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?

Mr. Hip Replacement

Here's Mr. Hip Replacement himself, being where he shouldn't be, putting caulking around a pipe. He "had" to do it today, couldn't wait for anyone else to do it. I had the camera ready in case he fell; always ready for that action shot.

2 favorites and a not so favorite

Two of my favorite phone calls lately came from Mark & Kevin - Mark telling me he'd seen the first snow of the season, Kevin telling me he'd seen the first Christmas decorations of the season. I love that snow and Christmas decorations reminded them of their mom. My not so favorite is the word "folks." President Bush used it all the time, and so does President Obama. Why do they never use "people?" It's always folks this, folks that. That word is just so....I don't know....folksy.

weekend with E & J, plus....

Well, I need to fill you in on all the fun we had with Erin & Jill. Just the cute little things that happen when they're around, you know? I was getting dinner on the table Friday evening when Erin went into her routine for the upcoming Kentucky Show at Chance. She's quite a performer, and her spontaneous songs and movements were well received, believe me. She enlisted Jill's and my help later in the evening for another performance.

When they were playing flashlight tag in bed later that night, Jill used the phrase "oh phooey," which I found so funny, because that's what daddy always said, except he said awwww phooey, frequently. Mark said he thinks he uses that phrase sometimes, and maybe I do, too. I'm not sure.
But I like hearing daddy's phrase being used. Speaking of which, I can't remember even once in my life hearing daddy use a four letter word in anger. But of course, I can't remember ever seeing him angry. Honestly.

And it's no surprise that Jill named her art work on the computer "Jilly's A Genius!" Can you say...confidence? When she saw the picture in the hallway of Ben, Mark, Julie & me, she pointed to Ben, & said "he and Mark are brothers, and you & O.J. are sisters." I guess Julie is now officially O.J. Funny. And then there was when Bobby said he had breakfast ready, and Jill told me she wanted her breakfast in bed.... come on now. She had her breakfast in the dining room.
And I've never heard so much giggling as Erin & Jill did in bed Friday evening. Apparently EVERYTHING was funny for awhile.

We played a different version of rock school - we played spell this word correctly and you can move up a step. It's hard to stump either Erin or Jill. Anyway, when concluded our sleepover by going to the awards at Chance. Erin received the Shining Star award and her trophy, and now for the plus...

Bobby and I saw the movie Contagion last night. I'd give it a 6 on a scale of 1-10. You follow one couple through the movie to see what happens to them in a world wide epidemic, but mostly it's just a chance to see how any kind of infection or virus can start & spread world wide in today's world, and how quickly it could happen. It definitely wasn't a chick flick. I also want to see Margin Call soon, about the corruption on Wall Street.
Today I'm doing a little Christmas shopping, and I'm not going to check this blog for errors. So.....

October chitchat

Not that much going on...Brian stopped by last night and helped Bobby move the worn out chair out of our living room, and they carried the rocker from the upstairs bedroom into the living room. It makes the room look bigger, and I've wanted that worn chair out of there for weeks and weeks - it had a big hole in the seat of it. Thank you for your help, Brian!

I took George to the doctor Monday, and am doing the same this afternoon. I'm going to remind him AGAIN that he should use Twinbrook more often for his rides, and see where that gets us. But I think I know where it will get us. And June is still in the hospital, having a very slow recovery. The doctors said that her brain trouble right now is definitely a result of her having been attacked and mugged.

Tomorrow is lunch with Judi, Chris and Kathy - always a fun time, and Friday a hair appointment; Good bye gray roots. And I got some Christmas shopping done this week, the latest start I've had in years to my Christmas shopping. Discovered a little boutique, Mary Katherine's and Me, that was fun to shop in. Have to get back in there sometime.

I'm also wondering where Kevin has disappeared to - on his blogging, I mean. KEVIN- WHERE ARE YOU? Have you forgotten how to type?

Our power was off for about an hour last night - don't know what the problem was, and our t.v. was out for about 45 minutes this morning. Wierd!

There are 2 movies out that I think would be good - Margin Call and Contagion. We're supposed to see Contagion with Dub & Linda sometime soon. Anybody seen either of these movies?

Well, I can't write as long as Beth did on her blog. But I tried.