at work and one of my co-workers said it almost looks like a gingerbread house!

This is a close-up of the steps leading to the main entrance and the two big wreaths that flank it.

A little blurry I'm afraid but this is the Christmas tree in front of City Hall with United Congregational Church in the background.

I'm hoping to find the time (and energy) to take pictures of more Christmas lights here in Norwich and with any luck, I'll get better with the whole Nikon D60 night photography stuff and they won't be blurry! Oh - and before I forget - I had to laugh while I was out taking pictures as there was a couple that were looking at the lights in front of City Hall and they came over to ask if I would take a picture of them with the building in the background and I said "sure". They asked if I was a professional photographer and I laughed as I took their camera, shot a couple of pictures for them, and said "no, not so's you'd know it!" Still, it's definitely a lot better than someone just thinking I'm some whacko out taking pictures in the cold of a December night with no gloves on because I'm an idiot!

Yantic Falls in Pictures & Music

Having written about a bit of Norwich history yesterday with the legend of Mohegan Chief Uncas and his amazing jump across the gorge above Yantic Falls, I thought I might share some pictures with you today that I took in that area. As a matter of fact, I even set the slideshow to some nice Native American music called "Shaman's Dance" by David & Steve Gordon whose CD Sacred Spirit Drums I've owned for years and just love. The music really seems to fit that particular area but I guess that's no surprise as it was Native American land long before English settlers took it over.

I should apologize in advance that there are A LOT of pictures in this slideshow and a good many of them may look somewhat similar but this is what happens when you have a new camera that you're trying to learn how to use and you like the area that you're photographing! I hope that you'll still enjoy the pictures as well as the music and forgive me if there are any duplicates that slipped in.

I wish that there were some pictures available from the time before the falls on the Yantic River were harnessed and used for power for several manufacturing mills that were located along its banks but alas, I've been unable to find any as I doubt that any of Uncas' braves were running around with a digital camera or even a Polaroid in their loincloths. Which is too bad as I would loved to have seen this area untamed.

The first industry to spring up on the Yantic River using the mighty falls for power was a grist mill in the 1600's owned by John Elderkin. In the 1800's Norwich was a major manufacturing city in Connecticut and boasted quite a few mills including the Falls Company, which produced heavy, colored cotton goods, awnings, tickings, etc., and The Norwich Woolen Company that specialized in flannels. Both mills were located along the Yantic River in the area of the falls and, between the two of them, employed close to 700 workers.

The Falls Company is now Falls Mills Condominiums and another mill was also converted to an apartment complex called The Mill at Indian Leap. I would love to live at either one of them - or better yet at one of the old brick mill houses that you can glimpse on the other side of the falls but alas ... the rents are a bit higher than I can afford. Besides, if I lived over there I'd be apt to take even more pictures and subject them to you guys!

As beautiful as the falls along the Yantic River are, they are also dangerous and it seems like at least one person a year dies either swimming in an area they shouldn't be in, falling from the slippery cliffs onto the sharp rocks far below, or doing something else they shouldn't. Fortunately our Fire Department is well-trained in water rescue but common sense and caution would keep them from ever having to use those skills - something I'm sure they would much prefer.

If you're ever in Norwich, I promise you a trip to see the place the Mohegans called The City of the Kings but in the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy the pictures I've taken as well as the music that goes along with them.

Line of Duty Deaths Continue With Two More Motor-Vehicle Related Deaths

If it seems like I've been writing an awful lot of Line of Duty Death posts it's because I have been. As of this writing, there have been 122 brave men and women who have lost their lives in service to their communities with 56 of them involving some sort of motor vehicle whether it be an accident or assault just like the two officers in this post.

An early morning crash on Interstate 10 in New Orleans, Louisiana claimed the life of New Orleans Police Department Reserve Officer Curtis Jones. At approximately 12:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 29th, as he was returning from duty at the Superdome, Officer Jones' patrol car left the roadway, traveled about 150 feet across the grass, and struck a tree. Officer Jones, 74, was treated at Northshore Hospital, but died from injuries he received in the crash.

An army veteran who joined when he was 18 and served for 25 years, including action in Vietnam, Officer Jones put down roots in New Orleans and started a new career in primary school education upon his retirement from the Army. He began his teaching career at Helen S. Edwards Elementary School then went on to become an assistant principal at Bienville Elementary School and principal of Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic School, both in New Orleans.

Jones began a third career as a police officer around 1990, serving in the NOPD's 6th District where he served as a Reserve Officer until the time of his death. He did it because "that's what he loved doing: giving his time, no matter what," said his wife of 21 years, Brenda. "If someone asked him to do something, he would never turn away," she said. "There was a lady on the street . . . she lived under the highway. He would buy her food, check on her. He loved it, helping people."

In addition to his wife, Officer Jones is survived by two children from a previous marriage.

A San Antonio, Texas police officer who was injured in the line of duty on Friday, November 28th, succumbed to his wounds on Monday, December 1st, after his family disconnected his life support equipment.

Police Officer Robert Davis was injured while clearing roadway flares at the scene of a traffic accident around 7:30 p.m. Friday night when another San Antonio Police Officer, who was driving his patrol car to a shoplifting call, struck another car causing it to spin out of control. The officer's car veered to the right and struck Officer Davis who was pinned beneath his colleague's patrol car. Both officers were transported to the hospital with multiple injuries as was the civilian whose car was struck.

The accident was made especially tragic as the relatively new officers, who graduated from the police academy almost exactly one year ago, are close friends who would do anything to ensure each other's safety. "On any given day, they would have sacrificed themselves for each other," said Mike Helle, president of the San Antonio Police Officers Association.

Officer Davis, age 26, is survived by his wife and a department that is stunned by the incident.

The Legend of Chief Uncas and Indian Leap

Long before English settlers purchased the 9-mile square of land upon which the City of Norwich sits, the land was owned and occupied by the Mohegan Tribe of Indians. They made their homes near the Great Falls of the City of Kings and were led by the great sachem, Uncas.

One of the more popular and famous stories of Chief Uncas involves The Battle of the Great Plain that took place on September 17th, 1643 between the Mohegan Tribe and the Narragansett Tribe from neighboring Rhode Island, some of which took place near what is now known as "Indian Leap".

As the story goes, Miantonomo, sachem of the Narragansetts, led 900 of his warriors in what was to be a surprise attack on the Mohegans at Shetucket, the Mohegan capital near the City of Kings. The night before the battle, Mohegan scouts in the area observed the advancing enemy and carried the intelligence back to Uncas who formed a plan.

Uncas knew he didn't have enough warriors to battle Miantonomo but he was a brave chief and would die for his people if need be; if one man could save many then he was willing to make that sacrifice. He told his braves that he would ask Miantonomo to fight one-on-one and if Miantonomo refused, he would drop to the ground as a signal for them to fire arrows into the enemy and then charge them hoping that the surprise would give them the advantage against the higher numbers.

Chief Uncas met the Narragansett chief between the lines of battle in the area that is now known as East Great Plain and appealed to him to prevent blood loss between both tribes by a single combat between the two leaders instead. When Miantonomo contemptuously rejected Uncas' proposal, the Mohegan chief immediately dropped to the ground and the Narragansetts were met with a hail of arrows before Chief Uncas jumped to his feet and led his brave warriors in a charge.

Caught totally off-guard, the Narragansetts ran from the charging Mohegans with some fleeing along their familiar route while others, unfamiliar with the territory, unknowingly reached the high treacherous cliffs of Yantic Falls . Rather than surrender, Miantonomo leapt across the gorge and managed to land on the other side, injuring his leg in the process. Others of his tribe attempted to leap the chasm but were unsuccessful and plunged to their death onto the rocks in the abyss below while others simply surrendered and became prisoners of the Mohegans.

When the pursuing Uncas arrived at the top of the gorge and saw his enemy hobbling away on the other side, he took a running start, flew over the rapids, and landed safely on the other side. It was an astounding leap that gave the area above the falls its future name and allowed Uncas to catch up to the injured Miantonomo who was then easily overcome and taken as prisoner.

Chief Uncas brought Miantonomo to the Colonial Commissioners in Hartford where he willingly gave the prisoner over to the English government and agreed to abide by their decision on how to handle him. It was agreed by the ecclesiastical counselors that it would be best for the public if Miantonomo were executed and the Narragansett chief was returned to Uncas with orders to execute him in Mohegan country.

After Miantonomo was executed, Uncas thought it would be appropriate to bury him near the place where he was originally captured and that a small pile of rocks be placed as a marker on the gravesite. To that effect, the Mohegans buried their fallen foe near the western bank of the Shetucket River, north of the present village of Greenville , and marked the spot with a pile of stones. Over the years the pile of stones grew as it was visited by warriors from many tribes as they passed by on the heavily traveled route. Sometime in the 18th century, though, a farmer who had bought the land found a mound of rocks on his property and, not knowing what it was for, used the stones to build a foundation for his house and barn.

On July 4th, 1841 a few citizens of Norwich erected a granite monument where the mound of stones once stood and dedicated it to Miantonomo in a solemn ceremony to honor the former warrior and chief.

Due to the fact that there weren't a lot of records kept about these sorts of things back then, a lot of this story has been pieced together through research from various legends and tales passed down throughout the years. I hope that I have told the story with as much accuracy as possible and that it gives you a bit of a glimpse into the history of the town in which I live and the area that I call home.

Christmas Cash Crisis - Again!

Good grief - there are only two paydays left until Christmas and once again I'm finding myself a little (lot) short in the cash department. Seems like this is standard operating procedure for me from year-to-year and you would think that I would have learned by now and opened up a Christmas account or something but no ... not me!

Part of the problem is that Christmas accounts are generally opened in October and the last thing I'm thinking about in October is money for Christmas. I wish that banks offered Christmas accounts that they opened in December so that those of us who didn't think of it sooner could then open one and at least have ten months of money put away before we find ourselves waking up one morning and thinking - darn! - only two paydays until Christmas - again!

Caption That Photo!

All things being equal and work being work, time is of the essence yet again today so I am taking the easy way out and posting another picture and opening it up to you folks for some funny captions if you think you're up to it.

Being that I am using a picture of her, I'm going to let Amanda pick her favorite caption again once she returns from New Jersey later this week so here's your chance to pick on a 16-year old a little bit and have fun while you're doing it. Just remember to be nice - Amanda can be sensitive from time to time even though she probably doesn't like to admit it!

Comments on Comments

Sunday again and even though I am spending almost the entire weekend at work, I had to make time for Comments on Comments! Luckily for you, though, because I'm spending almost the entire weekend at work - my comments to your comments will be short or at least that's my intention as I sit down to write this when I really ought to be trying to get some sleep in between shifts.
Okay, enough whining - moving on ...!

Monday found me being a lot more prolific than I meant to be with three posts (though to be honest, one was a paid post but it generated a lot of comments which means I must be doing a pretty good job making my paid posts readable!).

The first post of the day was Caption That Photo! featuring the following picture of a squirrel that I took while at Mohegan Park a couple of weeks ago.

You guys went totally nuts with your comments and there were a lot that really made me laugh right out loud! Amanda enjoyed them, too, and asked if she could pick out her favorite caption to which I said sure so she choose this one from my two favorite feline visitors -

Gandalf and Grayson said ...
I can haz pecans?

I loved all of the comments that people left; it's so much fun to read them and see what people come up with. My very favorite was this one from the Queen of Memes herself because it's so true for people as well as squirrels -

Mimi Lenox said ...
Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don't.

My paid post for the day had to do with different types of bathtubs which was nice because I was able to use an honest-to-goodness story of when a friend and his family came over to dinner last winter and his daughter was enchanted with my claw-footed tub. My favorite comment from My Bathtub Has Feet!, came from a fellow Nutmegger -

Queen-Size funny bone said ...
Oh I love those old tubs. They are so nice and deep. You can't soak in these new tubs. If you're fat by time you get in there's no room for the water!

Boy has she ever got a point there! There may be a lot of things that I'm not enchanted about with the house I rent but the bathtub is definitely not one of them. It's actually one of the greatest things about living in an old Victorian style house - that and the front porch!

Finally, I wrapped up the day with my post Rambling aWAY ... in which I attempted to be clever by using the word WAY an awful lot! In the post I mentioned my upcoming work schedule and the WAY too many hours involved; the fact that I had to get Amanda to the airport for her Thanksgiving trip to New Jersey WAY too early the next morning; and that my youngest daughter, Jamie, would be coming home for Christmas after all which was WAY cool -

Dianne said ...
wow you are working a lot of hours!! enjoy the day - go back to sleep after the airport run :-)

Mags said...
Yay for Jamie being able to come for Christmas!! I know you were worried about not getting to see her. This is great news! I'm even more psyched that she gets to be an "only child" for a little bit too-alone time with Mom will be great for her...and you!!

My original plan was to go back to sleep after the airport run but unfortunately that didn't happen as I had lots to do on my one day off before Thanksgiving. I did, however, go to bed early that night for a change! Does that count? And Mags, you're absolutely right in that I think that being able to spend some one-on-one time with Jamie will be good for both of us. While Amanda is lounging on the beach in Puerto Rico, we can get in lots of Rock Band and Guitar Hero time!

For Tuesday I posted my entry for Roger's Creative Photography Contest, #15-4. For this week's entry I used a shot of a railroad bridge that I edited a tiny little bit just for effect. The entry prompted my friend from Germany, who is a totally awesome photographer herself, to leave the following comment -

Sanni @ Life... said ...
You outdid yourself, Linda! (Do you say so, too? I know it's a typical saying in Germany , but I'm not sure about the US ). Glad to see you're having so much fun with the D60 - and I'm glad there's water to jump into just in case the train comes along :-)

Thank you so very much, Sanni, and I believe we do say that here in the states! As for that water to jump into ... not a good idea as the railroad bridge is very close to the lower falls of the Yantic River that tumble into a very rocky gorge (a picture of which I posted on Saturday!). I'm not sure which would be worse - being flattened by a train or swept over the falls so I will try to avoid both!

On Wednesday I presented The Bookworm Award that I had received from Akelamalu to five other bloggers whom I thought were quite qualified as true bookworms. One of my choices was excited to do the award meme while the other ... not so much! Can you tell which one is which??

Jamie said ...
absolute proof I'm an unrepentant bookworm. The instant I saw sexy in the bad reading position, I mentally started chanting me me me waving hand pick me me me. So you did and I will. Thank you.

Mo said ...
Okay, mine is up. And I don't get it up for just anyone, you know. Erk, I have a headache. And I am grumpified.
Good thing there's not a turkey around, I think I might rip its gizzard out. Gobbledy go!

Thank you to both Jamie and Mo and to the others whom I also gave the award tag to that played along - Rob, Lois, and Erik. Now there are several books I need to add to my "must read" list! Erik did his tag a little differently as there were no books readily available but if you get a chance, go check out Erik's post and you'll learn some fascinating firefighting information that was developed as a result of a fatal fire in Worcester, Massachusetts that claimed the lives of six firefighters in December of 1999. Sometimes good does come from bad - sometimes.

Naturally on Thursday I was experiencing some Thanksgiving Thoughts and mentioned that it was also the birthday of my best friend who likes to call me at odd hours of the night on occasion and throw questions at me when I'm sometimes half asleep! The post was about the things I was thankful for at Thanksgiving including that friend MizCyn! -

tegbird92 said ...
well said--and yes, there is a lot to be thankful for when having a great friend like Cyndi also. Happy Thanksgiving, Linda.

MightyMom said ...
I need your phone number so I can call you at all hours of the night and ask you off the wall questions!! no??

Bridget, you are absolutely right and ... uhm .. Sarah? No! I think having one friend calling me at odd hours with odd questions is enough for now; I will let you know should I ever be in need of another! In the meantime, feel free to email me with those questions!

After a nice Thanksgiving Day at my Mom's and getting to bed at a reasonable hour, Friday found me writing two posts before heading out to work for the evening. The first was my thoughts on the biggest retail day of the year; No Black Friday for Me inspired the following comment that I thought was very well written but unfortunately, I have no idea who actually wrote it! -

Anonymous said ...
I wish "Black Friday" sales would become extinct and a thing or(fad) of the not so recent past. Especially with the numerable tramplings and deaths caused by greedy unruly crowds hell bent on showing the world and society how callous and slothy they really are...animals. When people die because of shootings at Toys'R us and trampled (along with EMS and employees trying to help) to death to save $50. on a piece of plastic electronica....it's time for us as society to say NO MORE.
NO MORE consumerism...
NO MORE greed....
NO MORE unkindness...
But sadly even in Eastern Connecticut a part of society (ones who camped out at the Box Stores) that bragged they got the one gift their "baby" wanted sadly missed the whole part of life that's free - God's (or whomever) love, along with your friends, family and yes, even bloggers like Linda.
There's truly no price on that.
Sorry about the long rant, the past 2 days stories about Black Fridays...really ticked me off.
Let's all end the race to the malls, huh?
thanks Linda

Anyone want to lay claim to that very true comment? If not, thank you whoever you are! I thought it was a great comment and long rants are always welcome!

My second post of the day was I've Got a Question - You've Got an Answer in which I asked readers - "What's your favorite thing about the holidays?" There were some really great answers and I'd love to repost all of them here but settled instead for just a few. If you'd like to read the rest, head on down to the original post as there really are lots of fantastic answers!

MizCyn said ...
Either an overstuffed house full of the faces I love best or thinking hilarious Holiday thoughts of you trying to play Scrabble (or maybe it was Trivial Pursuit?) after you'd had a tad too much Yuletide cheer. No, I'm certain of it--it's the latter!

Yeah, yeah - it was Trivial Pursuit and leave it to you, my dear friend, to remember one of the few times I had a little extra to drink! In spite of that, I think I played pretty well, though!

Star8278 said ...
Giving gifts and taking pictures. I also like that it seems people are a bit nicer this time of year. I wish it was like that all the time.

Star - I almost said the same thing about people being nicer this time of year and, like yourself, I wish it wasn't just at Christmastime that people were that way.

Sandee (Comedy +) said ...
Family is the best. The getting together in good times and bad times, but being together and loving each other. Can't beat that in my book.

You can't beat that in my book either, Sandee!

Katherine said ...
I like the music, and the lights, and the smells. I like wrapping paper and bows.
But my favorite part comes about the 23rd/24th ....when I take the time to remember "the reason for the season" and all that it means to me and how I choose to live my life.

Katherine, this is so "spot on" as our British friends would say. Very well written and something we should all try to remember during this not only festive but very hectic and sometimes stressful holiday season.

Finally on Saturday I posted pictures of The Falls on the Yantic River - a rather scenic area here in Norwich that has a very interesting history that I have been trying to piece together for a future post. I guess you could call it a visual preview of coming attractions until I get all that research done! In the meantime,

crazy working mom said ...
is that what's behind you in your profile pic? It is beautiful!

Yes, Tisha - the lower falls are what I'm standing in front of in my new profile pic but I'm doing a darned good job of blocking them just as I hope the camera I'm holding is doing a darned good job of blocking me!

Jamie said...
Absolutely beautiful and so wild looking that you might almost have gone back a couple of hundred years.

Actually, Jamie, once I get that other post done I'm working on then I'll definitely be going back a couple of hundred years - back to about 1643 if I remember correctly!

Ah well, speaking of going back, it's time for me to go back to work again! I hope the rest of you have a fantastic Sunday no matter what you're doing and don't forget to come back and leave a comment or two during the week!