Sweed

 One of the quirks of watching your favorite Christmas movies over and over again each year, is you start to pay attention and research the little things. One of my favorite scenes in "A Christmas Story 1983) is when the neighbors join in while Ralph's father (Old Man Parker) is checking out his prize leg lamp in the window of his living room.

I turned closed-caption on so I could get it right. The above character is Sweed. (I would have spelled it Swede, but whatever).  He says "Damn hell, you won it, you say?"

Trivia:  He is Bob Clark - the director of the movie.

What is your favorite Christmas movie?  Mine is "Christmas with the Kranks 2004." based on the novel "Skipping Christmas" by John Grisham.

Next phase

 Basement is ready for drywall.  Worker said call him after the holidays.  I need to get the electrician in for a couple of outlets (like the one just hanging there) and get those cleaned up.

Moving along. One dumpster full of paneling, carpet, old flooring, and junk has been removed.  I could not believe I had 7 old PC towers. Seven!  I think 3 were mine. The rest were systems that family/friends brought to me but could not be saved and were never picked up.

I removed the hard drives and placed the rest in the dumpster. I'm looking at the old EIDE Hard drives. They aren't even SATA for crying out loud. I have a device that can read SATA. I think I have a device that will read the older EIDE, just have to find it.

It is mid December and there is too much chocolate!  As you get older, for some reason, people seem to think you need more sweets. Somebody brought a torte and it had not been touched during the visit and they left it! It is about six inches round and six inches tall. It tastes like a fudgy (what fudge cannot be used as an adjective?) chocolate brownie with cream filling on the inside and iced with a gooey chocolate icing. It is much too rich and will end up in the trash or the garbage disposal.

Petit fours! Next time I want petit fours!

Years ago when I was young and living in Virginia we (my beau and I) did not have much money. I had not eaten all day and a co-worker/friend had gifted me a box of petit fours.  Well, I'd never eaten those before. On the way home I ate a few. I swear I was drunk on sugar by the time I got home. Now I can order or eat petit fours all day long if I want to. I don't. The only place I've seen them served is at the Holiday Inn where we would have our Thanksgiving dinner buffet. 

Edit:  I almost forgot the reading.  I finished two fiction stories so far this month. "The Midnight Library" by Matt Haig and "The Family Upstairs" by Lisa Jewell.  I enjoyed both of them.

And movies.  This week I watched "Christmas with the Kranks" a favorite of mine. I'm not sure I will get all the Christmas movies watched by Christmas but I suppose there is nothing to stop me from watching them into the New Year.

I am still blessed with being able to work from home. There is not much reason to go to any schools because most of them are working remotely and the equipment has been humming along. Hah! Which does not mean I have nothing to do. Far from it. I have a lot to do - I just enjoy it more because I can do it in the warmth and comfort of my own living room.

Oh, how about that snow storm?  Eastern Ohio got a bit. But with the "working from home" there goes the once in a great while "Snow day" where you could go sledding with your kids or bake cookies.

Moses my "tail-less" cat

 Not all tail-less cats are Manx. I don't think he is a Manx. He sure is something, though.  He is not like any cat I have had before. He is a biter.  He does not like me to touch him, he ducks his head away when I reach over or down to pet him.  Maybe he's autistic?

What he really wants to do is wrap his legs around my arm, bite somewhere on me as hard as he can (I have to pry his mouth away by sticking my fingers between his teeth). I am thinking it might be a long ingrained urge in felines. I do spay/neuter all my animals as soon as I possibly can after I get them. I make sure I put a lot of lotion on my hands and arm if I am going to be holding him. He doesn't like to bite me or lick me then. Especially if I use a medicated lotion. And he doesn't stay long.

But he craves and tries to get my attention. He comes over and grabs my leg with his claws and meows as if saying "Play with me!"  If I am busy and he wants attention, he gets on the kitchen counter and knocks something off of it.  Or somewhere else - just like an ornery child he will take negative attention - as long as he gets me to get up or focus on him. He is a brat!

I've been keeping tabs in a spreadsheet of the deaths in Ohio from Covid. The average daily death rate in May (highest until now) of this year was 37.  November just barely beat that by 1 with 38.  A daily "average".

About a week ago I noticed that I am getting a little bit of cabin fever.  As I have told my co-workers and friends before me - I don't mind staying home. I don't mind being alone. But I know it is not healthy so I try to get out. I have a big family and I love getting together with them but that has been curtailed quite a bit for months. You know why. Some family members aren't sheltering as much as the others. Their choice. I wish the best for them. I have one sister who has type O blood. I've read a few times that people with this blood type seem to be immune from the virus.  I don't have that type. I am A positive.

This recent surge of covid spread is just as bad (if not worse) than what we were having in May. And there may be a lot more to come. I do like some of the newer practices that have come to fruition since the virus began. Such as curbside pick-up for groceries. Ordering on line.  WalMart here does it, but I really don't care much for that place.  I have a local store that just started it. The fact that I have shopped there for over 20 years helps me choose and know what products I want.

Still, there are errors.  They do call if they are out of something and suggest an alternative.  You have to be careful - live and learn. I wanted a beef roast that was on sale for $3.99 a pound. She called and said they were out, but they had another roast - I don't recall what. I said "Okay - that's fine."  Of course that one was not on sale and I had forgotten.  So I paid a lot more than I wanted to.  Like I say - live and learn.  I also ordered 1 gallon of spring water and 1 of distilled.  I got 2 gallons of spring.  

A crew is coming in tomorrow to rip my basement apart.  Of course snow is in the forecast. On Saturday me, my daughter and her beau cleared a bunch of stuff out of it and put it in the garage. We are hoping we can put it in the dumpster that the crew is bringing for the stuff they rip out. I have mentioned before that I do have a hoarding problem. I was happy to note that most of the stuff was from a previous beau of my daughters.  And at certain times we had his brother staying with us. He filled my basement up with his stuff - he left it. So - out it goes.

We are getting the carpet pulled up and this time I am getting linoleum on the floor and will purchase a big rug.  And the dark paneling is going.  If there is moisture behind it this crew can fix that. Yay! If I like them (I have not met them  yet - my daughter set this up) - I will see if they will do the remodeling for us.  If they don't mind I'll get some pictures of the basement as they work.  I am a bit afraid that there may be mold behind the paneling. If there is, I hope it is not the bad kind.  I really don't want to go live in a motel room. I read that is what they do. If it is the bad mold you have to leave pronto until they come in hazmat suits and clean it up.  If that does happen, I hope to God my insurance covers it.

My dryer stopped heating (the little t-shirt icon stays on that reads "Cool-down") and I can't get it to turn off.  I researched this on line and it seems this is a very common problem for this model of dryer. Many say - just replace it. It is cheaper. Great. I was going to call in a repairman. What I have read is they replace this, and then that, and then the control board and pretty soon - bingo!  You have paid enough to replace the damn thing.

Or, if they replace the correct part - it just quits again in a year. 

This is the set that the washer had to have something fixed. I read about this recall on a washing machine that looked a lot like mine. I went down and checked the serial number. Sure enough - mine was in the recall. But it was funny.  The article said when washing large bedding the machine tub could possibly break away from the dryer and crash through the outside. It also said the dryer may vibrate, spin and levitate.  It DID!  It said LEVITATE!  I was laughing. I said "About the time my washing machine levitates - I am heading for the hills!"

Anyway, Samsung (I wonder if they are affiliated with Samsonite?) contracted the fix out to Fed Ex or something. I know - weird, right? That's what I said when my daughter told me.  When the repairman came, he said he has to break the tub and replace a part. He said ours was very close to breaking. Most of the time he has to pull really hard, he said ours snapped apart with not much effort at all. Figures.  My daughter told him that was weird. She said we rarely wash the bedding. When she told me that (I was at work when it was repaired) I said - Excuse me. I clean my bedding all the time!  Down Comforters create a lot of air pockets and I guess this was creating a problem in the machine. He had to re-label the controls and now we are to use "Delicate cycle" for bedding. It's been fine since then, but now the dryer.

Samsonite and Samsung are not related. Interesting tidbit - Samsonite's founder was very religious and he named his suitcase "Samson" - then the company became Samsonite.  We used to have a set. I still have one of them.  It is not used for luggage. I have other things (nostalgia) stored in it.

And of course, now I remember the popular commercial for Samsonite, where they have a gorilla in a cage at a zoo jump up and down on Samsonite luggage to show how durable it is. Remember that? Oh no. It was not Samsonite. It was American Tourister!  LOL!  I guess that advertising didn't stick with me. Or did it?  I bought a huge set in 1979 of American Tourister. That set is no longer around.

Oh, don't get started on old commercials. While typing this, I let the youtube videos run after the gorilla video. Samsonite had the commercial with the blackbelt guy hitting it and he cannot damage it. Duh.

I am so tired I am rambling.

 

I miss him.

 I miss him more than the others.  I have three boxes of ashes, now. We still have Cheech and Chong - they are 11 years old or so.  I found the above dog (Slade) just after I adopted Cheech and Chong. Slade was difficult at times but my, he was a big baby. So sweet and just so happy. I did not dock his tail. I can't tell if the ears were clipped - I don't think they were. If they were - it didn't take. I would not do either to a dog. I had a purebred Labrador one time, but had to re-home him. I always worry that I did the right thing. I usually get the animals that are abandoned or nobody wants. 

He (Slade - above) was running the streets and almost got hit by a car when I picked him up. He was panting heavily - he had been running a while. I tried to find his owner(s) and advertised. No chip.

Don't think that the short hair dogs don't shed. He did. Little short reddish-brown hairs. And they get all over your clothes, too. My animals all hated when I took their picture. They have trouble looking at the camera/phone.  This is very rare that I was able to get a shot of him looking at the camera.

I have finished reading  "Hillbilly Elegy" - there is also a movie coming out on Netflix on Nov 24th or so. I am keeping an eye out for that.  I finished "The Thursday Murder Club" .  I like the style of writing and the way the author portrayed the older women and their little nuances.

Oh - and Alex Trebek's autobiography "The Answer Is..."  It is an easy read. It was interesting to learn some things about the guy. I think he was somebody people would enjoy talking to. "Shoot the breeze" so to say.  Now you know I had to go and search the origin of the phrase, excuse me "idiom" 'Shoot the Breeze'.  I read that the word breeze was at one time a slang term for rumor.

Another site states shooting the breeze (idle chit chat, easy relaxed gossip) - is as easy as shooting air (the breeze).

Had to

 I had to throw this picture up here. My niece has a 15 year old daughter and the above 3 boys. I thought she did an awfully creative get up for Halloween.  She gave them all names that start with "R".  The girl, too. If that isn't asking for confusion, I don't know what is.

It has become chilly in NE Ohio. That wind. Is that from Zeka? Zulu? Crap. Who is Eta? Eh- Central America. Can't find any news on the most recent hurricane that went through. Old news. And a typhoon. Why don't they name typhoons?  Too few of them? I guess that's a good thing.

Looks like we are going to get a little warmer by the week-end.

I dropped my ballot off at the courthouse. I saw all those people standing in line in this cold. I also saw a friend and her daughter posted they stood in line for 4 hours on Saturday.

I am a procrastinator. I finally requested an Absentee ballot on Tuesday of this week. I received it Saturday and dropped it off today. 

I don't think I could handle standing in line for more than an hour. An hour would be hard enough.

I had a back-up plan. If I did not receive the ballot by Tuesday, I was going to my voting spot as early as possible and deal with whatever was going on.

Started reading "Hillbilly Effigy - whoops Elegy." I see where Netflix made a movie from the book. Opens in select theaters on Nov 11th and airs on Netflix on Nov 24th. Glenn Close and Amy Adams.

I like Glenn and Amy.  I looked at some pics (I won't watch a trailer if given the opportunity. I want to read the book first). I am pleased with the look of the characters. Glenn looks similar to relatives I have in WV and in one picture Amy's hair is out of control.  

Speaking of November 11th - that's Veteran's Day.  It has only happened once before but this year my work organization is taking that day off as a holiday. Now, I don't mean any disrespect to veterans but most schools are in session that day.  Some do take the day off but most are in session.

And I certainly don't want to come across as whining about a paid day off from work (I'd rather it be at Thanksgiving, Christmas or in the Spring - but whatever. Beggars, choosers - you know.)

Since I am trying to stay home as much as possible, I will be home all of that day. Probably. You know I am going to log into work and take a peek at the Helpdesk ticket queue.  I can't help it. I worry about my districts and if they are not able to work - they are unable to ask for help until the next day. 

If any of you know how technology has changed our world, you probably understand that like heat, electricity and water - the Internet is a "must have" in the classroom, now.  Hey - I see why people are talking about making it a utility. Huh.  Anyway, I will try not to work but if I can resolve an issue easily, I'm going to do it.

I forgot about Trick or Treat. I think it was Saturday in my area. I did have candy (a big bowl from a while back) but when I looked in there today I see that somebody has been helping themselves and the dogs can't reach that high. Moses, (the cat) do you think?  Hmmm...

I guess I'm glad I did not turn my porch light on. The first group would have come to the door and I would have grabbed the bowl and  ....."Uh oh..."  I had apples - but I don't want to be THAT lady.  I suppose they would notice if I dropped a cat in the bag.  How about a bearded dragon?  Pop tarts?  A used pencil?  Ibuprofen?

Eating fresh during the Quarantine/Pandemic

On a good day, I am able to offer the bearded dragons plenty of fresh vegetables and a bit of fruit. The female (now passed) ate her greens very well. My daughter raised her from when she was a tiny baby. But the male we obtained after he was almost a year old. He is quite persnickety when it comes to greens. Well, green he won't eat. He will eat blueberries. He was doing very well with squash, carrots and sweet red peppers but recently I am lucky if I can get him to eat a blueberry or two. When I do offer him the blueberries I put them in a tiny container of water so I can get some water into him.

It is difficult to keep fresh greens during the pandemic. I try not to go out very often, but if I want fresh greens then I have to stay vigilant.  But then he hasn't been eating. I wonder if he is in a sort of semi brumation stage. When the female brumated, she went inside her "hide" (a small cave kept dark and she felt safe in there) and slept for a month.

The male will crawl in his "hide" every once in a while, but mostly just plops himself into the corner of the tank and sleeps there. Barely moving for about 3 days. Then he comes out, eats a blueberry or two, eats a handful of dubia roaches and back to his corner. I try to get him into a bath on the days that he moves around. My daughter told me to add a bit of calcium into the bath water. A way to get calcium into him - absorbs it through the water. He also gets water this way. He won't drink it outright like the female did.

He is about six feet away from my computer desk and I look over at him often. He used to be VERY active when the female was alive. After she passed he lost his zing. She was kept in a separate tank and we blocked the glass so they could not see one another. I guess he could smell her. But he watches me and I glance at him. They can just stare for hours without moving. I guess I'm kind of used to him over there and since I am working from home I have had time to study his changes and the way he does things. 

They really are quite remarkable creatures. He loves it when I softly pet the top of his head with my finger. I know I've hit the right spot when his eyes close. Mostly I use a soft make-up brush. My daughter and I went through a phase a couple of years back when for some reason or another, we bought a bunch of make up brushes. Naturally, the ones I use for the dragon I do not use for me. A large one with the bristles fanned out is the cat's favorite toy. He loves that thing. I haven't seen it in a while, so he must have pushed it under something. I'll have to look for it.

I Want to Stay Home

I ventured north to work on a family member's computer Friday. I hesitated because all three people in the house are over 75. And my county just went to a higher level this week. Sigh.

 I am back home and staying home. I have no plans to leave for at least a week, I am hoping longer. I am going to try to do a job remotely. They want me to come to them on Friday the 30th. I have all this week to remote into their computers and get what I need to get done finished. I don't want to go there.

I don't want to go there even when there is no pandemic going on. They are what we call "End users who we need to hold their hand."   Which basically translates to they can't do or think for themselves (as far as technology goes). Whether they can't or won't is debatable, but they do not move forward unless I go there and do it for them or walk them through it.

Next book up:  "The Thursday Murder Club" by Richard Osman.

I may also start " Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis."

I want to stay home. I love to stay home. I don't need to socialize. Well, not much.

 

Drained

 Totally. Drained. I awoke with a migraine this morning. I went to bed with this little nagging headache. I had a migraine last week also. Rats. I was having them so rarely, I thought - yay.  When I got out of bed, I immediately took my sumatriptan and ibuprofen. 

Now, I am drained. Completely void of any mental or physical energy. I am able to work but not exuberantly. If I ever did work exuberantly. I'm pretty sure I have. But certainly not today.

I always described a migraine or a post-migraine as feeling like a wet, limp dish rag. My Mom always used the thinnest dish rags she could find so she could fit her hand inside of glasses. After finishing the dishes, I would squeeze the water out of the dish rag and there was barely anything to the poor, wet thing.

I wanted to tell you about the book "Sonya". It was difficult starting out, but it picked up and I liked it later on. And, the old British show "Upstairs Downstairs".  I am watching that - the 70's version. 

But right now all I want to do is sleep. I may take the rest of the afternoon off from work and just do that. Except I took a vacation day tomorrow. You know that looks fishy when you do that and then take off sick the day or afternoon before a vacation day. Like you are starting your vacation early. 

Not in this case. I really just want to sleep.

It could also be that I only had a half cup of coffee this morning instead of my usual 2 cups. That was all I could manage to drink.

Screw it. Screw what co-workers think. I'm going to bed.

Yowza

 I think I know where they came up with the idea for the scary Halloween characters we see in movies, in costumes and in our nightmares.

At first I thought that was her hair, but on a closer look, it is a hat/scarf or head covering of sorts and she had white/gray or blond hair.

I kind of like the head covering. I wonder if it was significant to a religion or her nationality. It reminds me of the scarves I would wear when all my hair fell out. I never did order a wig. I hate wigs. I can't even wear one on Halloween without sweating so much my hair is soaked. But the scarves and I got along just fine. Even if one made me look like a gypsy. Maybe I'll get brave enough and post a picture of me with no hair. Some people look good bald. I don't happen to be one of them.

Oh, and I think she is an ancestor of mine. A first cousin passed away and my brother ended up being the executor of his estate. He had been an only child and had his mother's huge chest of photographs and memorabilia. The above image is from this collection.  My brother painstakingly scanned all of the images (there were hundreds) and shared them with our other cousins. 

This guy had no will. No siblings. Parents long gone. Between both sides of his parents family he had eighty-some cousins. My brother got the job of tracking them all down and notifying them to see where they wanted their check sent, etc...  You read about this happening in books or in movies and you think "How does somebody not have a will?"  But it happens. 

Divvied up between eighty-some cousins it was nothing to crow about - but it would buy somebody a nice TV or new furniture set or even a laptop or computer.  The guy was a hermit. Through the years, my brother and sister (the older ones that played with him when they were small) tried reaching out to him several times as he lived only an hour away from where they live. He never answered the door, the phone or any letters.

Like I said, you hear about these people. I just never thought I would actually know one.

 

Little Blue Car

 Dug into my archives to do more posting of photos I have taken instead of finding ones on the Internet.    I believe the car is a 1963 Austin Wagon.  The date is June 2016.  I have no memory of where this was taken.  The Image properties option tells you a lot about the photo, but I thought I recall reading about a camera that would record the longitude and latitude of where the image was taken. That would be kind of nifty. Then 200 years from now, if by some chance an image survives - our future ancestors would know.

Take the Long Way Home

 After work Friday, I took the long way home.  The last few weeks have been a chaotic blur at work. I don't have to go often to a school physically, but I did on Friday.  Afterward, it was such a pretty afternoon, I slipped into the back (back) roads and headed home. Not for long. I didn't want to get lost.

Life in the year 1000

 The statue is a memorial to Byrhtnoth. He was the leader of the English (Anglo-Saxon) forces at the Battle of Maldon  in 991 AD.

Records declare he was six feet 9 inches tall.  Holy wow!

During this period in time, Vikings were coming from north to plunder the English country. It was customary for the English army to dismount and have their horses taken away from the battleground for safe keeping.

A cad stole By's trusty steed and rode away. Several men witnessed the horse galloping away and thought that it was the leader retreating, so they ran, too.

Poor By was not retreating and he perished at the Battle of Maldon. It does not specify where he was first buried but he was dug up and moved several times.  It was during one of these moves (1769) that the bones were measured and it was determined he was 6 feet 9 inches tall.

Fun fact (well not fun exactly) - the reason a sword has that long groove down the complete body of the weapon is to create an air pocket in the victim so it is easier to pull the sword back out. I wonder if this is what happens when you read where somebody twisted the knife after they stab them. Are they creating a pocket of air so they can pull the blade back out?

The book I was reading was "The Year 1000" by Robert Lacey. I had been looking for material to find out what kind of clothing/dress was available in that time frame. The book has so much more, though.

Next up:  "Agent Sonya" by Ben MacIntyre. I've been waiting to be able to check this one out. I am getting restless like the rest of the world is. Tired of the quarantine. Going places I probably should not be going. Sigh. It's just that I love the fall weather. All the area festivals have been canceled this year. I don't really go to them anymore, anyway. Too much walking for me. 

Once the cold weather really sets in, it will be easier to hibernate.

Happy "belated" Birthday

 I may have mentioned this chap before. This is a (younger) Jeremy Irons. He turned 72 on the 19th of this month. Brideshead Revisited was the first show I watched with Irons in it. I'm not sure if I fell in love with him or the English countryside. Ah - it was probably the voice. Of course.

Back in the early 80's we had 3 television channels. 4 if you didn't mind a fuzzy one. But one that came in clear as a bell was PBS. My Mom and I were looking for something to watch on Sunday afternoons, and we discovered this mini series.

I have Brideshead on DVD. Other shows I have liked with Irons in them were The Lion King (voice of Scar), Elizabeth I (a Lord and an Earl),and  Die Hard with a Vengeance. 

There are a lot of movies I have not watched. They just don't interest me. I think I watched some of Reversal of Fortune.  

Other than a brief (less than a year) marriage in 1969, Irons has been married to Sinéad Cusak since 1978. It always pleases me when I see a relationship last through the years. Funny I say that because I am not keen on marriage. For myself, I don't care about others. They can do what they want. 

But I am always pleased to see long term relationships. I don't know why. I guess if you think about it, I could see an actor who has been married four times because he didn't want to cheat on his spouse so he would make a break before or after he broke up with them. And was honest enough to tell them and then move on.

Or I could see somebody in a long-term relationship and for all I know one spouse cheated on the other several times or even just once but they remain together. I'm not sure which one would be worse. I guess in my 'rose-colored glasses world' I like to think that in the long term relationships - nobody cheated.

Sinéad.

To get the accent over the é, instead of typing the letter e, hold down the Alt key (on a PC) and using the number keypad type 130. Release both hands and the é should appear.

Hold Alt while typing 130.

Here is a neat one.  §

Hold Alt key while typing 0167.

If you hold Alt and type only 167 you will get    º

Hold Alt while typing 0169  ©  for the copyright symbol/character.

Alt key plus 169 will produce   ⌐

Hold Alt while typing 0174  ®  for the Registered trademark.

Alt key plus only 174 =   «

 Lookup up ASCII characters to see others.  If confused by the charts, just remember to hold the Alt key down and if there are several columns for a symbol - use the Dec (decimal) one.

I am sorry but I am not an Apple person so I don't have any idea if it works on macs or not.

Writing this post I discovered that the Cusak Irons is married to is not related to the Amerian Cusaks. Which brings me to yet another favorite.... John Cusak.

I try not to read too much about the fellows in their real life habitat (articles) because rarely are they like the characters the play. (Of course, they are actors - I know that).  But still.

I also try not to watch them on talk shows. I am not a big fan of talk shows so that isn't much of a problem.  

Remember - Video Killed the Radio Star

You hear a song on the radio and you think - oh, that is a beautiful song so of course your brain thinks it must be a beautiful person singing it. Then music videos came out on  televisions and your song comes on and you get to see the singer or the group and you go "Ewww....."

 

Family

 A few years back (in this blog) I mentioned I have four older sisters. And three older brothers. One sister told me one night in the early 80's while we were out drinking that she had a baby girl while she was away at school in Columbus OH, born in 1973 and she gave her up for adoption.

Well, with this sister - you just didn't know whether to believe her or not. I'm like "Oh, okay."

An even older sister had a boy in 1972. He was the first grandchild in our family. I was 12 at the time and became very close to my first nephew.

My family is not strict or prudish. My sister's baby girl would have been welcomed with open arms.

Fast forward to 2014 or 2015 when everybody and their neighbor was getting their DNA tested. I had one nephew who did and my brother called me and told me his son had a DNA match performed and had a 99% match in the Columbus area. Well, we had cousins in Columbus. My nephew was a doctor and told my brother it would be more of an immediate family match.

So my brother calls me. I am sitting there talking to him on the phone and he asks me "Do we have any close relatives in Columbus?"  I said "cousins."  He said - "No, does anyone in the family have ties with anyone in the area who may be closer in blood relation?"  He must have heard somebody say something. My sister had told my Mom at some point in time.

I said "uh....well....."

And the story has a beautiful, happy ending.

My sister was reunited with her biological daughter (who we all love). Sadly, the father had passed away in the early 90's. But she was excited to find out she had a brother and a sister. The brother was born in 1977 and the sister in 1987. (These are the two I had with me a lot over the years).

I recognized my side of the family in her features and she had her father's lips. When I first met her I asked her if she had migraines and she said "Oh, yes."  The poor thing had a brain aneurysm rupture about a year prior to our reuniting. She did not say if it was related to migraines or not. She had been on a sabbatical from work for a year or so. Mostly to recover and some to write.

She recently married (covid postponed it, of course). She now lives in Philadelphia PA. She is a professor at a university and she is well-traveled. I read her facebook page and she has lived a life that was probably quite different than if she had not been adopted. There are positives to both sides of this situation. There always are.

I mean, last summer she and her students went to Greece (education excursion, not vacation). I find her amazing.

In May 2018 she stopped to visit and meet our family after she stayed in a cabin for a week in WV by herself so she could get some writing done.

She is a wonderful person and I am so proud to have her in our family. A group of us want to go to Philadelphia to visit her some day. Of course, covid has everything postponed. My sister and her family have met her husband (at the time her boyfriend). I've met him through facebook.

A lot of people wonder how my sister hid a pregnancy. Well, she was (is) a small person and she did not gain much weight. This was before she started drinking and she was very studious and her boyfriend (future husband and father to three of her children) would visit her a lot. He knew of the adoption she said. She even came home for Christmas 1972 and was able to hide the pregnancy. We had no clue until she told me in the early 80's. She usually told me everything. She said she would tell me things because I don't judge and I don't share confidential information.

But what a story! I love it. And it happened to MY family! This is a story I would usually read about in Readers Digest or something. I can't wait for this covid thing to be over so that we can continue to nourish this beautiful person with our love. We coming for you baby girl. We will paint you with love. We just have to remember not to overwhelm the poor thing. There are like 50 of us in the immediate family and it is still growing. We are on another generation of children and they are coming fast.

I remember last Christmas dinner (we have to meet at a restaurant because it is too much for one house) I stood up and said "For the love of God - stop having babies!" At the time I did not know my nephew's girlfriend was pregnant. They weren't telling anyone, yet. She just had the baby - a beautiful boy.

And of course I felt bad for two of my nieces who had tried to have a baby and it just didn't happen. One had a boy and wanted to try for a second child. My family knows and understands I was just being funny and acting overwhelmed. (In a good way - and I know that I am damned blessed).

I have another niece who is half raising her cousin's baby girl. She has her all the time and her facebook is full of pictures of her. She does not have any of her own.

So my Mom and Dad had 8 children, 13 grandchildren and 1 step grandchild, 12 great grandchildren with 7 step-great grandchildren. So far. Most of the females in my family put their career or education first and this results in less children or missing the window entirely. For some that is okay.

It won't stop!

 Omigosh! Some days I sit for long stretches, reading, watching a show, playing a game that is supposed to strengthen my memory palace. Nobody to talk to but the dogs, cat and beardie.

Then there is today. Big breath.  I had to test a circuit after hours - and then had to call it in for repair. The tech on the other end took

 longer than they usually do, so that pushed me back an hour.

Meanwhile, my sweet nephew said it has been 2 years and he needed to update me on all the home improvements he has been making on his house to get it ready to sell. It is beautiful, has me drooling. 

Then my daughter has to have a sleep study test but she has to be tested for the virus first. She just messaged me and told me she was scared. Oh dear. She now wants me to go with her while she is tested. I will because I am curious to see how it's done ( I mean I know it is a long Q-tip up the nose) and I know we won't get instant results. But she wants me to go (btw, she is 29). LOL!

I have tons of reading (online newspapers) to catch up on and I am juggling two books. And I want to watch another episode of the British comedy "As Time Goes By". It is great - the episodes are only 20 minutes or so each and each season only has 7 episodes! That sure beats the 22 or so episodes we were getting with TV shows here recently. The first season of The Beverly Hillbillies had 35 episodes. Nope - wait. Make that 36.  Information here:  http://epguides.com/   I have found about every TV show that has ever been on in this site. I am a big fan. (Of the site, not The Beverly Hillbillies - that sitcom lost it's lustre a long time ago).

So, I just get into my news about the fires out west and buzz, buzz - I have a new message. I know I can ignore it, but I had already held my nephew off for an hour while I was calling that circuit in. And my daughter is working - this may be her only free time. And she needs me. 

Still an embryo

 

There is a movie about Helen Reddy's life after she arrives in NYC in circa 1965 until years after she had made it big. The title of course is "I Am Woman".  It moves along rather quickly, it doesn't get stuck on the details of making records. It touches more on human relationships.

One thing I did learn was that the lyrics in the song is "I'm still an embryo". I started singing the song when it came out on the radio - '72 or '73 and I had no idea what she was saying, so I just sang "I'm still an angry oath"  -  After almost 50 years of singing that song do you think I'll even come close to remembering the word embryo?  At 12 or 13 I'm not certain I knew what an embryo was. There was no Internet to look up the lyrics. One of my older siblings purchased the above album. I don't think the lyrics were printed there, I usually would have read those.

Angry oath? Hell, I don't know. If they can say "Ain't my cup of meat" in "The Mighty Quinn" I can create an angry oath. I mean women were angry back then, right? The ERA and burning bras. I know a lot of people say "Nothing's changed."  But I think it has. We may be too close to the change to really notice but I think perhaps over time, you know - baby steps.

However, I can't in good faith post this without wondering how in the HELL some of the women in this nation supported what we having leading our country today. Where were they when Helen was singing? Were they marching and making signs? I have a feeling most of them I know would be right up there in the front of the crowd. If so - shame on them. For all the garbage that Narcissist has spewed from his mouth - how can they even look at themselves in the mirror? And I've asked them. I ask them "How can you vote for him when he said "insert derogatory remark here".  They just give me a defiant look and say they don't believe he said it, or it was for show - he didn't really mean it. 

Speaking of....I finished the book "Hill Women". That author did a lot of asking her old home folk why they voted for him. She got the "I thought he would change things, but I'm not voting for him again." Let's hope not. But does it matter? If it is all rigged and it is crooked? Does it matter? I have started reading "Fear. Trump in the Whitehouse" by Bob Woodward. I get so angry and frustrated I have to quit reading it. That is why I am also reading "Shakey" a biography about Neil Young. I go back and forth.

As Time Goes By

 Okay, one of you out there in Bloggerland mentioned the British comedy "As Time Goes By" and now I am addicted.  Judi Dench is about as good as it gets. She has won so many awards it boggles the mind.

Anyway, can you imagine a place where time does not exist? I am not certain I have the mental energy to delve into that subject. 

Above is my father and his twin being held by their Mother - my paternal grandmother. My dad was born in October 1915 - so this is probably spring 1916? My Mom was not sure which baby was my dad. My grandmother did go blind years after this photo - I believe the cause was glaucoma.

Next up....

  Next up - started reading Hill Women.  I'm done with Fleetwood Mac (two books) and their garish, over-the-top lifestyle. Now I am visiting the other end of the spectrum. My kinfolk are from the hills of West (by-God) Virginia so I think I might relate better to this story. I am not sure if the entire book is, but the first chapters are about Kentucky and their hollers. Reminds me of Loretta Lynn's Coal Miner's Daughter.

Where did they go?

 

At 10 years old I can remember having headaches. Coming from a large family, I slept in a bedroom with my Mom for a couple of years. She awoke every morning at 4 a.m. and I would hear that match strike. And I would smell the cigarette smoke. And I would get a headache - every single day.

 Well, back then you did not say anything to your parents lest you get back handed. Or worse, the silent treatment for three to four days. Actually, I t never occurred to me to complain. What my Mom did was similar to the sun coming up every day. It just did and you never questioned it.

It wasn't long before I was moved into another bedroom with my two sisters closest to my age. They may have smoked, but they didn't do it in our bedroom.

At 12 years old, I experienced my first migraine. Every week or so, I was throwing up in the bathroom at school. My Mom didn't drive, my sisters and brothers all worked or went to school. You just powered through. Nobody was coming to pick you up. My dad could drive, but he was not allowed to or just didn't have a car available. When he would get a car it wasn't long before he wrecked it (drunk) and totaled it and - there again - no car. 

Over the past 50 years, I've had so many headaches. The back of the head, the top of the head, this side, that side, my forehead, my sinus, sometimes even my hair hurt (sensitive where the roots were), the horrible eye pain where it felt like somebody was sticking a fork into my eye socket. I used to rate my headaches from 1 to 10. A guy I knew laughed when I made the comment I have a headache and a half. He said "How can you  have a headache and a half?  A headache is a headache."  Oh, how I wish kind sir. Most of the time depending on the level of pain - the headache rating determined what it was I was able to do and what I was not able to do.  Listen or watch t.v. (sounds and flickering lights)?  - things like that.

In 2017 I had a full hysterectomy due to Stage IIIA endometrial carcinoma. This was the hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy).  Ovaries and fallopian tubes out, along with the uterus - cervix gets to stay. And they make you say it about five times before surgery as they are prepping you.  The nurse would ask "Okay, now what are you having done today?"  Finally I just said Hysterectomy with the oophro thing).  I mean seriously.

Then a few weeks of recovery and a few months of chemo (gosh, how many did I have - 9 I'm thinking?) Wow - how strange is it that I don't even remember?  Hell, my sister told me a day last August was the day I had my first chemo session. I was like "really? Hell if I remember." I did not need radiation, I know that much. And I did not get sick during chemo. I got the peripheral Neuropathy.

But somewhere I lost my headaches. The migraines leaving had to be the best - of course I had always said they started with my menarche and so it figures they would end with menopause. I have one every now and then but nothing like before. And then mysteriously - the regular every day or almost every day headaches disappeared. I know about rebound headaches and there were several times I stopped taking over the counter medication in an effort to stop my headaches. Now a bottle of ibuprofin will last me forever.

The reason for this post?  I was scheduled at a school today at 9 a.m. I got a late start and I skipped breakfast. I did have my coffee. I started at 9 a.m. and other than three bathroom breaks, it was non-stop typing over my laptop until 3 p.m. The school was so far out in the country, to drive somewhere to get lunch, I may as well drive home. I did not plan the day lasting that long (we never do). But driving home from 3 to 4 p.m. in the full sunshine with the A/C on in my car, I relished the "no pain" in my head and how for 50 years if I skipped eating, I'd pay dearly. Usually I would be so sick with a headache, I couldn't eat or if I did eat, it would come back up in the wee hours of the night after laying in bed for hours with a migraine. I stopped at the grocery store, picked up cat food and a few items I needed and did not eat anything until 5 p.m. and did not get sick. It was a miracle.

Where did the headaches go?  As far as I can tell - they left with the oophro things.

Schools and social distancing

 Most of us have been inside a school bus. It has been a while for me, but I don't think they have changed all that much. The seats ?  Pretty much the same.

While having my teeth cleaned today, the hygienist was telling me about her niece return to school. The students are not permitted lockers, they must carry ALL of their gear with them from room to room. Wow. Here come the back problems.

The school created clear plastic shields for each child to carry. They have all their stuff in their backpack on their back and a plastic shield. I suppose they are to sit the shield on their desk during class?

She touched on a couple of other things schools were doing, but then hit me with this one. Her niece is on the volleyball team. The varsity and junior teams both piled into two school buses (3 to a seat) for an hour and a half trip one way. Plastic shields nowhere in sight, there wouldn't have been room for them, anyway. I know this much. I wouldn't want to be an administrator making decisions and rules in the school districts today because they are going to be damned if they do, and damned if they don't. But I suppose they are used to that.