Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. Are flowers a nice gift to give someone?

A. So long as the person is not allergic to them, they are a lovely present.

2. Do you wear any jewelry?

A. I wear my wedding band, a necklace, and earrings when I go out.

3. Have you ever laid in a field of flowers?

A. Yes. (Ok, is it "laid" or "lain" - I always get this confused.)

4. Do you like tea?

A. Yes. My favorite is decaffeinated Irish tea.

5. What would you do with a million dollars?

A. You can't buy much with a million dollars these days, but I'd like to think I'd set "enough" aside so that we didn't have to worry, and establish a foundation with the remainder so I could help people. I'd like to build a library, for one thing.

6. What word do you have trouble saying?

A. Vacuuming.

7. Favorite fairytale?

A. I have always been partial to Snow White and Red Rose.

8. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?

A. No. I outgrew that a very long time ago.

9. Do you prefer the city or the country?

A. I live in the country and prefer it to the city.

10. Are you a big fan of makeup?

A. I wear it but I wouldn't say I am a fan. It is becoming expensive and I can foresee a day when I might actually venture out without it. I see more women not wearing it.

11. Favorite drink?

A. I love Coca-Cola but I haven't had any in years.

12. What’s the longest amount of time you’ve stayed awake?

A. About 24 hours. That happened in 2010 and was the year we drove to Myrtle Beach, SC, discovered our hotel was awful and everything else was booked up, so we turned around and drove back home. What a long day that was.

13. Have you ever traveled outside of your country?

A. I have been to Spain and France.

14. Do you like spring?

A. Yes. Boing. Boing.

15. Lipstick or lip gloss?

A. I wear Burt's Bees Honey Moisturizing Lip Balm. Only that will do.

16. Favorite color?

A. Blue.

17. Do you like to decorate?

A. Not particularly.

18. Do you ever go barefoot when you’re outside?

A. Not if I can help it.

19. Are aliens real?

A. Why not? People believe in all sorts of weird stuff. Might as well believe in aliens too.

20. Does you zodiac sign fit your personality?

A. Yes. I'm a Gemini.

21. Favorite sea animal?

A. The urchin.

22. Are you a nice person?

A. I am told I am.

23. Favorite word?

A. Interesting. It covers every situation.

24. Night or day?

A. Day.

25. What would make you happy right now?

A. A sense of purpose.

__________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Winter Wonderland

Saturday 9: Winter Wonderland (1968)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

Welcome to the last Saturday 9 of 2018! Thanks for a great year, everyone.

1) This is an unconventional take on an old familiar song. Over the holidays, do you prefer traditional carols? Or do you like to mix it up with more contemporary fare?

A. I like secular holiday tunes more than I do carols unless it Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Then I like carols.

2) Now that Christmas is behind us, are you enjoying a relaxing week? Or do you have socializing/celebrating/chores to do?

A. I mostly spent a quiet week. I still have a little socializing to do, and there are always chores.

3) Winter is a time for cocooning. What book or movie did you enjoy in 2018 that you would recommend to your fellow Saturday 9-ers?

A. I liked the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. It's supposed to be coming out as a TV serial January 17 on Sundance.

4) Looking back on the past year, what was one of your happiest moments?

A. I think the week I spent filling in for the editor of the newspaper was probably one of my better weeks.

5) What was the smartest thing you did all this past year?

A. I went back to physical therapy.

6) As 2018 comes to a close, what are you most grateful for?

A. My husband. He has stood with me through lots of crap, from job issues to health concerns, and still calls me his "sweetie pie."

7) This week's featured artist is Herb Alpert. Because of the style he popularized and the name of his band, people assume he's Hispanic. Yet his parents were Jewish immigrants from Romania. What's something we'd be surprised to learn about you?

A. According to family lore, my great-great grandfather was a preacher who owned a whore house.

8) He performed an instrumental version of "The Star Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXII. How did your favorite sports teams do in 2018?

A. I don't watch sports, but the high school from which I graduated had a banner year in volleyball and football.

9) Random question: When did you last check your social media feed?

A. Probably about two hours ago. I look at it but I seldom post on it.

___________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Squirrel Eating Celery

Yes, the squirrel was hanging upside down!

Thursday Thirteen

1. The holidays aren't over until you say they are, a friend told me. Are your holidays over?

2. We have had more rain in my area than ever. We've broken records. The year isn't over yet and more rain is on the way.

3. The over abundance of rainy days made it difficult to get the hay up this past year, and makes it hard to feed the cattle now because of the mud.

4. Once I walked around Roanoke City in the rain just to be able to say I'd experienced a city in the rain. I did not find it poetic or thrilling. Just wet.

5. I am not a fan of cities anyway. They smell funny and they are full of people. I like people but only in small doses.

6. With drone delivery and the new way to pick up your food without leaving your car, I wonder if we will see the end of people going out of their homes at all. Will the day come when a drone delivers bread and milk before the snow?

7. I have not been a corporate worker for ages and ages (more like next to never). I don't understand the lingo or how they function, exactly, so I don't have a feel for how long people will have jobs in big companies.

8. The largest company I ever worked for was a large law firm, and I suspect law is different from something like Exxon or IBM or Microsoft. But maybe not.

9. I have an office in my home, where I have worked for 25 years. Every now and then I have to stop what I am doing and clean it up. I'm a piler, not a filer, but I like to have things neat before I start a new project.

10. My next project will be to finish the accounting up for the year and work on the taxes. Yippee. With the changes in the tax law, I have no idea what will need to be done, really. Fortunately I have an accountant, and I can hand her everything like I did last year and she can sort it out.

11. I read this morning that #45 told the troops he visited they were receiving a 10% pay raise but the Pentagon said the raise wasn't that large (it's 2.6%) nor was it true that soldiers had not received a pay raise in 10 years (they have received a small pay raise every year). #45 also said during the campaign that the regular ol' people were getting some kind of payback or tax cut or something, which did not happen. Why can't people tell the truth? Why make something up? Why not offer up facts instead of making yourself look bad?

12. People who lie a lot ultimately end up being caught because there is no way to keep all of those webs they've spun around themselves straight. Eventually someone will trip on a thread and it will all unravel, and the facts will spill out. Then everyone knows you're a liar, and liars are not trustworthy people. I'm talking about big lies, not telling someone they look fine when they are dressed poorly. Sometimes you have to lie to be nice, but that is different from lying to make yourself look good.

13. I wonder what would happen if we all took the word "truth" as our personal word for 2019. What truths do we need to learn? What truths do we need to acknowledge? What truths do we need to understand in order to make effective change? What is your personal truth? Is the story you have told yourself about your life actually the truth? What is truth, anyway? Is my first statement in this strange line of thinking true?


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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 584thd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Christmas with Hubby's Family

Christmas with my husband's family has always tended to be as much about eating as about opening gifts. Maybe it's even more about eating. At any rate, there is always a meal there at Christmas time.




My brother-in-law and my sister-in-law. My sister-in-law surprised by making fried
green tomatoes. I thought I was the only one in the family who liked them.



My mother-in-law.

My mother-in-law checking out the dip.

A big ol' sliced ham.

Opening the presents. That's my brother-in-law and my mother-in-law.

My nephew in the back; his mom in the front.



My nephew brought his fiancée  with him. This was the first time I'd actually met her. She seems very nice.
 

And thus endeth the holiday season. Hurrah.

Merry Christmas, Dear Readers

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all my readers out there. I don't know who many of you are - I know by the numbers you are there, though.

Thank you for spending a few moments of your life with me and my little musings and photos. I greatly appreciate the fact that you are engaged enough to return and that some of you comment. Whether you read only or comment, too, I am humbled by the fact that you are here.

Writing a blog for this long takes a lot of effort. I've been using this particular blog since August 2006, which is a very long time. I don't know how long many of you have been reading but I know that some of you have been commenting for years. It's like a little club of friends I've never met and probably never will meet, but it is nice to know you're out there.

I hope that 2019 is a wonderful year for all of you - for all of us - and that you have all you need to make your life sweet and good.

Be kind to one another; the world needs our gentleness in these hard-hearted days.

Be blessed, and feel loved.

I am very glad you're walking beside me, in whatever form that takes.

A photo from my 2006 Christmas blog.

Christmas at Dad's

Saturday evening my husband and I had Christmas with my father at his house.

This was the first time I had had what one would call a Christmas over there since 1999, so I guess if you look at it that way it was sort of a big deal. They had been coming to my house for the last few years, but my father broke his foot so I suggested we move things there so he wouldn't have to walk around. Not that he sits still, but I was trying to be kind.

We had a nice visit with my father, his wife Rita, my niece Zoe, and her mother, Dina. Rita served up BBQ and chicken salad along with beans and chips and things. Then we opened presents, and after that my father and I played Christmas music, which Dina taped and posted live on Facebook. I have no idea how to access that so it can be seen, however.

Anyway, here are photos of the present-opening part. I forgot to take pictures of the food.

Rita with Zoe. Zoe turns 17 in January.

Zoe opening up a present. I remember when I had hair that long. Almost the same color, too.

My father.

Zoe again. She's the closest to a child we have in the family now.

My feller looking on at the gift-giving.

Zoe reading a card.

My father again.

My father and Zoe.

My husband opening a gift.

He required a pocket knife, I think.

Rita, my stepmother.

Zoe with Dina, looking on.

Rita with a present from Dina, I think.

Zoe gave Rita an ornament that looked like Zoe's new driver's license.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. What did you do last year that you had not done before?

A. I submitted poetry to a magazine. I haven't yet heard about acceptance.

2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions/goals for the year and will you make/set more for next year?  What are they? What are your new ones?

A. I didn't make any resolutions. I am not sure if I will make any for the upcoming year, either.

3. Did anyone you know give birth? Or become pregnant?  Or adopt?

A. No.

4. Did anyone you know die? Or have a serious illness/injury?

A. Lots of people died.

5. What places have you visited?

A. Nowhere that wasn't local. We did not go on vacation this past year.

6. Any new pets? Lost a pet?

A. No.

7. What would you like to have next year that you lacked this year (doesn't have to be a physical thing i.e. love, job security, peace of mind, etc.)?

A. Better health.

8. What date from last year will remain etched in your memory and why?

A. August 5, 2018, was the day I woke up to find the dishwasher had flooded the kitchen and thus began our saga with the insurance company and the flooring company.

9. What was your biggest achievement last year?

A. I learned how to use my cell phone.

10. Did you get sick or injured?

A. No, but I didn't get better, either.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

A. New underwear.

12. Where did most of your disposable income go (money leftover after you pay for food, medical care, basic clothing, transportation and shelter)?

A. Eating out.

13. What song will always remind you of last year?  Doesn't have to be a song released last year.

A. I can't think of one. Oh wait. Uptown Funk. I dance to it every morning now; it's part of my new "be healthy" routine.

14. What do you wish you would have done more of?

A. I wish I had dieted more and wrote more.

15. What do you wish you would have done less of?

A. Eat.

16. What was your favorite new TV program? Movie? Album/Songs? Or if you didn't pick up any new ones, what are you still watching/listening to? Any recommendations?

A. Murphy Brown was my new favorite TV program. No new movies or songs. I still watch The Lord of the Rings and listen to Sheryl Crowe and Melissa Etheridge.

17. What was the best book you read this year?  How many did you read?

A. I read 20 books, which is a low for me. The best one was The Hunger Games, by Susan Collins.

18. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you? Did you feel differently?

A. I didn't do much of anything. I turned 55. I do not feel differently than I did at 54.

19. What political or social issue stirred you the most?

A. Anything Trumpian.

20. Who was the most interesting new person you met?

A. I don't think I met anyone new.

21. What changed at your job?

A. No job.

22. What changed in your home?

A. We have tile in the kitchen now instead of hardwood flooring.

23. Describe how a relationship changed.

A. No.

24. Do you think you are still the same person that you were at the beginning of the year?  How so?

A. More or less. I'm still overweight, still not working, still beating myself up for every little thing.

25. Summarize the year in three words or less. Bonus points for doing it in one word. Explain.

A. Bogus. It felt like a fake year.

26. How have people around you changed?

A. We all grew older.

27. What have you learned throughout the year? (Other than crafts)

A. That reality is fluid. Douglas Adams is right: the answer to everything really is 42.

28. What was your favorite outfit for warm weather? Cooler weather?

A. I don't have favorite outfits.

29. Did you learn any new crafts or techniques? What was your favorite thing you made?

A. Nada.

30. What changed about your physical appearance? (Hair? Wrinkles? New makeup style? Etc)

A. My hair looks like crap at the moment because my hairdresser retired and I went into a walk-in salon for a cut.

31. What are your hopes and dreams for the new year?  (Some suggestions-family, travel, work, lifestyle, hobbies, pets, appearance)

A. Lose weight, blah blah blah.

__________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Happy Holidays!

Saturday 9: Happy Holidays! (from the archives)

1. Sam loved giving her annual wish list to Santa. Yet some children are reluctant to climb into Jolly Old St. Nick's lap. Did you enjoy the tradition or were you shy? Or did you by pass it altogether -- either because you wrote him a letter or because your family didn't celebrate Christmas?

A. I cried when I was little, I think, but I got over it. I am not sure my brother ever felt comfortable with the jolly ol' elf, though.

2. Are you currently on the Naughty or Nice list? How did you get there?

A. I am, as always, on the "holy sh*t, what is she up to now?" list. I stay on said list by being unpredictable, disingenuous, disconcerting, and too smart for my own good.

3. Did you ship any gifts to friends and family this year? If so, which one traveled the farthest?

A. Amazon shipped presents for me to Texas and to England.

4. Did you buy yourself a gift this year?

A. I bought myself a leather pocketbook because I really needed a new one and Wilson's Leather was having a great Black Friday sale. Unfortunately, I don't really like the pocketbook. It's a bit small for my needs and the front pockets are not front pockets, they are actually a wallet, which I don't like because I don't think it is a safe place to put credit cards. Some things are hard to purchase from a photo.

5. What's your favorite holiday-themed movie? Have you seen it yet this year?

A. Apparently these days my favorite-themed holiday movies are the ones where girl (or boy) goes back home, meets old flame, they get together, are torn apart, she decides never to go back to the big city because of love. (Yes, Hallmark movies.) But I do like It's A Wonderful Life and certain versions of A Christmas Carol. I have seen neither of those, however.

6. Thinking of movies, Christmas is lucrative for Hollywood. Have you ever gone to a movie theater on Christmas Day?

A. I don't think the theaters are open here on Christmas Day. But no, I never have.

7. Have you ever suffered an embarrassing moment at the company Christmas party?

A. No, but one year during a "Bad Santa" swap game, instead of the proffered prizes to pick out, I went over to the bar and picked up a bottle of wine and said, "this is what I want." The boss nodded yes, and after that the wine bottle became the coveted prize. I did not win it, of course, but it was quite brazen of me to do that.

8. What's your favorite beverage in cold weather?

A. Hot chocolate, of course.

9. Share a memory from last Christmas.

A. Last Christmas I gave you my heart but the very next day you threw it away. No wait, that's a song. Last year my brother gave me these lovely statues of three Greek goddesses. I was very impressed with them. You can read about them here, at last year's blog entry.

___________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

End of an Era (?)

Today is the day that the editor of The Fincastle Herald, Ed McCoy, steps down from his 34-year journey as the news guide for the county. He began working for The Herald in August, 1984, and I started freelancing for him in October, 1984.

So we have known each other a very long time, and over the years I like to think we have become friends. He's grown a bit more libertarian in his thinking as he's aged and I've grown a bit more liberal, so sometimes our political discussions can be entertaining, but they were always thought-provoking.

My first article for Ed was about making apple butter. His criticism of the story was this: it's great writing, but there isn't any "you" in the story. None of my personality came through.

I learned to deal with that by coming up with entertaining ledes to articles (that's the opening sentence to non-newspaper folks) and then going on mostly with "just the facts." I tend to be a just-the-facts kind of writer but Ed did bring out the best in my work. He was a good editor and I learned how to give a story life under his tutelage. He taught me as much as any of my professors at Hollins. Maybe more.

Stories that I remember best include one about two sisters who played basketball, which I started out with, "It must be the Tootsie Rolls," because the two girls ate the candies before games, going up in a hot air balloon, a series I wrote in Craig County about the state of the community over there and what would happen if a county went bankrupt (something that looked very likely at that time), a story I wrote about the Social Services Angel Tree that ultimately brought in $15,000 in donations, a story about the possibility of Nestle' bringing a water bottling facility to the area, and oh gosh, I wrote so many I can't possibly remember them all or pick out a best one. There were literally thousands of them.

Ed challenged me to go beyond my comfort zone, sending me on stories I'd have preferred not to write. (I never did like to write stories that tore at my heart, the ones about sick people or people fighting the tough fight against an illness or whatever.) I wrote them anyway and always did a good job with them, usually better than I ever thought I would, because I had Ed to talk it over with before I started the article. Once I had the slant, which in the early days I often needed help finding, I could move forward and create a moving piece.

As I aged and felt more comfortable with my talent and work, I turned down stories occasionally, mostly those that involved children at the schools because I became ill every time I entered a classroom. Finally, I settled into what seemed to be my forte', government writing. That suited my "just the facts" style and allowed me to feel like I was contributing something to the community by educating them about what is going on in their county.

My editor and I had many long discussions about what was going on in Botetourt. We argued with the county over Freedom of Information Act issues, and we discussed in detail how and what we should write. We profiled person after person and multiple businesses - you can find copies of the article I wrote and he edited and published hanging on the walls of many businesses in Botetourt. Just last week someone I'd written a story about told me they had the article hanging on the wall of their home. I'm sure there are just as many with his byline hanging on the walls of businesses and homes, too.

Ed and I both love history and I wrote many pieces about the multitude of historic legacies Botetourt County has to offer, as did he and other writers. Ed actually turned a series of stories about the Civil War into a magazine/book and he gave me kudos in his preface for my help over the years, which I greatly appreciated.

When I was 10 years old I said I wanted to be the editor of The Fincastle Herald. That apparently was not to be - health issues kept me from applying for his position this time, and previous opportunities never came about when I could manage it - the last one being shortly after my mother passed away in 2000. After that the newspaper, like so many others, fell upon difficult times and I was lucky to freelance for the paper for as long as I did (I stopped in 2016, although this past September I filled in for a week while Ed took a 10-day vacation.).

However, Ed gave me the opportunity to cover the county, and the chance to fill the paper with my byline, and I will always be grateful to him for that. Because he believed I could do it, I can call myself a professional writer.

Thanks for allowing me to be a freelancer for The Fincastle Herald, Ed. May your retirement be filled with lots of hunting and good times.

Ed with his camera (2016)

Ed received a proclamation from the Board of Supervisors for his long service to the community on 12/20/2018. Pictured from left: Steve Clinton, Mac Scothorn, Ed McCoy, Billy Martin, Ray Sloan.

Ed with Supervisor Mac Scothorn. Ed called Botetourt County a great place to work, full of
beautiful lands and wonderful people.

I had to laugh because even though today (12/21) is technically Ed's last day of work, yesterday he was still taking notes like a good reporter at a meeting. (I confess I do the same.)
 

Thursday Thirteen

Christmas lights near me:

This is a house off of Country Club Road.

They have thousands and thousands of lights.

Lots of cool miniature scenes to look at.

Like this.

Here it is from a distance.

This is what happens when you're taking pictures and your husband suddenly moves the car!

This display has been on Country Club Road for as long as I can remember. The deer in front used to have a red nose, or so I thought. Different lighting set-up this year.

The lights on Main Street in Fincastle.

A big red wreath on one of the administration buildings in Fincastle.



That's an over-exposed moon on top, not a Christmas light.

Lights down looking north down Roanoke Street.

Lights looking south down Roanoke Street.

I can't remember which direction these were.

Another from the house on Country Club.

And this is my tree!

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 583rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

This is definitely not my thing, but here goes nuttin' -

1. What season has your favorite looks?

A. Fall and spring.

2. Formal or casual?

A. Casual

3. Thrift store, boutique, or online?

A. J.C. Pennys. That's a department store and not in the list.

4. What’s your favorite decade for fashion?

A. I don't pay attention to fashion enough to know.

5. Do you like to accessorize?

A. I wear my wedding band, earrings, and a necklace. That's it.

6. What does your basic outfit look like?

A. Dressed up basic: black pants, nice cotton shirt, pearl necklace, silver earrings, wedding band. Basic slob: sweats or jeans and a t-shirt.

7. What piece of clothing do you spend your money on the most?

A. Generally pants.

8. Do you wear hats?

A. Not any more.

9. What is your opinion on wearing socks and sandals together?

A. I don't like sandals and don't wear them ever, but if that's your thing, go for it, baby.

10. What colors do you like to wear?

A. Black, blue, purple.

11. What are some of the strangest outfits you have seen?

A. Just watch a celebrity nominee show and you'll see strange.

12. What fashions do you dislike?

A. Expensive ones.

13. What are you favorite styles?

A. Casual. Is that a style?

14. What do you think of body piercing?

A. I have my ears pierced but that's it. But if that's your thing, go for it, baby.

15. Do you like dyed hair?

A. I don't dye my hair because I allergic to the dyes. What other people do with their hair is none of my business.
__________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.