Easters Past

Hello Nice People

Shiver, shiver, shiver.......what a cold and rainy nasty day. And for the day before Easter too. But I think we forget as the days pass, that it is usually chilly in early April. I remember Easters that were snowy. Easter as a kid, was always spent on the Boardwalk. One dollar was all that was needed to enjoy a few hours of rides and junkfood. Of course, it would be in a frilly nylon dress and white patent leather shoes. As we got a little older, the frilly dress was replaced with slacks and little flat shoes. That was in the sixties when Easter on the boards was the perfect place to meet "boys." Living in a Tourist area, always was the BEST.

But 14 years ago on April 12, I lost my father. That was in 1995. Poor ole Pa, as I called him. He was 87 when he died. Actually, he was in good health and still working every day. He said he wanted to work right into the millenium. Unfortunately, he didn't make it. It was a couple of thugs that cut his working life short by mugging him in his parking garage booth where he worked. It was all downhill after that. He tried to go back, but only made it for a few more weeks. And then his health began to fail. Poor ole Pa, he was a good man. Never drove a car, never smoked a cigarette or drank. I used to pass him on the avenue, when I was on the bus coming home from grade school. He would be walking, on his way in town to work, and I could see his lips moving as he walked. Only I and he knew that he was saying his Rosary as he walked.

In those last few days of his life, he lapsed into a deep sleep that the visiting nurse said was near to the end. Of course, we called the Priest, and as he was giving Pa his Last Rites, he woke up. "Whats the Priest doing here?" he asked. "Oh, well Pa, tomorrow is Palm Sunday so he just came to visit." "Well, I could go for a good cup of coffee." And so he did. Pa sat out on the sunporch, with his cup of coffee and did his last crossword puzzle. And I still have that puzzle. When he was tired enough, he went back to his bed and never got up. Three days later, he passed away. That was 14 years ago on April 12. Poor ole Pa, he never bothered anybody.

Oh No,!! Not Again.

Hello Nice People,

Thanx Joyce for this tag. I am on my laptop and don't have much in files, so Joyces Tag came in handy.

Thank God its Friday. It was a horrendous week at work. What is the absolute worse that a school bus driver can do? Get into an accident? NOPE! Yell at some little munchkin? NOPE! Come on, we see it on the news all the time. Yep, thats it......Leave a kid on the bus. And it happened two times this week. And, it was TWO different drivers. So we all paid our dues attending mandatory meetings to assure that it doesn't happen again. Since this became a problem some years back, every bus is equipped with a button in the back that has to be pushed before you can shut the bus down. This forces the driver to walk to the back of the bus or else the horn will blow and the lights will flash. Did that solve the problem? No it did not. So, they added a form that has to be checked with the time that you pushed the button, and turned in every Friday. So what happened? Two drivers leave kids on the bus. Two nice, good people. Unfortunately, they are two nice, good, unemployed people. I just want to slap them and say what the he-- is wrong with you? Not only did you endanger two kids, but now you don't have a job! And we better all get down on our knees and thank the Good Lord that nothing happened to those two kids.

So here is the new ritual:

#1 Go to the back of the bus and push the BS button.

#2 Write on the form the time that you pushed the button

and initial it.

#3 Call base on the radio and say:

"2630 to base, I have unloaded my last kid in AC.

I have done a walk thru, checked under the seats.

There are no children on the bus."

THEN and only then can you continue on and shut off the bus

when you get home.

I hope this works.

Talkatchalater,

Oh No! I have a Dold in my Dose

Hello Nice People,

I have a dold in my dose, so don't get too close.  So, with a cold, and a stinky, cold and rainy day......whats to do but stay in the house and clean.  So thats what I did today.  I even stayed off  the computer.  That was not as hard as I thought it would be.  I put the food  channel on and cleaned while they cooked everything from creamy rice to peanut brittle.  Paula  Deen, Giada, and the Neelys, and now there is some new blonde with spikey hair that  cooks up restaurant food.   She explains everything in minute detail, like we are all morons.  Oh gosh,  that sounds a little mean doesn't it.  I guess I am tired and not feeling too well.  Don't mind me.

      When I had enough of the cooking channel,  I went to good old Fox News.  There is the sad story of  four cops in  San Diego, that were  killed.  Fox carried some of the funeral today.  We, here in the Philadelphia area have seen that scenario so many times this year.  Unfortunately, here at the Jersey Shore, we had two fishing boats go down.  The first one last week, all were rescued.  But on Thursday,  five of seven men lost their lives when a scallop boat sunk 65 miles off shore.  It is just so sad.  The man who owned the boat, lost his brother and two sons.  I  worry about my son in law, he is also a commercial fisherman.  Commercial fishing is rated the number one most dangerous job.  Why does bad things happen to good people.  I guess only God knows the answer to that.  

 

 

        Thank you Peggy for the link to the doll patterns.  Peggy has the cutest cloth dolls on her blog, and I love cloth dolls.  Google Raggedy Old Annie to see some her dollies and buy patterns.  I think I might give it a try.  Summer is coming and I should have more time to do what I want.   It will be so nice not to have to be in bed by 8:30 or 9 o'clock.   Speaking of time,  one of these days when I have some time,  I am going to spruce up this blog.  I have red and blue with yellow buses on the margins.  And  Maroon and pink on the inside.  Thats gotta go!!!

      Well, the house is clean and my creamy rice was devoured (I learned that from the food  channel),  so I think I will get off of here and watch some TV.  Good Night ALL!

                                                         

                                                     

A Chicken story

Hello Nice People

Thank Ya Much for all the nice comments from everyone.

What a great group of people we have here. I was reading Kellys last entry about Hank and "Yippee" he is doing better. Only Kelly could make us happy for a chicken.

I have a cute chicken story:

Many years ago, when we were first married.....now that would make us about 23 years old....the little kids in the neighborhood got wind of it that I had a big weakness for animals.I had a constant stream of little ones bringing me birds that had fallen out of trees, half eaten (by a cat) squirrels and even a skunk. Well, it seems that there was a teacher at Mill Road School that would hatch chicks for science and then throw them in the trash. So the little kids brought me 3 baby chicks. Two died, and I was left with one which I raised in a bird cage. As the weather got warmer and the chick got bigger, we put him outside in the back yard. Our little town has a law that there are to be no farm animals. Of course, this included chickens. Well, in the beginning,this was just a chicken. We never thought about male or female. One summer morning, the weirdest noise woke us up. "What the heck was that?" Heard it again. Here's where Hubby says, "That ain't no chicken, thats a ROOSTER!" What the heck are we going to do with a rooster in Northfield? Now I am emotionally attached to this bird and he insists on crowing at the crack of dawn and waking up the neighbors. A block down the street was a little market. I got a Call from Mr Puggi saying that your rooster is down here pecking holes in my watermelons. A block the other way is a small department store that sold garden supplies and tools. Mr Rooster would walk down there and go in through the revolving door. Eventually, there were just too many complaints about a rooster terrorizing the neighborhood, so something had to be done. A few miles away, in another town there was an elderly lady who had chickens in her backyard. Well, there I was on her doorstep, crying like a baby with this big Road Island Red in my arms. She agreed to take my chicken, and take good care of him. And I could visit him anytime I like. Well, I DID visit. But for some reason, she never showed me my chicken. It took a long time for me to accept the idea that MY chicken was probably her Thanksgiving dinner. Now that I am older, I'm not quite so naive. Sorry Kelly.

Hello Nice People,

Is anyone other than me tired of seeing that picture of me in my last entry? Shoot, it's been sitting there since February 1st. I do plug into my Blog now and then to navigate to others who are tirelessly keeping THEIR blogs up to date. Yep, I have become a LURKER! I know, I should be ashamed. I don't know what happened to me. I just became very disinterested in keeping up this blog. I even thought of deleting it. Who would care. Would anyone miss it. But here I am. Maybe everyone feels that way now and then.

I am coming to you from my brand new LAPTOP. Well, it's not that new. I bought this shortly before Christmas. I know I have ranted about Hubby and how he took over MY computer with his card playing. And he doesn't even feel any guilt about it. OH, I would seethe (spelling?) as he sat at MY computer playing those stupid cards. "Do you want to get on here?" "Wellll NO, now its time to go to bed!!!" So guess what, I think we will buy a LAPTOP for me. Wow, it seems like yesterday we had this same conversation about getting a COMPUTER. That was about 10 or 12 years ago. ME--"Hey,lets get a computer." HIM--"Why, for what. what the heck do we need a computer for?" ME--"Well, cause Joan has one and Neva has one, so I want one. AND I want a Gateway because they come in cute cow boxes. So I did get a computer and I think I drove the Gateway people nuts for the next 6 months trying to get the darn thing to work right. Now I am the old broad that others call to ask for help. Here it is about 10 years later and we are a 2 computer family. It the house wasn't so small, I would get one in each room.

We are still on our LowCarb Diet. And we are down about 55 pounds each. I cleaned my closet and I have a pile of clothes that are all aout 4 to 6 sizes too big. Some I hate to part with, like my leather jacket, but what would be the sense in keeping them. I already have smaller an larger sizes in the attic that I will never use.

It has been cold and dreary here today and I had no intentions of going out. But, Carole called nad said, "there's a house sale on First Street." "Well let's go" I said, "what are we waiting for?" I've been looking for a vanity for the back bedroom Thats where I put my makeup on and do my hair. But I don't want anything new. I want an old one that I can paint shabby chic. I would be so happy with an OLD house that has a squeeky screen door and an old fashioned screened in porch. Uhoh, I can hear lots of people screaming, "Oh no you wouldn't".

Time to get off here and warm up some leftovers.

Talkatchalater,

Marlene

Super Bowl Sunday

Hello Nice People

          It's 4:00,  thats 4 AM.  What the heck am I doing up at 4 AM?  It's Sunday, Super Bowl Sunday.   Hmmm, that has become a holiday in itself here in the USA.  Although the hype seems a little less this year.  Maybe because of the economy?  But it IS 4 AM.  I woke up a 3:30.  I do that a lot.  My eyes pop open and the mind starts to wonder from one thing to another like a  train going full speed ahead.   Whats the weather outside------I don't have to go to work today-------Is the world safe?-------Do Melody and Shane and the kids have enough money to get by with him not working.-------Dominic, how about they're finances?---------Cancer.  there is so much cancer in this world.------Bush, what a shame no one likes him.------Not even me.------Its so cold outside.  I hope all the animals are warm.-------Nick, how will he get through life not being able to talk.   These things, everything runs through my head at 4 AM.   Sooooo, oh well, may as well get up.   The cats are still sleeping, well thats two that are warm for sure.

     I am trying to be quiet so as not to wake Hubby.  He'll come out and say "What ARE you doing up, do you know what time it is?"  He can't understand that I actually enjoy these hours in the early morning.  Its kind of like getting an extension to the day.

      Yesterday, my intentions were to just stay home and stay warm.   Didn't happen.  Daughter and grandson and I took a ride to the Amish Market.  It was mobbed, everyone shopping for Super Bowl snacks I guess.  Nick, he's my handicapped one loves to be with Mommy and me.  I always tease her that she will be the little 60 year old in the supermarket with  her 40 year old son tagging along.  I think we have all seen these couples.  A Mommy with a Down Syndrome or some issue that keeps him tied  to Mommy throughout his and her life.

      Yesterday, Nick was pushing the shopping cart through the thickness of the crowd, when he ran up the heels of an older lady.  I could see she was aggravated before she turned around.  But when she did, the look on her  face changed when she looked at Nick.  I made him apologize and she said, "Thats OK, he didn't mean it."  And now I keep thinking about her.  I hope her heels are not too badly bruised and she is asleep right now.

      Now its 5 o'clock, time for a cup of coffee and time to turn on Fox News and see whats happening in the rest of the world.

                                              

                                                      Marlene

Go Eagles!!!!!!!!

Hello Nice People,

I will not start by telling all about the weather here at the Jersey Shore.  Its about the same everywhere.   Cold and dreary.  Except in the Mid West where they are getting lots of snow.  Wow, I think North Dakota is snowed in again .  I have been off from work for 11 days for the Christmas break.  Wooo Hooo!!!!!  Tomorrow is back to work.  I don't want to think about it.  I really should be ashamed to say that.  There are so many people that are out of work.  Shame, Shame on  me!!!!!!   "Shame", thats a word that you don't hear anymore.  "You should be ashamed of yourself."  "Shame on you!"   "Oh, the shame of it."  Hmmmmm, maybe this old world wouldn't be in the shape  its in if more people had some shame.  How did I get off on that subject?

Most of the Christmas decorations are put away.  All except for the tree.  I might keep that up for another week.  This whole area is in the midst of Playoff fever.  Eagles play today at 4 oclock.  We are all hoping for another day like last week when they destroyed Dallas.  I actually watched 9 hours of football yesterday.  Is that nuts or what?  Today will be another 8 or 9 hours.  Its 3:30 now, 7 minutes to go in  this game and then my full attention will go to the Philadelphia Eagles.  And the funny thing about it is Hubby is in the other room watching a movie!  Is there something wrong with this picture?  Hey, MY work is done.  Supper is in the crock pot, and a load of clothes in the  dryer. 

DIET>>>>>>>We are still on our Low Carb diet.  Hubby and I are down just about 50 pounds apiece.  And I have to say, it hasn't been all that hard.  We have spent a lifetime of dieting and not dieting, dieting and not dieting.  But I guess I shouldn't call this a diet.  This is something that we are going to have to stay on permenently.  Hubby has to keep his Sugar down and this seems to be the way to do it.  We discovered back in 1985 that he had Sugar Diabetes.  He has not touched sugar since that day.  His numbers were good til  this  past year.  It just became almost impossible to keep them down to the low 100.  So I started reading a little more about this than I ever had.  Surprise,  not only shouldn't he be eating sweets, but the cereal, rice, potatoes, beans and OMG Spaghetti are also out.  Even things like catshup.  Read the label and see how much sugar in catshup.  And today, there is SO much sugar free foods out there.  There is even sugar free Cool Whip.  Sugar free salad dressings, sugar free peanut butter, jelly, relish, pickles.  Guess how much sugar in a hot dog.  We have a weakness for Chinese Hot and Sour Soup.  Ahhh, that hits the spot on a cold night.  But seems like everytime we have Hot and Sour Soup take out, his sugar goes up.  So I asked  the nice little Chinese cook in the take out place if they put sugar in the Hot and Sour Soup.  His reply......"Evly thing in Chinese take out have sugar, thats why evelyone likes it."  Hey little Chinese cook man,  no sugar for us!

Its four o'clock, time for Eagles and Vikings.   Go Eagles!!!!!!

                                   Talkatchalater,

                                    

                                                                   Marlene