I think a front shot would have sold a lot more papers . . .

Daughter-in-law Erin (David's wife) sent me an email on Saturday asking us to look for her picture in The Tennessean on Sunday. Erin loves animals, as do I, and volunteers one day a month at the Nashville zoo, as Bill and I should. We have always visited the zoos in any large city that we have visited.

But as luck would have it, she did not appear in hard copy. Nor did her face appear in Monday's photo slide show. And since we don't get Monday through Friday's paper any more, an "issue" I have ambivalent feelings about, but too long of a story to go into now, I don't know which picture of the slide show appeared in Monday's paper, nor could I cut out the article for her to send to her parents. But the entire online article is on my facebook account for those who are interested.

The story was about the zoo volunteers decorating the Croft House for Christmas. The Croft House is the 2nd oldest house in Nashville. The picture in the middle shows the 2 Croft sisters, Margaret and Elise, who donated the 1810 house and 200 acres of land to the City in 1964. The third is their mom. But a tour of the house is interesting because it is filled with the belongings of 5 generations of Crofts. The picture on the right is of Erin decorating a fireplace mantel

underneath the picture of the great-great-great grandmother of Margaret and Elise. Her name was Mary Moore Murfree Hilliard. I'll have to research her some day because the large town to our SE is Murfreesboro, home of MTSU.

P.S. I'd just like to say that I always leave a space between my paragraphs, and sometimes this website takes it and sometimes it doesn't, obviously depending on the little elves that work inside on the software and whether they got any sleep last night.

Yes, It's December 1, let the joy begin!

It's a rule at our house that the outdoor lights don't get turned on until December 1, our small step for mankind not to move the holiday back to Halloween. We have fewer lights this year, but I'm hoping that I can still get Bill to add a green spotlight (after we do our evening critique) to augment what we didn't put up in mini lights.

I always have my Christmas tree up on Thanksgiving weekend and we have had that lit for 2 nights now. Shades from my working years. I always wanted to be finished early too in case I got a cold or flu in December. That never happened - getting finished early, but it was always a goal and a stressor. Of course, this is my first year not working, so I still have that since of urgency about time pressure. Old habits die hard. How about you, Patti, Jamie, Cheryl?

Presents to our sons and daughter-in-laws are rahther large checks and do-dads that have been picked up mostly on vacations and routine trips to Target, etc. mid-November. This year I made a laborious effort and baked 4 batches of Pecan Puffs, 3 to go to Mike and 1 to Mom and Dad in Mentor. I also sent Mom and Dad a Mojo mug (pictured on right) made thru Walgreen's photo center online. So easy. I also made Mike and Sean one of pictures I took in Palm Springs while visiting in September. Neither of them read my blog so I don't think I'll be spoiling anything here.

None of them have been around as long as I have, but . . .

Did you know that you could purchase Energizer Bunny slippers? Did you even imagine that they had a website just for the bunny or that Mr. Clean had a website just for him?

And if you had to guess who was the oldest - and my favorite - advertising icon or mascot when I was growing up, you'd probably have no problem winning that contest. It was Farfel, the Nestle dog, a puppet who used to sing: N-E-S-T-L-E-S, Nestles makes the very best . . . cha-aaaaw-clit! Jimmy Nelson was the ventriloquist who worked Farfel and his pal Danny in Nestle's commercials from 1955 to 1965. For anyone who remembers Farfel and the loud clap of his mouth at the end of the jingle, that was actually a mistake made during Nelson's audition. Because he was so nervous, his hand was sweaty and it slipped; but the company liked it, so it stayed. He thought he had blown it for sure, so it's one of those little mistakes in life that can lead to something good that you didn't expect. :-)

Now the Energizer bunny is starting his 20th year in advertising, having made his debut in October 1989. He was conceived by a man watching his son swim in a floatation device shaped like a pink rabbit on which his wife had placed her sunglasses to make him laugh. He's now so popular he has a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

But, Mr. Clean has - unfortunately, in my opinion - been around the longest (since he's still here). He made his debut in 1958, when I was 11. I'm surprised I was that old because I still remember having at least one nightmare about him, and I would have guessed I was more around 8. Well, I always have been a scaredy-cat. No one had shaved heads or big muscles in those days and he looked kind of mean. He was supposed to be "tough" on cleaning; hence the image that evidently sunk into my psyche.

In September 2008, the European Parliament deemed Mr. Clean potentially offensive, because his build might imply that cleaning can only be accomplished by a muscular man (I'm not making this up - ref.Wikipedia). We all know that ain't true - cleaning can't be accomplished by most men, muscular or not, with apologies to all you men who do a good job at your chores, Bill included. I'm terrible. But, that's because I was permanently scarred early in life by Mr. Clean and now I'm "soft" on dirt.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving - Merry Pre-Christmas

Turkey and Titans (football) and two dogs pretty much describe our Thanksgiving at Dave and Erin's along with Erin's parents, Roger and Muriel Pfaff. Since the Titans' game began at 11:30, that's when we arrived, eating around 1:00. Everything tasted wonderful; the dogs even managed to get a few nibbles of turkey from Muriel. Easy for her - she doesn't have to go home with one of them! We cooked our own turkey breast on Friday and Mojo has been shunning his dog food ever since unless it has a few morsels - and I mean morsels - in the bowl.

News events for the Friday after Thanksgiving, the biggest shopping day of the Christmas season, included a Walmart employee being trampled to death when the doors opened at the store on Long Island and two men who shot each other to death in a Toys 'R Us in Palm Desert, Calif. Maybe some people are taking these Early Bird specials a little too seriously. I avoid this nastiness and shop online. Merry Pre-Christmas.

P.S. Grant and Keri went to Cincinnati and Mentor for Thanksgiving. They took their Welsh Corgi Magi and stayed with my parents for 2 nights. Early reports are they had a great time and are going back in the summer.

I think I'm the only one that got this letter, so I'm sharing it . . .

Dear Ms. VandeWater, The victory we achieved on November 4 means so much to so many -- but to all of us, it is a stirring affirmation of our country's most fundamental promise: America is a place where anything -- anything we choose to dream together, anything for which we choose to work together -- is possible. Ours was never the likeliest campaign for the presidency. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington -- it was built by working men and women, students and retirees who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from the Earth. Nina, this is your victory. But even as we celebrate, we know the challenges are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. And we will be asking you to join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand. What began 21 months ago in the depth of winter must not end on a night in autumn. This victory alone is not the change we seek -- it is only the chance for us to make that change. Nina, this is our moment. This is our time -- to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth -- that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can. For now, please accept our deepest thanks. We will never forget you. Sincerely, Barack Obama Michelle Obama (I might add that when reading this I happily noticed that the Obamas seem to love the dash, my favorite piece of punctuation as well. I think it's for people who really hate to see a sentence end. And I noticed they started a sentence with "and" as well. I like that too. It shows blatant disregard for what one was taught in 7th grade. In fact, I can't say that the last large paragraph has much punctual integrity at all - and I know that doesn't make sense to some, if not all. But it's late. Good night. Deepest thanks for reading, if anyone did. Nina :)

Life in the fast lane

My Mazda RX-8 finally got to go zoom zoom on Saturday, November 15, as Bill and David joined a group of fellows for a Road Rally. That's Grant 2nd from the left with his friend Shep who organized the event, saying he had wanted to do this since he was a child. Bill and David are on either side of my car which is 5th from the left. And, yes, that is a 1969 Corvette on the far right. I was proud of myself for identifying the Mini Cooper, 3rd from the left. The other 4 are (from the left) BMW M3, Lexus IS250, Mustang Roush, Nissan 350Z. And, by the way, for historical purposes, in the midst of this bitter recession, yesterday Ford Motor stock was trading at $1.25/share and General Motors at $2.79 although they are trading at $2.20 this very minute. They say that we baby boomers aren't going to be able to retire when we thought we would. That's pretty scary considering we already did.

Meanwhile, back to the topic at hand, the first stop was outside the Tennessee State Prison, the impressive building in the background. Currently closed to all but movie and TV sets (The Green Mile and The Last Castle were filmed here), this state prison was opened in 1898 and closed in 1992. Built with 800 cells meant to house 1 prisoner each, 1400 walked through the gates on day 1, insuring overcrowding conditions from the start. No heat or ventilation in the cells either. Ouch! Several interesting batches of escapees and prison riots.

The guys then went to the square in downtown Franklin, out onto the curvy Natchez Trace and on to Lynchburg, ending with a tour of the Jack Daniels factory located there. Finally back to Nashville. Winning the Rally had to do with getting cards at each stop and having the best poker hand at the finish. Bonus cards could be obtained by getting things like speeding tickets, etc., so I'm happy that Team Vandy didn't win. My rules had included the stipulation that REX come back in one piece for it ever to zoom zoom on another Road Rally.

Mojo missed Bill so much that he took 2 naps in his cage (something he has never done before - he doesn't dislike the cage, but I've never seen him just go in there). I managed to take my nap on the sofa as usual.

They painted the roses red or had fake ones planted

OK - so Obama did win, and Bill and I had a fabulous time - for a change - watching CNN "project" the states red or blue until Obama had enough electoral votes to call the win for him at approx. 11 p.m. McCain then gave a good concession speech and Obama an even better, sober acceptance speech. With the world economy in an extreme recession, it's going to be a tough row to hoe come January.

This past Monday, Nov. 10, then, George and Laura Bush, had the Obamas over to the White House "to measure the drapes" and discuss the transfer of power as the press releases went. I was particularly enchanted with the picture of the lovely red roses in the White House rose garden (late bloomers I guess). Almost made me want the job of First Lady so I could stroll the grounds each day while someone else did the work. But I doubt if Bill or I would have gleaned even one write-in vote (not even our children are that foolish) in a last-minute ballot endeavor.

Someone's - and I truly forget whose - favorite photo was of the black man with tears running down his face at one of the many Obama celebrations on election night. It was truly an evening of triumph for African Americans across the country. While Obama never made an issue of race, so many blacks said "I never thought I'd live to see the day . . . " and "Now I can truly tell my children that they can grow up to be anything they want to be." And when Barack used the words:

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. Its the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference. Its the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America. Its the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

Well, it made me proud that on this night, it was my moment to be happy that my candidate finally won. Not that I envy him the job. We'll see if it turns his hair as gray as it did George's. But at least, in November, on any cold day in the White House garden, chances are good that the roses will still be red.

Candy Headquarters - VandyH20's

Happy Halloween!

I posted this on Halloween, but I'm writing the text the morning after so I can say that we got 78 candy seekers at our door last night. That is the most by a long shot. Can't say why - maybe it's the economy. No one has food and they have to go door to door seeking it, nutritional value be damned!

There are 3 "decorated" houses on our 9 house street, making this a cul-de-sac to definitely go down (in my opinion). The house across the street has lots of smoke coming from somewhere, eyeballs flashing in the bushes, a monster that pops up and loud spooky audio going for the duration (5:30 - 7:30 approx).

The house at the end of the cul de sac has lots of lights, a graveyard, a strobelight going on a dark spooky monster in the upstairs window of their house, and other stuff. Definitely the brightest and most elaborate display.

Then there's our house. A few lights; 2 fiber optic small scrawcow guys, and a small witch and cauldron that sits on a table covered with a black garbage bag by the front door and has flashing lights in the cauldron which puts out smoke. Now the kids have always liked this decoration and many times commented on it. We also have a witch door knocker that is movement activated so that as soon as kids come to the door it's eyes light up and it cackles "Happy Halloween". This does sometime scare kids but not in a bad way.

Frequently I will look out my side windows as the kids come to the door (we old people love Halloween; takes us back to when our kids were young and cute). A small brother and sister approached the smoking witch last night and looked at her gravely. Then they both slowly stuck their fingers into the cauldron and carefully lifted same finger, stuck them in their mouths and licked them. When I opened the door, I told them I thought they were pretty brave - what if that witch's cauldron (a word they were too young to even know) had poison in it. They said "yew" to that and agreed with me that then they would have been in trouble.

At any rate, trick=r-treater's are such a study in personality. The chatty, the shy, the polite, the ruthless, , the unhurried and the in-a-hurry, the beauties and the beasts. My son David called around 6:45 in an exhausted frenzy and said he had been hit with about 140 already, was out of candy, had turned off the lights and was hiding in the back of the house. He has a rather large prejudice about handing out candy to older kids who haven't bothered to dress up. Well, no wonder: this from a child who still goes to parties with his group who still love to dress up. When he told me that one year he had gone as the Jolly Green Giant, I sorely wished for a photo of that.

This was Mojo's first Halloween and he was totally in awe. It was a wonderfully mild evening, so Bill finally got a chair and parked himself and the Moj (on the leash) in the driveway since, well to be truthful, they were BOTH very interested to see everything. Bill once worked in a haunted house for the Jaycee's and still wants to jump out at people and yell boo. I told him if he was going to do that they had to be at least 12, effectively eliminating most of his shenanigans.

Oh yes, Bill said that the number of real spider webs we had around out front door was an effective addition to our decorations as well!

I think I'm beginning to see the glass as half full

• Ok, I'm about to write something that I hope doesn't come back to bite me in the hiney. I'm beginning to feel optimistic about the likelihood of the election of the first white/Afro-American President of the United States. And it's not based on the polls which as of today give Obama a 5 or 6 percent point lead.

• What it is based on is the huge numbers of early voters and newscasts photos of the voting lines filled with AfroAmericans. I just can't see that the excitement being generated in this election is being generated by John McCain/Sarah Palin fans. Huge crowds turn out for Obama's campaign stops; Republicans not so much for McCain. Plus Mojo has been stumpin' for Barack as witnessed by his favorite Democrat Donkey 08.

• When I spoke with my mom this a.m., she told me they had driven their absentee ballots to the voting office. She said she didn't want them to be lost in the mail. And voting absentee assures that you won't be standing in any long line to vote, which would be difficult for them.

• My niece Kim who is finishing her education degree is having her 3rd graders practice voting, make their own candidate posters and election buttons, etc.

• I can't wait to see if Ohio will finally turn blue (go Democratic). Only 5 more days. I think I'll miss the campaign. It's going to be much more difficult for Obama (knock wood) to turn this blooming recession around than to travel around the country speechifying. :-)

Ignorance was bliss

On Black Monday, Oct. 19, 1987, the Stock Market fell 22.6%. In the past 6 days it has fallen some 20%. Down to 8300 right this minute from 14000 a year ago. Now, I have to admit that I don't particularly remember Black Monday with any great icy feeling. The boys were 10 and 8 and I was working on my Masters in Library Science. Bill always put money into his 401k and got the company match. Life was fairly simple (as I look back). They also say this is reminiscent of the deep recession of the early 1970s. Now the only thing I remember about that is when Bill graduated from Univ. of Virginia in 1973 he did not get the number of job offers normally expected due to the recession, a fact that landed in Akron, OH, instead of some more exotic locale. Other than that we went blissfully on our way to enjoying our post-student married life. I don't recall worrying about a recession very much. I do remember that it was rather hard to save enough money for the down payment for your first house, but once you did, you always made money on real estate until 2007 or a little before if you lived in certain parts of the country. That's what took us from our first cozy 2-bedroom-$31,000 house to a couple of 4-bedroom houses and back down to our 3-bedroom retirement home valued at over $400,000 today. It will be paid for in Feb. 2009. Today it's a different story. We're retired. We retired at the ages of 60 and 62. That's early, but we were able to do it based partly on our 401k retirement accounts. Well, they are still there, though some of them have as many wrinkles as we do. Or perhaps the metaphor should be that they look much younger. Obama and McCain are coming up with ideas left and right to end the crisis, as is W (George Bush, President). Thankfully, only about 25 more days until the election. I never thought another subject would become more negative, but the stock market has done it! Today on CNN they said we needed heroes who have stuck it out with the stock market. Maybe someone told them to start talking positively to stem the panic. Whatever - I liked being called a hero.

Beautiful Murals from the New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/10/06/us/20081007MURAL_index.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

A Tale of Two Sofas

A picture is worth a thousand words . . . the only problem is that the picture must have the exact same perspective and lighting which these two pictures do not.

• We have recently owned 2 new sofas. Since comfort, I would venture to say, is most important to Bill, he helped me pick out Sofa A, the one on the left, although not in that exact fabric. It definitely was the most comfortable and came from LazBoy or however the stupid heck they spell it. So I ordered it in a fabric similar to the floral and waited 6 or 7 weeks for it to arrive. When they told me it was in, I quickly sold my old sofa on Craigslist for $50. Craigslist is a free internet classifieds service. At that price I was able to sell it in one day, basically an amusing story in itself. When the sofa arrived, they brought the cushions out of the truck first and I knew it was wrong. I told the delivery guys it looked wrong; they told me the store would make it right and delivered the sofa anyway. But nicely; it was not their mistake. The caramel-colored floral fabric did not go with the sagish/grayish new carpeting we had just bought and I had brought the fabric sample home to coordinate with, but not being 100% sure of anything I do these days, I said to Bill we better head to the store to be sure the other color of fabric existed.

• After arriving at LazBoy and thankfully finding the other floral pattern (called stone, which had more green in it), we were asked if we could basically cool our heels until our saleslady arrived in 20 min. When she did, she apologized, but underneath the exterior veneer lurked the unspoken suspicion that we were nuts. I was in great pain that day, which along with stressful events of the past couple of weeks created "the perfect storm" as the saying goes. When she declared (with a nervy, but Southern smile) that they would not charge us a delivery fee for redelivery of the correct sofa, let's just say it wasn't pretty. I slammed down our credit card and said "no, you're not going to charge us any delivery fee ($89) and you're going to take it off our credit card and that's going to happen right this minute." While she gave me another one of her heretofore "deer in the headlight" looks, the store manager quickly responded, "we can do that."

• To make a long story short, it was a Saturday, and they were going to reorder the sofa for us in the correct fabric, but I decided I wasn't totally crazy with the construction of the one I had just had delivered, so on Sunday, Bill and I went to Haverty's furniture store and picked out Sofa B on the right. It came in Sage and cost $600 less and while I loved my original fabric, I decided I didn't want to go without a sofa for 7 weeks (remember last time I had a sofa on which to sit) and I hated LazBoy at this point, even though my Mother has taught me never to use the word "hate." So I do cringe to even type it.

• From Haverty's I called LazBoy and told them to "just forget about ordering the new sofa ; I needed to find a sofa to sit on sooner than 7 weeks." They weren't pleased. But then I wasn't pleased that they could have ordered the wrong fabric color when it only came in two colors to begin with and I hadn't even looked at the other one!

• But, I write about this to bring up a larger life phenomenon that I have sadly noticed. I have decided that when people speak of being "over the hill" at age 50, they are correct. There really is a Hill. All those other sayings such as "you are only as old as you feel" and "the secret to staying young is to lie about your age" and "aging is not lost youth, but a new stage of opportunity and growth" and Robert Browning's "grow old with me; the best is yet to be." I could go on and on. They glamourize aging, but is it not because we feel the need to?

• As I look back on the decorating dreams of my 20s, how different they are from my 60s. Then, I cut out pictures from Better Homes and Gardens (it's still around!) and romanticized how my home would look. Beauty only was sought; now I find comfort with non-ugly the goal. What truths do I find here? That my aches and pains have become paramount? I need a reclining sofa now that I have crested the Hill? That I no longer have the stamina to pursue beauty + comfort = perfection. That what I now need = good enough? That the macabre truth is that you downsize until the final room you decorate is a pine box or smaller? Perhaps, then, it is true that old age is when you "chose the cereal for the fiber and not the toy." (author unknown). I recently bought Cheerio's that contained a mechanical Batman action figure. I felt very good that day. Just ask Bill; he's already played with it!

It's the economy again, stupid!

The way I see it the Democrats have won the election based on what the stock market did today (went below 10,000 or where it was in 1999 or just about when George Bush took office). If you aren't old enough to know about James Carville's campaign slogan for Bill Clinton's successful 1992 campaign to unseat Daddy Bush, see:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It

Now with the 2nd presidential debate tomorrow coming to Nashville - yes, you read that correctly - and us without a wee chance to commandeer a seat at Belmont College, the small, private Christian school that is paying millions to host this event - even to the point of overriding their rule that says "no liquor on campus" to set up a booze tent for the visiting journalists and whatever Baptists that can manage to stay incognito that evening. So, we shall sit in front of the TV and watch 2 men stumble over unanswerable questions on this unprecedented event in our nation's economy. God bless their hearts as we say in Nashville; I wish them both the best.

Personally, I think it's just a good, old-fashioned recession with that mortgage thing thrown in on the side. Too much lending, not enough saving; too many jobs shipped overseas finally catching up with us as we outsourced most manufactured products to China and we spent a lot of money we didn't have on a war, which should have meant a lot of defense jobs except it wasn't World War II. In terms of wars, it's still a small war; it just costs a ton. And people die for no reason.

No kidding, when the Dow hit 14,000, I said to Bill that if I had a button to push to put everything in a safe spot I would do it because I thought that was really high enough for me. But it was too much work while I was working since I don't just call a broker (which maybe I should). So my new motto is, maybe we weren't all meant to be this rich. Especially those guys on Wall Street. Those pictures above are of Dick Fuld's (CEO of Lehman Bros. the failed Wall St. firm that is causing a lot of this mess) Greenwich CT home. He has others. Like McCain, he probably doesn't know how many.

It's the good life . . .

• Mornings watching the sun rise over the mountains to the east and evenings watching it set under the mountains to the west . . . this will stay with me forever. Watching the stars at night and wishing very hard to see a shooting star. That didn't happen, but all was well anyway. And, of course, I only could catch the sunrise on film knowning that a sweet afternoon nap on a lounge chair in the shade in a wet suit was mine for the taking.

• A wet suit was more than necessary as the temperatures soared to over 100 degrees daily, hitting 108 on two days. If I had a nickel for every time I heard "but it's a dry heat," I wouldn't have to worry about the pathetic stock market. But, it's true. You don't sweat. You're not sticky. But you are still hot, hence the pool and the wet suit. I even got a suntan and surely more basal cells. But swimming laps was good for me and the scar tissue I was beginning to feel in my latest incision. Water is very healing for the mind and the body. And Lord knows everything about me needs healing! Oh yes, and after you have finished swimming your laps, you can relax with the floating noodles. It's a sanctioned water event.

• By the way, we were in Palm Springs to visit Mike and Sean who were nice enough to pick us up at the Ontario airport where are free Southwest tickets had deposited us after an uneventful and non-epicurean flight. But not to despair, what our bodies were denied on the plane was more than made up for at the Palm Springs Spa Casino Buffet where we enjoyed numerous all-you-can-eat breakfast, lunch, and dinners (although not in the same day I am happy to add). We pretty much tanked up for the entire day and then had a sandwich for our second and final meal of the day. Of course, there were nightly refreshing beverages with alcoholic content in case the sun and water and nap hadn't relieved every last ounce of tension from our bodies.

• Good company meant good political discussions (if I had a nickel for every time I heard the word Sarah Palin . . . ) and the sharing of books and "the good old days." And while retirement for all of us means never having to say "gee, I really hate to go home and back to work tomorrow," it's still good to go home, just like it's good to get away from home to be with loved ones. And in this case and at this time it was especially good; and I thank my guardian angel who didn't show me a shooting star, but helped me see that once in awhile dreams really do come true.

Nieces are nice

Bill and I drove 9 hours to Mentor, Ohio over Labor Day weekend to see the parents and extended family: 2 brothers and their families. Pictured here, on the left, are Carolyn and her dog Cody (a shelter dog - yeah!) and, on the right, Kim and her boyfriend Mark. That leaves one niece and two nephews to get photos of for another posting which should be by next September when our nephew Greg gets married. The wheel keeps turning. As it should. My 2 brothers and their wives are the best, hosting us, as usual, to dinner at their houses. The weather was nice so we were able to eat in or out. Keeping up with everyone's activities is always a challenge. This trip was the first to see Dad since his stroke in Sept., 2007. Also his and mom's first time to see me since my 5 surgeries since July 2007. We each thought the other would look worse than what turned out to be the case. It's nice to be pleasantly surprised. Families are a blessing, and as Robert Frost so aptly said: "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in." And, as Dorothy said (in my favorite movie), "there's no place like home."

Great photo op for balloons, but not Marsha Blackburn

OK, so even I will admit that Day 4 of the Republican Convention beat the Democrats in the Best Balloon category. Of course, I don't think, as far as I can recall, that the Democrats had any balloons. But they make great photos (not mine of course; thank you UMI).

However, in order to see the balloons, you might have had to first sit through a "my cajones are bigger than Sarah Pallin's" speech, delivered by a Tennessee Congresswoman from just-up-the-road-a-piece, namely Brentwood. She stabbed that finger continuously at us until I was ready to jump into my plasma TV and break it off. Marsha Blackburn was already on my not-one-of-my-favorite-people list, and she certainly reinforced my gut instincts for her on September 4, 2008.

What were you doing on 9/11/2001 at 7:46 a.m.

Today, on the 7th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the N.Y. Twin Trade Towers and the Pentagon and the field in PA (on the way to the White House), the Pentagon was the first to unveil their 9/11 Memorial. 184 benches were made showing the name of each of the 184 citizens killed in the Pentagon or on American Airlines Flight 77 as it smashed into it. It cost $22 million to build.

Under each of the "benches" is a shallow, glowing light pool. If the bench has the name of one of the 59 people aboard Flight 77, the name can only be read while facing the sky; if it has the name of one of the Pentagon victims, the name faces the Pentagon. Each bench was drapped with a blue cloth which was removed while the victim's name was read out during the ceremony. I would think that was an unbelievable moving, yet sorrowful, moment for the families.

There is also an age wall that begins with the age in inches of the youngest victim preceeding to the age in inches of the oldest victim. Thus, it begins at 3" and ends at a height of 71". Brings tears to your eyes just to think about it. Now add another 2,800+ victims from the Trade Towers.

All that to mention that everyone over 10 years of age remembers what they were doing on 9/11/2001 around 9 a.m. Eastern Time. I know it is still fresh in my mind, hearing the first news report as I drove to the library at 7:45 a.m. my time. I remember watching on a small TV in the boss's office with a friend and crying with her as it was obvious that people were dying.

It's been 7 years since we've been attacked; may it be 7 more and 7 more and 7 more and on and on and on.

Mojo weighs 16 lbs. now . . .

. . . and he's teething like crazy. Fortunately, he's not one to chew on the furniture. Of course, since we are home with him or he is in his crate 24/7, he doesn't have many opportunities for his wicked Mojo side to come out.

The first thing he does in the morning is roll over so he can have his tummy rubbed, no matter that you haven't had you coffee and can barely bend over yet. It's his favorite thing. His second favorite thing is to meet new people on his walks so he can roll over and have them scratch his tummy. It could be a doggie serial killer for all he would care.

His third favorite thing to do would be eat. He eats his own food, but he keeps an eye peeled for yours.

The sky at our house in August . . . well, pretty nice

• Bill called me out last night as he was walking Mojo around the block to see the full sky rainbow (which was getting faint) caused by a sprinkling of rain and the remnants of the sunset. I particularly like sunsets since I'm never awake to see a sunrise. Only once in recent history when I had to catch a plane in California. In fact I believe that accounts for the top picture of this blog. A beautiful sunrise.

• Meanwhile the folks inside were getting ready for Hillary Clinton's big speech to the Democratic National Convention. It was quite good as was the keynote address by former governor of Virginia, Mark Warner. Since we graduated from the University of Va. and Bill grew up in Staunton, Va., we always like it when the state makes us proud. I have practically disowned Ohio where I grew up since it has gotten so ridiculously conservative of late.

• Bill Clinton talks tonight and word is that he wouldn't let anyone help with his speech. Should be interesting. What's even more interesting is the Bush announcement today of the handing over of a big province in Iraq to Iraqi police. Ha Ha - isn't that the timing of that fortuitous for the Republicans!

It was a gold metal finish for the 2008 summer Olympics

This past Sunday night was the closing ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics. Although the Chinese took the most gold medals, the United States won the most medals. A swimmer, Michael Phelps, won the most gold medals ever, and many world records were set. Overall the Chinese hosted a spectacular Olympics, albeit with a billion people and seemingly endless funds to do it with.

2012 Summer Olympics will be held in London. Now wouldn't that be fun to attend - in a foreign country where you can speak the language. This excerpt from Business Week: As long as security is effective but not heavy-handed, London should manage to provide Olympians and guests a great time. As for attitude, the famously dry British humor was on display when reporters asked Boris Johnson if he had any criticism of the 2008 Games. No, the mayor responded, and then added jokingly in reference to the controversial dubbing of a young singer in Beijing's opening ceremonies: "Had it been us, I don't think we would have necessarily done the switcheroo with the girl."

Pictures taken from my TV - I'm sure NBC or whoever wouldn't mind granting copyright.

On Validation - by Nina, not Thoreau

Everyone, I would venture to say, wants their work or some aspect of what they are doing with their life validated. In other words, they want some R*E*S*P*E*C*T. Just ask Aretha Franklin. People need to get it at work, at home, from their friends, or even from the greater society at large. Or, of course, from their dog. We're still working on that with Mojo. He loves us, but sometimes the puppy still doesn't respect us.

At any rate, there is this expectation in our circle that after you retire, you are going to golf a lot, not just sit around on your rear end and read or do jigsaw puzzles or blog.

But, today I got a newsletter from my realtor that said retirement is a good time to consider such activities as enrolling in a college course, picking a new hobby such as photography, chess, birdwatching or ballroom dancing, traveling or beginning an ONLINE BLOG. Wow, my new hobby was validated in print. It's funny how much better I felt when I read that. Bill's doing the laundry and ironing and I'm blogging and it's OK.

However, I still feel like I better take my shower, get dressed and finish reading last Sunday's paper to get it out of here. Well, right after I go to http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ and do my daily word match and read the daily quote. :-) Yesterday the quote was so good that I sent it to some of my friends at work as validation of their endurance during a difficult time they are currently experiencing.

Take some time out today to spread a little validation to a friend or family member.

Summer Olympics 2008 - Beijing, China

This summer China hosts their first Olympics, so they have gone all out to show what a fabulous job they can do. On the right is a picture of "The Blue Cube" where the swimming takes place. On the left is a gorgeous picture from the opening ceremonies, which I still have to see since we were in Quebec at the time. But in this day and age we record things on our TVs that we might miss; however, there is a limited amount of recording space, so Bill is always after me to watch the things I've recorded. Like from a year ago! What's his hurray?

Photos are from The New York Times.

Quebec: Churches, churches, and more churches

Parlez-vous francais? Un tres tres peu!

We spent some time with the natives in Quebec City this past week while they celebrated their 400th birthday (1608 folks!), and we celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. For the most part we celebrated it in the rain as they told us they were having their wettest summer in 75 years. That must have put something of a damper on the celebrations, but the flowers sure were pretty, and I bet they never needed watering by hand.

Strangely, we both discovered that our 2 yrs. of high school French did us no good whatsoever. We could never even manage to decipher one word of the canned female voice message that spoke to us each time we exited the elevator. I wanted to ask the desk clerk, but every time we walked by they were busy; I'm still considering emailing them. If nothing else, reference librarians are curious and require answers.

All of the colorful characters in period costumes in the picture with me were part of the summer-long celebration. The guys with Bill were in front of one of the ubiquitous souvenier shops. We visited many to get out of the rain. We also bought 3 bottles of 100% pure Canadian maple syrup we at one (after looking at the 12,000 different kinds, price per ounce, beauty of the container, etc. and so forth) confiscated by Quebec security when they discovered them in our carry-on. Was Bill, the airline traveller (but not souvenier buyer), ever angry with himself! I, on the other hand, hardly pay attention to any of the rules at security as I walk around in a fog at airports I'm unfamiliar with. I have locational deficit disorder outside my own house anyway.

Our little hotel, at the foot of the famous Hotel Frontenac, was very comfortable and came with a free, though expensive, breakfast. Due to bad weather in Chicago on Monday, Aug. 4, we had to push back the trip to the next day, so we got to pay for an extra night at the hotel too. An extra bonus in the always unpredictable realm of travel. But we enjoyed the architecture of the old city, the flowers, the history, and, of course, the food. And it was our first post-retirement trip. Priceless.