Speaking of Betrayal

I guess I sympathize with how Susan felt when she discovered my treachery because I still remember how I felt when my friends betrayed me.

We had moved; again.

Even back then I was an aspiring writer and I kept a diary.

My deepest, darkest thoughts and secrets.

One day while playing with my three new best friends they started making comments that referenced things I had only shared in my diary.

And the more they made comments the harder they laughed at me.

I was devastated.

How could they betray me that way?

Weren’t they my friends?

Didn’t they understand the sanctity of a LOCKED diary?

I eventually forgave them (it was either that or become the scorn of the neighborhood!)

And I learned NEVER to put into writing anything you wouldn’t want printed on the front page of the New York Times!

DISLOYALTY

I was eight years old when we moved to Pennsylvania.

I still played with dolls.

Then I met Susan.

I adored Susan. We were the same age but she seemed so much older and much worldlier.

And she was a tomboy.

I wanted to be just like her in every way.

She thought playing with dolls was babyish and stupid so I put them away.

My mother helped me arrange a little ‘house’ for them in a cupboard in my room, behind closed doors so Susan wouldn’t know when she came over to play.

Occasionally I would open the cupboard to visit (okay, to play) with them.

They weren’t baby dolls but sophisticated Barbie’s and one doll named Robin Jr. because she looked just like me!

One winter day as I was playing with my dolls, surreptitiously of course, Susan snuck up to my bedroom window (which just happened to be a picture window that faced the front yard.)

My curtains were open and the snow was high enough to give Susan a perch for a full and unobstructed view into my room and what I was doing.

You know that feeling you get that someone is watching you? I got that feeling and I turned to see Susan looking through the window.

I’ll never forget the look of disappointment, disdain, and betrayal on her face.

It took me months to win back her trust.

I even went so far as to take horseback riding lessons with her, even though the horses scared the crap out of me!

I don’t think she ever fully forgave the duplicity.

It is a Little Known Fact

It is a little known fact King Leer has an identical twin brother named Lester.

Unlike his ‘older’ brother (by three minutes) Lester likes to party!

He is quite the ladies’ man, a gourmand and a licensed sommelier. 

Ready at the drop of a hat for any exploit you can imagine!

(I also suspect he might be a spy for the CIA, which explains the music in this little video!)

As I type this he is off to his new home with Katie Gardenia. 

A wonderful and inspiring fiber artist I had the pleasure to meet and ‘work’ next to at the Explosion.

She has written a unique book about how she started one of the most famous restaurants on Captiva Island called The Bubble Room. Not only is it an interesting story about the restaurant and the characters that frequented it, but she has added her artistic and personal touch throughout by including little tucks-ins and surprises. Each is totally one of a kind!

I highly recommend it! You can order a copy from her website here.

I’m sure she and Lester are going to have an interesting and fun filled journey together! (They are kindred spirits!)

{‘King’ (as he prefers to be addressed) went home from the Explosion with Debby from Dlynne Designs. Now that the brothers are both living in the same city maybe they will get together for drinks occasionally!}

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I’ve been to the North Pole

Yup, it’s true. I’ve been to the North Pole. 

I saw Santa, his elves, his reindeer and his workshop!

And I’m here to tell you that the North Pole is ACTUALLY a pole! 

Made of ice. 

And every child licks it!

YUCK!

I can’t even begin to imagine the germs on that thing. But it was all part of the experience when you went to the North Pole, which was a sort of amusement park in New York State when I was a kid. (I'm not sure but it might still be there!)

Looking back I’m surprised the health department didn’t at least put a fence around the pole so we couldn’t lick it! LOL

Santa, me  and an elf.
(I have no idea who the other kids are! LOL)
 the date on the back says  7/'58
(Geez I'm old!)

Holiday Memories

This time of year always brings back memories of visiting family.

Every four or five years we’d trek back to upstate New York from wherever we were living at the time to visit the grandparents.

For some strange reason, which to this day I still have no reasonable explanation for, my father and BigBrother would stay at the paternal grandparent’s house and my mother and I would stay at my maternal grandparent’s house.

(It’s not that either house didn’t have room for all of us.)

I think it had something to do with my paternal grandmother.

She was batsh*t crazy.

I know it’s not nice to speak that way of your own grandma, but there’s no other way to put it.

She had ‘rules’.

For instance: If you ate breakfast at her house, you HAD to have three prunes (no more, no less.) There was no debate, it was a given. 

I like prunes, but still….

If you asked for shredded wheat (the old fashioned big ones) you were only allowed one and she would soak it in water first before she put it into the cereal bowl, because it was wasteful to let it soak up the milk.

She always had lovely furniture that you weren’t allowed to sit on.

The couch cushions were down filled and always ‘plumped’ to just the right fluffiness. (God forbid if you sat down on them and she had to re-fluff!)

I spent a lot of my time out on the front porch. I couldn’t get into too much trouble out there!

She looks like the life of the party doesn't she? LOL

Maybe They Will Hear My Prayers

I couldn’t stop crying.

I couldn’t stop thinking.

I had to do something.

Not earth shattering.

Not monumental.

Maybe they will hear my prayers.

12-21-2012

Oooooops, sorry.
I didn't bother to write a blog post for today because they said the world was going to end, and I figured why bother?
 LOL

Father was a Linguist (...or not)

My father told some interesting stories about his time in the service.

He was stationed overseas in WWII.

He professed to speak six languages, English, French, Italian, German, Russian and Latin.

I think he exaggerated. 

One fine spring day he was guarding the gate of a POW hospital when a German patient on crutches came up to him with his girlfriend at his side and with gestures indicated he wanted to pick some flowers, outside the gate, for his girl.

My father responded, “Nein!”

The POW tried again.

Frustrated and wanting the soldier to go back to the hospital, my father brandished his rifle at the two of them and yelled in his best German accent, “Nein! Nein bloomin flicken!”

I'm not sure but I don’t think 'bloomin flicken' is in the German dictionary!

Tubs

Tubs went to the party too.

He came home with Gaby. I'm thinking maybe there's a little 'summpin summpin' going on between them!
(makes me wonder what their babies would look like......)

Gaby

Gaby was admired (at the 'Explosion') but no one took her home.

She now resides at the Alliance gift shop, dreaming of a new home for Christmas.

After the Ball

Your good thoughts and well wishes must be very powerful!

The 'Explosion' was a roaring success!

I had a blast!

Lovely people, great table ‘mates’ and fantastic buyers and friends stopped by.

I was having such a good time interacting with everyone I totally forgot to take ANY pictures!

L My bad!

This is what is left of the Christmas tags I gave away! (The bucket was overflowing to begin with.) And with each giveaway I put them in a small pink bag I made.

And of course the sold items went into a pink bag as well! 

(It warmed my little heart to see all the pink bags wandering around!)

Everyone had lovely things to say about my display.

But they were confused by the puzzles. 

Everyone except for one little boy, Juan, who immediately came over to my table the minute I put them out. I couldn't help myself, I gave him one and asked him to report back to me after he put it together and tell me if it was up to par. (One must always have a quality control department in their company! LOL)

Thank you, my friends, for all your internet love and support!

"Oh Tannenbaum,Oh Tannenbaum!”

Husband put up the tree while I was out yesterday!

Wasn’t that sweet of him? LOL

Filler Post Because I'm Busy Getting Ready for the Explosion

I'm very grateful that studies show that it's not necessary to actually say anything meaningful when you're communicating digitally. Takes a lot of pressure off bloggers.

                                                    Walt Taylor;  blogger

Memories

Childhood memory: being half asleep snuggled warmly in my bed.

My mother coming into my room to check on me after being out for the evening with my father.

She gently brushes the hair off my forehead as she leans down to kiss me.

I hear her plastic bangle bracelets click together as she moves and I get a hint of her Chanel No. 5 as I drifted off to sleep.

The scent of Chanel No. 5 instantly makes me six years old again.

Come On Down

Looking for something different and fun to do?

Come to the Gift Shop Explosion!

This Saturday 12-15-2012 from 10AM to 2PM 

@ Alliance for the Arts. 

Lots of wonderfully talented artists and their creations. 

Find that perfectly unique Christmas gift!

If you read this blog, say the magic word (PINK) so I know you’re a friend! (I will need the moral support! LOL)

I’d love to see you!

I’ll have some new journals, jigsaw puzzles and making their public debut— ‘STUFFIES’

(I’ve decided not to show all of them here so you’ll have to come to see them!)

Hope to see you there!

You Know You’re Old When…….

When the boys were little we had a very nice teenage babysitter.

One day we were chatting and the subject of music came up.

I mentioned that the Beatles were my favorite band.

She gave me a blank look for a few seconds and then said, 

“Oh! You mean Paul McCartney’s other band!”

Hand me my cane please! LOL

Meet Fiona Fish (a new stuffie)

(Fluffy says 'num num'! LOL)

Pure Love

I went to the grocery store today. It is by far my favorite grocery store of all time!

And today just showed me again why.

Santa was there!

As I was checking out, Santa and Mrs. Claus were sitting side by side posing for pictures with the kids and giving out goodie bags filled with fresh fruit (not candy, another plus for this terrific store!)

As I watched, a father and son stood in line.

The boy was shyly leaning against his father holding his hand. Except he was too old to be holding his father’s hand.

When it was his turn he clumsily sat on Santa’s lap and recited his ‘wish list’ then bolted back to his father.

But Santa’s ‘elf’ hadn’t had time to snap a picture, so Santa asked him to come back and pose with him again.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone’s face light up with such sheer delight like this boy’s face did.

His grin was as big as his whole face!

As I walked out of the store I was behind this father and son.

The boy was still clinging to his father’s hand, looking up at him, still with a face splitting grin, as his father lovingly looked down at him.

It’s times like this that I wish I could really draw.

But I don’t think I could have captured the love that radiated from the two of them.

It Doesn’t Take Much To Get Me Excited!

I’ve wanted to do this kind of binding on my journals for a while now.

I looked EVERYWHERE online to find a tutorial.

Nothing.

Nada.

Zip.

So one day I sat down and punched holes into a piece of scrap cardboard, got out some floss and a needle and proceeded to play.

(Think old fashioned sewing cards.)

It frustrated me.

How to make it look like an ‘X’ on the outside but straight on the inside to hold the signatures together.

I’m sure someone who has an analytical/mathy kind of brain wouldn’t have trouble with this at all.

But being math impaired IT DROVE ME CRAZY!

And then I got it!

Except, I didn’t write down how I did it!  LOL

But after a few more attempts (and taking notes) 

GOT IT on paper!

I’m like a kid in kindergarten whose teacher just put a gold star on my forehead!

I GOT IT! I GOT IT! I GOT IT!

Here's how I did it: 

‘X’ Binding for Hand Bound Journal

Each ‘X’ takes two signatures.

You can search YouTube if you need the directions on how to make a journal (there are tons) this is just the binding part.

It's a little unwieldy the first time but it gets easier and makes more sense once you’ve actually done it.

(Now that I've done it a few times I'm wondering why it seemed so hard, duh!)

My Vocabulary is Slipping

Big time!

I used to have a good vocabulary.

But lately I find it harder and harder to think of the precise word I want to use. (More fun with aging!)

I was taught that the English language is a beautiful thing, with subtleties and nuances to express your exact feelings and thoughts for any given situation.

One of my father’s favorite mottos (and he had many) was “Small minds use small words.”

I was always encouraged to expand my vocabulary.

And I did.

Until one day as I was chatting with a friend of Husband’s and he said to me, “I can use big words too! Delicatessen!”

I think that might have been the beginning of the end of my sizable vocabulary.

Thank God for Microsoft Word Thesaurus!

You Know You’ve Married a Good One When……..

One summer the boys decided they wanted to have a sleep over for their birthday party.

Their birthdays are only a few days apart (different years) so we always had a combined party.

Since it was a combined party there was going to be more little boy testosterone in the house than I thought I’d be able to bear so we pitched a tent on the back deck.

Our yard was very small. 

No wait, that’s over stating it.

Our yard was non-existent.

The entire property was only 40’ wide. Great for yard maintenance, bad for playing, running and camping.

But we managed to fit the four man tent on the deck. Better still we managed to squish all the party guests into it!

All was going well.

I went upstairs to the relative quiet while they wore a path from the tent to the kitchen and the bathroom.

The problem was……it was a hot, quiet summer night. And we were worried that the giggling and other assorted noises coming from the tent were starting to present a problem to our neighbors at 2 AM (who all probably had their windows open.)

I went out and tried to quiet them down to no avail.

Finally, Husband grabbed a book and went out to the tent.

He laid down with them, on the hard deck, half inside and half outside the tent (because he couldn’t fit inside with all of them!)

And from 2 AM  until dawn read aloud (by flashlight)

‘The Adventures of Captain Underpants’.

To the delight and massive giggling of all involved (including, I found out later, my next door neighbor; who stayed up all night on her deck listening!)

Call Me Ebenezer

But I don’t think you should put up your Christmas decorations so early that it necessitates DUSTING THEM! 

Image courtesy: zalgon@Flickr.com 2/3/2005

Grandma Did You Hear Me?

When Son1 was little he went to pre-school.

Early childhood education was my major in college, so I’m a huge believer that you can never have too much education. (Plus, let’s face it, three hours of ‘alone time’ for mommy is a good thing! LOL)

At the end of the year they made a major production out of ‘graduation’.

The kids wore paper mortar boards and had a commencement ceremony.

They paraded into the auditorium and up onto the stage. 

Each student received a ‘diploma’ and they sang a song.

He wore a ‘big boy tie’ and a dress shirt.

It was a BIG DEAL.

And it was all very solemn to him.

When it was over and he was marching past us at the end of the procession he stopped and said to my mother in a stage whisper, “Grandma, did you hear me?” J

Every once in a while, I stop what I’m doing and say in a loud whisper, “Grandma, did you hear me?”  

I hope she does.

Gotta Love a Kid Who Can Pull Off His Own Style

Son2 wearing his dapper bow tie Thanksgiving day

Husband Made Me Do It

That’s right, it’s Husband’s fault! He made me do it!

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

(It may also be a little bit Diana Trout’s fault too! LOL)

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Tablet

The Curling Iron

My mother had a thing about little girls with curls.

(She was fond of reciting the verse, “There was a little girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead….lol)

She would try and coax my pin straight hair into girly ringlets with a curling iron.

Back in ‘the day’ curling irons weren’t the cute little plug in jobs they are now.

They were long, heavy things that you heated up on the stove. (Yes, I really am that old!)

So, as my father stayed upstairs getting ready, my mother and I would trudge down to the kitchen to ‘do’ my hair.

I would sit on a stool next to the stove; my mother would heat up the curling iron, grab a section of hair, roll it up in the iron and have me hold it until it cooled. She would use the cooling time to multitask, doing the breakfast dishes or whatever else needed to be done.

One day as we were in the middle of this routine, my father came downstairs, shaving cream still on his face to ask, “What is that God-awful smell?”

My mother spun around from the sink, took one look at me and exclaimed, “Oh my God! It’s her HAIR!’

And there I sat, dutifully holding the curling iron as it burned my ‘curls’!

My mother grabbed the iron but it was too late. I still ended up with a huge ‘bald’ spot on the side of my head.

That day I got my first ‘pixie’ cut.