Resolutions

Be it resolved:

1. Face the future with confidence.

2. Practice magnanimity.

3. Charge more for my services (turn off TV shows that aren't entertaining, throw away food that doesn't delight the taste buds, shelve books that don't grab me in the first chapter).

An Added Bonus

Look what I found inside our Christmas tree during the dismantling process?

It's a little bird's nest! Some cute bird couple used our tree as a home to hatch and raise their little birdy family.

Learning

Jambo! (Hello!) I have flash cards in my pocket and I take them out several times a day to learn new words in Swahili in preparation for my trip. One day Offspring #2 and I watched the Lion King again just so I could practice my new words. Some words are easier for me. Simba means lion - that I remember from Tarzan movies. Twiga is giraffe - tall and skinny like Twiggy. Other words are hard. There is a group of words starting with ny that are hard for me. Nyama is meat. Nyati is buffalo. Nyani is baboon. Nyumbu is zebra. Of those four words, I guess zebra correctly the most. I can get it, it will just take me a while. I talked to my tour guide last night. I told her I was worried that I would hold up the group because I don't walk very fast. One of the other group participants has paraplegia. I can walk circles around her.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Offspring #1 came home today thanks to nephew #1's ride home from the airport. I haven't seen him for 14 months. He looks great. So good to have everybody at home again. I got lots of cards and good wishes. Thanks to everybody! And I got a canary - or I will get the canary after my trip is over. Today I got the cage, cuttlebone, food, dishes, perches, and canary care book. I have wanted a canary for years. It's one of those things that I would like but don't buy because they are expensive and totally self-indulgent. I love it.

Inspiration

I am inspired by my neighbor. I headed out yesterday morning to do some shopping. As I drove down my block, I came upon my neighbor cross country skiing down the middle of the street. I don't know this woman well but I do know a few things about her. She is married. She has adult children. She used to sing in a choir. All her children are in choirs or band. One of her grandchildren performs in the Army band. She is polite and seemingly tolerant of her husband who has a need to be right in every conversation I've ever had with him. She is a retired labor and delivery nurse. She has a very nice house on the banks of the Rum River. She and her husband walk and ride their bikes around the neighborhood. She adopted two miniature pinchers from a minpin rescue. Those dogs are totally spoiled. She thinks my dog's name is Chaos. I corrected her a few times but now I let it go because I think, the way the dog spazzes out when meeting others on the road, that Chaos is an appropriate name. I guess she is in her mid-eighties. And she had a hip replacement in June. She used her walker to walk around the block last summer. So yesterday, when I saw her skiing, I rolled down my window to talk to her. "How's your leg?" I asked. "Fine," she answered, "Doesn't hurt at all."

Kite Runner

Two thumbs up for the movie, Kite Runner. I thought it was very moving. The movie was true to the book and I always like that about a good book. I have a friend (lost track of him lately) who was born and raised in Afghanistan. He told me years ago about the kite races. He said they were very popular. There was a lot of preparation to the kite flying contests. He coated his string in a liquid solution containing ground glass. The glass would cut his skin if he ran the string through his hand. The object was to cut the kite of your opponent. My favorite line of the movie is, "For you my friend, a thousand times over."

Happy Holidays

What Makes My Heart Go Pitter Pat?

Love, Actually. Here are five girls (six if you count Blunder who is a girl and is out of camera range yet on the couch) watching Love, Actually. We're celebrating the holidays as a troop even though we're not officially a troop anymore. We are a troop in spirit. Watching Hugh Grant dance makes my heart go pitter pat.

Merry Christmas Tree

Here is a picture of my white pine tree in my front yard. It reminds me of a Charlie Brown Christmas tree because it's foliage is sparse and the little conifer is hanging over at the top, even without any ornaments other than snow. But I think it is still beautiful. It stands as a testament to endurance. This summer it was violently attacked by saw pine borers. The nasty worms ate all the needles except a handful. The needles you see on this tree have all grown back this year only at the tips making it look like a bottle brush tree. It's trunk is bent but not broken. Rock on Charlie Brown Christmas Tree!

Do You Ever Get The Feeling?

Do you ever get the feeling that a doctor has told you something because they like their job, want to keep their job, and are avoiding a law suit? Recently I got some advice that I think fits into this category. I am coming to believe that he wasn't talking about me in particular, he was saying things for the potential future courtroom drama. Hello! Who is paying the copay here? Me or his lawyer? I get that he wants to keep his job but I don't like being used. I am not the type to sue. I have only sued one person in my life (if you don't count divorce) and I ended up regretting that move. She was a landlady of a house on 50th and Knox, Minneapolis. I was a tenant. She kept our damage deposit for a plumbing bill. The plumber said tree roots had grown into the sewer pipe and were halfway up the basement level. He said roots would have been coming out of the toilet in a few years. I didn't think it was my responsibility to pay for tree roots growing in a sewer pipe. I took her to small claims court. Her son was a lawyer. When we got in front of the judge, the judge said he knew the son but wouldn't let that affect his decision. We won our money back but I ended up having to take a day off work and spend a lot of time and energy and I hasseled an older lady (who was trying to shaft me). We won but it was an empty victory. So even though my name is Sue, I am not the suing type. Is it too much to ask that a doctor would give you the straight information without hidden agendas?

What A Wonderful World

"I see skies of blue and clouds of white. The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night. And I think to myself, what a wonderful world."

Lyrics by G. Weiss/B. Thiele

I went to visit my neighbors today and bring them a plate of cookies and a card. He made me a Christmas card/ornament with a beautiful picture of the planet on both sides of the round card. He says he always makes his own cards. He said he hasn't given me a card before because they were politically and/or religiously satiric and he wasn't sure I'd appreciate the humor. Funny man. I think I probably would appreciate his humor but you never know until you see one.

Happy Solstice!

Christmas Pixie

At my house, there was a Christmas decoration hanging over the kitchen sink. I spent a lot of time at the kitchen sink looking out the window to the park. Our Christmas elf or pixie hugged his little knees. He was suspended on a string. He had long legs with bells for feet. I would hit one of his feet with my finger causing his leg to arc north toward the window. On the return journey, his leg would always arc back in such a way that the bells would collide and jingle. Somehow it was satisfying and reassuring that the bells collided every time.

This Made Me Laugh Out Loud

Newspaper Headlines
Some are just slips of the tongue

Grandmother of eight makes hole in one
Deaf mute gets new hearing in killing
Police begin campaign to run down jaywalkers
House passes gas tax onto senate
Stiff opposition expected to casketless funeral plan
Two convicts evade noose, jury hung
William Kelly was fed secretary
Milk drinkers are turning to powder
Safety experts say school bus passengers should be belted
Quarter of a million Chinese live on water
Farmer bill dies in house
Iraqi head seeks arms

Some become unintentionally suggestive

Queen Mary having bottom scraped
Is there a ring of debris around Uranus?
Prostitutes appeal to Pope
Panda mating fails - veterinarian takes over
NJ judge to rule on nude beach
Child's stool great for use in garden
Dr. Ruth to talk about sex with newspaper editors
Soviet virgin lands short of goal again
Organ festival ends in smashing climax

Grammar often botches other headlines

Eye drops off shelf
Squad helps dog bite victim
Dealers will hear car talk at noon
Enraged cow injures farmer with ax
Lawmen from Mexico barbecue guests
Miners refuse to work after death
Two Soviet ships collide - one dies
Two sisters reunite after eighteen years at checkout counter

Once in a while, a botched headline takes on a meaning opposite from the one intended:

Never withhold herpes from loved one
Nicaragua sets goal to wipe out literacy
Drunk drivers paid $1,000 in 1984
Autos killing 110 a day, let's resolve to do better

Sometimes newspaper editors state the obvious

If strike isn't settled quickly it may last a while
War dims hope for peace
Smokers are productive, but death cuts efficiency
Cold wave linked to temperatures
Child's death ruins couple's holiday
Blind woman gets new kidney from dad she hasn't seen in years
Man is fatally slain
Something went wrong in jet crash, experts say
Death causes loneliness, feeling of isolation

Cold Spring, MN

Yesterday was a truly marvelous day reminiscent of my younger, crazier, carefree days. I met with two friends, Debbie #1 and Debby #1. None of us had any committments so we hung out all day and did whatever we felt like doing. We met in Cold Spring. We started out at the famous Cold Spring bakery to buy some sweets. We went to Grumpy's Bar. Ok, I haven't been in a bar in a very long time and I wasn't so thrilled about going in but I had a wonderful time. BARS AREN'T SMOKY ANYMORE! Of course, three women walking into a small town bar is going to turn heads and we did. But what a lovely group of people we met. One man was displaying, one by one, his collection of musical, animated, Christmas stuff. He had a singing tree, a singing reindeer, a singing Mrs. Claus, several singing Santas, and one grumpy Santa ("I'll give you some Christmas Cheer - B U U U R R R P"). We were getting up to leave and he wanted us to see his animated deer. This bar had wild animal heads hanging on all 4 walls but the deer above the bar didn't look real. He made the deer sing a few songs like "On The Road Again," and "Low Rider." His eyes opened and closed, his mouth opened and closed and his head turned side to side and up and down. As we were putting our coats on I thought I heard the deer talk. So I said, "Is that deer talking?" My friends were gabbing and didn't hear. The deer says, "I'm not talking, are you talking?" I said, "That deer is talking!" The deer says, "Do you hear any deer talking?" I said, "You guys, that deer is talking to us." The deer says, "These girls are talking to me." I look around. There are 8 people in the bar and they are all smiling at me. I don't see anyone talking. I look at one blond guy and ask, "Are you making the deer talk?" He blushes red and said, "I am not making the deer talk, I have nothing to do with this." The deer says, "I'm not making the deer talk, who is making the deer talk?" By now my friends have caught on to the fact that the deer is talking to us. We converse with the deer head over the bar for a few more minutes. I cannot see who is making the deer talk. It's freaky. Like Paul Bunyan in Brainerd - the big statue who greeted my children by name and said, "Welcome ___ and ___ from Coon Rapids, Minnesota." I saw some kids cry when big Paul Bunyan said their name. After a few minutes of deer head talk, we left and said, "Happy Holidays - you are such a dear." I had a great day with my friends. We're all older. We don't drink as much. We bought grown up things at the stores like furnace filters, gifts for our children and pitted dates instead of diet soda and munchies like we did when we were young. But we clicked as friends as if 25 years has not gone by. We never stopped talking and laughing and enjoying each other's company.

Nutcracker

We went to see the Nutcracker Ballet at O'Shaunnessey Auditorium yesterday. This is the second time I have seen this ballet and I had a lovely time. Part of the fun is watching the crowd. There were lots of little girls dressed up in their holiday finery coming to the ballet. I saw ribbons in hair, tights on little legs, and velvet dresses with bows. One girl had a black velvet dress with a cream yoke and a red ribbon and she was holding a doll with the exact same outfit. The ballet was good too. The orchestra did an excellent job. Some people were clapping after some particularly difficult dance moves and I didn't like that because I couldn't hear the music. Actually the whole Nutcracker story is fairly strange. It reminds me of Alice in Wonderland. Both stories have young female lead characters who have dreams. It makes me wonder if both writers were taking drugs when they wrote the story. Anyway, I loved the ballet. I love watching people dance. Some of the kids on stage couldn't have been more than 3 years old. Others were award winning ballet dancers from Russia. How do they stand on their toes like that? You'd think that would hurt like the dickens.

There was a Crooked Man

This morning I remembered a nursery rhyme my Grandma used to recite to me and I want to share it with you.

There was a crooked man

Who walked a crooked mile

Who found a crooked sixpence

Upon a crooked stile

He bought a crooked cat

Who caught a crooked mouse

And they all lived together

In a crooked little house.

PS Once, when traveling near the Grand Canyon, we stopped at a park to have a picnic lunch. The park was near a ranch. We walked the trail around the perimeter of the park. I scared Offspring #2 by suddenly yelling out, "Look - it's a stile! I gotta go on the stile!" I was so excited to see a real life working stile.

British TV Commercial Awards

I recommend you go see the British TV Commercial Awards at the Walker. We went last night and I really enjoyed myself. I think it's ironic that I pay to see British commercials when I refuse to watch American commercials. All commercials must be muted in this house. But the British ones are entertaining. You can see a student in the picture above. She and another guy in a huge college classroom throw papers back and forth while the professor drones on unaware. Soon all the kids in the class are throwing papers back and forth. The air is full of flying papers that the kids catch with precision. The commercial is for telephone text messaging. My favorite commerical was for HD television. The commercial shows a dreary residential area with apartment buildings and grassy areas - all very drab. Soon colors burst out of sides of the buildings and spray into the air. Looks like the colors are either powder or a very fine spray of liquid paint. In time with the music, colors burst out of the grassy areas and fall on the benches. One tall building has a different color sprouting from each floor. The first floor is purple, the second dark blue and you watch on up to the top of the building so by the end you can see the entire building is a rainbow of color. That was my favorite. I am a big fan of color. All the shows at the Walker are sold out before Christmas but there are still some seats available the week after Christmas.

I had my performance review at work

I am outstanding in my field.

I am on vacation until January 2, 2008

Due to having to reduce my vacation hours to 240 by January first or loose them, I am on vacation until next year. This is the first time I have ever had this fortunate problem.

Positive Negative

+No more setting the alarm clock -I won't feel as productive. +No more stop & go traffic on Highway 10 morning and afternoon -I won't have as much time to listen to my book on CD;a Maeve Binchy novel I enjoy +No more packing lunches -I will probably eat more at home. +I can avoid going out in the frigid weather -I won't get to see my friends +I won't have to get down on knees and tie W's shoes whose shoes are already tied but he just wants attention - I won't get to kneel down and tie W's shoes whose shoes are already tied just fine but he just wants my attention. +I won't have to go to meetings -I'll miss out on the interesting things happening at the meetings. +I won't have to do any paperwork -the paperwork will be waiting for me on Jan. 2

Suggestions? A Tree Topper!

I used to have a beautiful red star shaped tree topper. It had seen better days. For the past 10 years I have taped and clothes pined it to a paint stirring stick to get it to stay on top of the tree. This year my red star would not light. So I had to improvise. I had this angel that was given to me by a coworker about 8 years ago. She's an angel - see the picture? She has a white long dress with long sleeves. Her hands are in a white muff. Is that what you call it, a muff? It's a cloth canister open on both ends into which you put your hands to keep them warm. You can't do a darn thing with your hands once they're in there. Mittens and gloves are W A Y more practical. She has white wings with gold trim in the wing wrinkles. She has a bow at her neck, blond hair, a evergreen crown, and a hair net. Her eyes are closed. From the waist down she is lit up - as if she has a giant LED light between her legs. She is a nice angel but I just can't relate. I want my tree topper angel to be more like someone I can relate to. Vote for the tree topper angel enhancement of your choice.

I Am Absolutely Delighted

Roses are red

Violets are blue

Patty and Jim

This is all about you!

Congratulations on your engagement!

Jerboa

Everyday I read the BBC news website. I like getting world news from a different angle. And I like looking at the BBC "Pictures of the Day." I check out the page from each continent, the health news, and the entertainment news. Today I read an interesting article about the jerboa. A jerboa is a tiny, noctural mammal from the Gobi desert. This is a hard animal to study and the Zoological Society of London is thrilled to finally get this creature on camera. It's hops about the sand like a miniature kangaroo. It has hairy feet that act like snowshoes on the sand. Here is the link to the article about it. http://news.bbc..co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7130484.stm The jerboa has one of the largest ear to body ratios of any mammal. LOOK AT THE EARS ON THAT THING! Is it any wonder the jerboa is camera shy?

Tis the Season

Got the tree up today.

Siddartha

I finished reading Siddartha by Herman Hesse. This novel is originally written in German and transcribed into English. I understand it was very popular in the 1960's. The book is lyrical, easy to read, and goes very quickly. The story is about a man named Siddartha who lives in ancient India-6th century BC. As a young man, Siddartha leaves his family to wander with other monks through the countryside seeking enlightenment and nirvana. He leaves that way of life and spends time as a worldly man - a rich business man with a beautiful courtesan lover. He leaves that way of life and finds enlightenment along a river. The river becomes very important to Siddartha. The river is a source of strength - stronger than rock. The river is at the mouth, the river is at the delta, the river is everywhere. The circle of life is a big theme in this book.Siddartha never thinks about his father's feelings when he left until his own son leaves him. I liked this book. I can identify with Siddartha. I get spirituality from nature too.

Pearl Harbor Day

I toured Pearl Harbor 21 years ago. We took a boat tour of the harbor. There wasn't much to see except sky and sea. What I remember most was the high number of what looked to be Japanese tourists on the tour of Pearl Harbor. I cannot fathom what it would be like to live in a city under attack by a foreign country. So many people live in war zones. I am grateful to live in peace.

Attitude of Gratitude

I read this week how an attitude of gratitude can improve your health. Focusing on being thankful rather than all the other feelings (resentful, angry, bitter, revenge, envy, disappointed, frustrated, impatient, and greed) will help you feel better mentally and physically. So, cultivate an attitude of gratitude! Sounds so easy, doesn't it? But it's not. When things don't go your way, it's only natural to feel things other than gratitude. Due to things totally out of my control and out of the blue, I suspect my trip to Africa is probably going to be out of the question for me. I was due to leave one month from today. Tomorrow I am making a last ditch desparate effort to save the trip. I need to remember that Africa is not going away. Kenya will still be there. I am so grateful I bought trip insurance.

Wintery Mystery Solved

I found the Good Samaritan who has now plowed my driveway two times. It's the nice people across the street. I am so blessed.

Time to Vote!!!

Every year Merriam-Webster designates a word of the year. Last year the winner was truthiness (things known intuitively). My favorites this year were babymoon (vacation by a couple soon to give birth), pugnacious, and wOOt. I voted for wOOt. WOOt! wOOt! Go here to make your own vote - http://www.m-w.com/

Dream When You Are Feeling Blue

I recently finished the book, "Dream When You're Feeling Blue" by Elizabeth Berg. This book is a story of life during World War Two. The eldest child in the Irish Heany family writes about her life and that of her younger siblings. Her boyfriend goes to war. The author writes about life in Chicago during the war. As I read the book, I couldn't help but compare life during WWII to life during the war in Iraq. We don't have victory gardens. We don't have war bonds. We don't have ration books for sugar and flour or gasoline. We don't save our rubber or steel for the war effort. We don't have big posters of an intimidating Uncle Sam pointing his finger and saying he wants you. Yes, we have casualties. But families suffer in almost isolation. This war isn't as politically popular as WWII. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there were isolationists during WWII but I have never heard much about them. Today I wrote a condolence letter to a Blue Star Mom in Minnesota. It seems to me that unless you personally know someone who has gone to the sandbox, the war doesn't even seem real. This book got me thinking about the differences between 2007 and 1945. Things have changed a lot.

White Irony

I had to go into Anoka twice today, once for a doctor appointment and the second time for a meeting. There is this area on Second Street, just around the corner from the kids' middle school, a block south of Main Street, where the city piles all the snow into a huge snow bank. The snow is 8 feet high and takes up about 3 parking spots. I'm talking a HUGE snowbank. The name of the business in front of which this pile of snow waits? David Bank Photography Studio. David Bank - snow bank. Kills me every time I see it.

A Wonderful Way to Start the Season

Today we went to the St. Olaf Christmas Festival. What a wonderful concert. Hundreds of young voices rising in song. Orchestra playing. Handbells ringing. Harps. Violins. A Tuba. Cellos. Trumpets. Cymbals clashing. I had a great time.

We got snow on Saturday. I now have grasped that my driveway is too big for me to shovel. So I hired a snowplower. When I call, he will come and plow me out. So I called Saturday night. That freed me up to sit and relax and watch Moby Dick on television (Call me Ismael). I went out at 11 to walk the dog and the driveway was done. This morning, at 10:30, my snowplower calls and asks me if I still want the driveway done. Huh? "I thought you did plow it already." It wasn't him. His phone wasn't working and he didn't get the message until this morning. "Ah, no, I won't be needing you to plow me out this time." I JUST SAVED $50! But who did this kind deed of plowing my driveway? I suspected Bruce next door. He's done it before. I call over there. Bruce says he did a small amount of the driveway but the gravel was pinging his snowblower so he quit. So who was this good samaritan? I feel blessed by this wintery mystery.

Twenty Five Years

Twenty five years ago? Where has the time gone? He is the best . He is the Billie Jean of my heart. Crank him up loud and the house gets clean in no time. Yes, it's true, I dance when I clean the house. If the Jackson Five come to Minneapolis in concert next year, I am definitely getting a ticket.