SIX WORD MEMOIR MEME

GRANDCHILDREN GIVE NEW MEANING TO LIFE

Lynne at Lynne's Little Corner Of The World tagged me for this. It was hard to do! Give it a try.

Here are the meme rules:

1. Write your own six word memoir

2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like

3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere

4. Tag five more blogs with links

5. Remember to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

I tag:

Kookie at Fraternity of Dreamers

Kris at Gardens By The Lake

Barbara at The Clark Homestead

Linda at Somewhere In Time

Tracey at Show Me State Of Mind

7 ODDBALL THINGS ABOUT ME - A Meme

Quite awhile ago I was tagged for this meme: 7 Oddball Things About Me. I am finally catching up. I can't remember who tagged me it has been that long ago, but here goes:

1. I talk to myself a lot. Sometimes I worry that I have been talking to myself out in public.

2. I learned many years later from an old friend that I was considered very sophisticated and aloof in high school. I remember feeling very shy and very out of place.

3. I often sing and dance when I am home alone (that and the talking to myself -- yup that's me). Actually, I don't necessarily have to be alone to do this.

4. This is not really oddball, but not that common either -- I love poetry.

5. I collect mourning jewelry. These are pieces of jewelry that were generally inspired by Queen Victoria after the death of her beloved Albert. They often braided the hair of the departed loved one and inset it into brooches, lockets, rings, even used it for bracelets and watch fobs. I have some brooches with pictures in them of the loved ones.

6. I like cemeteries.

7. I generally like the company of animals better than people.

Care to share something a little eccentric about yourself? If so, consider yourself tagged!

BEING ALONE

Yesterday I drove my husband to the airport for his trip to Florida. He and an old Air Force buddy get together either here or there once a year. His friend is now 83 and is slowing down a little, but not much. He actually fought during WWII with the Marines in Iwo Jima.


So. I am alone until next weekend. Usually I wallow in my alone time like a pig in mud. Being alone sometimes is extremely important to me. I have always been that way. My mother used to tell me that she could tell when I needed some time to myself because I would start to get grumpy. Yup, that's me.


So last night I started to feel punky and realized I could be catching his cold, which I never do. And now there is no one to complain to!

"FIFTY ACRES AND A POODLE" by Jeanne Marie Laskas

Good evening, dear bloggers. Thought I would let you know another good book I just read. I bought this book several years ago and never read it. Since I own a poodle it caught my eye and I can't imagine why I forgot about it.

In a nutshell:

The author is a columnist for Washington Post Magazine and also writes for other publications. This is a true story of her life with her dog and cat and new husband and his poodle and their new farm and the surprise she gave him for a wedding present and their family and friends and her feelings about the changes she is experiencing and I reeaaaally enjoyed this book. Reeealllly.

A DAY AT THE AUCTION

You have probably heard by now about the license plate that was sold in Dubai for about a trillion dollars. Well, here in the first state, the smallest state, Delaware, we have a record sale price for a license plate also.

When I first moved to Delaware in 1992 I learned that it is a BIG DEAL to own a low number license plate. They are handed down through families, they are bought and sold for high prices, they are coveted and proudly displayed. My question was -- "what if someone steals it?". I now know that it does not matter if someone steals the tag off the vehicle, because it is the registration NUMBER that matters, not necessarily the tag itself (although this can have some value as I will explain).

Here are some facts:

The old tags were black and white.

Many people with newer registrations with longer numbers have the new tag made to look like the old black and white ones.

I know people who have the old real tags and I know people who have the new imitation old plates. It is a big deal here in Delaware.

The Governor of Delaware's tag is #1; the Lt. Governor is #2. I guess they have to give this up when they leave office.

I will never understand why these tags are so important to some Delawareans. Some say it is patriotic. I don't get it.

Yesterday there was a big multi-estate auction in Rehoboth Beach. I love these auctions. A friend and I went at 9:30 and stayed until 6:30. We had breakfast, lunch and dinner there and had front row seats. The big event was the sale of a #6 license plate which was to occur at 2:00. There had been a rumor for months that Katie Couric was going to be there to televise this unusual sale. Katie was not there, but there was a cameraman and other New York types from CBS. There was a model from "Deal Or No Deal" (tv show) to hold up the precious license plate. The family of the deceased prior owner was there and were interviewed. The room was packed -- more than standing room only. At 2:00 you could have heard a pin drop. Bidding commenced. Anyone interested had to leave a deposit of $50,000 in order to register to bid. It was down to two people -- one from Sussex County (the home team) and one representing someone from New Castle County (Wilmington, DE). As bidding became more intense the audience rooted and cheered for the home team guy. He eventually gave up and the plate was sold to the other guy for.....................$675 ,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UNBELIEVABLE.

As bidding on more license plates continued, an old #6 unregistered (or "dead") license plate came up on the block. Someone had found it in his yard. It was dirty, rusted and barely readable. But it definitely said 6. It sold for around $50,000. UNBELIEVABLE.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY and update

FOR YOU DEAR BLOGGERS,

Update: Just watched "Love With The Proper Stranger". Filmed in 1963, Steve McQueen gave Natalie Wood a small bouquet of violets that he bought from a street vendor in NYC. (See my 2/12 post)

THEN WE CAME TO THE END by Joshua Ferris

This was the last book in my Fall Reading Challenge which I am two months late in completing. That is one reason I don't usually do "Challenges."

Then We Came To The End took me through an on-again off-again rollercoaster about whether I should give up on the book or continue. Everytime I thought I would end it, I thought I just had to see what WAS at the end. It isn't that it isn't well-written. It is. In a detailed commentary the author takes us through the hours of the office workday. I kept getting distracted and then had to pick up the thread of the story again. This certainly was not the fault of the author.

The end result is that I greatly enjoyed this book. I even looked back into it to re-read sections for further clarification. I could easily read it again. This is a book that I would not mind owning rather than borrowing from the library. This is Joshua Ferris's first novel. I like to read first novels - they hold such promise for good things to come.

Kookiejar at A Fraternity of Dreamers read this and put it on her best new novel list for last year. She said it was "touching, funny and quirky." Kookiejar has recommended some good books that I have enjoyed.

If you enjoy the television show "The Office" you will surely enjoy this brilliant book.


A little blurb from the book flap:

No one knows us quite the same way as the men and women who sit beside us in department meetings and crowd the office refrigerator with their labeled yogurts. Every office is a family of sorts, and the ad agency Joshua Ferris brilliantly depicts in his debut novel is family at its strangest and best, coping with a business downturn in the time-honored way: through gossip, pranks and increasingly frequent coffee breaks.

I hope you put this on your reading list. You won't regret it.

P.S. Check out the author's website -- it is very entertaining.

VIOLETS FOR YOU, VIOLETS FOR ME

As you know by now, the violet is my favorite flower (NOT African violets). Violet is the name of my dearest oldest cat. Violetlady is my blog. I have a collection of violet decorated little boxes and bottles and pictures. It was also my mother's favorite flower. My first acquisition in the violet realm was a round violet cologne bottle hand painted with violets. It belonged to my paternal grandmother (my Nana) and she always kept it, even though empty, on a shelf in her bathroom. I admired it for years and finally it became mine.

I love old black and white movies. There is one on the television right now. It is called "Mannequin", made in 1937, and stars Joan Crawford and Spencer Tracy. I haven't been watching it, but I have seen several scenes where Spencer gives Joan small bouquets of violets.

I have seen this done in many old movies. Apparently, violet bunches used to be sold on the streets by vendors. Oh, how I wish that were still the case. And why not? Even in New York and Paris where flower stores put their flowers in wonderful outdoor displays, I have never seen bouquets of violets. Are they not grown for the merchant trade anymore? This is something I would like to know -- on to the internet!

There is a sentimental old song which sings about winter in New York and a gentleman giving a lady violets for her fur. Can you think of a more beautiful sight? A woman in a dark fur coat is walking down, mmmmm, Fifth Avenue. A gentleman is by her side. It is gently snowing. There is an old woman holding a basket of small bouquets of violets for sale. They stop. He buys a bouquet and gently pins it to her fur. The music continues..........

It was winter in Manhattan, falling snow flakes filled the air,

The streets were covered with a film of ice,

But a little simple magic that I learned about somewhere,

Changed the weather all around, just within a thrice.

I bought you violets for your furs and it was spring for a while, remember?

I bought you violets for your furs and there was April in that December.

The snow drifted down ON the flowers, and MELTED where it lay.

The snow looked like dew ON the blossoms as on a summer day.

I bought you violets for your furs and there was blue in the wintry sky,

You pinned my violets to your furs and gave a lift to the crowds passing by,

You smiled at me so sweetly, since then one thought occurs,

That we fell in love completely, the day I bought you violets for your furs.

A NEW AWARD!!

Tristi, Lynne and Kristina each have honored me with this award. Thank you so much Tristi -- you make my day, too! I first met Tristi when she left a comment on my other blog, Cabin Dream. (I am afraid my other blog is sorely ignored by me -- I will have to change that.) I was so thrilled and honored that an honest to gosh author left me a comment. Lynne is our fellow blogger and one of my oldest and dearest friends. She got me started in the blog world. Thank you, Lynne. And Kristina has a delightful new blog and I am grateful to her for this award. We share the same name!


Now to pass this award on to ten more people. I know some have been given this award already, so this may be hard. All of you deserve this award because I love to read your posts!

1. Jo and JD at Bits and Pieces
2. Lidy at French Garden House
3. Nan at Letters From a Hill Farm
4. Mary at Mary's Writing Nook
5. Miles Away In France
6. Willow's Cottage
7. Barbara at The Clark Homestead
8. Morning Glory at Seeds From My Garden
9. Tracey at Show Me State Of Mind
10. Karen at Over The Backyard Fence

GIANTS 17 - PATRIOTS 14

As you all know by now, the NY Giants have won the Superbowl. I actually watched much of the game and I was rooting for the Patriots since my daughter lives in New England. I have never been a football fan at all and I mean AT ALL. In fact, I am not very interested in the major sports unless the Phila. Phillies are playing. I could not believe this game. Did you see the very end, right down to the last minute when the Giants scored a touchdown? Pretty impressive I must say, although I still think the Patriots should have won -- after all they were undefeated during the entire season and that guy Tom Brady is soooooo cute. That's my sports report for the day.

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY

The great prognosticator, Punxutawney Phil, arose at dawn today at Gobbler's Knob in Pennsylvania, saw his shadow and declared that there would be six more weeks of winter.

Phil has been predicting his winter forecast since the 1800's and I think he is to be believed, don't you?

A movie that I really enjoy is "Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray. So funny! Sometimes I feel just like Bill. Some days I wake up and know it will be the same ol', same ol'. Just sometimes, though. I hope I find the movie on TV tonight.

I hope you all have a great Groundhog Celebration tonight!