Cookin Out

                                                              Mother's Day 2013

What a great dinner we had on Mother's Day! This pic was taken AFTER I split that steak down the middle to share with Judy. It was huge, and I still didn't eat it all. Ginger's  main squeeze did the cooking.  I think he missed his calling. He should have been a professional chef. Everything was wonderful.

                                                                   The Daughters

Judy managed to come home for Mother's Day so I really did have a good day. It's not often that I have them both with me on Mother's Day. She flew in on Saturday morning and stayed until Tuesday evening. It was fun having her around, but I missed her girls. They are having finals now and couldn't take any time off.
I think they may be coming for a couple of weeks while Judy and Dave pack up and move to the west coast, then they will fly out there with Ginger's youngest.

Sunday was a bit chilly, so we weren't able to stay outside, and then it did actually rain pretty hard later on. It didn't dampen the spirit, though, and we all had a good time.

Life is busy here lately. I cleaned out two closets and donated about 10 big boxes of clothes to the Purple Heart. I am sure there is much more to give, and I will work on that, but I had to wait for them to come and pick up to make room for more, lest we look like a family of hoarders!  I hope someone gets some use from them. You no longer need professional looking clothing when you work from home. Perk!

Take a ride atop the Chesapeake Bay

                                                        The Chesapeake Bay Bridge and 

                                                            A view from the top

Last week we took a trip to Ocean City. Larry had a draw inspection over there, so I  went along for the ride. The weather was partly cloudy, but it was a good trip, nonetheless.  I obviously put my phone to use on the way over taking pictures of anything and everything. I love the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It's a different world on the eastern side of the Bay Bridge.

There was this guy, who apparently thinks that Jimmy Buffet would make a better president. Hmmm, maybe he would. I know he is much more popular.

Then, there is this house. I lived there back about forever ago, and this is the house I mentioned in an earlier post that was haunted. I like to get up close and personal to it whenever we go over there, just to see if I catch Willy looking out a window. Up til now, he wishes to remain anonymous. Unseen. A figment of my imagination. I always wave and say hello and I know that he knows that it is me.

We ate lunch at BJ's by the Water. It's on the Bay side in O.C. and a pretty nice place. We had a window table and watched the ducks and geese play in water.

The drive home was really sucky, though. There was a 6 car motor vehicle accident on Route 50 and traffic was stopped for hours. There aren't many alternative routes, because, eventually you have to go back across the Bay Bridge, which is Route 50. Anyhow, Larry managed to take a few back roads and we probably  were an hour or so longer than usual. The East bound lanes were tied up forever. One thing about the eastern shore counties, when there is an accident, they shut down both sides of the road. I could never quite understand. Here on the western shore, at least the police know what they are doing and try to keep traffic moving as much as possible. Like I said, a whole different world over there!

It's been kind of busy week on my end, which I will post more about soon.

Happy Mother's Day to all of your Mothers out there, and all of you who have Mothers!

My kind of town Chicago is.....

My favorite city, not that I have been to a lot of cities, is Chicago. Many years ago, when daughter #1 had married and moved to Texas the first time, she organized a girls weekend in Chicago. A bunch of her new friends from Houston and a bunch of the old friends from here, as well as the midshipman we had sponsored, daughter #2, and myself. We had a blast. Judy hooked us up with one of the nicer hotels on Michigan Ave with a great deal from Priceline or one of those travel booking places. We went on an architectural tour  (the midshipman's major), shopped,  ate out, and partied. It was a St. Patrick Day weekend, so, yes there was much partying happening in Chitown. I hung with the gals for a while, but wasn't ready for the young exuberance over wearing of the green quite as much as the rest of 'em, so I taxied on back to the hotel  to indulge in some room service and me time!

This picture was taken a few years later. Judy had moved to Chicago, was about 7 months pregnant with her second daughter, and threw a surprise 40th birthday party for her husband. Another great weekend party, I must say. It was held at a pretty popular steak house, so the food was wonderful. I really can't remember who the lady on the left is, but I am next, then Judy, then my friend from here who volunteered to fly out with me. I don't remember laughing as much as I did that weekend since!

We flew out several more times while Judy lived there and once we even drove out for a long Thanksgiving weekend. All of those trips still hang out in my memories as it being the most fun times in my life.

I also like New Orleans. I have only been there once, about a year ago, but I really, really want to go back. Of course, the big easy is known for it's craziness with Mardi Gras and such, but I just truly loved the food, the culture, and the friendliness of the locals as well as the tourists. I was so envious of people from Ravens Nation being able to go down there for the Super Bowl. You could tell they just loved every minute of it from the interviews on TV.

I shall put another trip to New Orleans on my wish list for the future!

Let's Dance!

Ginger had some people over on Saturday to show off what she and her main squeeze had done to their home, as well as to take the time to chill out with some good friends and family. We had a great time catching up with each other, watching the Orioles win, playing pool, and of course, playing the jukebox. There certainly was enough to keep us all happy! You can see the gals all huddled in front of the juke picking out their faves. I was surprised to hear that the music is from the little 45 rpm vinyls. The jukebox looks brand new, but I guess it has been refurbished or something! The records sounded great.

My Texas Granddaughters called me on Sunday and we chatted for a long time! It was great to hear their voices! They are going to be relocating to Southern California this summer, and I really hate to see them go so far away. I rarely see them as it is, and I know I will be lucky if I see them even once a year when they move.

I have really developed a fear of flying since 911. I used to think nothing of jumping on a plane and going to Texas or Chicago, or even San Diego. I guess the terrorists really did their job on me. I wonder how many other people have been affected.

Anyway, I digress, the granddaughters posted this pic of themselves on Webstagram. They had been swimming and and sunning in their back yard. Here, it was so freaking cold over the weekend, I had on sweatshirts and jeans and socks.  It's almost May and there is still a need for winter clothes. Now I know that some states are still getting snow, and God Bless those people who live there for not moving away.
Here in the midatlantic states, we really should be having pretty spring weather. No, what will happen is we will go from the 40's to the 90's overnight. Ready or not, here I come!

Reality

                                                                  Boston, Massachusetts
                                                                      April 15, 2013
I really dislike posting everything that is negative on my blog. I really dislike having to include this kind of negativity in the memories of my beautiful granddaughters. I really dislike that there is this kind of negativity in our world.  In reality, though, there is, and I feel that I must include all of these history making events, whether bad or good, so that hopefully these girls won't forget how people can sometimes be cruel and have this kind of  hatred  for other human beings.

I also want to remind them that there are by far, many more people who do nothing but good for mankind. They are the kind of people who pitched in on this Boston street and helped to bring the victims to safety. The ones who went immediately from running the marathon to running to the hospitals to donate blood. The ones you saw pushing wheelchairs of the wounded to get them to ambulances. It's people like these people who make a difference in our society. You don't hear much about them, though, because they just go about their lives doing what comes naturally for them. I want my granddaughters to always recognize those good people, and to teach their children when that time would come to do the same. Too many people don't. I want my granddaughters to be those people.

My biggest wish, now, though, is for those responsible to be caught and brought to justice. I really don't think their names should be publicized. They don't deserve any recognition.


                                                                                              

The Juke...

                                                       
On Easter, we went to Ginger's new place for the first time. She and the girls just moved only a few miles from where she was living to a very nice place with a water view. She and her guy are in the process of a little remodeling and refinancing to make the place their own. It is a much larger place and very comfortable for them all.

Needless to say, I was very impressed with the jukebox! I always wanted one when I was younger, but you need a good amount of space as well as a good amount of dollars, lol! Steve (her guy) has some fantastic music on this. We didn't listen to it on Easter, what with dinner and the basketball games going on, but I can't wait to go over one Friday or Saturday night to listen to some music and perhaps shoot some pool. I should have taken a pic of the whole bar, but I did get a little of it. The pool table  is on the other side.

I was just commenting on another blog ( http://splashofwhine.blogspot.com/)  quoting some Jimmy Buffett lyrics, and got to thinking about the concerts that I have seen. Yes, I am a parrot head, love Buffett, and his concerts were the most fun. He always made it to Maryland when it was warm and the venue also had lawn seating. What a blast! There were always beach balls being tossed around and the fans were the friendliest!

I am not a big concert attendee. I don't care much for big crowds, so I really have to like the artist to even make an effort to go. I have seen Buffett 3 or 4 times, Neil Diamond, again, 3 or 4 times, Kenny Rogers, (only once, and I didn't care for his), Tom Jones, and a few others, but not many. I went to see Tom Jones with a friend from my youth when I was about 6 weeks pregnant with Ginger. I thought he was the sexiest thing going at the time! That same friend and I went back when Ginger was about 38, and well, I can't imagine what I was thinking, lol. Yes, he had aged, and I was totally expecting that, but he was about a foot shorter than what I remembered and he had pretty much lost his ability to carry a tune. There weren't very many panties being thrown on the stage that time, that's for sure. I can say I really liked his opening act, Tower of Power, better. They were a big band with lots of horns and lots of rhythm  and they were awesome!

Now I am ready to put on some tunes and so a little cleaning! Hope it's a good week for all!

In the Olden Days...

I got this in an email from my sister and thought what better way to tell my granddaughters about some of the things I had and some of it their mothers actually had growing up. Hard to believe the houses were so much smaller, only one or two cars per family and no cell phones. Sometimes I think technology has gotten in the way of having a good, clean, fun life.


HEY, WASN'T THIS US?

A little house with three bedrooms,
one bathroom and one car on the street.
A mower that you had to push
to make the grass look neat.


In the kitchen on the wall
we only had one phone,
And no need for recording things,
someone was always home.


We only had a living room
where we would congregate,
unless it was at mealtime
in the kitchen where we ate.


We had no need for family rooms
or extra rooms to dine.
When meeting as a family
those two rooms would work out fine.


We only had one TV set
and channels maybe two,
But always there was one of them
with something worth the view.

For snacks we had potato chips
that tasted like a chip.
And if you wanted flavor
there was Lipton's onion dip. 

Then there were the movies
with your favorite movie star,
and nothing can compare
to watching movies in your car.


Then there were the picnics
at the peak of summer season,
pack a lunch and find some trees
and never need a reason.


Get a baseball game together
with all the friends you know,
have real action playing ball --
and no game video.
 


Remember going to the store
and shopping casually,
and when you went to pay for it
you used your own money?


Nothing that you had to swipe
or punch in some amount,
and remember when the cashier person
had to really count?


The milkman used to go
from door to door,
And it was just a few cents more
than going to the store.


There was a time when mailed letters
came right to your door,
without a lot of junk mail ads
sent out by every store.

There was a time when just one glance
was all that it would take,
and you would know the kind of car,
the model and the make.


They didn't look like turtles
trying to squeeze out every mile;
they were streamlined, white walls, fins
and really had some style.

  
(I loved these big cars. The bigger the better!)
One time the music that you played
whenever you would jive,
was from a vinyl, big-holed record
called a forty-five.
 
(I know I had hundreds of these 45's.)
The record player had a post
to keep them all in line
and then the records would drop down
and play one at a time.

(Plus I had a HiFi record player very similar to this)
Oh sure, we had our problems then,
just like we do today
and always we were striving,
trying for a better way.

Oh, the simple life we lived
still seems like so much fun,
how can you explain a game,
just kick the can and run?


And why would boys put baseball cards
between bicycle spokes
and for a nickel, red machines
had little bottled Cokes?



This life seemed so much easier
and slower in some ways.
I love the new technology
but I sure do miss those days.

So time moves on and so do we
and nothing stays the same,
but I sure love to reminisce
and walk down memory lane.
With all today's technology
we grant that it's a plus!
But it's fun to look way back and say,
Hey look,guys, THAT WAS US!