Ho, Ho, Ho

We're all trying to get into the Christmas spirit here. One of our members is "out of town" right now, so we hope he'll get out, I mean, get back before the Christmas season gets underway. The rest of us are doing our best. We even have the tree up. I had to go out and buy some new ornaments. Last year we were not in such a celebratory mood, and I only had about five ornaments on the tree.

When I was a little girl,(growing up on Walton's mountain) the greatest thing for me was watching the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Because at the end of the parade, Santa Claus arrived, and I figured after that, it was ok to sing Christmas Carols.

When I was in school, during the Christmas season, we always sang carols about a half hour before the bell rang, which was 3:00pm. At home, when everyone had gone to bed, I would get up, and turn on the lights,(the ones you couldn't burn too long because they got hot and would set the tree on fire, so saideth my mother) and just wonder at how beautiful it was. We never new for sure if we would have presents or not, as my mother bought everything on credit from the Speigal catalogue. Depending on her approval rating, and the postal delivery, we usually had a 3 in 1 shot at having presents.

We always had a turkey though, thanks to my sister. She kept her head glued to the radio, WKAZ, and Gentleman Jay Harold, and listened for the gobble-gobble-gobble. At that, she dialed the number and almost always called in enough times, and at the right time to win us a turkey. The rest of the fixings were in the basement where Daddy kept a bin of Irish potatoes(white), and sweet potatoes, and then, on shelves, were all the vegetables from the summer garden in big quart bottles my mother had processed in the canner. Corn and green beans, tomatoes, and even some blackberries and apples. Sometimes if the weather was going to be too cold, we would have to cover the potatoes with old blankets to keep them from freezing. It seems like a life time ago. But, I guess we are talking about somewhere between 35 and 40 years.

Damn, I'm getting old. I never thought I would hear myself say this, but I would love to go back to that time, when I was just a squirt kid playing in the snow with no socks, where a snowfall made the whole world a glittering, silent fantasy land. To the times when my biggest worry was having to stand up and give a book report in front of the whole class. But I can still recall the memories and look back from a different perspective. We were poor, that's a fact, but in our own little world of family and friends, we did ok. We survived. Hell, we even had fun.

You paid attention during 80% of high school!

68-84% Pretty good, you know that there are libraries and newspapers, and you remember what you've read. You were a child that wasn't left behind!

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Thanksgiving day

Another thanksgiving has come and gone, and the dear old turkey has been picked clean. And I didn't cook anything. I had some surgery, so I have been recuperating, and my soon to be daughter-in-law, did all the cooking. The first time she cooked a turkey, too. And it was a wonderful meal.

I always try to think of something to be thankful for on Thanksgiving, and of course I am thankful for my son, the roof I have over my head, the food I have to eat, the clothes on my back, my cats, and the few people I call friends. There are a lot of things this year that I find hard to accept, but I guess that's the case with everybody.

Nothing unpleasant happened either, DAMN. Growing up, there was always some big hoo-rah on Thanksgiving. Like the time my sisters, Linda and Annie decided to cook the turkey, and while taking it out of the oven, they dropped it, and it went skidding across the kitchen floor, like it was riding a skateboard. Of course we wiped it off, set it on the platter, and ate it anyway. We were poor, so we were not going to waste a perfectly good turkey just because it took a nosedive on the linoleum. Then there was the Thanksgiving that my brothers beautiful young bride, all of 16, she was, and married to my brother who was in the Navy, joined us in the family feast. I thought she was like a princess. My mother wanted to wring her neck when she found a hair in her mashed potatoes, and showed it to everyone. Or the time when we as a nation were morning the death of President Kennedy, and I watched my brother Melvin walk out to catch a ride into town, to catch the bus to Kentucky where he would start his army training. He would spend the next 3 years in and out of Viet Nam, and it would be years before he seemed like the Melvin we remembered. The Thanksgiving when my uncle died, the uncle who was a recluse, and didn't like anyone, and had a lot of money. How the members of the family suddenly realized how much they really loved him, until they saw his will.

As a young mother, I tried to establish our own traditions, fix the big turkey, and all the crap that goes with it, and then lay around like hogs for the rest of the day. Of course all the men were out deer hunting, so I usually spent the day alone. Which, in retrospect had its good points. God forbid they would actually kill a deer, and then bring it home, where we had to dress it out, cut it up, put it in the freezer and eat it. There is a fine art to cooking wild game, and after about 10 years I mastered it somewhat. We even had it for Thanksgiving one year. I fondly remember the young man who remarked, after tasting my turkey, how easy it would be to make jerky out of it. I guess it was a little tough.

But, all in all, I have been fortunate. No one got salmonella, or E-coli, but when I was pregnant the first time, I got sick of turkey, and couldn't eat it for years afterward.

And there is something to be thankful for each year. It may not seem like there is, but you just have to look for it. This year, it was a little tougher. I have my oldest son, and my basic needs met, but the losses have piled up, and holidays will never quite be the same. But we go on, we make new memories, and end up boring the shit out people when we share them. I wonder if the tribes of old, listening to the shamans recount stories and legends of past deeds, and adventures, ever said, "Damn, how many times is he going to tell this story?"

I hope that all of you had a decent Thanksgiving, and made a memory. Even if it was a pizza and a beer, hope it was tasty.

blessings

another quiz?

You are most like...81%

Jo March...............................................................................................

Which one of the "Little Women" are you?
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One of my favorite books as a young girl and today is "Little Women". I did not, like my friends way back when, go on and read the whole series, by Louisa May Alcott, I just read Little Women, and left it at that. This book is just perfect, by itself. It makes me think of my childhood, in someways, as we did not have much money, or things, per se, but we survived on everyday happenings, and laughter, and imagination. Well, I know I had imagination. Maybe too much.
I wish the young girls of today would read this book and others like it, because it is a book about love, and loss, and fulfilling your potential. Maybe a few will, even if there aren't any vampires or anime characters in it. Oh, well, my mini-rant for the day, I guess.

From Rocket Man

Sometimes we all get so involved with our own "interests" and associations, we forget there are people out there who are unable to "do their own thing". I hope that at least some of you will forward this.

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up a nd smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night." "It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

Congratulations

My oldest son is now officially engaged. And, wonder of wonders, don't anybody fall over now, but his fiance and I get along very well. She has a six year old daughter, who, bless her heart acts like a six year old. They are talking about making babies, and she's showing me her wedding dress ideas, and I'm thinking, "If they can make it through the wedding, they will be ok." I have yet to be a part of a wedding where some great controversy has not occurred. Nerves, anxiety, doubt, excitement, I don't know what causes it, but I have always seen it. Same thing with funerals, unfortunately. Everyone has their own idea of how the service should be conducted, and no one agrees. Perhaps that's the culprit. We all think our own ideas are the best, most original, and perfect.

However, with my son and his fiance, I am just going to roll with the flow. If they want to get married in the backyard, stark naked, I'll throw up a privacy fence for the day. That's in case the cops show up, and of this moment, I don't think any cops are supposed to be in the wedding party. However, I will opt to wear a towel. Remember we would want this to be a joyous occasion, not one to frighten older people and small children, and most men. And then, there is always the possibility that they will want to elope, or just cross the state line and get maried, as they say today. (Oh, happy day!) But, the way she is looking at the wedding dresses and reading Bridal magazines, I fear that will not be the case.

I am so very proud of my son. After he pissed her off royally, she gave him the silent treatment. He went from, well the hell with her, to, why doesn't she call? Her friends say she is miserable....So, he sends flowers, she cries, she still won't talk to him. One minute he's mad, the next minute he's I don't care, there's plenty of girls out there, and then he does the most romantic thing. He buys a ring, goes to her house, gets down on one knee, and that does the trick. And I don't blame him. She is a rare breed these days, an independant, level-headed, beautiful young woman. Life can be wonderful at times...

Davinci Code

I really tried to read the book, I really did. Somewhere in the middle, though, I just kind of put the book down, and never picked it up. But, the movie...whole different ball game. If you haven't watched it, get thee to a movie rental store, and rent thee a copy. It is marvelous, stunning, and keeps your attention the whole time. And, you can actually understand it!! There is also an amazing beauty about it, and when its over, you have to talk about it. Even if you read the book, the movie is still fantastic. I didn't think I would like it, but I was enthralled from the get-go, and of course I love Tom Hanks. Watch it.

My job in the adult entertainment industry

I bet you thought I really worked in the adult entertainment industry, didn't you? Maybe if they had private screenings at the local VFW, but that that's about the only place I might be able to pass for sexy. And that insults our veterans. I have been into an adult bookstore, and, foolish me, I thought all they sold were books. I walked around with wide eyes, saying to myself, "What the hell is that used for?" Then, "I don't think I want to know," all the while trying to appear that this is something I have done many times before. Walk into an adult bookstore I mean. Talking to myself, hell, I do that all the time.

According to experts, my adult industry job would be... Adult Book Store Clerk It's not just about sitting behind a counter, taking people's money and dealing with shop lifters, you get to meet 'interesting' people as well Take the Adult Industry Job Quiz

I received this in my inbox this morning. I did not forward it to 8 people. But, I really think the words are true.


One morning you will never wake up.
Do all your friends know you love them?
I was thinking...I could die today, tomorrow or next week,
and I wondered if I had any wounds needing to be healed,
friendships that needed rekindling or three words needing to be said.
Let every one of your friends know you love them.
Even if you think they don't love you back,
you would be amazed at what those three little words and a smile can do.
And just in case GOD calls me home before I see you again.......

I LOVE YA!!!
Send this to at least 8 people you love and send it back to the person
Who sent it to you.

I lost my son last year, and my oldest sister this year. I believe I can state for a fact, that if you love someone, and appreciate that person, you best tell them today. You never know when you might have another chance. I realize I am not the only person who has lost a family member, but I have a feeling that many would agree with me. The only thing we have for certain is today. And today, tell someone you care about how much you care about them. Tomorrow may never come, and don't be one of those people who are consumed by what if's and why didn't I's and I should haves.
Celibrate today, and celibrate the love you have for all those around you. And here's a big secret...they don't have to love you back!!

If you love someone, tell them.

(Disclaimer---Even out here in the outside of nowhere we sometimes resort to occasional sermonizing, if we feel its for a worthy cause.)

Blessings.

Bush Leads Groundbreaking for King Memorial - AOL News

It's about damn time, don't you think? 

Link to Bush Leads Groundbreaking for King Memorial - AOL News

Charter - News

I think Andy Griffith, the real one anyway, has a good case here.  Say someone changed their name to Elvis Presley to sell records, or promote themselves in some way, well its the same thing. 

People do crazy things in the real world, huh? 

Link to Charter - News

Charter - News

 

Link to Charter - News

God bless Jim Cosner, the tree climbing cat-saver.  Of course, me being the cats-meow find this story uplifting and satisfying.  Cats rule!!

Charter - News

 

Link to Charter - News

Snails, snails everywhere, and nobody wants to eat these rascals.  Actually, I don't want to eat any kind of snail.  This whole story has all the makings  of  a one star horror movie.  A snail as big as your hand?  No thanks, don't want any here in FTOON. 

read.php-id=13223834&ps=1020&cat=&cps=0&show=big&lang=en

Click the link if you just want to see the slimy creature.  And, cancel your trip to Barbados, like, yesterday.

Later, gators...

Windows live writer 2

It worked!!  I actually got this thing to work.  Pretty cool, huh?  Been sitting around today thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas, and wondering how in the world did they sneak up on me again?  Seems like the other day it was the fourth of July.  I'm getting a head start on the shopping this year.  No more Christmas Eve mad dash for me...at least I hope not. 

Its raining here on the outside of nowhere.  Yes, even the rain finds us out here.  Supposed to rain all week.   Oh, happy day! 

We see you later, here  FTOON.  (from the outside of nowhere.)

windows live writer

Windows live writer tryout here.  Have no idea what it means, but if it posts to my blog, I will be so happy.  Pleased perhaps.  Shoot, I feel ok about it, but no bells or whistles are going to go off.  Anyway, you might want to give it a shot, if you haven't already. 

Virginia Elections

Well, it looks like the homophobic state of Virginia scores one for the illiterate, again. A state constitutional ammendment that bans marriage, or does not even recognize legal marriage's performed elsewhere, between members of the same sex was voted into law yesterday. What is it with the people of Virginia and like-minded individuals, that they are so concerned with the sexual needs or practices of same-sex couples? Let's be honest, folks. This is what it really boils down to. Even though most heterosexual couples may often engage in the same sexual acts. What is important is that when two people love and respect one another, to the extent that they vow to spend their lives together, that vow should be protected by laws governed to protect the rights of both parties of the union. What's next, people? Any known couples engaging in perverse sexual acts will not be recognized as having a valid marriage? What about the man and woman who have been together for 12 years, but do not have that certificate of marriage? Under this new amendment, their rights just went out the window, too.

Why does the government feel the need to dictate how we lead our personal lives, as long as the way we conduct our lives, causes harm to no one else? Will we ever get out of the dark ages, and progress to the point that most people don't care what their neighbors do, as long as it doesn't cause anyone else any harm?

Here, in the outskirts of nowhere, we don't give a damn who marries who, or who doesn't marry who. We recognize and honor committment.

Hello

Got a new blog here. I bid all who enter welcome, and hope you enjoy your stay. Here, in Nowhere, we are free to say what we want, when we want, about whatever. There's really no place like nowhere. So, pull up a chair, light a cigarrette, have some coffee, beer, some wild turkey if you like, we'll see what's in the fridge.

Be right back!!