Vanilla, yes

Not a fan of the maple. I gave these to my brother when I would get them (trick or treat), I prefer the vanilla Bun. I believe I have seen these in stores and you can still get them.

Butter Rum!

Loved these! With butter in the title - how could I not? I just realized maybe this is what prompted me to start my drinking experience - (what is it - 34 years ago?) with rum & cokes. Did I think the rum would taste like this candy? Wasn't I in for a surprise. I think these are still available.

I will be away from my home desktop until Thursday, but (if I set it up correctly) have set posts to appear every morning with another candy sample from the 60's box.

Brown beans with pork and cornbread

I may not like Boston Baked Beans (candy) but I love brown (pinto) beans with boneless pork ribs and served hot with sweet cornbread. I take pics of this dish to send to and tease my siblings. For some reason none of them make this dish. They claim to love it, but I guess they ate it far too often when they were young to bring themselves to make it.

Being the youngest, I was probably exposed less to this money-saving dish. Sister 1944 said that she had this every Thursday night for years.

I fix it about once every three months. This picture is about two weeks old. I sent leftovers home with my nephew to give to his mom (sister 1954).

I saved this one in the large format if you want to bigify it. Yum!

Boston Baked Beans

Hated these. Hated them. Still do.

Teaberry gum

Oh, I loved this gum! I recall it being 5¢ and then possibly 7¢. I don't think you can find it for 25¢ anymore. I'm not real sure I can open it and chew it. I may just keep it forever with everything else in the box and take a walk down memory lane now and again.

First thing out of the box

Ha, ha! This was the first thing I pulled out of the gift box on Christmas eve and promptly shoved them between my teeth. My sister took a picture, as I posed ala Mae West style. OMG! Now I come to find out that Salvador Dali designed a sofa in the shape of these lips and called it the Mae West divano. LOL! Crazy!

Inside the box

Here is a picture of what I saw when I opened the "60's" box.

Now, for the humility. Ready? I have developed a wonderful sense of humor. It gets me through. So, here goes. My dog? Maybe. But, something turned down the thermostat on my hot water heater. Why is it situated near the floor, anyway? Have a good laugh on me. Or at least smile! I'll cry when the bill comes.

Unless..

My very thoughtful niece gave this box of goodies to me and another one to her Mom for Christmas this year. Inside was a walk down memory lane. I'll share some of the items in later posts. But, do you remember....?

Well, it had to happen sooner or later, n'est-ce pas? While washing my pots and pans yesterday I noticed that my kitchen sink water was not getting hot like it usually does. At first I thought maybe it was because it was like 3 degrees Fahrenheit outside. No, that's a lie. My first thought was the hot water heater. Sigh. I was trying to rationalize it with the cold temperature.

I ran the hot water again. I turned the faucet to full hot. I would normally scald my hand. Nope, nothing. Warm at best. Sigh.

Not much I could do on a Sunday afternoon.

I decided to take a shower yesterday afternoon instead of waiting until 6:00 this morning. I got everything ready... told myself to do my hair first. I barely got my hair rinsed and it started to get cold. Then it was like lightening.

Talk about a walk down memory lane. One time I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom (back in '83 or '84  maybe '85?). Remember how we used to keep the water dripping to keep the pipes from freezing in big old houses? I looked at our bathtub. The stream of water coming out of the bathtub faucet was frozen solid. I just went back to bed. That was during the cold snap where our furnace kept quitting and I took the thermometer out of our refrigerator and set it on the kitchen counter and I recall it reading 8 degrees Fahrenheit in our kitchen. 

The wind was wicked. It was 30 below with the wind chill factor of 60 below.

Ahhh.... memories.

Tightening the C-clamp

Like my drawing? For as long as I can remember when I had a pain somewhere, I would doodle the body part on a piece of paper. If my foot hurt, I drew a foot. If my back hurt, it was a crude picture of a back. Well, it has been a long week. I used to work at a hardware store in the late 70's and we sold a C clamp. That is what it feels like is attached to the back of my head right above the neck and it keeps getting tighter.

I'm pretty sure you know what a clothespin feels like. Haven't we all taken one and tried it on our nose or our finger to see if it really hurt? I am not kinky but it feels like somebody has placed clothespins over each eyebrow and on the bridge of my nose between my eyes.

Then, for fun they have taken those little relish or seafood forks and stabbed them into the sinus cavity directly under my eyes. And left them there.

The sick feeling? I can only describe it as the feeling you get when you ate too much candy/cake/sweets at Christmas/Easter/Halloween or a birthday party. That feeling you get in your stomach and throat that tells you to stay close to the bathroom or a door that leads outside because you are going to toss your cookies.

The sick feeling has no basis. I eat toast so there is nothing that should cause this feeling.

If you ever drank alcohol and had a hangover - it sort of feels like a hangover. But, I don't even have the fun of the night before. The pain in my eyes to bright lights, the sensitivity to loud noises, the sick reaction to strong smells - all of it mimics a hangover.

I am guessing that what I am feeling now are the "rebound" headaches because I am feeling the need to take the Imitrex every day now, and more Advil than usual. I do try to sit quietly and rest - but I am restless. So much needs to be done. The dogs won't walk themselves and the fresh air does some good. Shoveling didn't help, I admit that. Cleaning is really bad for a migraine. Just when I am feeling decent enough, I try to do something. Bending over, the rattling and banging of pots and pans, and the smells of cleaning products - all of this causes my head to pound again.

I would wait for a day that I don't have a migraine, but when that day comes I am usually feeling good enough that I want to go and visit people or shop or have company over. Sigh.

I am looking forward to what I usually call my ten day stretch. About once a month I get a seven or ten day stretch where I feel really good and can do things like normal people. The few days that I live without the C clamp on my head. Bring it!

Update: After looking back through my posts at the month of January, it would appear that migraines seem to be higher than usual during this month. No wonder I hate January!

Boxers and bloat

I believe my boxer is experiencing bloating episodes. I am researching it and will call the vet on Monday to have him checked and to see if there is anything I can do for him during an episode. Actually, I am trying to call them this morning and it is busy, busy, busy.  It started about a week ago, we thought he was eating too fast because sometimes our big dog, Sable will try to steal the food.

Slade (the boxer) does eat too fast most of the time. He gulps his food. I was getting ready to go out and I didn't have much time with him and put him outside to throw up. He proceeded to eat the ivy that was still green around my back porch. Oh, god! I pulled him back inside. He threw up the biggest pile of ivy onto my kitchen floor where it was easily cleaned up. That seemed to solve his problem. I did not think of bloat at that time.

Last night he got excited when my niece visited. I had not fed them their evening meal, yet. He began licking and smacking his lips. I was not putting him outside this time to eat the poisonous ivy. I blocked him in the kitchen.

I was on day six of a headache that was not responding to OTC medicine and I did not want to take another prescription Imitrex so I was riding it out. I was not feeling good at all. As I listened to him hack away, I thought I better look up bloat. I had heard about bloat, but never had a dog that experienced it. All his symptoms seemed to fit. 

He settled down (I skipped feeding all the dogs last night) and he seems fine this morning. I fed them this morning and all is well, so far. I will need to get some medical advice on this, though.

My headache continues. My Imitrex will take care of the problem, but after 8 hours it comes back and I just can't pop another Imitrex. You can't just take them every day (I don't think). If you research anybody who experiences the migraine headache you might come across the well-known fact that the headaches often appear during our off-peak days. Like, the week-end. After the stress of a work week or a big event. Mine are weather-related and hormonal this week and may be a bit stress induced. My sleep patterns are really whacked out because last week-end I had a houseful and we stayed up late playing games and such and I slept in and that is a big no-no for migraine sufferers. What can I say? I like to laugh and socialize with my family!

The migraine hit last Sunday and I've been taking Imitrex every other day since then. Physical exertion is really hard. While shoveling snow, I would gag and try to throw up and then shovel some more. It had to be done - I can't just leave our sidewalks covered. (Company is long gone and the kids are at their other home this week). Anyway, the cold air seemed to help a little bit.

Can you believe I only got our tree out on Thursday? I KNOW! I am battling pine needles trying not to ruin yet another vacuum cleaner and my Shop Vac. LOL! Crazy. I got tired of waiting for the kids who promised to take it down for me. I think they wanted to one day but I was sick with my headache and they didn't want to bother me.

I watched "Salt." As I have mentioned before I cannot lay still when experiencing a headache because I just dwell on the pain. I am better off in an upright position and I watch a movie to take my mind off of things. I used to laugh at hero action movies not having many females in the film. With Salt, it was only Jolie and maybe one or two lines from other females. It was a little far-fetched for me. And I don't like a lot of blood and there is plenty in this movie. I also get freaked out by how shiny-silver every body's eyes are. Like they are all moistened by glycerin or something. They shine like silver pools of water and is very distracting.

The part (and there were many) that gets me is when she rode in the police car up and over an overpass onto the highway below and walked away from the accident. She had no seat belt on. Well, besides the fact that she jumped from the top of one truck onto another and then did it again while they were moving on a highway was also a bit of a stretch, too. But it really wasn't much different than what Cruise did in his action flick "Knight and Day" with Diaz. It is movie making entertainment.

I also rented the movie "Date Night". I am hoping for some laughter.

Update: Now that I read more about it, I don't believe it is bloat. His sides did not extend at all, but I am still taking him in for a check up. Tuesday afternoon.

A few months ago

I wonder if Mom will regret not slathering sunscreen on the boy?
Or,  how about a hat?

See the USA

In your Chevrolet.... was that how the song went?

1957

Here is one from before I arrived. I am missing from the photo and my oldest brother is missing. He may have been taking the picture, not sure.  I can see my nephew in my sister's face.

Another place..another time

December 1966. I was six years old. We would not get decent running water until 1968 if memory serves me correctly. We had a well and we had very limited water. That would explain the dirty clothes. I remember the Lazy Susan and that black and white ashtray. I remember the sofa would pull out into a sleeper. That was where I was sleeping when Armstrong landed on the moon in 1969 - on that sleeper sofa. I could have sworn the lamp shades were burnt orange, but either they replaced them later or my memory is skewed.

This was my life as the youngest of 8 children whose father was a non-functioning alcoholic. A functioning alcoholic is able to keep a job and live life somewhat socially acceptable. My Mom (if she was not also an alcoholic) was very co-dependent.

I had it much better than the rest. Like I always say, by the time I came along my oldest siblings were taking over the family expenses and seeing to their younger siblings needs. I was fortunate in the fact that because of my oldest brother and sister I was able to live in the same house and attend the same school from the time I was six years old until I was an adult. We came very close to being placed into foster homes quite often, so I am told.

Back then my mother was made to feel responsible for the reason my father drank. Welfare was merciless to her. She refused to go back and ask for help after one such ordeal. Everybody said that there was help and the government would help you. Unless you have dealt with a Nazi-style government worker from the 60's I suggest you keep your opinions to  yourself. They blamed her for having too many children and wanted to dole us out to foster homes. For fear that the family would be torn apart, she stopped seeking help from the government. What a relief we did not get torn apart. I knew some families that did.

I have the day off from work. It is my self-proclaimed "discrimination" day. Almost every being on this planet has been a victim of discrimination in some form or another. There are many forms of discrimination, I would find it impossible to list details here; and it is still alive and well today.  Oh, and then there is the "reverse" discrimination. Where a white man cannot get a job because the company is required to hire so many black men and women that he is pushed out of an opportunity to work.

My little corner

I am not a neat person. I am messy. My office is messy. My house is messy. I do tell myself a lot "Less mess, less stress."  If I clean it up, it just gets messy again. Oh, well.

Yesterday, I had a lot less problems than I thought I would. One major one I tackled in the morning. This tech is very savvy and he knew his stuff. We worked until we found a solution for his network (broken because of the change I had made). We got it working and my filter is still at the higher security level.

The funny one was the complainer, though. She is the one who was the naysayer. She called me to give me blow by blow details of how their tech support for her machine was sub-par to say the least. Eight minutes I listened to her woes. In the end what she really wanted to say was that it was not my fault and she had it all working, now. 

It was one of those phone calls where you hang up and you look in the mirror and just say "Good God!"

There is a reason people don't call you back, honey. You have no idea why, and you probably never will know why.

Unplugged

The change was made. A snow storm hit. All schools closed. I knew there would be folks still working, so I trudged off to the office. I think I almost gave the custodian a heart attack. He certainly was not expecting anybody to be coming into the office. He was getting ready to leave.

It was very quiet in the office with only myself but after a couple of hours, there were folks out there in my network land. I made a few calls. I had end users test a few things. All seemed to be working well until I got the phone call that things were not. It was a testing site and they did not have the time for me to try a work around, so I changed the setting back. Oh, well. We would go with it another day.

Still. She called. The one I figured would. The one I had trouble with when I gave the alert that I was going to make this change. The naysayer. She had said "This NEVER works! You people have tried to change this before and all it does is mess me up!"  I guess she has forgotten the reason she is in her position is for the better development of our children. She can't think beyond her own needs.

I let her rant a bit and then explained to her that I had to change the setting back - so things were as they were before. She was still in a tiff. She bristled and told me that her computer was  not working, blah, blah, blah. I pointed her to her own tech support and ended the call. 

Yep. I called that one.

It all ended well, though. I figured out a solution for the testing site and I changed the setting back to the way I want it. Today brings a new day and I am ready to face the new challenges. Bring it.

Change is a funny thing

Here is my grand/great niece in her holiday garb.

Well, garb is a strange word. Anyway - change. In a meeting on Monday I alerted all techs in our districts that I was making a change to the filter on Tuesday evening after hours. I purposely did NOT tell them any sooner than that. Here is why.

I received no less than 8 calls yesterday asking me if the change I had made to the filter affected this or that. I chuckled to myself and kept my sense of humor. I let them talk and then I softly mentioned to them that I had not made the change, yet. Oh.

One even had the gull to say that he thought I may have "jumped the gun" and made the change earlier than I said I would. I chuckled again. I replied "Don't you HATE people that DO that!?"  I do.

A lot of my schools are closed this morning but I am going in. There will be problems (backlash) from the change. I am gearing up for it. I tried to prepare for this as much as I could. I informed the staff and asked for their patience and understanding. I even asked them to help ME make this as smooth a transition as possible.  I believe there are going to be certain aspects of the organization that will not work after this change. There will need to be adjustment to make them work again, but it can be done. Let me see if I have guessed correctly about who is going to cry the loudest. I'll let you know. :)

The reason for the change. The safety of our children and remaining in compliance with CIPA. From that I won't back down. Even if I have to change settings back to before, this change will get done. Eventually.

I am having a little trouble today

 I thought I could write about this, but I can't yet. I did not have the television on Saturday so I was not aware of the shootings in Arizona. Sunday's paper had the above picture of the two little sisters, who died in a house fire and that knocked the Arizona news off the front page. I am sick about both events. I cannot read (much) about either one, yet.

So far - no working smoke alarms in the house where the girls were sleeping. Eleven (I thought that MY house got full) people sleeping in the house.

My coffee sours in my stomach. I know where I'll be making my donations (the family needs everything) for the beginning of this year.

At a luncheon yesterday there was a lot of talk about the Arizona incident. I can handle the tragedies piece by piece but am having trouble absorbing everything about both of them. In a form of self preservation, I allow my brain to realize it a little bit at a time.

Then I try to immerse myself into something else.

The style back then

This picture is titled 'Easter 1941'. 

I always enjoy looking to see what people wore in a different decade and how they wore their hair, etc... That is why I was such a stickler for 'True Grit' to be kosher and in some places it fell short.

This photo shows my mother and father. My father, of course, is the man in the middle. My mother is on the far right. Her aunt is on the left and I would believe that is her aunt's son (my mother's first cousin) in front of my mother.

My maternal grandmother passed when my mother was ten years old and I think a couple of her sisters tried to help 'mother' my mother as she grew up. She was pretty close to two of them.

A year after this photo was taken my mother would have her first of eight children.

imho

I believe that is my daughter's hand coming from the right of the photo. Gave it a kind of spooky and blurry effect, I thought. This tree display is one from the museum that I visited in November. I try to visit every year.

Okay. I finished the book "True Grit."  I had to look up a couple of parts, like "blue-john" and if the phrase "bust a cap" was around during that time frame. Research found the phrase being used in Civil War documentation, so there you go.

Richard from At the Water informed me that the 1969 version of "True Grit" was showing at 7:00 Saturday evening on the AMC channel. I searched everywhere and could not find it. I was fighting a massive migraine that hit mid-morning. The kids wanted to watch a movie after dinner/before they went bowling and I thought I would miss it. Then I remembered the "start over" feature and decided to try that - if I could find the movie.

Well, I should have figured. It played at 8:00 my time. Richard must be in the Central Time zone. Yep. Minnesota. I should have considered this from my summer in El Paso (Mountain Time zone). All the television shows came on two hours earlier when I lived out there. All I could think of at the time was how much more sleep I would have been getting if my shows came on earlier. I think the East Coast people get less sleep because of this fact. I would say they could record the show and watch it later the next day - but who wants to do that? When everybody else at the water cooler at work knows what happened?

A HUGE thank-you to Richard! I watched the movie. I had to cut out at the end a little (dogs must do their business) but I recorded it and plan to go back. I missed the scene where Mattie falls into the snake pit. I thought John Wayne was fantastic. I have improved my opinion of Kim Darby. Glen Campbell? All I can say is "Give me a break!" 

If I were going to make a movie, I would sure as hell make my actors at least look like they existed in the time frame of the movie. The pixie hair cut that Darby wore was completely wrong - on all levels. I also caught her wearing black nylon tights. Glen Campbell's hair was hilarious for that time period. People did not bathe regular then and their clothes would have been dirty and dusty. That is why I thought Wayne looked very much the part. He looked un-kept. The women in the movie reminded me of the westerns my dad and I used to watch. They wore such a "1960-ish" hair style fashion, it was ludicrous.

I have looked at the stills and a few of the trailers on the new movie. So far, I am impressed by the fact that they do appear to look like the clothes and hairstyles were from the late 1800's. I also like the fact that they filmed in snow (not like the '69 version which placed the story in the summer or early fall). They are a little bit "too clean" but I can let that go. I like the fact that it appears as if chin stubble is growing on Matt Damon's face. If he appeared clean shaven every day, I would have caught that. We will see when I watch the 2010 version.

I was impressed with Hopper's portrayal of Moon in the '69 version. I kept looking for Hopper throughout the movie and never saw him. When I checked the character names I was shocked he had played Moon. I had not recognized him at all. He was that good! I loved it when Duvall's hat fell off in a struggle with Mattie. It showed him having stringy, long hair and no hair on the top. Perfect, I thought! That is exactly what a cowboy would look like in that time frame. Stringy, un-kept hair. I was so relieved that he did not have one of those cheesy comb-overs. Yuck! I checked many photos on Google to see what women wore and how they wore their hair. I would have fallen off my chair if I had seen one with a pixie cut. LOL!

I was a bit disappointed that they had Mattie wear a skirt through-out the entire '69 movie. In the book she mentioned her jeans a few times and I can see in the new movie they have her in pants. She certainly DID NOT wear black nylon tights. Nice job, Hathaway.

Kudos to Portis because I wonder what sort of research was available to him to be able to write in the time period of the 1870's. Did he talk to old men who had served in the Civil War as he was growing up in the 30's? If they were in the war in the teens - nope. Nix that. Portis was born  late in 1933. The youngest members of the war would have been in their 90's during that time. They would have to be in their 100's by the time he was a teenager. Did he read letters, newspaper articles?

If I were writing a book from a certain time, I would have to keep checking myself "Is this a phrase they used in that era?"  "Would this type of gun be available to them?"  Etc...

Overall, I have discovered that I am turned off by westerns. I watched the sixties' TV shows with my dad, maybe that did it. Overload. I still think it funny that my mom would sit in one room and watch sci-fi, my dad in the other watching westerns. I spent just as much time with my mom, too. I'll tell you what, though. She really liked to read. Her favorites were novels that held information about history, such as Pearl S. Buck's stories. It was nothing for her to read four books at a time, going from one to the next. She always read at the dinner table (when it was just she and I) - not big family dinners. Remember, I was the youngest and most everybody was gone when I became a teen. My dad never ate with us. He was on his own. I didn't find it strange that she would read at the table. I don't remember what I did while she read. I guess I just ate. I may have asked her about the book. She was never upset if I interrupted her reading. She wasn't like that. She did like to talk about stuff and we would talk and talk a lot.

If I had a sibling at the table with me, we would talk. I can remember a lot of times having my niece or nephew with me at the table. I was always watching my sister's children. This kept me occupied while my mom read, I guess.

And spell-checker:  "shaven" ??? Really? shaven!???  Eh! See here!

I am in SO much trouble

 The library sent me an e-mail. The book I want to read has arrived. I picked it up today. I am on page 62 - large print.

While leaving the library I thought to myself "What will I fix for dinner?"  The kids are at their "other" home and it's just me. Potato soup. When was the last time I made potato soup? I have no clue. I "googled" a recipe. I like cheese in mine. Hmmm. Potatoes? Check. Onion? Check. Salt? Check. Canned milk? Check. Processed cheese? Check. Pepper? Check. Chicken broth? Uh oh. Used it all. Oooh. I found a small can in the back of the cupboard. I pulled out a can of cream of celery soup. I grabbed a jar of Alfredo sauce. I pulled the Velveeta cheese from the refrigerator. I peeled potatoes while frying the onion in butter. I added everything in and out came the creamiest, most delicious, most fattening potato soup I have ever tasted. No meat.  Didn't have any, didn't want any. I had some cornbread left over from a few days ago. I sat down with my book. I am so full right now and I can't stop reading.

The only reason I am on the computer is because I had to look up a phrase from the book. The girl mentioned "blue-john" when describing her milk. So far I am getting the definition that it is a watered down and degraded form of milk. So watered down that it takes on a blue hue. It also could be a soured form of skim milk.

One tiny flaw. The librarian that gave me the book was talking about the movie from 1969 and she said that was the first movie she ever saw where John Wayne (the hero) died in the end. I almost fell on the floor. Why?! Why?! I didn't know! Damn it! Eh. I'll get over it.

They did not have the 1969 movie, but I requested it and it may be a while before I get it. I may even get to watch the new movie before I get the older one.

Oh, and why am I in trouble? Because nothing else will get done until I have finished this book. Sigh.

Now, back to the book!

Fried Rice

 Chop green peppers and fry them in butter olive oil.

 Add mushrooms and stir them in. I use canned.

 

Add diced ham.

 Cold rice on the side. I use fully cooked long grain. You can use Minute Rice if you must. Always refrigerate rice after cooking.

 Add garlic salt. Careful because too much will ruin the dish. You can always add more to your dish at the table.

 Create a hole in the middle of the mixture for the rice.

Dump the rice in the middle of the mixture. Cold rice breaks apart easier. If you can't wait, you can fry rice while it is warm (just after you boil it)  but it is sticky to work with and clumps easier (but I understand).

 

 Stir it all together until well mixed and entire dish is heated all the way through.

 My favorite beverages.

Can use cooked chicken breast instead of ham. Another great alternative is fried eggs.  Makes a great side dish for seafood. That's how we fixed it at the restaurant I worked at in 1974. I do believe we used celery though instead of green pepper. Somewhere over the past 37 years I changed the recipe. Sometimes I use both. The celery and pepper gives it a great crunch. This dish goes great with deep fried shrimp/clams/fish.

My brother and his wife add soy sauce to it. That is a no-no in my book.

Amazing

Even looking at a picture of a yawn can make me yawn. Well, "yawn" this is how boring my week is. How many of you yawned just now? Hell, I'm still yawning. Migraine today but medicine nipped it. Guess I'll retire.

Well, George....

....I guess you said a mouthful. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana.

One more day

Back to work tomorrow. I always complain about how long and dreary January looks at the beginning and then I am always surprised by how quickly it passes when it comes to the end of the month. Ah, well. We will see this year.

Yesterday I was greeted with an e-mail from sister 1956 (K). Chaos from the eve before. I had purchased pork and kraut and other fixings for the New Year and figured why fix it at home where my daughter and her beau will just turn their noses up at it. If they got up at all. They went to an all night skate party and got home at 3 a.m. I guess they didn't make it all night. Getting old at 19 and 20. LOL!

So, I packed all my goodies and turned the car South. Sister 1956(K) caught me at the halfway point. She had to get out of the house. It had become a very volatile situation. I made a phone call and we found that sister 1949(O) was home and we were more than welcome to come to her house. She was pleasantly surprised because I brought enough food for an army (as usual) and we had a huge meal. Her (O) crew came in shifts and we spent the day trying to work things out of this family mess.

Sister 1956(K) will be staying with Sister 1949(O) for a while (closer to her work than my house). She stayed with me in 2003 during a similar volatile situation. She just keeps going back. It only gets ugly every 5 years or so, but still. We just sigh. You can't force a person's hand. They have to figure things out for themselves.

Sister 1954(B) was a loose cannon. As is her nature when she drinks. She should not drink. After spending a third of her adult life in prison because of alcohol you would think that she would do whatever she could to stay out. But, sometimes you have to wonder if prison is her safe house.

In a nutshell Sister 1954(B) (who is a passive-aggressive nutcase) used to date Sister 1956's(K) husband (who is a manic - depressive psycho). This is all self-diagnosed by me. I am not a professional but you really don't have to be to see what I have seen for over 30 years. For the record my niece is a licensed professional and she finally witnessed the manic-depressive in his manic stage at Thanksgiving. "Oh, yeah" she said. She has known him for 30 some years and this was the first time she saw him in his "manic" stage. usually he stays home from family get togethers' or is very quiet (rather depressed).  He has the "classic" symptoms. Fortunately his manic episodes only happen every 5 to 10 years but they are getting worse as each episode appears. So over the past decade it has progressed to an ugly state very quickly. So much that I am worried for Sister 1956's(K) well being. But again, she has to give herself permission to set herself free. We cannot do it for her.

Anyway, Sister 1954(B) really created havoc on New Years' eve at Sister 1956's(K) house. She was uninvited. Nobody invites her anywhere if they know alcohol may be involved. She invites herself. She finds some poor, desperate loser to drive her around. She charges in like a bull in a china shop. Here is a snip-it of her conversation "I have lost SO much weight, look how pretty I am!" She then proceeds to dance around like she is some dancer on Solid Gold. This is a 56 year old woman. Another snip-it would be "Brother 1957(N) is dying from lung cancer!"  Brother 1957(N) will not even speak to her so this statement holds no truth to it. And the best one "Your wife is having an affair with your cousin!"  Referring to Sister 1956(K) who was in the bedroom attempting to sleep through this monstrosity of a gathering.

Sister 1956's(K) husband (in his manic state) chooses to believe this lie. Chaos ensues. Sister 1956(K) at one time dated her husband's cousin, over 35 years ago and has no idea where this guy is and has not even seen him in over 25 years.

WTF? Really? I want to punch her(B) (Sister 1954) in the face or strangle her.  But I cannot. I think of my mom. I think of my niece and my nephew (both like my children but are biologically HER children; because I helped to raise them).

Again, I guess it is just a matter of time before she(B) is locked up again. If she is acting like this six months after her release, it is just a countdown. Another countdown.

My mom once told me that our dad would do this when he drank. He would think (or pretend) that she (my mom) was somebody else and beat up on her. I was spared most of the violence, being the youngest. Again, by the time I came along - most of the chaos had passed.

Medication is a moot point. The person who needs the medicine does not believe there is anything wrong with them. Everybody else is crazy - not them. Everybody else is wrong.

Yeah. I often wonder how 8 children (coming from the same set of parents) can all turn out so differently. Could be a birth order child development issue.

What do I expect?

What could I even expect to happen on  a New Years holiday from a family plagued by alcoholism? I try to distance myself but family is family. Sigh. There are no happy endings with alcohol. 

A lot of children of alcoholics become "passive aggressive". Or perhaps a Manic - depressive disorder. Any behavior problem. You name it we probably have it. If we are not one, we married one. Sigh.

It is a sick, sick person who lives to create havoc and chaos in others' lives because they do not like themselves or their own lives. 

Like a tornado, they leave a path of destruction and debris in their wake while they high-tail it back out of Dodge. You can't really  just go and punch them in the face or begin choking them. Confronting them does not help. They claim that they did not say those things. They deny even being there.

They will be on their best behavior for months maybe even years - until the next tornado strikes. Usually disguised in a bottle of whiskey.

Just so you know. These sick-o's do not dare try to mess with me. They did attempt to mess with my daughter once and I let them know in no uncertain terms (when they sobered up) that it better not happen again. No, they pick on the vulnerable and thin-skinned ones. The sweet (wouldn't harm a fly) family members. 

Yeah. Time to open up another can of whoop-ass? Maybe so.