Crying baby? Where are your manners…parents?

You know I don’t often weigh in on controversial issues, which is why I have a lot of friends.  Every once in a while though I just have to add my two cents. As I read the paper this morning I noticed an article that is making it’s way across the Internet.  It concerns the issues of a crying baby in a fancy restaurant.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I love kids.  I was a girl scout leader and I’ve raised two of my own and although I wasn’t considered a strong disciplinarian and was more of a pushover I did teach my children manners.  You see I was taught manners as a child and I am always considerate of those around me.

When the children were little I wouldn’t dream of taking them to the opera or to a fancy, quiet restaurant where they might make a loud scene…that is consideration.

I guess I ate a lot of McDonald’s salads and Chuck E Cheese pizza because those are the places that catered to my tiny tots.  In stores and other restaurants, if the children misbehaved or caused a scene I simply took them outside and if they continued I went home with my dinner in a doggie bag.  I can truthfully say they didn’t do it very often, because they wanted to be there and knew if they acted up they wouldn’t be.

My husband and I go to a movie each and every week since they kids grew up.  I am always amazed at how many people bring tiny tots to heavy R rated movies and I’m not talking about action adventure, I’m talking about horror movies that even give me nightmares, let alone a 3-year old. 

Just last week we went to a movie and a woman came in toting 4 kids all under the age of 5, she set them down behind us and went and sat with a babe in arms three rows back.  The kids kicked my seat, talked through the movie and spilled popcorn and drink all over the place.  In addition one started to walk down the stairs, fell and screamed for 5 minutes.  All the while the woman enjoyed the movie three rows back.  Now that is inconsiderate!

Here is my answer to the question of kids in restaurants and public places.  If the place you are going doesn’t cater to kids and your baby sitter cancels…don’t ever hire that babysitter again and chuck it up to experience.  If your child acts up when you take them in public, be considerate of those around you and take them outside.  I guarantee you will only have to do that once or twice and they will get the message.  And if you can’t afford a baby sitter maybe your can’t afford to go out at the moment.  Teach your kid’s manners and they will be thankful, grateful and mindful.

Weather wimps just need to put on a coat and realize…it’s winter

Lately I’ve been wondering what in the heck has happened to people these days.  We have a cold snap and it’s 0 degrees at night and in the 20’s during the day and they close schools for two days!  Yes, in Virginia they closed schools because it was too cold. Today there was no school again, because it rained and it might freeze! Tomorrow they are predicting the temperature will reach 65 degrees with thunderstorms!  Yes I did say thunderstorms. Guess my little dog will be hiding under the couch for a while.

The way you hear the weathermen and women talk you would think that we are on the meteorological eve of destruction…

“Listen up people you better button up that overcoat because if you walk out that door you are going to freeze in your tracks!”

“Icicles are going to be hanging from your eyelashes.”

“Oh gosh Steve how long do we have to suffer in these crippling temperatures?”

“Well Linda, an artic front is moving in and will arrive by noon, so hop under those covers and stay there till March!”

The way they go on we must be heading to a second ice age!

When I was a kid, we weren’t lucky enough to get a “cold” day off from school.  It had to snow to be able to leave that homework unfinished. We sometimes had entire weeks of single digit temperatures and no one batted an ice encrusted eyelash.  We just put on a coat and went about our business as usual. Are we breeding a generation of weather wimps? 

I live in Virginia.  It’s not Antartica and the temperatures are usually rarely extreme in the winter. This past week was the first time I used my coat in 3 years.  I was beginning to think it would out of style before I got any use out of it.  We haven’t had more than a dusting of snow in four years and my snow shovel is gathering cobwebs somewhere in the basement.  And everywhere you go all anyone talks about is how cold it is. 

Before you know it, though, winter will be just a memory and the winter weather wimps will go into hibernation and out will come the summer ones…

“Geez it’s so hot you can fry an egg on the sidewalk, how will we survive this deadly heat wave?”

My big bang theory intro conundrum

One of my favorite shows is the Big bang theory.  I have all the DVD’s and watch them over and over again.  I know, I know, I’m just a big ole nerd myself.  My favorite part of the show is the intro. (You may think by revealing this I’m weirder than you originally thought although I like to think, as my husband says, I beat to a different drum) I like to pick out a different image each time as they flash quicker and quicker.  There are actually 109 images in all!  So I must admit I only have identified a few images when it runs at it’s usual speed, but you can watch this and other videos on youtube which slows it down for you…that is if you want to cheat. 

Big bang theory images slowed down

Black-eyed peas, rice and tomatoes

Superstitions abound on New Year’s Day.  In my family I always make a big pot of Black-eyed peas with tomatoes and rice for luck, but why are they lucky? 

Well, in the south the story goes that when Sherman’s troops raided the south they took everything but the black-eyed peas, which they considered animal food.  So the southerners made it through the winter on black-eyed peas.  They were lucky and they credited the black-eyed peas.

Since I grew up in the south, that theory works for me, but my parents from whom I got this superstition were northerners and their parents came from Greece so none of my ancestors were around when the Southerners were eating those peas. 

While we are talking about my Greek ancestors I’ve always been told that a man has to be the first visitor on New Year’s Day.  My grandmother would not open the door unless it was a man.  My mother always a rule breaker, made my brothers go outside and come back in just to be safe.  They weren’t men but hey they had that Y Chromosome so it worked for her. 

So just to be safe I guess I will go soak those dried black-eyed peas now. I mean why push my luck right?

What about you, what do you do for New Year’s Day?

Black-eyed peas with tomatoes and rice recipe

Bag of dried black eyed peas, soaked overnight as per the package instructions

I cup of white rice

Two cans of diced tomatoes

Clove of garlic finely chopped

¼ cup of finely chopped onions

Soak the peas overnight. Add water to cover peas and bring to a boil.  Simmer till the peas are tender.  Meanwhile cook rice as package directs.  In a small saucepan add a bit of oil and cook onions and garlic till just tender.  Do not brown.  Add the rice, garlic, onion and two cans of diced tomatoes to the peas.  Add salt and pepper to taste, simmer till hot throughout.  The black-eyed peas get better with each heating as the flavors meld.

What is your favorite Christmas ornament #5?

In a previous post I revealed my love of bird ornaments and how my hubby sometimes calls me the bird lady well he has his weaknesses too and they are airplanes.  Maybe it's because his whole life he has been involved in the aviation industry or maybe it's just because he is a man.  Whatever the case he has his share of favorite ornaments and they are always airplanes.  He has ones that are flown by reindeer and Santa and even one I made that has him as the pilot. 

Each year as we decorate the trees we have a few minor differences of opinion over where the ornaments should go.  He always wants his airplanes prominently displayed in the front and of course I have quite different ideas on which ones should take the stage.

So after we put them on the tree and we go to bed, I quietly sneak down the stairs and  I move them around.  I have a feeling he is doing the same thing or maybe the Grinch enters our house at night and is fiddling around with our tree as well as those of the Whos.

Anyway I love the man and I love his choice of women so how could I not love (at least some of them) his airplane ornaments?

Soon Santa will be making his yearly flight.  What are you asking Santa for this year?

Since it's almost Christmas and still not a flake has fallen I thought I would re-post this little story from a couple years ago.  Enjoy your holidays and as the song says I hope there's snow and mistletoe...just enough, not a ton, just some flakes and ground cover.

The week’s snowfall, although forecast to be much more, brought only a measly two inches or so.  I’m not complaining by any means. I know a lot of people got a foot or more. Even with this puny amount of snowfall I had an overwhelming desire to build a snowman.  I would just have to improvise. I know snowmen in my part of Virginia, even pygmy ones have a life span similar to a fruit fly, but I figured what the heck.   I always enjoyed scientific experiments so I figured I would document the life cycle of a Virginia snowman for posterity.

9:00 a.m. – I realize there will not be enough snow to build a regular size snow person so I settle on a miniature one.

9:18 a.m. - I look out the window at the snow and calculate where the best spot would be.  Since the snow is a bit crusty I decide to wait a few minutes for the snow to get a bit wetter.

10:00 a.m. – I check out the snow and it appears to pack well enough to get to work.  After all I only need a small amount.  In order to avoid a trip to the Chiropractor, I settle on a bench to start my experiment. 

10:05 a. m. – Bonus! I find out that a mini snowman gets created much quicker than the larger kind.  I use some peppercorns from my kitchen for his features, wrap a scarf around his neck, and put a doll hat on his head and step back to admire my creation.  Darn, he doesn’t come to life so I guess there wasn’t any magic in that hat.

10:10 a.m. – Finished!  His day begins.

11:15 a. m. – I go outside to check on my snowman and find he is sitting in a puddle.  Oh no, the melting has stated.  He looks a bit bedraggled and has lost an eye.  Note: Virginia winters are not very kind to snow people.

1:37 p.m. – The end is near.  I go outside and discover that he has fallen, and yes, he can’t get up!  His hat is upside down and filled with cold water.  It is the beginning of the end.

3:00 p.m. – Nothing left but a puddle, a hat, a few peppercorns and a very wet scarf.  Farewell, little snowman. I know, I know I won't cry,  you will be back again someday!

J

What is your favorite Christmas ornament and why #3?

I love birds.  I feed them nectar in the summer, I feed them seed all year round (Sometimes my husband jokingly calls me the bird lady) so it makes sense that I would have quite a few birds roosting in the branches of my trees. 

It is said that if you find a birds nest in your tree it will bring you luck and good fortune all year.  So I take care to nestle a birds nest in the inner branches of my trees. And if you have a birds nest, then it just makes sense to have some birds there as well.  So some of my favorite ornaments that make it on the tree each and every year are birds of all colors and varieties.  Some are felt, some are china, and some are just feathered.  Olivia my cat loves the birds too.  Nope thats no present under the tree!

Bird ornaments, some of my favorites.  What are your favorite ornaments?

What is your favorite Christmas ornament and why #2

I'm really enjoying hearing about all of your favorite ornaments.  They all have stories don't they?  But you really didn't think I only had one favorite did you?  I did mention that I have two large trees and they are decorated to the max and heavy with memories.

I've collected Hallmark ornaments for years.  Every year I buy a new one, but one of my very favorite ones was one of the first ones I ever bought.  It's the Mole family Christmas and it lights up to show the mole family in their little kitchen at Christmas.  Through the years some of my other Hallmark lighted ornaments ceased to light up anymore.  Like on the island of misfit toys they one by one stopped doing what they were supposed to be doing.  The rabbit stopped popping up out of Santa's hat, the Clydesdale stopped pulling his cart and the list goes on. But the mole family still continues to have their Christmas under the snowy ground.

Last night my grown daughter came over and walked over to the Christmas tree and immediately found the Mole family Christmas ornament.  As she lovingly touched it and commented about how it's still working after all these years, I could have sworn I saw her as a tiny tot all excited for Santa's visit, drinking hot cocoa and gazing at that ornament.  She spoke and snapped me back to the present.

"I' can't believe it still lights up, gee that's my favorite ornament."

"Mine too." I replied.

So the Hallmark Mole family Christmas is one of very favorite ornaments...what is yours?

What is your favorite Christmas ornament...and why?

Every year I have two large Christmas trees that are full of ornaments to the tipping point. They are treasures that I have collected through the years.  Some are store bought, some home made and some just quirky.  I love them all and this December I will highlight many of them one at a time and reveal their history and meaning. 

One of my favorite ornaments didn't start out as one.  In fact it had a bit different use. Except for its first year, it has been on one of my trees for each and every Christmas for many, many years.  To what can I be referring? 

My daughter's first Christmas baby sock is one of favorite ornaments.  She was born in October (quite a few years ago now) and on her first Christmas I dressed her in red and white and put on some candy cane striped socks.  I don't know what happened to its mate but as an orphan it commands a place of honor on the tree. You can usually find the Christmas sock (washed of course) next to the baby's first Christmas ornament ball. 

What are some of your favorite ornaments? 

Thanksgiving wishes and my favorite Thanksgiving tale...

May your stuffing be tasty,

May your turkey plump,

May your potatoes and gravy

Have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious

And your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs!

- Anonymous

O'Henry's "Two Thanksgiving Day gentlemen"