TubaChristmas!

If you've been following our adventures since last year, you'll know that last year's TubaChristmas trip was a total bust.  We got to Philly only to be told that a huge blizzard was on its way and that we had better hightail it back to our home in Northeast PA before it hit. Which we did. Not so much fun although we did get to see Macy's downtown in its Christmas splendor.

This year was much better. We made it to Binghamton, New York for their TubaChristmas. In the photo, Michael waits patiently for the event to start. Unlike the TubaChristmas in Dallas, this one has no rehearsal. We found this out after we had gotten there an hour and fifteen minutes early.

So folks arrived sporadically and just sat around noodling for a very long time. A rather exciting sound in a reverberative place like a mall.

Here's most of the group. I think there must have been about 70 players there. Not anywhere as big as the Dallas, Texas one in which hundreds participate, but the sound was so much cleaner and more musical. I heard lots of lovely harmony that got lost in the huge crowd in Dallas. The conductor even got nice dynamics and tempo changes from this group. In Dallas, the conductor brings down the stick and hopes that everyone finishes up together.

 Michael with his Boosey and Hawkes euphonium. It is a very large horn compared to regular baritone horns but after watching him play his enormous Holton tuba in the Hazleton band, this beauty looks like a baby.

And a picture of me. I am the family photographer and I've decided to insist on one picture of me at every event just to prove that I do indeed exist. Thanks to MF for the cool Christmas scarf she gave me for my birthday. (She probably doesn't remember but she also gave me the Christmas turtleneck several Christmases ago. We could also talk about the watch which Mom and Dad gave me twenty-one birthdays ago, but let's not go there.)

All in all, a very fun time and an integral part of Denney Christmas celebrations.

A Gift for You...The Mommy Quiz

This is my gift to all the mommies out there. Feel free to share this one with any other mommy you know. Someone has to write viral emails, right?

This is an easy quiz. You only have  to keep track of your "yes" answers. And even one "yes" means that you pass.






The Mommy Quiz

Have you ever…


Put a piece of priceless original art on your refrigerator?

Sewed clothing for a stuffed animal?

Decorated cupcakes after eleven o’clock at night?

Ironed a homework paper?

Catered a Blue and Gold banquet?

Spent time on your hands and knees looking for a matching Barbie shoe?

Written an important note in crayon?

Made anything out of pipe cleaners?

Stepped on a Lego?

Hidden chocolate?

Used a dryer sheet for something other than softening clothes?

Chauffered a group of people who totally ignored you?

Substituted tomato soup for something else in a recipe?

Returned clothing to a store because it wasn’t cool enough?

Made a Halloween costume out of a paper bag, a pillowcase or aluminum foil?

Picked nits?

Wished that you could be at two PTA meetings at the same time?

Decorated your Christmas tree with ornaments that had someone’s school picture on them?

Organized a game of Duck, Duck, Goose, Goose?

Washed dishes with laundry detergent?

Stayed up all night helping someone with a science fair project?

Gotten a lollipop stuck in your hair?

Read the same book five times in a row?

Repaired a backpack that really should have been replaced but couldn’t be because it had someone’s favorite character on it?

Lied when you were asked if you were too tired to help someone?

Folded a load of clothes that had more than seven unmatched socks?

Taken the one cookie that broke when you took a dozen of them off the cookie sheet?

Made a pie that you didn’t get to eat?

Truly enjoyed a second grade play?

Died a little inside when you heard someone yelling at their kid in the grocery store?

Cried during "The Little Mermaid" when Ariel's father says how much he will miss her?

Lost your heart to a snotty nose?

Grieved at a spelling bee?

Cheered for the wrong thing at a sporting event because you didn’t understand the rules?

Taken care of other sick people when you were sick yourself?

Put food coloring in milk?

Ridden a school bus in your best suit and heels?

Worn an article of clothing that was out of style so that someone else could have new clothes?

Known the difference between a T-Rex and an allosaurus?

Driven to Wal-Mart for one piece of poster board?

Made a costume depicting an obscure historical figure, a vegetable, or an amphibian?

Raided someone’s Halloween bag of candy while they were asleep?

Tried to explain a physics concept to a four-year-old?

Made dinner when what you really felt like doing was throwing up?

Played basketball, soccer, baseball or football in public in a dress or high heels or both?

Let someone win at Candyland?

Been thrilled when someone gave you a potholder?

Signed a school permission slip in the dark?

Been able at one time to identify any of the following: the four Teletubbies, the four Ninja Turtles, the four Power Rangers, the four New Kids on the Block, the four Bratz or the four Jonas Brothers?

Worked a fifteen-hour day with no pay or even thanks and felt grateful?


For every “yes," give yourself one star in your crown.Whether or not your little ones are underfoot or grown with little ones of their own, it’s probable that you spend a lot of your time doing things for other people with little thought for yourself. Many of the things you do go unrecognized and it is even possible that no one will ever thank you for them. But know this: you deserve the eternal gratitude of your family, your neighborhood and even your country. Because no one else can do what you do. And the Mommy job is and will always be the most important job in the world.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

Here is my Christmas list:

1. World peace.
2. Time travel to the Christmas party in this picture or to any time when my kids were small.
3. The power to disapparate to Texas and Utah  (Adding Paris to this list would be a nice extra).
4. A life without migraines.
5. A magic decluttering wand.

Before you become sad at not being able to grant any of my wishes, here are the things you don't have to give me this year as I am personally well-stocked:
1. Music.
2. Love.
3. Faith.
4. Hope.
5. Joy.

As long as you make a stop at one special house in Provo and another in Carrollton,  I'm good.  Happy Holidays.

Given up on me yet?

Okay, I've been crazy busy. Sorry. It's been wild. And I've been very happy. Lots of grandbaby hugs and parental hugs and support in Texas and Louisiana. Also, seeing three of my kids in the same room was pretty exciting. We're hoping to get all four of them together next year. But 75 per cent was pretty good. They are beautiful and amazing children.

MF and I have finished a book together. We're working on second draft now and will be looking for an agent soon. She's also full-time mommy, preschool teacher, Primary music leader and quite a few other things among which is gracious family hostess due to her lovely new home. NS has been a very supportive wife, cousin, aunt and daughter-in-law this year and is making wonderful art. She continues to bask in the glow of her recent Houston Quilt Show triumph. (http://www.unt.edu/) She's on the front page of the UNT website right now. ZL is finishing up Calculus 3, a mighty accomplishment, has gotten a new job and is getting ready for next semester. Pretty impressive. GL is expecting baby number 6 and teaching home school and playing in the Utah Valley orchestra and running her own successful website and boutique and a few other things that it makes me too tired to mention at the moment.

Michael and I enjoyed the trip to Texas and are getting ready for the snowy winter here in Pennsylvania. We're missing the music at the church Christmas party and church Christmas program. But since TubaChristmas in Corning, New York and a trip to Utah to visit Georgia's family are the conflicts, I'm happy.

I'll try to do better in future.

This just in! International Award winner in the family!

So what's new? My daughter, Naomi, has just won a top prize at the International Quilt Festival in Houston. This is a very, very big deal in the fiber arts world.

Here's the link to the winning quilts:
http://www.quilts.org/winners.html

Her prize, The Future of Quilting, is so appropriate. She is truly innovative and one of the youngest world class quilters. I'm so happy for her! Actually, for Naomi, being the best is nothing new. She's won huge awards before and will do it again.

What you will not be seeing this year

You nor I will be seeing this in 2010. We had our enormous maple tree pruned last winter. I practically cried all day as they hacked away at it, leaving nothing but a shell. Then we had a very  hot summer and drought. So my beautiful tree couldn't make the comeback the landscape service had promised. The maple tree that was the glory of the neighborhood will be very sparse this year.

We're also having our fall color early because of the drought and heat. And I'm guessing it won't last long. Such is life. The good thing about it is you don't have to wait for the chilly weather to see the gorgeous leaves. We took a mini-fall color tour yesterday in my convertible. It's not full color here but it's coming along. Strange, but really fun to see it all with the top down.

I'm back from my writers' conference and it was a very mixed experience. You hear an awful lot of doom and gloom at these kinds of meetings. On the other hand, I got some very positive feedback on two manuscripts. And some good advice. And some wonderful signed books for the grandchildren. And  a critique group. Yes! An electronic critique group came out of the experience. That was worth the whole trip.

And, Michael and I have tickets now for Thanksgiving week. We'll be enjoying lovely and absolutely unpredictable Texas weather. I'm looking forward to the best birthday ever on Thanksgiving Day.

LIfe is a test

The picture? Oldest grandchild CE with a big project on her hands. So, I"ve obviously bitten off more than I can chew since I haven't blogged for two weeks. That's some kind of record, I think.

I am enjoying the college teaching. My students are delightful, fresh-faced young'uns who try hard in class. It is a new and time-consuming project.

My shops are going and I continue to acquire new stuff which I now must process, take photos of, list and sell.

I've got a really big writing conference coming up in two weeks. I'll be getting critiques on both my big projects, my Louisiana 1950s novel and the chapter book my daughter MF and I are working on. And another critique activity in November.

And trying to do church work and housework, keeping in touch with my large family, and trying to make things easy for Michael.  And the headaches continue. Yesterday I went to church to play the organ with a headache. I went home, slept for an hour an fifteen minutes and returned to church to do choir practice.

So here's my take on all of this:

As much as I love the teaching, I don't think I can stand another email like the one I got last week. $138 dollar plane ticket to Dallas, TX, direct from our local airport, not Philly or Newark. It was $180 with taxes and fees, but still. That's from Wilkes-Barre! And I had to pass them up because of the classes I'm teaching. You have to leave on a Thursday and reutrn on a Tuesday. Since I teach TTH that would mean a whole week of classes. Can't do it.

I think the shops are out of hand too. I've been acquiring a lot of stock because I'm pretty sure the garage sale season is about over. So my profit/loss margin makes it look like it's not worth it. But, then I find something like I did this weekend and I want to continue. I now own four patterns from the 1890s. A couple of Butterick, a Ladies' Home Journal and a mail order. I won't keep them, but it is a wonder to hold them in my hands. It's miraculous to read the instructions and find out how ladies from that era put things together. These are patterns my great-grandmothers would have used. At that same sale, I also bought a box of old music for me. This is not to sell. I played for hours on Saturday and Sunday. My faves are the three dance music folios from the teens, twenties and thirties. They were meant for dance classes. They're piano versions of popular songs of the day. But there's also sheet music from some of my favorite old songs from all eras: "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You," "The Girl from Ipanema," "Change Partners," "Catch a Falling Star," and so on. Hundreds of pages of music for 25.00. So the estate saleing and garage sale shopping will probably continue.

So that comes down to the writing. This is not out of hand and it's not keeping me from flying to Dallas. Far from it. I could really use a quick flight so that Morgan and I could talk over our book. And I could most of my family, minus the Provo group.

Bottom line. More writing, less shopkeeping, and serious consideration of whether I continue community college teaching (if they even offer me the chance!).

First Day of School

Welp, if you liked the first day of school with the smell of new pencils, paper and books, then you should become a teacher. You get to participate in first days of school even when you've finished school yourself.

I start college teaching again today with a class of English at Luzerne County Community College. Should be interesting. This is an introductory class so the students will be mostly brand new to the college experience. Sort of like teaching freshmen in high school. Goggle-eyed and overwhelmed. I'm trying to use as many sentence fragments as possible in this post. Fighting a never-ending battle against them from this day forward. (Or so I'm told.) What are the chances of me getting a class full of people who already know what a complete sentence is? Not too good. First spelling words of the day? "A lot." I don't know why "alot" bugs me more than any other misspelling. Just does. We'll tackle "their, there, there's, theirs, its and it's" once they find their feet. Oh, and definitely do "definately." Enough fragments for ya?

Paradigm Shift

Okay, I think I'm going through a paradigm shift. When you have small children at home (or when you teach high school), you don't have the luxury of time to think about the deeper philosophical underpinnings of your life. So many hours of your day are spoken for. But fortunately, or unfortunately, when you are self employed and alone most of the time, you do have time to think about the essence of your life. I've been thinking a lot about this young lady in the photo, trying to remember what it was she had planned for her life and what she felt she could accomplish.

So I'm rethinking what I do in life and even who I am. This is downright scary but I think it's also a necessary part of a well-lived life. Part of my problem is that three of my most important roles in life are on long distance mode--mother, daughter, grandmother. This is hard. I wish it were otherwise. What I am left with is a lot of time and the choices on how to use this time.

I am hoping for a bright, sparkling new me to emerge any day now. And I'm just enough of an optimist to believe this is possible. We can change our direction in life. But for now, the growing pains are excruciating.

That Was the Week That Was

Several things have happened this week. One, and probably most importantly, I am gainfully employed. Just a part-time job, but it's a start. I'll be teaching an English class as an adjust professor at Luzerne County Community College. Should be fun. It will be good to get back to teaching again.

Secondly, I managed to get off a packet that will be critiqued at the next SCBWI conference in Philly. My middle grade novel is on its way.

Thirdly, I decided that if I sold vintage patterns and vintage fabric, I should try to make something myself. This is an early 1960s blouse pattern, old sizing. I think it came out well.

I'm sure many other things happened this week, but those are the biggies that come to mind.

No matter what the week may bring, some things never change. Every single day: I miss my children, I miss my grandchildren, I miss my parents, I miss my sons-in-law, I miss Texas, I wish my house were better organized. On the other hand, every single day: I love the beautiful place we live in, I listen to or play beautiful music, I read something amazing, I write something. A very good life, in fact.

The New Monitor Times Two

I had to share this picture story. Be sure and click on it to see all the details. It was a little large for my scanner but I think you'll get the idea.

I found a set of Dick and Jane pre-primers at an estate sale a while ago. And I've been seeing on Etsy an artist who makes cute collages out of photos like these. Her shop is named Cabin. So I offered them to her as a special order and she decided she wanted them. So off they go. But I did dearly love looking at them.

Now about the monitor. My computer has been lousy lately. Freezes all the time. Programs not responding. Long time booting up. Can't even turn it off sometimes. And the display. All flicker-y and annoying. Come to find out a big part of the problem was the monitor which has just given out. Blackness and void. That's all I could get on Friday. So Michael and I went to Best Buy to look around and by a fluke managed to get a 22" inch LG monitor for 150 bucks. Long but boring story. Anyways, we get the thing home and it's fabulous. The computer is running much better (it's still not fixed but we're saving that adventure for next week) and the picture is awesome. But the monitor has one dead pixel. A tiny green dot that annoyingly stayed lit all the time. So we packed up the enormous thing (which weighs almost nothing though) and back to Best Buy we went on Saturday. The good news is that the new monitor is working great. The bad news is that the computer is still sick.

I did a few estate sales on Saturday even though I'm overstocked. I found this: A sixties cotton number that stops traffic. I pulled it out of the car to show Michael and a lady walking by with her son backed up and turned around to come look at it. It really is cute.

And then today a friend who goes to auctions and looks for stuff for me sold me a box of stuff (nothing like doing business on a Sunday in the church parking lot) including old fabric, aprons and sunbonnets. Very old stuff. So I'm really overstocked now.

The best news is that my middle grade novel has a really rough first draft finished. Fun! Now once I get a solid rewrite I am truly sending this thing out. I think this may be the book that will finally get me published.

Overstocked

I did not go to any estate sales on Friday or Saturday. Here is why:  I am overstocked.  Check out this zipper collection. The house I bought them from could have been cleaner (that's an understatement) and so they needed a wash. And that's just the dark colored ones. The brighter ones I'll wash on Monday. Now I could do one of two things: a) sell the metal ones as a vintage lot on Ebay or b) keep all the zippers and never have to buy another one as long as I live.

B) is tempting. Zippers are expensive. But realistically, I need to get rid of all this stuff I've been buying. My shop is selling, but my inventory is overflowing. So out it goes!

I love this picture of Michael doing one of his favorite things.

He loves watering and in our climate, he really can't justify doing too much of it. But this summer has been really hot so he has had an excuse to get out and commune with the water hose. He's done some nice things with the yard this summer. He really loves landscaping. His main problem is that he has trouble pulling up anything that's in flower, weed or not. It is a little hard to get used to the lushness of the vegetation around here.

Last week I posted about my pitiful laundry. You'll be happy to know (or maybe you won't really care at all) that last week I wore khakis and crop pants and only put on a pair of jeans one day. This was good since my honey took me out for ice cream twice last week and I was more or less well dressed. I never look as turned out as him since he's got on his nice work clothes, but at least I was in the ballpark. And I decided to get really dressed up on Sunday. This is totally overkill for the Wilkes-Barre ward, but where else am I going to wear this suit? I really don't like how my face looks in the picture, but I am comforted by a story I remember about Berniece Rabe, a dear friend from Texas days. She remembers hating a picture they used on the back of her books.Then looking at it ten years later she realized how good she looked. So in ten years, this will probably look pretty good to me. I think we can safely say that my hair hates Pennsylvania. I believe I have mentioned this before.

My Strange Laundry or: Why I Need to Spend More Time Dressing Better and Less Time Selling Fashion Stuff to Other People

First the title of this post: we love Netflix. So many fun movies that we missed somehow over the  years. "Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" is such a fabulous movie! I know how I missed it when it first came out. It was "commie pinko propaganda" so I obviously wouldn't have seen it then. And then later, the "riding the bomb" scene was played over and over and who needed to see the rest, right? Wrong. It's an awesome flick and totally worth seeing. Slim Pickens is an absolute delight in this film. (And Peter Sellers and Sterling Hayden too, of course.) And the movie spawned endless "double" titles.

Now to the main post. I call this shot "Keep the Sabbath Day Holy." I looked at this line of laundry and was deeply depressed. I really need to dress better. Jeans every day of the week and a nice suit and pantyhose on Sunday. This is no longer going to cut it.

I spend my days selling vintage patterns, scarves, purses and other groovy fashion stuff to folks all over the world. I spend the rest of my time writing a novel about a young lady who meets a 1950s seamstress. And yet, I obviously exhibit no fashion sense (except for Sunday). 

Here are my excuses. I write at home. I stay at home. I make one trip a day to the post office in Shavertown which is exactly one half mile away.  Sorry, those are paltry excuses.

It's true that my house is presently overrun with boxes of vintage patterns which I bought on Ebay and stacks of vintage fabrics and notions which I bought at an estate sale. So I will have to wear work clothes to get that in order. But I resolve to do better. More updates later.

NIB OOP OOAK and IKISSTBIKIA

Estate sales are becoming an obsession. This is how I find new stock for my Etsy shop. This is the most fabulous area. People here are frugal and tend to use things forever rather than throw out and buy new. Add this to the fact that the average population in the county is one of the oldest in the country and you get fabulous estate sales. On Friday, the sale was advertised as being almost entirely 1950s and 1960s stuff. No joke! The lady running the sale wasn't kidding. Although some of the stuff ran into the seventies.

What happens is this. I show up and look for sewing stuff first. Then if they haven't got patterns, fabric or notions, I branch out. At this one sale among other things I bought scarves, mens' ties from the 30s and 40s, a big bag of vintage gloves, another big bag of vintage hankies, two vintage outfits (I usually don't sell clothes but I really couldn't pass these up), and a box of vintage white thread spools on cardboard. I think my total bill was 63 dollars. I will make this all back, probably from the gloves alone. But the reason my bill was a little high was that I found:

New in the box. Homer Laughlin 1950s Atomic Age Dura-Print dishware. Four place settings at 5.00 a box. Not a common pattern so I can't identify it. It matches my 1950s Eames era furniture perfectly. And then at a sale the next day, I found the divided pink Melamine serving dish for .50. Doesn't match the dishes but I don't care. The bottom line: I'm keeping them.

So to explain my abbrevations for those who aren't up on the latest ones:
NIB-New in Box (think The Prospector in Toy Story 2)
OOP-Out of Print-a biggie when you're selling doll clothes patterns
OOAK-One of a kind. I usually don't sell those because I'm always selling something commercial. But I love that acronym.
IKISSTBIKIA-I know I should sell this but I'm keeping it anyway.

So my new dishware and my pink bowl are IKISSTBIKIA. And to make room in my cabinets I'll have to sell off some of my other china that I was tired of.  I'll use the pink bowl to display stuff to sell. But we had salad out of it last night too. Marinated green beans in one side and green salad in the other. Awesome!

Chihuly! Did I just sneeze?

True, his name sounds like you are sneezing (chuh-hoo-lee). But so do many Japanese cars (Diahatsu, Hyundai, etc.). But Dale Chihuly is one of my favorite artists. I realize that this puts me a little bit below the total snob level of those who groove on Jean-Michel Basquiat. But if you had to live locked up in a room for the rest of your life with a collection of either artist's work, which one would you choose?

Anyone whose work forms a big part of the decor at a casino in Las Vegas has an uphill road to climb to get total acceptance. And it might be a century or so before there is a general agreement on what the art critics think of his work. But I like it! It's gorgeous and innovative and it makes me dream.

The Corning Museum of Glass has a wonderful collection of modern art glass and they know not to bite the hand that feeds it. Chihuly's work is front and center with a big tower right by the reception desk. No flash is allowed so my pictures aren't the best but I think you'll get the idea here.

They also have some of his lesser known styles of work and a very historic work--a glass door which was one of his first.

My granddaughters will surely love his pink chandelier with putti (think cherub.)

And I think Chihuly's big orange vase with putti is also a winner.

I have a daughter who is a fiber artist. When I was younger, I think any artist who worked outside of the traditional mediums of painting and sculpture had to prove their art worthiness. But I think things are changing. No one questions that ceramics, quilts and yes, even baskets, can be fine art.

After a half-day in this museum, I felt uplifted. I can't wait to go back.

Hot, Hot, Hot New York

It was truly killer in New York the past few days. And I'm not talking about the wild goings-on in Manhattan. No, I'm actually describing the tranquil and beautiful Finger Lakes region which was suffering from a very intense heat wave. And, of course,we had an outdoor magazine assignment there.

And we are worn out. I arrived first and Michael followed later that day after a gruelling problem at work. The cast and crew of the Hill Cumorah Pageant are real troopers. They had lots of practice onstage in the very hot weather. We were very impressed with the whole show, especially since the cast arrived on the 2nd and by the 8th, they were able to do a final run-through with costumes. And we got to take lots of pictures of adorable children. It's a very historic site whether you are a Latter-day Saint or not. This is where Joseph Smith found the golden plates which he translated into the Book of Mormon.

We also visited the print shop where the Book of Mormon was first printed. They've done a nice job recreating the print shop. And they have some original paintings there that anyone who has read our church's magazines for any length of time will recognize.

Michael had to hurry back to work, but I got to play tourist and I'm so glad I did. We had been meaning to visit Corning and the Corning Museum of Glass there.

I liked the Heineman collection best. The museum was given a world class collection by a couple from Chicago and they even have photos of their apartment so that you can see how they displayed the art. I usually find modern art museums to be wearing  because so many of the pieces are drab, or dreary or depressing, or all of the above. And the naked subjects (not nudes which is a different thing altogether) are gallingly lifelike and generally out of shape. But modern glass artists, regardless of their message, seem to have the general idea that art should bring light into your soul. And the colors or complete lack thereof are stunning.

 Some of their historical glass can also knock your eyes out. This wall above was particularly impressive as so many of you have seen this Louis Comfort Tiffany panel. I didn't know how large it was though. It's probably ten feet tall at its tallest point. Came from a "castle" in New York.  You can only imagine how beautifully lit this museum is.

They also have a fabulous section on the science and physics of glass as well as demonstrations of glass blowing and other techniques. The science section had a big display about automated bottle making which is the subject of my Michael's patent.

Envy me

Tomorrow Michael and I are heading out to Palmyra, New York, to cover a church pageant for The Friend, our church's children's magazine. On the way we have to pass through Watkins Glen, drive the length of one of the finger lakes, Lake Seneca, and spend a couple of days talking with and taking pictures of cute kids in costumes. Oh darn! And we get to spend all that time together. You can start envying me now if you like.

This is a totally pitiful picture taken out of a car window in 2008, but you can still tell that Lake Seneca is amazing. It just goes on forever like a river and yet isn't one. The Finger Lakes were formed by glacial carving and Lake Seneca is almost 40 miles long and one of the deepest lakes in America. Watkins Glen is fabulous as well. You can walk through the glen and walk over and under waterfalls. And I thought it was just a race track! Pretty sure we won't have time to walk the trail this trip but can get a glimpse of it.

The Finger Lakes is a wine growing region which means that the countryside is covered with beautiful vineyards. I'll post better pictures after our trip.

Not really whining--just reliving some irritating moments

We should never whine. It's unattractive and nobody likes a whiner. However, if done in a humorous self-deprecating way, it can, on occasion, be humorous to laugh at the misfortunes of others. In the hopes some of this may be humorous, here are some of the irritations of the past few days.

The fridge stops working. We're not quite sure what happened and I'm still not sure it's back to normal, but the freezer compartment coils got all iced over and stopped cooling. Nice. Michael found a puddle of water in front of the fridge a couple of days ago. He goes to work but promises to come back as soon as he can. So next thing you know we're quickly running around taking frozen corned beef briskets and chicken breasts to a neighbor. Then he goes and gets me something we've been wanting anyway, a small chest freezer for the basement. I get to drive into Wilkes-Barre to the only place in the whole county which sells dry ice. I meet a very amusing guy there who is really chatty so it takes me a while to break away and get home to save the groceries. He was preparing for Black Friday, which, in the ice business, as you must certainly guess, is the Friday of Fourth of July weekend. Beer must be kept cold. So once I get home, Michael has already got the cute little freezer in the basement. We use the dry ice in the top part of the fridge until the bottom freezer part dries out. So far, the fridge is working again. But I don't quite trust it yet. And it blew almost a whole day which could have been spent doing something else. Kudos to Michael for figuring out what was probably wrong and for getting the fridge working again. Of course, he has lots and lots of experience with fridges, dry ice and such from work. Weirdest thing was that although most things did okay with the dry ice (the lettuce froze), the water in our filter pitcher tasted really weird. Must have been slightly carbonated by the sublimating CO2.  I threw that water out.


Second irritant. I almost never use my cell phone. So I have one of those pay as you go plans. I have to buy 100 dollars worth to get minutes that don't expire every three months. When you use your phone only once a month or so, it's very easy to let them expire. Trust me. But this time, I let a year's worth expire. I have no idea how much money I lost. I don't even want to think about it. But such is life. When I was renewing and asked the young lady why I didn't get a reminder email or call or something she said, "That would be the customer service department. I can't help you with that."  I'm thinking any time you're talking to a customer, it's customer service, but that's just me. I just let that one go. Even losing my minutes, it's still cheaper this way than any other kind of phone plan I could use for a very occasional use phone that must work all over the US.

The last example was user error. Mea culpa. But the next is one of the most bizarre things to happen to me in a long time. Ordinarily, I use a credit card to buy stuff, but yesterday I wrote a check at the grocery store and it was denied. At first, I was unbelieving. I knew how much money there should have been in that account and that we also have overdraft protection. Little did I know that the company that denies your check has nothing to do with your bank balance! Ha! Did you know that? I wish I had. Instead, I practically had a heart attack on the way home thinking up all sorts of dire scenarios including but not limited to ID theft. I hurriedly put all the frozen food away and checked my bank balance. All okay there. So after several phone calls, I finally found why they denied my check. It's because they had no history on my account, i.e., I don't write checks! In fact, I write plenty of checks to the electric company, mortgage company, etc. but that doesn't count evidently. You have to write a certain number of checks to merchants in order to be acceptable to Telecheck. I'm just so glad this wasn't something important. I just used my credit card instead and went home with my frozen food. When I finished my conversation with the Telecheck lady, she said, "The next time this happens, please call us from the store so we can work things out." I explained that there was no way I was going to stand there and let ice cream melt while we figured out what was wrong. I didn't add that I wouldn't take the time to do that in a store especially when it was the fault of their system which couldn't recognize a valid customer with more than sufficient funds to pay for an item.

The photo? Random. Except that I get to play "The Star-Spangled Banner" on the organ at church on Sunday. The Fourth of July doesn't fall on a Sunday very often.

Nancy Drew -- Eighty Years Young

Did you know that you can buy a facsimile of the original Nancy Drew, book 1? The Secret of the Old Clock is on sale at Amazon and tons of other places I am sure. But I don't need one. I still have my own copy from the fifties. I also have The Hidden Staircase and remember reading them over and over. She was daring, she had the freedom to do as she liked and, of course, she was rich.

Last night I went to a lecture which was taped for television re-broadcast. The topic was the
(R)Evolution of Nancy Drew. Yes, that really was the title--the point being that Miss Nancy has had a tremendous effect on American girlhood.

The lecturer was an enthusiastic young English prof named Michael Cornelius who got hooked on Nancy Drews from his mother's bookcase when he was a kid. He had on the coolest tie that someone had made for him from "Girl Sleuth" fabric. He's co-written a book about her and the other girl sleuths.

The wikipedia article has tons of info. I picked up a few additional tidbits from the lecture though. Her titian red hair wasn't always red. Seems that they misprinted a book cover and it was cheaper to change her hair color in the text than to change the cover art.  I learned that the man who dreamed up the series, Walter Stratemeyer, gave the ghostwriters an outline to work from. And that the outlines still exist as the family's archives are great. I also learned that some of the foreign translations don't go word for word but actually work from these same outlines. So the books are very different. According to this  young expert, Nancy has always been popular in countries where girls have a lot of freedom.

They allowed the audience to share memories and ask questions. Several women, teachers and librarians, told how they were discouraged from reading them and not allowed to use Nancy Drews for book reports when they were kids. Now teachers and librarians are thrilled if kids read anything! O tempora, o mores.

Happy Father's Day!

This is my dad's dad. He was born in the county where I now live. He left school in eighth grade to go to work as a printer's devil right here in Luzerne County, PA. He worked very hard and learned all he could. He built up his own business and supported a large family as well as serve the community as a lifelong Kiwanian and as a school board president. He was a man of great personal integrity, intelligence and wisdom.

If a man has a desire to be a good dad, he can learn. But the ones who have the easiest job are the ones who had good dads themselves. That's the greatest gift a man can pass on. In that, Michael was blessed and my brothers are too. One day  I'm hoping my son will have the opportunity to be a great dad too.

So Happy Father's Day to all those dads out there who make my family great!

My daughter's blog says it all

Please look at my daughter's blog post for today, June 18th, 2010. She calls her blog Puking Pastilles. This is important.

The Boulevard Bistro

Michael was in charge of a project at work that required that he work twelve hour days and most weekends for months. The project? The Boulevard Bistro. He worked with architects, contractors, landlords, city officials, caterers, you name it, to put in a cafeteria for the employees at his work. It was grueling. The long hours mostly came from the fact that he had to stay late every day to supervise with the people actually building the space.

The result? I finally got to go on Friday. It is lovely. He did such a wonderful job. In the hallway on the way to the cafeteria there was a bulletin board honoring a few of the six hundred plus people at his facility who had gone the extra mile. He had been too busy to notice that he was on it. It was lovely to see him thanked for the project.

I sadly missed the grand opening (he actually got to use the big scissors to cut the ribbon). I was in Baton Rouge at my nephew's memorial service. I hated not being there. It was his big moment of glory for all that work he'd done.

But it is a wonderful thing that he did. The variety of food available is amazing. There's a couple of entrees, they can make you a hamburger or fries if you like, there's grinders (heroes, subs--whatever you call them where you live) and all kinds of cold cases with salads, fruit, snacks, and lots of things to drink. I noticed there were lots of healthy options. Also, desserts like big cookies, brownies and so on. I had a stuffed tomato tuna salad that the chef had dreamed up. He had put parmesan cheese and bacon bits on it. Delicious but probably not as healthy as the original. Michael had a Mongolian stir fry. I did see something I've not seen anywhere else. Maybe they're new and you've seen them. But they're giant Smarties. Looks just like a small roll of Smarties but the size of a Necco wafer roll. Amusing! And, of course, there's a big space with fridges and microwaves for the folks who bring their own lunches.

The photo? Random. I'm not allowed to take pictures inside Michael's facility so no photos of the Boulevard Bistro today. Instead, it's another Prague photo. There's a kind of covered arcade by the Charles bridge in Prague that has the ultimate tourist shops. Teeshirts, china images of the Infant Jesus of Prague, snow globes and these. This is the most pervasive reminder that the Russians ruled Prague. The matryoshka dolls are everywhere. Click on the photo for better details. Michael and MF are in the photo and I'm in there twice! Can you find us?

My new blog

Okay, I have a lot of patterns. And not all of them I can sell. They have missing pieces or instructions or both. But I love them. The one on the left is from 1963 and I remember girls looking just like this. Note the gloves and circle pin that were de rigueur. This one is missing the godet. And I'm guessing a lot of my readers don't even know what a godet is.

I've started a new blog called The Coconut Pie Shop about patterns and fashion in general. I hope my readers who are interested in those things will also visit my new blog from time to time. And leave a comment so I don't feel so lonely out there.

Adieu to Prague and the Czech Republic

It has been difficult having my daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren so far away in Prague. But graciously, the past two summers, MF spent a long vacation with us which we greatly appreciated. As happy as I am to have her coming home so that at least all my children live in the same country (as vast as it it), I was sad to think that we might never return to Prague. We'd love to go back but don't know if it will ever happen. A few more photos to show why Prague and the Czech Republic will live on forever in my heart. It's no wonder Czech immigrants to America clung so dearly to their culture.

The fountain is in the castle gardens at Cesky Krumlov. The astronomical clock is one of the biggest tourist draws in the Old Town Square. On the hour, huge crowds assemble to see the apostles come out. Czech modern style extended into the subway. These gorgeous metal tiles lined the subway stations with the different stations color coded. Lastly, Czechs love fruit and I think they display it better than anyone.
So as the sun sets  in the West, we bid adieu to the beautiful city of Prague.

Too much Mucha?

Impossible. It is impossible to get too much Mucha in my opinion. Let me say this again. Much Mucha is a magnificent thing. And Prague is full of Mucha. The king of the Secessionist movement (also known as Art Nouveau), Mucha spent a lot of time in Paris doing advertisements but never forgot where he came from--Bohemia. His influence is everywhere and his actual work is not that hard to find. Some examples:
The stained glass above is in the Saint Vitus Cathedral. Beyond belief beautiful with a understanding of aqua that not many artists have had.

 

This glorious piece is part of the drapes (yes, drapes) in the Mucha room in the Municipal house. The whole building is a paean to Czech nationalism and to Art Nouveau as an extension of their culture. A must see if you go to Prague.

This is also in the Mucha room in the Municipal house. Impossible to get a photo (although Michael did a magnificent job getting details) that shows the feeling you get in each room because you are surrounded from floor to ceiling with the artist's vision of what the Czech Republic and Prague are all about.

With some musicians you just know they "get" their culture: Chopin, Copland, Gershwin, Liszt. But to me, not so many artists ooze with nationalism. In the Czech Republic it seems that so many artists "get" their culture. All you have to do to understand what it means to be a Czech is to open your eyes.

The Glorious Czech Republic

I don't know how long you'd have to live in the Czech Republic to get inured to the beauty around you. Two weeks certainly wasn't long enough. We were stunned regularly by a beautiful building or gorgeous landscape.

This photo is of Cesky Krumlov where we spent a few days with MF and the kids while her husband was busily buying her a house in the United States. Although very touristy with many junky shops, it was still very beautiful. And the castle and gardens were quite amazing. We did the baroque theater tour which ML, my daughter's six-year-old, surprisingly enjoyed a lot.

This is the entrance to the marionette museum in Cesky Krumlov. Not the greatest museum I've ever been to, but the kids liked it and the building itself was quite beautiful. And in this photo you can see the raincoats. It rained a lot while we were there and it was quite chilly.

Inside the museum there was the tiniest door. EG thought it was just great. It actually led to the employee breakroom. We did notice another regular door leading into it, but this one was irresistible. Very Alice in Wonderland.

I hope MF doesn't mind that I'm posting a picture of her kitchen. Even though the Czechs really appreciate their wonderful historical buildings, they really understand modern style. Why can't we do this here? I love the way the fridge (it's at the far right) matches the rest of the cabinetry. Those brown cabinets flip up to open, which seems much more sensible to me. Less head bonking. It was so clean and modern looking. No wonder Ikea is so popular here in the States. What a shame that some of the more expensive European stuff isn't available here. And I won't even begin to describe the gorgeous lighting fixtures that MF will have to leave behind since they won't work on US current. In Czech, you buy your own lighting fixtures when you rent. She told us she will really miss them and I can certainly see why.

More tomorrow.

Rusalka

We have had some amazing experiences already. The grandchildren are the most delightful little people imaginable. I got to present my magazine article and write a poem with M's first grade class. We also saw the school play which was a very elaborate production of Peter Pan. We had a day with the four year old. We took her downtown and filled her up with chocolate gelato and McDonald's. Funny how we turn into our parents. My daughter and I played a piano duet at church. Almost a total success except that our page turner didn't realize there was a last page. MF flipped the page quickly and we were on our way again. We've read a million books to the toddler who is the perfect age for board books. We had a most wonderful dinner with my daughter and husband. The kids were asleep when we left so the babysitter had easy duty and we had a lovely time.  I had sea bass, Michael had veal filet mignon. How posh!

Last night we went to the National Theater to see Dvorak's Rusalka. What an experience! I love Dvorak anyway, and here were three hours of his divine music with a fabulous orchestra. Lots of English horn, two harps who played almost continuously in acts one and three and a great set of singers and dancers. I think there might have even been enough tuba to satisfy Michael. The staging of the opera was passing strange but wildly impressive. They had opened up the stage. I've never seen one so deep. It was a city block deep from front to back. Characters who weren't in the scene made their entrances slowly from the back and there were other background activities going on. Fire and water and enormous shims coming and going. Quite impressive. And the building itself is a marvel. Most people who've read up on Prague know the story. The Czech people from richest to poorest donated to build this gorgeous building and within a year it was gutted by fire. So they just ponied up again and rebuilt. MF used to live a block away from the theater but now lives in the suburbs. So for once we weren't lost. We knew our way around.

We did have a bizarre experience getting home from the castle one day. MF was home with napping baby, NL our son-in-law was working in his home office and the kids were at school so we took off to go to the castle. But it's rather difficult to get there from Morgan's house so she drove us. The plan was to take a taxi home which we did. Unfortunately we chose the wrong taxi driver who didn't know where MF's street was, and he had no maps and no radio or GPS. So he just left us off at a big intersection which was somewhere near MF's house. This is where the total lack of language really kicks in. We couldn't find English speakers, we couldn't read the instructions on the payphone, etc. So we ended up in a Kodak store where they really didn't speak English but we paid 20 crowns (1 dollar) to use their cell phone to call Morgan and try to explain where we were. NL came and picked us up. Highly embarrassing. We were within walking distance but had no map and no clue where we were. With four college degrees between us and at least working knowledge of five foreign languages we were completely nonplussed. So amusing. We now have a map which MF printed out for us to show taxi drivers.

Today we're off to Cseky Krumlov (I almost certainly spelled that wrong) for several days. For MF it's like planning the Normandy invasion. For us, we just throw a few things in a bag. We'll have an awesome time.

We're off

I just put my Etsy shop on vacation, something I haven't done since it opened it last fall. I really hate to do it. I can't afford the loss of sales. But it wouldn't be fair to keep it open and make people wait as much as two weeks to get their item shipped.

I think I've remembered everything. Packing for Europe sounds easy when you're going to visit family, but it's still tough. You'd think I'd have this down to a science by now. I have a standard packing list that I print out for trips like this. And the only things we have to have are our passports and tickets. But having the right clothes to wear, the right glasses, the right shoes, and the right camera stuff is very important. And the weather isn't going to smile on us. Rain is predicted for the next week. So we'll need raincoats , umbrellas and waterproof shoes. If I lived in sunny Texas, this might bother me, but it's 44 degrees outside right now, so 60 degree temps will be refreshingly warm to me.

I found my own picture of sgraffito. What's amazing is that this isn't just old stuff. You see people working on the plaster all over town when the weather is nice. There must be a lot of people who still know how to do this.

I'll have lots of cool pictures to post when I return.

The Golden City of Prague

When my daughter, MF, was a very little girl, she was so proud of the fact that she could spell "Czechoslovakia." Now she's a big girl and there's no such country. But she lives in the Czech Republic now and is still a fabulous speller. We'll be going to visit her in a couple of days and it will be an emotional visit. As difficult as it has been having the grandchildren live so far away, it's been awesome to watch Michael's and my dream of working abroad come true for one of our children. And it's also pretty great to have free room and board in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Prague was the showplace and capital of the Hapsburg empire and was spared all bombing during WWII. Oddly, it has masterpieces of both Baroque and Art Nouveau architecture. One big surprise when we got there was all the sgraffito on the buildings. Here's one example.

I can't wait, that is, if I can get well enough to go. I've been on antibiotics for five days now and I'm hoping that they will take care of my cough. I'm ready for some happy times.

Motherhood

If a picture is worth a thousand words, here are five thousand that say it all about the joy of motherhood. Happy Mother's Day!