A Good Day for a Giggle

One of my daughters brought this little clip to my attention a week or so ago.  Some days we all need a giggle.

It's fun to see an "Oh so serious" newsman do what we've all done... lose it.

Cape Hatteras and Rodanthe Area After Irene

We are still in the recovery phase of Irene.  I know most of the country has moved on.  I was lucky.  These poor folks on the Outer Banks were not.

Terry and I took a weekend trip last fall  over to Ocracoke and traveled up the highway to Cape Hatteras and on to Rodanthe.  If any of my fellow reader have read Nights in Rodanthe  by Nichols Sparks, you will know what a romantic feel that movie gave the area.  It happened to be one of his I had read.  I learned when I arrived in North Carolina that he lives in New Bern,  about 30 minutes west of me and is required reading in this area.  So we traveled that road looking for "the house" only to learn that it was saved demolition due to it's unstable condition.  It was moved to an "undisclosed" area.

You may recognize it.

When I saw the movie, I knew this was not a good idea.  An anonymous buyer saved it.

When I started this post, I  hadn't even thought of that house.  I think I needed the good news to share first, because this is that road now.  

There are 5 breaches in Highway 12 along the banks.   These is from photoblog.msnbc.msn.

Supplies have been ferried out to the residents that stayed.  It cannot even begin to imagine how long it will take to get them connected again.

That shows how tenuous those homes are.  It takes a strong constitution to remain.  I'm glad we went when we did because no one is traveling there any time soon.

Irene, What a Fickle Broad You Were

I have no complaints.  We were so lucky that she downgraded from a Category 3 to a Cat 1, buy the time she reached us. 

I had talked to Terry twice on Friday morning while he was at work at the Marine Base.  Some of the guys there were planning a Hurricane Party for Saturday.  Oh, yes, I remember being 20 something.  His first words to me were " I think we'll just hunker down and ride it out."   Has my mother possessed his body?  Terry, in all 30 years we have been together, has never said "hunkered" once.  This weekend I heard it at least a dozen times.  He said that's what the guys on base were saying.  I, for one, did not want to hunker down.  I wanted to get the heck out of Dodge.  He finally agreed with me so I was relieved that I wouldn't have to have a screaming "hissy fit", another southern expression I was glad to employ.

We were in out hotel room watching our corner of the world get pummeled by winds and rain.  I mostly feared flooding.  I prayed the downspout channel would work and it did.  We were dry.

On our home we saw a lot of downed trees, a lot of billboards that were destroyed, and some down power lines.

Downed power lines near Havelock, where The Cherry Point MCAS is, where Terry works.

This is the line to cross the intercoastal waterway bridge from Morehead City to Atlantic Beach.  You needed to  prove residency to cross.

Just yesterday this was the story there.  

                                       I have no idea where you start on something like this.

                                                        This is a street behind us.

This guy says it all doesn't he?  He seemed in a daze looking at this huge tree he had probably just finished cutting up.

One of my neighbors had a beat up Crepe Myrtle and another had a downed Ornamental Pear.  We were lucky.        

I was surprised to see that the Honda and the Ford Dealerships had removed there dozens and dozens of cars from their parking lots.  Where do you put 100 cars?  The Chevrolet dealership held on to theirs.  We saw about 40, easy, Progress Energy Power trucks out on the road.  We arrived home about 10:30am and by 2pm we had power.  A lot of areas still do not, but I am sure they will soon. I was so impressed with all those trucks out.

 
So I have survived my first hurricane.  I don't know if if counts when you run away from it.  I may run from the next one too.  We did all we could and prayed that was enough.  This time it was, for me.  My heart is with those that had damage and faced tornadoes in the midst of this.  I am looking forward to boredom now.

Run Forest Run!

About noon yesterday, my weather guy told me that Irene's path was right over my house.  (Well he almost said that.)  If you saw Anderson Cooper at Atlantic Beach or updates from there, that's my beach.  Pine Knoll Shores and Emerald Isle are all beaches connected to each other.  I'm an Anderson Cooper Fan but to have CNN in your home town is never a good thing.

 I called Terry at work to tell him we needed to get out of Dodge.  I went from "Staying" preparations to "get in the car right now and run" preparations.  He got home about 1pm and we were on the road to Raleigh by 2pm.    We stopped a little east of there and spent one night.  This am the power went out so we are in another hotel south of there.  The only thing we forgot was a big one.  We didn't unplug the computer or the TVs.  Oops

We will go home in the morning.  Cross your fingers for us.  Irene was not as bad as predicted so maybe we are going to be OK

An Unwanted Houseguest Named Irene

It look like she's coming for the weekend whether I want her to or not.

Here's Irene's path.

Here's me in that little red area.

See the Southern Outer Banks?   Morehead City.... cross the causeway to Atlantic Beach.  I'm 7 miles inland from there.

When you live this close to the coast, in my area anyway, there are not a lot of store options.  There are no malls, one Lowes, no Home Depot, no Gill Roy's got it.  There is is a Belk and a Walmart.  No Target.  So I spent my morning at Lowes and Walmart trying to find an expandable extension for my downspout  that soaks my back yard right by the house.  Remember, I live in a condo community, and it so happens that my backyard area has a man made burm about 15 feet from my sun porch that is planted with Crepe Myrtle.    For my sun room,  think 3 sets of sliding glass doors across the back of a  room.  It is built on a cement slab on the ground.  The down spout send tons of water right there Yep, if the heaven pour down on us, as well as that down spout,  I will get wet.   The extension needs to go across the yard area and over the burm into a large football field size area.  It's only about 25 feet that I need.   No such thing.  Lowes has 10 feet or 100 feet.    So I called Terry at work.  It's all him now.  As is getting cement tiles to raise the two bookcases out there.  UPDATE:  He found what we needed and the bookcase are raised.  All my photo albums are in my bedroom.
So far, the only N.C. mandatory evacuations are from Ocracoke Island.  We took the ferry last fall (about an hour ride) over there, spent the night and went on up to Cape Hatteras ( which is at the point that sticks out like an elbow on the map. and on to Rodanthe. I was disappointed in Rodanthe.  I was looking for Richard Gere ( Nights in Rodanthe)  I think and I didn't find him.

I would imagine, as time goes on, more will be evacuated.  I was at my Dr.'s office yesterday and the nurse there lives in Beaufort, which is on the water and you can see it on the map.  She said, " I am 57 years old and have never left, but this time, I am."    Okay..... That gave me something to think about. 

So for now, I am doing last minute getting ready stuff.  Food that can be cooked on the grill.  We have plenty of bottled water.  I bought a new "sun tea" jug so I won't go through tea withdrawl.  Bags of ice in a cooler.  Bring in the grill, the chairs off the porch, the gazing globe, etcl.  All that stuff.   After all this preparation, she will probably blow right by and we won't get much.  I'm hoping!   Mother Nature is a contrary woman!


I do have to thank Laura from A Simple Happy Life for drawing my name as the winner of her Frankenmuth, Michigan  Give Away.   I lived about 30 minutes from there, most of my life, so this is such a piece of home.  Lucky me!   Please vist her blog.  She is a treasure to read.

Holy Cow!

Today was my first earthquake experience.  I was sitting on the couch, loading books into my new Kindle, when I felt the couch shake.  I looked around, like, what the hay,.  Nothing.. I looked up at the valance over the picture window and it was moving but there is an air conditioning vent there so it moves anyway.  I felt the tremor about 15 seconds.  I thought I was having one of my mother's dizzy spells, that I have never had before.  After it was over, I put it out of my mind.  Then Terry called from the base and asked if I had felt the earthquake.  Really, an earthquake? good, cause I thought it was me.

Shortly after that my sister, in Michigan, called to see if I was ready for Irene?  What?  I hadn't seen any news today.  Last I did see, she was going to maybe hit Florida. Not now.  Now she's after all the south eastern coast.

That's enough please.  We give up.  Stop it.

Who Was On Your Wall?

I was clearing photos out of my phone today and came across this one.

  One of my good friends from Michigan had wanted to take me to see Paul McCartney at Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers,  for my Birthday in July.  North Carolina to Michigan is a long way to go for a concert but she knew Paul was my favorite Beatle.  I had to say "No thanks"  so she texted me this photo.  I didn't delete it.  I have to keep Paul and her good intentions.

The Beatles phenomenon hit the United States in 1963.  I was 13, the perfect age for my first and only, musical crush.    I had Beatles all over one complete wall, floor to ceiling,  in the bedroom I shared with my sister.

These are the haircuts that gave my father and many others, fits.  Long haired rebels that they were.  That was the beginning.  Their early music was as innocent as the times.  "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "I Saw Her Standing There", and "This Boy" fit well with the early to mid 1960's music about surfing, cars and boy/girl relationships. 

                                                My favorite Beatle was Paul, the cute Beatle.
I had all the albums.  I knew all the stories and rumors.  I never believed Paul was dead.   I didn't think the photo on the cover of the Abbey Road album was a clue because Paul was barefoot.

They were only together for about 7 years.    That's not very long to have left such an impression on the music of a generation.  Of course, three of the four Beatles (yes, I know Ringo tried and is still trying, but we know who made the real money here.) continued to write and record on their own.

And, yes, I still know all the words to all the songs. 

So who was on your wall growing up?   Whose music got you singing?

Happy Birthday Robert Redford

I didn't know that today was Robert's ( we're on a first name basis evidently) birthday until I saw it on World News just now.  Robert Redford is 75 today, Thursday, August 18th. Wow....Like his buddy Paul Newman, this man ages like fine wine.

I have previously posted on how much I liked  Jeremiah Johnson.     There are so many of his characters  that left us ladies a little weak in the knees. What woman didn't fall a little in  love with "Hubbell" in  The Way We Were,    " Jay Gatsby" in The Great Gatsby,  or  "Denys" in Out of Africa.    My husband has long said that if I were given the choice between him and Robert Red,  Indecent Proposal  style,   he would still be sitting on that bench and I would be dancing in that big house with Robert's "John Gage".  Yesterday I posted a question: What movies have made you cry?  My Daughter # 3 came up with one that I had forgotten.  Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer in  Up Close and Personal.   Oh, my gosh.  Pass the whole box of Kleenex please. 

                                                   "Hubbell" from The Way We Were.

This video is the Celine Dion theme " Because You Loved me".  There was only Spanish movie trailer available so here they are, more Celine than Robert.

So many great movies,  All the President's Men, Three Days of the Condor, Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, The Sting, and  The Natural.    I can go on and on and I think I just did.



Thank you Mr. Redford for your amazing body of work and for being so darn handsome to watch as you  do that work.

Random Thoughts

I have a little notebook I jot down ideas in for blogging.  Goodness knows I can't remember them the next minute if I don't write them down.  So here is another bunch of unconnected thoughts.


1.  Does anyone else remember hanging clothes on the line to dry or taking them out of the dryer only to grab the water bottle (ours was a Pepsi bottle with the "Sprinkler" top pushed down into it.) and sprinkle those same clothes, roll them up and put them in a pillow case to dampen them in order to then iron them, all spiffy?  They had to sit a while to evenly distribute that dampness.  I seem to remember a friend's mother that put them in the refrigerator to rest.  It must have been summer and she didn't want them to sour.


2.  I have seen the TV program "What Would You Do" commercials,  but I've not watched it.  I know what I would do.  Being in retail, I have seen women yank and scream at their children to stop crying because the mother has been in the dang store, trying on clothes until 9pm or later during the holidays,  and the poor child is tired and bored.    I've wanted to go smack the woman and see how she liked it but I had to swallow my anger and do nothing.   So unless a child looks in danger from a parent, sad to say, I do nothing.  If a man is physically threatening a female, then I would step in.  I haven't, but I know myself.  Bigotry and racism I can't tolerate.  I would have to do something. My daughters call it "Going all Mom on them."   Most other things, I wouldn't interfere.   I did see the host, John Quiñones on a morning program.  He said far more women get involved than men.   I'm proud of us.     So, what would you do or what have you done?


3.  The worst job in the house is cleaning behind the toilet.  Face meet toilet bowl.  My sister told me to pour bleach in it and close the lid.  Doesn't matter.  Worse job to me.  What household chore do you dislike the most?


4.  My Entertainment Weekly had a list of the 10 movies that made us cry.  Some were old, some were new and some that made me cry didn't make the list.   My favorites are Ghost, P.S. I Love You, and Benjamin Button.     What's your favorite?

5.  Does anyone else (during the late 1950s or early 60s pack small boxes to send to Africa?  I remember doing that.  We brought in small toothpastes and soaps and pencils and etc, etc. to send to the poor children in Africa.  It seems there has always been a need there.

6.  Those Febreeze Commercials that "supposedly" take place in a squalor of an apartment or a slum basement or kitchen,  do not entise me to buy their product.  Icky

Just clearing out the cobwebs today.  Do you have any random thoughts to get off your chest?

"Summer of 42"

While I was writing my last post, I was thinking about World War II books I've read and movies I've seen and this one came to mind.  It was released in 1971. It is a small film that only had one real star, Jennifer O'Neill,  the rest were young men I didn't know, but did go on to do other work.

As the title says, it takes place, for three male teenage friends, that are thinking and talking about the things teenage boys hold dear,  over a summer vacation on Nantucket Island.  The war in Europe is ever present.  Throw into that mix a beautiful young woman, Jennifer O'Neill, that is married to a soldier off  in that war.  She waits for his letters and misses him beyond words. 

The theme song, "A Summer Knows"  is hauntingly beautiful.  This film raises a multitude of emotions.  You will laugh and you will cry but you won't forget "The Summer of 42".

You may be able to get it from Netflix but it looks like Youtube has all of it, broken into pieces, which may not be the best way to watch it but that is available.

Does anyone remember this one? 

Nancy Wake Dies at 98

No, I didn't know who she was either but she was someone we should know.  I happened to see a World News bit about her today.  She died, in London, on August 7th at 98 years old.     She's one of those people that I think "why don't I know this?

During World War II, Nancy Wake saved at least 1000 Allied soldiers from certain death in Nazi occupied France, by helping them escape over the Pyrenees Mountains into Spain then on to England.

She went from glamour girl, married to a wealthy playboy industrialist, before the war, to hiding downed allied soldiers in her home and leading them on to safety.  Many time the Nazis thought they had her but she was constantly able to slip out of their traps, earning her the nickname "The White Mouse" by the Nazis.

Eventually, with the Nazis closing in on her, she escaped using the same route she always used, leaving behind her husband to cover for her.  They would not meet again.  He was tortured and killed my the Nazis.   Not deterred, she went on be to trained by the British in how to kill with your bare hands, how to parachute into enemy held terrain and how to fire a machine gun.

 When a German attack against the Maquis interrruprted lines of communication, Nancy covered 200 kilometers by bike over hostile ground to get and receive crucial messages. She slept in haystacks or in the open during her 72-hour journey, which resulted in reestablishing radio contact with London.

One-third of the 39 women serving in the British Special Operations Executive in France did not come home.


It is said that she never traveled without her Chanel lipstick, face cream and her favorite red stain cushion.                               

These 2 videos tell her story.  She is on them, telling some of it herself.  If you have time to watch, you will be amazed at all this woman accomplished.  I am speechless at such bravery.

   We women should not let this kind of achievement be forgotten.  This was an amazing woman.

Let's Talk

I used to know some interesting women.  I would join them for an hour here and there when I was available, during my working years.  In my humble opinion, they have become so self promoting, that now I have some new friends.  The old friends were on "The View".  Barbara, Joy, Sherri, Elizabeth and the next has changed over the years from Meredith, to Rosie to Whoopie.  Over the years I've grown tired of the in-house bickering.  I don't think Joy is funny anymore.  She's annoying. Elizabeth was the only conservative so she is  on the defense constantly. Not everything that happens in the world is political ladies.  Lighten up. Get over yourselves. Seriously.

Now I have some new friends that I would much rather spend a hour with.  The ladies of "The Talk".  Julie Chen, Holly Robinson Peete, Leah Remini, Sharon Osbourne and Sara Gilbert.  I'm as political as the next person, so if I want to hear that, I'll go to the news networks.  I want to hear them dish the dirt.  Especially Sharon.  Love her.  So recently, they have shared their opinions of a variety of questions that I'll ask you.  These are major issues/world changing even,  that should be discussed.



1.  Do you like being called "ma'am,"?  How about "honey, sweetie, darling" by people you don't know?


    Ok, now that I'm older than dirt, and live in the south and around a bunch of Marines, I have been "ma'amed" all over the place.   I'm fine with it.  It is a show of respect. The military and southern manners says you "ma'am" and "sir" everyone.  I remember being in my early 20's the first time it happened to me and I was shocked and offended.  Now I am a "Ma'am".

     Living in the south, I have been called "sweetie, honey and darling" by waitresses, cashiers and a librarian.  I don't think that is appropriate anywhere by any age.  I don't appreciate it at all, but I don't say anything to them.  I feel it's not meant as an insult, although, I don't think it is at all respectful of them or appropriate in a business situation.  I can't remember it ever happening in the north.


2.  Do you take your shoes off in the house?


     We do.  I didn't want little feet bringing in dirt on my clean floors so I've always had everyone take their shoes off.  I don't ask company to remove theirs.  I just hope they would.  I do take off mine when I go to someone else's home however. 

      Growing up, we didn't.  I don't think it occurred to my mother.


3.  Is it OK for children to ever be naked in public?


     I say "No", only because of the world we live in.  My girls always wore the cute little bathing suits, even in our own backyard.  I think the little bodies are adorable but the world is not as innocent as it used to be.

4.  What TV program would you bring back?   Not in reruns, but updated with the same feel.


     I have 2 favorites.  the first is "Dallas".   Loved the JR, Bobby, Cliff feuds and the clothes of Sue Ellen and Pammy...  Can we please bring back the bling of that wardrobe?  


      The second has to be "The Cosby Show".    The writers on that show were phenomenal.  My daughters and I still quote it.   Mama Clare always got in the last word.


       OK, I lied.  There are 3.   "Designing Women" when Suzanne Sugarbaker (Delta Burke) was there.      Gotta love those ladies.


What do you say? 

Shut the Front Door!

Slap Your Mama  ....What does that mean anyway?  I gather it means "Good job!", "awesome", etc, all out great.  Better than great even.

There have been all kinds of slang and catch phrases through the years.  We Boomers have gone through decades of our own.  :There are generational phrases and words and there are regional ones.

There are ones that we hold onto and others that are no longer pertinent in our lives.  Mostly we don't want to appear dated or more likely, ridiculous.  "far out, groovy and right on" come to mind.

My husband grew up in northern Michigan just south of the Mackinac Bridge that connects the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan.  He went to college in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan which also has a bridge that connects it to Sault Ste. Marie, Canada.   Living that close to Canada, as long as I've known him he has used Canada's # 1 slang export. "Ay?"  pronouced "A".  Down here, at the Marine base, the guys kid him about it.  It's regional, ay?

The words and phrases that amuse me most are the ones that I say still, that came from my Mother.  Just last night Terry and I were changing our sheets on the bed.  They are t-shirt sheets that have stretched out and are no longer square , so I told him they were "Whoppiejawed".  He calmly said, "That's your mother ."  Of course it is.  So is Cattywampus.. What the heck?  Also "Stoop".  If your porch is not big enough to qualify as a porch, it is a stoop. Right?  Terry had never heard that before he met my mother ( and me apparently). The one that drives him nuts is "stuffy".  I cannot breathe  if the room or car is stuffy.  I think he's heard that a few times over the last 30 years.  How do northerners communicate without these colorful terms? 

Mom with my younger daughters when they were little, about 20 years ago.  They are 26 and 28 now.  They had many saturday night sleepovers in Grammy's big bed. 

I know, when we were children, my mother would say "See ya later alligator" to us and wait for the "after while crocodile."  She had my daughters saying it when they were little too.  So, forget the whole "Kibash".  No way.  I say "Heebie Jeebies" but I'm not sure if I got that from my mother.
.

I've also said " Run around like a chicken with its head cut off",     Unfortunately, I saw that at about 5 years old, at one of my grandmother's and that's a sight that sticks with you. Lordy......

 My father may have his favorites too, but because he worked nights and I was in school or working during the day, I rarely spent any time with him.  In later years, after he retired, he was and is pretty much a loner so I didn't have the hours and hours of time with him like I did my mother.  Her slang greatly influenced mine.  

She had others that I didn't adopt.  For instance: " Piddlin, Fit to be Tied, and Walking in Tall Cotton." 

 I'm sure my daughters could have their own list.  Some of these have to stuck with them too.

Do you hear your parents slang or phrases coming out of your own mouth too?  I'd love to hear what they are.   I can't be the only one brainwashed out here.

Mood Music with 2nd Update

I am listening to Chris Botti  ( pronounced Boat-tee) today while I paint.  I've been trying to do more painting and less reading.  I always listen to music  while I paint and what I paint determines what kind of music I listen to.  This is a mellow jazz trumpet, foggy night, misty rain, kind of day. (In my painting, not outside.  It's dang hot and humid out there.)

This will be "Woman with Red Umbrella" when she is done.  So far, just the background is roughed in.

As she is so far.  I had a question about the size.  It is 24x 30".  I have a small table easel so it doesn't fit on that.  I am trying to paint with it on a footstool and me sitting on the floor.   I have learned that is painful. I need a floor easel if I'm going to do these bigger pieces.

She's Finished.

Who wouldn't love hearing Sting ask "What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life?"  because, he is talking right to me isn't he?... or this one:

Being a Motown kinda of girl, Gladys Knight can do no wrong.  Here with Chris Botti is "Lover Man".

I love Chris's instrumentals too, but I am a fan of these tried and true standards.  I want to share them with you.

I Love a Good Book

I am participating in a great way to share the news of a good book from Tina,  Girl With a New Life

She has a friend publishing a new book that sounds wonderful to me.

It sounds like the perfect summer book doesn't it?

If you've not read Tina's Blog you are in for a real treat.

 P.S.  She give great movie suggestions too.

What Cured You and What Made You feel Better?

I was thinking last night of medicines that were used when I was a girl.  Things that are long gone now, mostly for the best I think. 

For scraped knees and elbows we dreaded the thought of Mercurochrome™, the orange paint it on liquid that stung like crazy.  Fortunately, Mom didn't use that much.  I remembered it enough though, that for my girls I got the plastic bottle of Bactine that you sprayed on the "owie" so it would hurt less.

I remember the horribly bitter tasting yellow medicine that came in a tall bottle with a giraffe on it for sore throats.  I was shocked when I saw it on a Drug store shelf here in North Carolina.  This is the bottle I remember.  The other is how it looks now.  I must have been about 7 or 8 when I had it but it packs a memory.  That's for sure.   I do remember that it worked. 

The other over the counter remedy I remember using was Pepto Bismol, which made me sick, just to think of it, for most of my adult life.  I had such a strong physical reaction to that and the flu.

The things that made it all better were Boston Baked Beans, Neccos (that I still love), Slo Poke suckers (that tough caramel would last all day), Red Hots, cinnamon toothpicks,  and so very un PC now, candy cigarettes.  Notice there is no chocolate in there.  I'm not a chocolate person so those didn't tempt me. OK,maybe Junior Mints did occasionally.   Now, I'll follow you anywhere for a jelly bean, especially a black one.

Once in a while I can still find these gums from the 1950s and 1960s.

Terry has found Black Jack and Clove for my Christmas stocking quite often.   I think the parent company must bring them out seasonally. 

There was Tab Cola, the only sugar free soda ( they used Saccharin for a sweetener )  and Metracal and Ayds candy for dieters.   They were horrible.  I remember this 110 pound 14 year old trying to loose pounds to be the same size as my 95 pound friends. 

By the time I graduated from high school, I was able to go to the local "pill pusher" doctor for the real thing.  Diet pills that were handed out like candy.   They must have been pure speed but they worked and that's all I cared about.  I could be 100 pounds taking those so I did.  There are some things that should have gone away and those were one of them.

What remedies do you remember and what made you feel better?