Old Mantel Clock

Brian has a darn good memory. He came by the house the other night and for some reason thought about a clock that used to sit on our mantel. I thought this clock was a figment of his imagination and was sure he was thinking of a clock that was at Dot's house. He remembered that it was square with Roman Numerals. Still didn't ring a bell with me. He said it was on the mantel, except at Christmas when I'd move it to place decorations on the mantel, and then it would sit on the Oak dresser. Okay...but I don't think so.....

So here it is. All it took was getting the old pictures out and presto! Now I remember that clock. And I don't know what happened to it. Maybe it stopped working. Or maybe I just got tired of it. Who knows. The important thing is...I never got tired of my sons, I remember all of them, and I know where they are. So There!

Feast of St. Nicholas

Dec. 6 is the Feast of St. Nicholas, always celebrated in our house by placing our stockings out for St. Nicholas to fill. I was talking to Mark on the phone this morning, and he reminded me that ours were always placed on the front porch, and St. Nick always seemed to come right after Daddy took the trash out. My, but that's mysterious. He would always come during dinner hour, and not over night, I'm sure because of daddy's work schedule. And if Daddy was off on the 5th, he came on the 5th, and if he was off on the 6th, he came on the 6th. Daddy worked 24 hr, off 24 hours. We never questioned it. It was just the way St. Nicholas did things.

We also never questioned the fact that some of our friends didn't get things from St. Nicholas, the fact that they didn't celebrate this feast day. It just depended on the tradition of the family. I guess the kids more likely to question it would be the kids hearing about it who did not get anything. Who were we to question it...we had our goodies. Anyway, if you observe this tradition, then Happy Feast of St. Nicholas.

Now, Which Cafe Was That???

City Cafe, Mayan Cafe, North End Cafe, Cafe 360, Corner Cafe, 3rd Avenue Cafe - it's easy to get them mixed up. Friday evening the McCulloughs, Norrenbrocks and Bobby and I had dinner plans and I made reservations. I told everyone we'd be meeting at 7 p.m. at the North End Cafe. I then made our reservations, only I thought I made the reservations at the Corner Cafe on LaGrange Road, because in my mind, that's the restaurant I'd been thinking of. At 5:30 Friday Chris called and canceled because she was sick, so I decided to call the restaurant and let them know we would only be a table of four. Funny, but why was the North End Cafe that I called previously now on Frankfort Avenue and not on LaGrange Road? Oh, that's right, we're going to the Corner Cafe. I called the Corner Cafe - no reservations. I'd made the reservations at North End Cafe, a restaurant Bobby & I don't care for, too pricey, especially for someone like me who is going to sit and pick at the food. I canceled the reservations at North End, and Corner Cafe wouldn't take reservations for only 4 people, but I was assured we'd have no trouble getting a table, which we didn't. I called Jerry & Kathy because I didn't know if I'd told them North End or Corner Cafe, and to let them know we'd be meeting them at Corner Cafe and not the North End Cafe, which turns out is what I'd told them. If Chris hadn't canceled out, they'd have been at the North End Cafe on Frankfort Ave. and Bobby & I would have been at the Corner Cafe on LaGrange Road, until we hooked up by cell phone and found out what had happened. Did you follow all this?