I couldn’t see spending all day at work stressing over what I could not get done within the short work week and then coming home, taking care of our little Roo and Pooh bear (two cocker spaniels – for those of you who are not familiar with the family yet), and then trying to cook a big dinner, get pies made, etc., just to get frustrated and tired out.  So, I did the pies on Thursday for Friday dinner.  It worked out great!!  I had a 20 lb turkey to cook for two of us, so I froze a lot of leftovers.

I tried something new this year.  I made the stuffing from whole wheat bread, instead of white bread; I made my pie crust from whole wheat flour (a little tougher to roll out) and made sugar free pumpkin pie.  The entire meal turned out to be very tasty.  We did not do the traditional sweet potato pie or scalloped corn, since we are trying to watch our diets a little more closely these days, but we did not feel we missed out on a thing.  The pie was great!!!

I think that reality TV has gone too far.  Who cares about what the Kardashians are doing?  Apparently a lot of people, given the ratings.  I had never even heard of them until their show came out, and I have better things to do than watch what is happening in their lives; I am too busy living my life!!!  I really do not care about the real housewives of New Jersey or Los Angeles or any other city.  I have seen little bits of these shows (a few minutes is all I can stand to watch) and ask myself, “Are these people for real”?  Surely not, at least I would hope not.  And I do not care in the least what Snookie is up to.  People of America, get out there and live your own lives and quit burying yourselves in your television set watching these people live theirs.

Today I am going to talk about the Aah Bra (TM).  I looked great on those TV models and seemed to be everything I have been looking for for so many years.  I am tired of bras that cut into you and pinch your skin, leaving unsightly and sore areas around your torso.

So, one day, while waiting in line at the local Walmart, I see the display for the Ahh Bra (TM).  But, of course, they did not have my size.  So I continued to check every time I went to Walmart, and found the display to be empty.  I did this for six weeks, and one day my patience paid off (or so I thought).  They had more of them on the shelf!!!  Finally, comfort!!!

I purchased three of the bras and excitedly drove home.  After putting away my perishable items, and after six weeks of anticipation, I was going to get to put on my new and long awaited “comfortable” bra.

Well, let’s see…I don’t know if it was me or the bra, but as I tried to get it on over my head, it began to roll up (as had any sports bra that I had previously tried on).  After several minutes of contortion that I did not know I was capable of, I finally got the thing in place.  I found, much to my disappointment that it offered me no support and was what I considered nothing more than another sports bra.  It was definitely not made for anyone larger than a C cup size.  So, my Ahh Bras (TM) were sadly returned to the store, and my quest begins again.

Bingo has come a long way since I started playing some 30 years ago.  I remember way back then we used either the slide type markers that were built into the cards or just plain see-through bingo chips.  A  few years later they came out with magnetic bingo chips.  These were simply the clear chips with a light-weight metal strip around them that you ran a magnetic wand over to collect the chips after each game (I wonder what ever happened to my very large collection of magnetic chips?).  Now we simply use paper cards (recycled, of course) and use water-soluble colored ink “daubers”  to cover each number.  Now, they have computers that you can purchase to play for the night.  It is quite expensive to play the computers though.  And, as I have found out from recent experience, using a computer does not increase your chances one bit.

I have to chuckle when I think about all those ladies that used to bring pictures of their children and grandchildren and display them for good luck; and then there were the ladies who brought the little dolls with the wild hair for luck.  They would set everything up on the table, surrounding themselves with all sorts of trinkets and pictures, in the hope that it would bring them good luck.  Quite comical now that I think about it.  I was never one to use any “good luck charms”.  If figured if I was meant to win that night, I would.

Well, Jackie and I did not win any money the other night.  I have decided that I will not be playing with the computers anymore.  I hope that our next bingo outing, we go every Tuesday night, will be more fruitful.

I finished a particularly challenging day at the office and stopped by home and let out the dog and did the few things I have to do at the end of every day, and proceeded to drive the approximately 10 miles to her house.  Well, when I got there, Kathy took me out back and much to my surprise, she had bought a new swimming pool!!!  She even had a bathing suit waiting for me to slip into!!!

As we relaxed on the floats, she made the comment that there were no places nearby where she could get supplies and chemicals for her pool.  She asked if I knew where she might go.  I told her about another friend of mine who had the same dilemma who buys her pool supplies online and has them shipped right to her house.   She says they have reasonable prices and they even have a toll-free number for questions.

We ended up staying in the pool until the sun went down, it was great!!  Now she is talking about putting lights in for night swims and parties. What a great way to finish up a hot day by taking a nice leisurely swim.  I want to go back every night and visit now!!

I remember that when I was a young child, my brother and I would sit on the screened-in front porch of our grandparents house and watch the storm.  It fascinated me even back then.  I remember one particular stormy afternoon, when I was about 6 years old, sitting there in the lawn chair, watching the lightning and it struck very close by.  Then came the loud ‘BOOM’ of the thunderclap that followed immediately afterward.  It startled me so much that I jumped up, screamed and ran into the house.  Well, you see, at that age I had one particularly favorite stuffed toy, a little pink bunny that had a rubber face on it.  I loved that bunny and carried it everywhere with me, except when I went to school, of course. Well, I had gotten so shook up from the thunder, that I had dropped my precious bunny and could not find it.  I was afraid to go back out on the porch to look for it.

Two or three days later, I finally found that darned bunny right under the chair I had been sitting in!!  Even though I had looked prior to that day and could not find it then.  I don’t know what exactly happened, but on that day, there it was.  I was so relieved to finally find my favorite toy again.

That is a good point to ponder, like other questions that mankind has pondered throughout the centuries such as:  if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it still make noise?  No one will ever know the answer to that one for sure, because no one will be around to listen!!!

What about the age old question, how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?  Has anyone ever really taken on that challenge?  I could never get though without biting into the thing.  As they said in the commercial, “The world may never know”.  How about the question, “How much wood can a woodchuck chuck”? In what amount of time are we talking about?  An hour, a day, a week?  Please people, be specific when asking such questions…

Just some things to think about the next time you are bored.  Maybe I should contact Playtex about that first one, you think?  Send some comments if you can think of any other age old questions that need to be pondered again and we may be able to get some answers for you.

I packed a picnic lunch and a new paperback novel and went to the beach. It was wonderfully relaxing and I enjoyed every minute.

The shower was fun but it would have been more fun with the mom here and not just the daddy-to-be. We all pitched in and bought a small gift, and the company bought a really nice stroller for them. That was very generous of the boss and it gave me a good feeling to know that our company cares about its people.

Grandma Bee would fuss at my mother on my behalf about all kinds of things. Like, when I wanted to start wearing makeup. I was in the 7th grade and just wanted to wear lip gloss. All the other girls who were my friends wore lip gloss and many wore mascara and eye shadow, too. My mother threw a fit and declared that no daughter of hers was going to be seen wearing makeup until at least 16. I was devastated, by my grandma fussed at my mother about times have changed and look around at who I am friends with. So she recanted and I was allowed to wear lip gloss in junior high.

I miss you, Grandma, thank you for everything and  R.I.P.