Need I Say More?

A movie for grown-ups too!

Wow! Daniel and I had a movie Sunday afternoon and it was just wonderful!
Hickory Ridge Cinema in Brunswick, $5 for Daniel and $5 for his "senior" Nana along with
the "Kids pack" at $4.50 of popcorn, candy and a soda.

I love it when there are only a few folks in the audience, so there are way less
distractions than normal. We shared the popcorn, and I was delighted at his
very mature comments about the story and the action.

This story has lots of twists and curves and the animation is superior and fast, fast, fast.
Voices of the two main characters are Antonio (Puss)and Salma (Soft Paws).
Tommy Lee Jones was "Humpty Alfonzo Dumpty" too.

Lovely way to spend the day, and not one F _ _ _ word!

Daniel and I highly recommend it to our grown-up friends!

A second opinion

I got a second opinion regarding my broken finger...it's not!

The radiologist report came back to my Dr.'s office. Seems there is so much arthritis and previous injuries, it just looked broken, Now I am wearing a different splint, one that protects the top of my finger and is way more comfortable to wear. (I already banged it on a two x four in the barn) so in about ten days I can probably expect the "blow exhibiting blunt force trauma" (I always wanted to say that phrase) pain and swelling along with the bruising, to start to subside.

Well that's is a better opinion than the first one.

So now I feel better about the whole healing process.

But I still look like I am flipping everyone the "bird"!

How Many fingers am I holding up?

One...just one. It looks like I am permanently flipping the bird!

Seriously, how much do you take for granted by having the use of all your digits?

I know I have taken them for granted. Never again...who will help this old bird stuff the Thanksgiving bird???

Seriously, volunteers gratefully accepted!

The Thrill of Victory

After three weeks, I am finally able to download
this photo. Some tasks take me longer to do or to
figure out than others.

I purchased this "win" photo from the show photographer
Don Stine, and I didn't know I would be receiving it
"electronically". I kept going to the mail box expecting
to find a large envelope, fortified with still cardboard and
addressed to me.

Little did I know that the show photographer would also
be well into the age of technology, way ahead of me and
my skills.

Anyway, here is the win shot of Sarah, Daniel, Canadian Justina
and all of her supporters who traveled to Kentucky to support
them.

It was nerve-wracking yet thrilling to watch the culmination of so much work. As you may recall,
Justina was the #2 horse in the show string, and Whizkid was the #1 horse. Justina had to step in and fill some pretty big shoes when Whiz's leg injury forced him to be in stall rest for an extended period of time.

As you can see, she certainly stepped up to the plate!

Gobaldegook!

I have been watching the commercials for and against Issue 2.

I am now going to delve into the supplement section provided by my local newspaper. Then I will delve into the "abbreviated" supplement

provided by my local newspaper.

Then I will be confused.

It is not only an issue regarding "bargaining". As it has become habit for legislature, it is filled with bull doo doo!

Sigh!

If only they had the opportunity to describe new law in 1000 words or less

like any good magazine article.

It is almost like the riddle

"How much wood could the woodchuck chuck, if the woodchuck could chuck wood?"

...can't break the habit!

Sister Mary Katherine entered the Monastery of Silence.

The Priest said, "Sister, this is a silent monastery. You are welcome here as long as you like, but you may not speak until directed to do so"

.

Sister Mary Katherine lived in the monastery for 5 years before the Priest said to her, "Sister Mary Katherine, you have been here for 5 years.

You may speak two words."...

Sister Mary Katherine said, "Hard bed".

''I'm sorry to hear that," the Priest said, "We will get you a better bed".

After another 5 years, Sister Mary Katherine was summoned by the Priest. "You may say another two words, Sister Mary Katherine".

''Cold food," said Sister Mary Katherine,

and the Priest assured her that the food would be better in the future.

On her 15th anniversary at the monastery, the Priest again called Sister Mary Katherine into his office. "You may say two words today".

''I quit," said Sister Mary Katherine.

'It's probably best," said the Priest,

'You've done nothing but bitch since you got here"!

Thank you facebook, I needed this today!

And the winner is.....

...the folks who made the "Venison" chili for the Chilly, Chilly, Chili-Cookoff that was hosted by Sarah and Kevin Saturday, October 15, 2011 at their barn.

My chili was voted No. 2, out of 11.

Was I disappointed...no, not really. My chili was good, especially since it is served over steamy warm and buttery mashed potatoes! Not Cincinnati Chili, but more like "West Side of Cleveland" chili.

I choose not to cook venison anymore. When times were lean, that was the meat on the table. Meatballs, meatloaf, chili, spaghetti sauce, you name it, it was made with venison.

I hated the fact I could not buy beef, or steaks or roasts, even chicken was out of the question one year. (that was the year the dog ate cooked potato skins)

I just can't wrap my brain around sauteing venison. Not in any shape or form. Plus the fact that the latest deer photo on the winner's facebook page showed the six point buck staring back at the camera.

Shudder! I can't do it anymore.

I think next time I'll go for vegetable chunks in a spicy tomato based sauce.

Stranger than Fiction

I had a small home listed about 15 years ago in our county. The lovely owner, an older lady had decided she had met the man of her dreams, (a previous client of mine, so I was a "referral"). She was not going to waste any more of her life living in the snowy, cold winters of Ohio, so she called me, listed her house, packed a suitcase and moved to Florida with her new love. They did not marry, but lived blissfully ever after.

Here is the glitch. She left everything she had owned over 45 years and everything her late husband (the hoarder) had collected for 50 years and just got in her car and drove off into the sunset. The property consisted of 17 acres, a ramshackle barn which was only being held up by the abandoned school bus that was inside and a small little house that still had the kitchen trash can under the sink filled with trash.

How can I sell this house which was filled with a nightmare of stuff? I had a brilliant idea. It was not a good idea, just a brilliant one. At least I thought so at the time.
I held a"garage/estate/yard/barn sale/come and get it while it's free sale!"

Here was the twist. You could have whatever you wanted for free. But...you had to haul a bag of trash off with you when you left! I provided the big black trash bags, they folks just had to fill them. No joke folks, this was the real deal. I placed the ad in the newspaper, put a sign in the yard and stood back. I served coffee and cider, and laughed all day.

One memorable bit of "treasure" makes me laugh still today! A man came wandering up from the barn carrying a motheaten Deer Head on a wooden mount. The Deer Head had long given way from the mount, so it was hanging from the bottom of the mount board at a right angle. On the flat spot of the base of the deer's neck was a bird's nest. Quite a large bird's nest too!!

The comment the man made about his treasure was so profound, I can close my eyes and see the story unfold in my head.

"I am so excited to get this birds' nest. My mother- in -law collects birds' nests and I can hardly wait to give her this one to add to her collection"! That's right, you heard me...he took the whole thing, deer head and all and gave it to his mother -in -law. This was one of those "when you just wanted to be a little mouse in the corner" moments!

There must be a mixed message here somewhere.

The house got picked clean like the Thanksgiving turkey, only needing a few broom strokes to neaten it up. I sold successfully sold it with the help of a cooperating brokerage, and the people have been living there ever since.

Who knew?

I can't look a birds' nest without smiling!

Happy Birthday to my Son

(photo the right is one of my favorites...Nathan with "Grandma" Neta Koons)

October 13, 1970 was the day this baby boy entered into the world. I was a "first time" mother to be when I entered Berea Hospital the night of September 30, 1970. I had labor for almost 13 hours by the time he was born. I knew nothing, I didn't know what to expect, the doctor Myron Welty, MD was my family doctor and OB.

Labor pains are not comfortable. No one taught me how to breathe. No one taught me to relax. No one told me my husband would stand outside the labor room leaning up against the wall, fall asleep, then ultimately go home from there leaving me alone in the hospital.

I guess those were the days of blind faith, and no questions asked.

I remember sweating my ass off during the contractions, and Tim asking me, bending low so he could whisper in my ear "can I turn the air conditioner off? It's cold in here"! Ya' think!

They brought the baby into my room during the wee hours of the morning so I could see he was physically perfect...all his fingers and toes, all his little arms and legs. 8 lbs. O oz. 20' long.

I remember like it was yesterday. The nurse had taken him from the incubator (he needed to be quiet and warm, no oxygen needed as he had the umbilical cord wrapped around his throat).

I was grateful for her bringing him to me so I could touch him and kiss his little face.

There were some other things I remember...I remember standing in the hallway of the hospital, longingly peering through the glass window of the isolet room wanting to hold my baby and not being able to do so for four days.

When the nurse came into the hospital room that I shared with another new mother, speaking to Tim and me she brought in the "regulation birth forms" that had to be filled out. She asked "what is the name of the baby boy?"

Tim and I had decided on a name for the baby. We had chosen "Peter Winfield Von Duyke" (Winfield was Tim's father Lee Von Duyke's middle name) if it was a boy. Back in those days, no sex was ever revealed to the "to be Moms and Dads". I don't even know if an ultrasound was ever performed during my pregnancy. "Sarah Elizabeth Von Duyke" was the name we chose if it was a girl.

You can imagine the shock on my face when Tim replied:

"His name is Nathan Winfield Von Duyke".

And so it is.

Love you baby boy!