Holiday Memories Open House

[ANNIE]

Holiday Memories - An  Open House for All of US!

What's the best Christmas or Holiday you can remember from back in the Good Ole Days? We hope you will come  right inside out of the cold and share those memories with us - beginning Dec.1   T'is the season to wax nostalgic about Christmas past - and all the  holidays you celebrate this time of year.. Every party needs MUSIC!  Let us know your Holiday favorites...we'll link them here for you. Remember this one? "Blue Christmas" - Elvis "O Holy Night" - The Priests  Surprise Hallelujah in a Food Court "Hallelujah Chorus with the Wanamaker organ in Philly "I wonder as I Wander" -  Dulcimer & Guitar "In the Bleak Midwinter" - Gloucester Cathedral Choir Aberdeen Christmas Carol Concert - Rosemary's daughter, soloist Our Favorite Holiday Recipes What's a party without  GOODIES? Let's  fill this buffet table with your favorites!  What's your best  Holiday  recipe ever and  the story behind it? Do you still bake like you once did? Shall we have a contest for the OLDEST RECIPE?   And what's a gathering of BOOK LOVERS without Books? We all have our seasonal favorite STORIES and POEMS. What are yours?  Each week in December we'll focus on two of your favorites.  Do you remember these two?   A Child's Christmas in Wales - Dylan Thomas Audio - Listen to Dylan Thomas read it to you himself! The Gift of the Magi by O'Henry Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S Buck The Poor Relation's Christmas  by Charles Dickens

I have so enjoyed reading all the posts over the month and especially this past week.  Looks like we have changed our topics to New Year's resolutions and how to keep them.
I like your ideas.  I'm pretty sure that we all need to get rid of many things that we have sitting around but I am not ready to give anything away yet.  I truly enjoy my home and love the things that live here with us.  I have a  David Winter collection of cottages plus a small collection of Shelia's homes of famous places and famous people.  Having been to England 4X, I do still value the cottages.  And of course, Shelia's homes are places that I have seen while traveling.  I also have an almost complete Tom Clark nativity scene and the figures which I keep out a lot, always cause a comversation.  The figures are just stunning.
Now, if I could get my DH to throw out his old engineering and architecture paperwork like Gumtree's DH is doing, I would feel better.
We give most of our reusuable things to the Kidney Foundation as they collect about once a month from our front porch.   Plus to anyone who wants to dispense with old computers, there are usually places in town where you can take them.  Here is downtown Gahanna, one can donate old computers, printers, etc.  The young men who run this charity, remove the HD imformation from the computers and replace them with another OS and donate them to students who are in need.  It's call "Free Geek" and is only in Portland, OR plus Columbus OH, but I am sure other charities in your hometowns offer a similar service.
Well, its time to keep my weekly date with my DH.  We have lunch out on Thursdays and go to the same restaurand, Rusty Bucket, where the feature their Lobster Bisque and Chili.  We also always order the Nickel Salad, too. Afterwards, we stop at the ice cream shop and have a cone or dish of that good stuff.  Ciao!  

Happy New Year to you and yours!

[CubFan]

Greetings,

I'm 45 minutes south of Janice, in Oshkosh WI also watching the snow melt today while I wait for 2:15 pm and a root canal.  Looking forward to a good night's sleep.  I don't comment often but read everyone's comments here daily, as well as, old & new fiction, mystery, non fiction and the library postings.

Have enjoyed everyone's holiday memories. Also, can relate to many of the issues being discussed - i.e. one of my best friends has Meniere's disease and has for years. Our plans always evolve around her good & bad days. She lives 45 minutes from me and cannot drive any more so I am one of her drivers to doctor appointment etc & we have concert tickets together.

Ten years ago after having to clean out my parents' home I came home and cleaned mine out top to bottom. I try very hard to keep my possessions under control - rule of thumb to my girls is - you bring me something for the house - then you take something with you  Book wise I only keep non fiction & try to cut as many per year as I buy (donate to university used book sale).  Fiction is donated to a community center and/or nursing homes once they've circulated from me to friends & family.  Exception to the rule, genealogy. That just keeps taking over more space.

Hope to be more involved online in 2011.  Keep thinking one of these days I'll get a handle on things and settle into a routine.

Best wishes to everyone for the New Year.

Mary

[ALF43]

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF MY FRIENDS BOTH OLD AND NEW HERE AT SENIOR LEARN!

For all of you that are freezing, step into the Nigerian jungle and join us here.
We are kicking off the New Year with a discussion of Little Bee, by Chris Cleave.
Traude and I would be delighted to have you join us here.

[ANNIE]

Cubfan,
Its nice to know that you have been lurking here frequently.  Weren't you posting on the old SN or the S&F
s?

Alf,
No more shopping with Mary for you! She's in Indy visiting with her family.  Yes, SO is there!

[nlhome]

Janice, I too look for Spring - and this warmer weather is nice, except for the fog.
Cubfan, Oshkosh is not far from where I grew up. Someday I'd like to move back to the area - aiming for Wautoma.

New Years resolutions:  I intend to be a better friend.

[ALF43]

Annie- 
mary and I are not good together!  We indulge in each others indulgences.
Are you joining us in Little Bee, (I hope?)

[mabel1015j]

Barb, good luck on your trip and your list of goals.........i'm in New Jersey, i don't believe i know what your business is that you spoke of?

I too have files to clean out from my training and teaching days. I know it will be hard because it means i DEFINITELY  will not be doing it again! Sigh! As long as i have the resources in the way of books or training files it means "maybe" i'll get to do it just one more time and i'll feel useful. Of course, i do have my Women's History course to look forward to  that i'm doing at the retirement community in April, like an Elderhostel, and i'm hoping they'll enjoy it enough to invite me back to do others..........but the management training courses are a thing of the past, so i need to clean out all those files.

Jean/mabel

[Gumtree]

As long as i have the resources in the way of books or training files it means "maybe" i'll get to do it just one more time and i'll feel useful.

 
Mabel/Jean That is exactly it - it's how DH feels about the files he is clearing out at present and how I feel about mine as well. But he made the decision to do it and feels better for it. I'm still dithering about mine.

CubFan I've cleared out a few houses - DH's parents, my mother's, and my brother's. It's not easy to do and I certainly don't want to leave such a task for my children. I think I'd better get started ... again!

[serenesheila]

BARB, if you were talking about me living in Texas, I actually live in Northern California.  About 15 miles NE of the state Capitol.  As far as I know I am the only Sheila, in these discussions.

However, my late mother's family was from Oaklahoma, and Texas.  Every time I hear someone with an accent from those areas, it feels as if they are part of my family!  My maternal, great grandmother was Lillie Mae Allred.  I have been told that either her father, or grandfather, was governor of Texas.  I have done some work on family history, but have not gotten to her father, yet.

Sheila

[serenesheila]

I just checked my bank, and learned that I have 69, 000+ reward points.  I hqve been thinking qbout buying myself either an ipad, or an ipod.  Can anyone please tell me what is the difference between these devices?  Thank you.

Sheila

[rosemarykaye]

Mabel/Jean - I know exactly what you mean, and I am no expert in "seeing the glass half full", but what I am trying to do with my forthcoming move is to look at it as a starting of new things rather than a leaving of the old.  I find it very hard to think positively about leaving friends, familiar places, etc, but my friend who moved to a different country (not just a different city) says the move has opened her eyes to all sorts of opportunities, and that she as done things that she would never even have thought of doing had she stayed here; she's also met many people that she would never have come into contact with had she not moved (especially as the area she lives in is very cosmopolitan and has residents from all over the world).

I suppose we have said goodbye to things all through our lives - nursery school, proper school, university, various jobs and houses - and each time we moved on to something else, so we need to try to see the clearing out of stuff (with which I am supposed to be grappling at this moment!) as an opportunity to move on to something new and potentially exciting.  One of the things that decided me about moving was going through an old file at work and seeing the signature, on a letter from the 1980s, of a woman who still works at the same firm down the road.  She is a partner in the firm now and very well respected, but I knew I did not want to become that woman who was doing the same thing 30 years later (if you get my drift - I don't mean I would still be commercially employed in my 80s - though who knows when you see the way our pension schemes are going  ).

Let's all try to help each other move onwards and upwards, to new experiences and new friends.

Rosemary

[Steph]

I am a serious list person.. I keep both daily, weekly and long term lists.. Only way I can function.. Grocery lists..Oh yeah..
This h as been such a nice holiday break. I have enjoyed so much all of the different customs and habits. Some days I dont know what to dowithout Senior Learn and facebook..
B and B's,, had not thought of them for years, but used to use them all the time when I was doing genealogical research and was going to State Libraries, etc. I will add them to my list of places that might work well for me.

[kiwilady]

I have lists too. The Pharmacy gave me a purse sized diary today. It has the diary part on one page for a week and on the other it has a note page for shopping lists! It has first aid hints in the front and also information about natural remedies etc.

Steph I enjoy facebook too.

Carolyn

[ginny]

I really love that quote, Rosemary, and I love this discussion. I hate to see it end.

Hello, Mary, how good to see you here!

Is tomorrow New Year's Day already? ? I hope you all will join us in the new Classics Book Club, the Ancients in Translation, on February 15. We begin Nominations tomorrow! We are really going to enjoy this,  we've got an incredible group in there already and we will have so much fun.  Happy New Year!!

Sheila, I just asked that question in the Apple Store, there are three of them with confusing similar sounding names.  I lumped in the I Touch too (technically called the I Pod Touch) which is what I have and there really didn't seem to be too much difference in the IpodTouch (an older model which is small like a cell phone, which I have and like) and the I Pad except the size. The I Pad is about 7"by 9."

The I pod I know nothing of, it APPEARS  more for listening to music (everybody correct me), and is small (everybody correct me) where the new I Pad is large and would be easier on the eyes for reading a book. I don't know if you can download a book to the ipod (everybody correct me) hahaha but I do know the other two are virtually the same thing: there is not much difference except size between the older Ipod Touch (small version) and the new I Pad.

 The new I Pad is the one Oprah Winfrey says she can't live without, it  is as big as a Nook, it's in color, it can also do email and the internet; it has applications they call APPS which do almost anything, you can read the paper daily, etc. (to do that you need 3 G however and to  pay).

 The I Pad comes in two versions, one with 3 G, that one you need a subscription for (and I wonder if you do with the I Pod) in which you pay for service, the one without the 3 G you can use like my I Touch, free, to download. That is to get the books you want to read and to get daily newspapers, etc.   If there is WiFi where you are.

The 3 G ones of any of the three need a paid subscription or at least a card to pay for downloading. The ones without  (the I Pad and the I pod Touch) you use free WiFi  to download new books or services, so  you need to be where Wi Fi is IF you're wanting to besomething. When not downloading, you can be anywhere and read what's on your little unit.  So you don't need to pay for a monthly subscription to get what you want ON the thing.

Everything with these depends on what YOU want to do, so I'd be very careful to get something that will do what I want.

Once you get the book  on the I Pad or the I Pod Touch it's yours (assuming you're wanting to read) and you can read the book anywhere Wi Fi or not.

I don't know about I Pod, except it's for music? Movies? It's relatively small? I know nothing of them, but if I had to pick,  the I Pad, even tho it's quite costly, seems to offer a lot of great features...a note pad you can keep notes on, a calendar, a...oh it's loaded, a compass, a GPS system, etc., etc., etc.,  and the I Pod Touch offers the same in a limited cell phone size (and it has a bigger screen version too but the new ones want that  3 G pay money stuff with it). You can get the I Pad either way, 3G or not.


Do you have an  Apple store anywhere near you? If so that's the place to ask, because they can then respond to your individual questions and to look at all 3 of them and to get it straight from the horse's mouth.  Make a list or have some idea what you want to DO with it, what you want it to DO for you.

Or maybe there's   a Best Buy near you? If you can find somebody who knows what they're talking about and who will help.  OR you can call Apple toll free   and ask them directly. Once I asked the salesperson in the new Apple Store in the mall  to compare the three, I decided to keep my I Touch which I got at  WalMart very cheap, I love it.

I'm sure this does not help, it seems incoherent, even to me, but the three names are confusing and it's best to have what you want in mind first. The screen of the I Touch (technically called the I Pod Touch), which is an older smaller I Pad, is identical to the I Pad. I don't know anything about the I POD.

I think depending on what you want and what size you are comfortable carrying around, you would be thrilled with either the I Pad or the I Touch.

[Babi]

 I understand, BARB. A beautiful sky is my second love. I have to be
careful when I'm driving not to become distracted by a gorgeous sweep of
sky!
  Perhaps your scheduling problem would be helped if you labeled it,..and
thought of it...as a 'proposed' schedule. Then there should be no heavy
guilt if it all didn't get done. We can only do the possible; leave the
impossible to the angels.

 Truck victim to limp rag is improvement, CALLIE. Been there! Sleep is
definitely good.
  I can understand that it's hard to throw away the products of our
creative endeavors. They represent good work; the fruits of our labors.
I've lost some things that I wish I still had, so I can sympathize with
your DH, ANNIE.  And with Jean, and Gum, and...well, all of those with
old memories attached to old things.

  TO ALL OF YOU HERE,  MAY YOU HAVE A HAPPY, HEALTHY, PEACEFUL NEW YEAR!

[ANNIE]

Barb,
Just wanted to let you know that my sister's new hometown of Morganton, NC, had 9 inches of snow last weekend.  She left and went to Indianapolis to visit her kids and grans.

Mary,
I have an Ipod Touch and really enjoy it.  You can buy one with a phone installed but I just have the Ipod
Touch and am still getting used to it.  It has a large memory and I can download audio books or ebooks, many of which are free on the net.  Am off to lunch with my massuse.

[rosemarykaye]

I used to have an i-pod classic and I ended up giving it to my son.  It was I think primarily for music - you can either load your own CDs onto the computer, then download them onto the i-pod, or you can buy stuff directly from the i-tunes website.  I just could not be bothered with putting those ear plug things in my ears and even if I got them in, I inevitably pulled them out by mistake, which was not only inconvenient but also painful!    I also found the getting of the music onto the i-pod extremely laborious, 9 times out of 10 it didn't seem to load and I had to get someone to do it for me.

I think it depends how much you like to listen to music.  Although I enjoy it, I am also quite happy to walk along the road absorbing the scene (and enjoying other people's conversations, let's be honest here...), whereas my children apparently can't go anywhere without their i-pods in their ears.  You can (at least in the UK) also load radio programmes onto it - if, for example, you go onto the BBC website you can download the last episode of the Archers, or of many other programmes, then listen to them when you like.  In theory you can tell the computer to store every episode of something, then when you connect your i-pod to the computer it should acquire all of those episodes so that you can listen to them on the train, or wherever.  I say "in theory" because any time I tried to do this it failed.

I am not sure how much all this trouble was caused by the i-pod, the (ancient) computer, or me - probably mostly the latter!  My children seem to have no problem getting whatever they want onto their machines.  I also think that the under 25s seem to be hard-wired to deal with a lot of electronic stimuli at the same time - my daughter sometimes has her laptop on split screen (heaven knows how) so that she is watching a DVD on one side whilst playing a game on the other - and she will also have the TV on in the same room if she can get away with it.  Although I know that women are natural multi-taskers, for me this does not extend to having music in my ears, roads to cross, books to read, etc.  I have come to the conclusion that I am a written word sort of person.

I am looking forward to the i-pad that I have been promised.

Rosemary

PS _ My friend bought an apple mac for her business after her old computer crashed, losing 2 years of accounts plus a presentation she was due to give the next day.   She also booked a training session at the Apple shop - she said they were absolutely fantastic, explained everything in great detail, and she is thrilled to bits with her new machine.

[pedln]

Steph needs her lists, and I need a chart – to understand all these different gadgets – iPad, iPod, iTough, iPhone, SmartPhone.  I finally figured out  the difference between Blackberry and BlueTooth, only because they’re two different things entirely.

This has been a fun site, and every time I come here, something brings up memories of something or other. It’s been interesting to see where folks are from,  nice to learn about some other Wisconsinites – I grew up south of Janice and CubFan and east of nlhome – in Racine, right on Lake Michigan, but spent a lot of summers closer to your area – in Waupaca County where my Nowegian ancestors settled

Sheila, 69,000 reward points?  How do you get those?  I hope you get to use them for something cool and neat.

Stomach flu made me cancel my Seattle Christmas trip, but my youngest daughter came from NY to keep me company for three days and we had a very pleasant quiet time.  The day after Christmas she wanted to start cleaning out my basement  -- no way, but she did unearth a stack of forgotten Christmas Ideals Magazines, which I’ll get to the upcoming Friends of the Library book sale.  Now, what about all those National Geographics.  They were always a hot item in the days before Internet, but I don’t know about now.

[CubFan]

Greetings -

Hey Pedlin, did you go to high school in Racine?  I grew up in Janesville and we played both Horlick and Park high schools in sports and I played in an orchestra concert at Horlick. The last I heard there was an active senior computer users/genealogy group in Wautoma.

We are having another beautiful reading weather day - rainy/foggy/snow melting.  Today I will start a gift from my grandson, Jimmy Carter's White House Diary, with breaks for Sheila Connolly's A Killer Crop.  Yesterday finished Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron by Stephanie Barron and Gwen Cooper's Homer's Odyssey.

When I feel motivated I'll work on changing my "decor".  For me that means taking down  Christmas and putting out all my snowmen decorations and Cubs' winter village. In the meantime, I'll just keep reading.

AdoAnnie - My previous SN usage was primarily for Latin classes which I participated in for 3 + years but life kept disrupting. Occasionally I posted both there & here in the book discussions.

Steph - kindred spirit. I can't seem to function without a list. Of course, somethings get carried over from one list to the next but they stay on the list until I either take care of it or I decide I'm never going to.

Have a safe & healthy New Years everyone.

Mary

[pedln]

Hey Mary Cubfan, what is Cubs Village?  That sounds interesting.  Yes, I went to Park High. Played in the orchestra, too, and band.  And you’re right about the active senior computer group at Wautoma.  It’s a SeniorNet Learning Center and the director was at the SeniorNet 20th Anniversary in DC in 2006.  A very pleasant person – Judy ?.  PatH and Ginny would know.  She went to the hospital with them when there was a mishap on the DC bus tour.  And Sandy, one of the Latin students and also a Latin 101 aide is from up around Wautoma and volunteers at that same center.

Small world, huh?  My 96-year-old cousin lives in New London, and I don't know if he still does it, but he used to go every year to the high school state basketball tournament, no matter who played.

[CubFan]

Yes, Pedlin, that would be Judy Williiams. She was employed at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton as the systems' Senior Net coordinator. When she retired a year and a half or so ago, the FVTC position was eliminated and we also at that time disaffiliated with Senior Net. The Appleton group has continued as Senior Computer Users Group and is all volunteer and has no membership dues. We are still sponsored by FVTC (are allowed use of the facilities) and run ourselves with a steering committee. I have not seen Judy since she retired but am quite sure she is volunteering with the Wautoma group as she lives there. I was/am still the genealogy special interest group facilitator. Our four special interest groups and the general meeting continue to meet monthly. Judy was our link with the Wautoma group.

Re: Cubs village. Many people have Christmas villages that they put up for the holidays. My daughter managed to find for me a Cubs village that includes Wrigley Field and surrounding neighborhood buildings and related baseball player figurines. She ended up with both summer buildings and winter buildings (have snow on them) so I put up one set from now to opening day, and the other set for the summer months. Since I like to change things to match the seasons, the villages give me more options.

Mary

[salan]

Count me in as another list maker.  I make lists for almost everything.  What doesn't get done, gets carried over to the next day's list.  There's something immensely satisfying about scratching thru things as they are finished. 

What New Year's traditions does everyone have?  I am from Texas and our tradition is to have black-eyed peas (for good luck in the coming year), something green (for money)--I usually have cabbage and cornbread, just because it's so good with peas and cornbread. 

I haven't decided whether I will make resolutions or not.  I usually break them, except for the year that I decided that my resolution would be to make no resolutions.  Ever since my husband died a couple of years ago, I can't seem to figure what track I want to be on.  We always made our plans and resolutions together.  Now I have to decide on new goals.  Ah well, as my daughter is fond of saying, "It is what it is."

Happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to all of you.
I will be sorry to see this discussion end--seems like a learned a little more about each of you.

Sally

[CubFan]

I don't make any resolutions but as a list maker, I do start  out the year with several lists of things I plan/hope to do during the next year - books to read (mainly nonfiction books I own and haven't gotten to), house maintenance/improvements, genealogy goals, needle work projects (new & need to be completed), travel spots. It's always interesting at the end of the year to see which things were accomplished. Sometimes I refer to the lists during the year and sometimes I just do what comes along. There are always somethings that get carried over and/or repeated.

Mary

[serenesheila]

GINNY, thank you very much for all of your info about ipads.  I appreciate you taking the time to write it.  After asking for info about the difference about ipod vs ipad, I put both words into my google search, and got quite a bit of info about each of them.  I came to the conclusion that the ipod is mostly for music.  I also reviewed the info I was given about "apps".  There was nothing that I wanted, from the choices.

So, I will be happily content with the electric equipment which I already have.  I did buy myself a notebook computer for Christmas.  It is very light weight, and has a battery life of up to 8 hours.  I have arthritis in my hands, and the lighter weight will help me. 

PEDLIN, my bank awards program is due to my having a bank sponsored VISA account.  I have never used it.  So, it has really built up the points.  I bank with Wells Fargo.  You might call your bank, and ask if they have a rewards program, if you are interested.

Sheila

[Babi]

..they stay on the list until I either take care of it or I decide I'm
never going to.

  Ah, MARY, ain't it the truth?! As Sally mentions, there is a special satisfaction in making a list and then being able to scratch things out as done.
  I don't make New Year's resolutions. I consider them an exercise in
futility. Any changes I can make require a much deeper choice than a resolution. I really like Mary's 'plan/hope' list.

[Steph]

 Ihave the non 3g IPAD.. Since you can hook up to wifi whereever you go.. Dontlike to pay monthly fees for it.
I did laugh about the app.. There are literally thousands of Apps.. I have New York Times, Washington Post, Slate.. They were all free apps and I read them every day. Sooner or later, the Times and Post are going to want money, but not quite yet. I also have a wifi finder, a plane tracker, etc etc all free. Plus all sorts of time wasting games, that I adore.
Yes, I have problems making plans with my husband gone. It was one of our favorite things, planning where and what we would do the next year. It has sort of lost its flavor.

[BarbStAubrey]

HAPPY NEW YEAR...

I missed the daily chat and sharing with everyone - still not 100% - that early morning flight was a killer for my body but then flying is such a hassle these days the schedule probably wouldn't matter - there was a time when seats tilted back and I could snooze but now my chin keeps falling into my collar bone and oh today, the stiff neck - on the way east I had a window seat which allows me to put something soft between the window and my head and I can snooze but going home when my body said snooze there I was on the aisle.

I must say the one break that had my heart rate pumping was being picked up by my good friend Charlotte [Charlotte is 91] - I suggested to her by email 11: would be good since the plane was to land at 10:20  - well both planes made excellent time and were ahead of schedule so we arrived in Austin before 10: - a few minutes after 10: I called her and she said she was going to finish her cup of coffee and be right down - I figured on the outside 45 minutes since it takes about a half hour to drive from our area to the airport - an hour later no Charlotte - 30 minutes past the 11: and still no Charlotte - called her and of course as I expected there would be no answer - called my home thinking she forgot my cell number - no message - what to do - If I leave and she arrives what a mess - I know there are a couple of tricky 'Y's on the way and it is easy to end up in Manchaca if you do not make the one right turn - finally it is noon and I decide I just have to leave because I cannot look for her sitting on the low wall outside the terminal building.

Just as I am gathering my carry-on's and ready to take the Shuttle that will bring you to your door for $15 there is Charlotte - oh is she in a dither - she missed the airport entirely and ended up in Bastrop!!! 22 miles down the same road as the airport. Then on the way back she nearly missed the airport again, however, she saw Callahan's [a big western general store with everything from boots to a cattle gate http://callahansgeneralstore.com/ ] and was able to turn in their parking lot across the road by about 200  yards from the entry to the airport. I laughed and laughed which allowed her to laugh instead of feeling so upset - what can you do but laugh - age does that to us and  yet, we do not want to believe we cannot do everything we did at 60.

Ann - all that snow in Morgan town as well - after last year and now this year I think North Carolina is part of the snow belt rather than the South. Did your sister leave because of the snow or was the trip planned and so she fortunately missed the snow. I definitely want what the King promised perched on his tree in Camelot - "It's true, it's true, the crown has made it clear, The climate must be perfect all year" and for me that means the snow must be gone in 48 hours. One of the happy moments when I got in  yesterday was to get in my vehicle and HAVE TO turn on the AC - it was only in the 70s but sitting in the sun the interior of a vehicle does get hot.

Ah yes Sheila I did mix you up with Sally - sorry - it is Sally who lives in Llano and Sheila, you live in Northern California - now that is implanted in my brain - I have another friend who always says immediately after a mistake - "I love mistakes" - we know she means she has learned more in  her life from her mistakes.

And yes, Sally when I shopped for groceries yesterday, Whole Foods had every imaginable concoction of Black-eye pea soup. There must have been at least 10 varieties - hot, ready to ladle into a container.  

The conversation between Pedln and Cubfan [Mary] was a wonderful view of Wisconsin memories. I loved eavesdropping. And Mary I  just finished a couple of Jimmy Carter's early books about retirement - I was shocked to learn that he left the White House a poor man facing the foreclosure of the family farm - I can see that it is only after they are out of office that they can put all their new knowledge and acquaintanceship into play to build their personal wealth. It seems so removed and far away the way we all acted over politics when Carter was in the White House - it will be reading history won't it reading about his White House days.

Me too Ginny - thanks so much - with so many new devices it is like learning a new language - the Roman's have nothing on the 21st century -  You really cleared it up... wow...!

Steph you sound like you really have embraced the IPAD - impressive how you are navigating this equipment . My oh my Rosemary - your daughter - amazing - "is watching a DVD on one side whilst playing a game on the other" on a split screen - and then we wonder why they are needing greater challenges beyond the basic 'reading writing and arithmetic' while in school from first grade onwards...here of late with all these devices for communication don't you feel like we have made some sort of leap into another time.

With all these new devices the one thing I decided - no large reading device for me - there were all these readers on board that had to shut off all electronic devices not only landing and taking off but, if there was any reason while flying the pilot needed to be assure of his instruments as the pilot did flying through the upper clouds of storms over Mississippi and part of Alabama - while those of us who had a book could merrily go on reading. Since I am at the wheel when driving a book on tape works well and at  home I often pay the extra for a hardback since I love the feel of a book in my hand that a soft back does not offer.

So many great ideas for organizing the tasks towards the plans for the year - I love the idea of scratching off and keeping a list for a year to celebrate our accomplishments - that is great - and Babi YES, to look at it as a proposed list - super - looks like we all struggle with letting go -

I love Charlotte's views on letting go -  she sees it as someone whose life could be more meaningful by whatever the item than the item is adding to her life - she feels that way about her body as well so that both Bill, who died 3  years ago and her body is iced down and sent to this place in Arizona where they  harvest what they can - the biggie is, infants cannot produce enough skin after a serious burn to cover the healing burn - the burn area evidently goes through several grafts before the final one and so regardless of our age everyone's skin is valuable - after the harvest what is left is cremated and so rather than having a cemetery marker the family has a memorial window in their church - Bill's ashes were interned in Arlington since he was an officer with the branch of the Navy that after WWII became the Navy Seals.

With all that, I know how hard it is to scrap the paperwork we create to use with meaningful work - ouch, that is difficult - I guess we do put more value on what comes from our brain and creative abilities - with so much of our identity tied to our work for so many years I can see how hard it is for those retiring from a job where you have no say so in when you retire. My thoughts on that have been more and more rather than calling it retirement and acting like we are supposed to sit back and simply enjoy life we could plan a form of Graduation to another phase of life where we, for a couple of  years put as much effort into figuring out that next phase as we did preparing and deciding our future when we were in our early 20s. At that time we stripped our teenage rooms of anything that no longer fit the new identity we decided for ourselves and we started to gather 'things' that expressed who we were going to become.

Mabel/Jean - New Jersey! - does that put you close to New York City? Do you visit the city often to take in shows, museums and all the other specials of that 'with-it' city?  I guess that would put you close to Philadelphia as well - another great city or is your area so out of the way the traffic would pose such a problem it is not worth the time to make such an effort? Mabel my work is as a Real Estate Broker - every-time I think enough is enough someone calls - this is one business if you are going to help you need to be on top of it - none of this once in a while attending to the market and the legalities - I've always believed anyone who wants a home should have the best they can afford and then I love watching - you can see it on their face - when they understand - when they get it - they really understand the process of both buying a house and buying the money to buy the  house - I like to be a teacher so they can make their decision with all they need to make a good decision.

Armed with lots of ideas for making my plans happen I am off to join some friends for the New Year...

[mabel1015j]

Barbara - we're just 12 miles from center city Philadelphia. Yes, we do a lot of dining out and concerting/plays in Philly. It's so easy to get in and out of the city, but it always seems like a treat.

Do you all know that there are people who are list makers and love to cross off their accomplishments and people on the other end of the spectrum who love to keep their options open and not be restricted by a list or agenda? Of course, many of us do a little of both or are list makers at work but hang loose at home. The interesting thing is that the two opposites often marry each other and often drive each other crazy. List makers like to control their lives and " options people" are afraid they will miss some opportunity if they are too rigid w/ their lists. Of course when they are dating the list makers love the fluid, free-wheelingness of the option lovers and the o-lovers love that the list makers have got all the details covered.........THEN when married................!?!  As i said,  they drive each other crazy, unless they recognize that there is a benefit to each side and they can complement each other.(my DH and i are the list-maker and the options lover - me, and it's worked well most of the time and the other times he drives the whole family nuts checking to see if we've taken care of this and that, like we are 5 yr olds. We've learned to say to ourselves, "he cares abt me and wants to be sure i know what i'm doing"! Occasionally i want to scream "i'm 69yrs old, i've done this 20 times before, leave me alone!" But i just smile and say " yes, i know." LOL


That's from a theory called Myers/Briggs Temperment Profile or the Keirsey Temperment Profile. I used it in management and employee relations training. It was a fun instrument to talk abt bcs they would always be saying "oh, that's just like my spouse and i!" The Keirseys, hus/wife team, have a great book book titled Please Understand Me which is available in the libraries and bookstores, which talks about four aspects of personality like that one. 

[BarbStAubrey]

Aha - I can see the disadvantage if the list is about what is expected from others -- with all good intentions still - groan

But I am so scattered that if I am serious about wanting to accomplish anything I need to remind myself over and over again - not only one list like years ago when the children were young I had a yellow pad on the kitchen counter with what needed to be done but now it seems I need something on the bathroom mirror and a post stuck on the computer and one stuck on the TV and one over the coffee  pot and one on the steering wheel - sheesh - I too easily mind drift and never get anything done that I want to do - something about  completing gets stuck especially, if it is a new task or out of the ordinary flow of the day.  

My problem is that I become so obsessed about ticking off the daily accomplishment if it is something that will take a daily focus so that if I miss I feel so defeated and give myself a hard time - then I loose steam to go forward - I know, we cannot expect to continue to feel that high of starting something new therefore,  I need to figure out an acceptable mind-set to adopt toward whatever the drill without yet, feeling accomplished or successful as well as, no longer feeling the rush of excitement surrounding something new.

I have ex-in-laws who live in King of Prussia which is outside of Philly - my niece still thinks of me as her aunt and we email often - she and my daughter are good friends to each other and she has a condo in New Jersey but I do not know what town. They also have a home in Maryland. Again, I do not know what town. Where as her younger sister and her Dad still live in King of Prussia - Their lifestyle did not include taking advantage of what Philly has to offer - since Pat works on Wall Street they seem to be more at home in NYC.

Now you have me curious - I need to learn more about Philly - I really only know of the Liberty Bell and the baseball team and Ben Franklin. I've seen enough photos though to know it is a large metropolitan city.

Becoming chilly here today - tonight it goes into the 30s brrr with only the high 50s to look forward to tomorrow - still if the sun is out it could be a good day for a long walk and get the kinks out after the last 2 weeks of being mostly housebound. For now I have glorious fresh coffee to look forward to - there is a store near my daughter that does the best flavor-filled coffees - I came back with pounds - seven sack with well over a pound in each and each sack a different flavor except for the l'orange which I have two sacks of it along with Georgia Pecan, Hazelnut, Cinnamon Hazelnut, a Winter blend with spices like nutmeg, French Vanilla and the two sacks of l'orange. I know so gauche in my taste and here my daughter has me bring her coffee from Anderson House in Austin that is real coffee like Sumatra and Kopii Luwak and Jamaican. They also like most of the coffees from Starbucks which is way too strong for my taste.

I bet there is football games on TV - I haven't had it on all day - not even for the Rose Bowl Parade - I am looking forward to the New  Year Concert from Vienna tonight on PBS - I didn't realize that the concert has only been since the early 1950s in memorial and thanksgiving after WWII - I remember the early viewing on TV still had folks in the audience dressed in traditional Trachten jackets with silver or horn buttons. Now the audience seems to be the wealthiest folks in the world - I guess they all like publicly stamping their feet to the Radetzky March.  

[mabel1015j]

Barbara - Phila has tons of fabulous restaurants. I recently heard a world traveler say that Philly has more good restaurants than any  U.S. city he's been in, including LA and NYC. They have a great concert hall, the Kimmel and a very active theater life. Of course, there are all the history and scientific museums.

A recent addition was a "skelton" house that was the first "executive mansion." It has a fascinating story. When they began to excavate George Washington's house, someone saw that the line of visitors for the Liberty Bell was standing right over the spot where the slave qrtrs for the Executive House were. That began a hugh, years-long  discussion abt how much attention shld be given to the stories of the slaves. It just "opened" - altho it is not enclosed so technically it is "open" 24/7, and there is extensive info abt the slaves, included a wall with all their names. One interesting piece was that in Pa slaves had to be freed if they lived in
Pa.for more than six months, so George and Martha rotated their slaves between Mt Vernon
and Philly every five months.

Directly across the street is the relatvely new Costitution Center which has very interesting changing exhibits and a room with very life-like bronze statues of all of the men who were at
The Constitutional Convention. You may have seen CSPAN's show on it, w/ Brian Lamb, they've shown it a coyple times.

And of course there is the wonderful Art Museum and the Rodin Museum just down the street, near the Franklin Institute, science museum.

Come visit, Phila is not as expensive as NYC and almost as interesting........Jean

[CubFan]

I always look forward to visiting Philadelphia. My daughters and I spent a week and a half just touring sites in historic Philly years ago followed by time at Longwood Gardens, Valley Forge, the Franklin Mint & three days at Gettysburg.  I've been back to Philadelphia with my grandson 3 or 4 times and will gladly come again. The Philly steak sandwiches are special & not duplicable no matter how hard those outside Philly try. We have been to three games at the new stadium and had a tour with an up close (do not touch)  look at the latest World Series trophy. We've also spent time at a medical museum of which I can't remember the name. Nathan was fascinated but I could have passed on it. The only downer is that every time I've been to Phildadelphia it has been hot and humid!!!

Also enjoy San Francisco, Chicago, & Boston. Have been to New York but have not had the free time I've had in the other 4 cities.

Mary

[rosemarykaye]

Barbara, great to see you back, I missed your posts.  I don't fly very often but it does seem to get more uncomfortable every time - though I have just started the Dana Stabowich book and when I read about the Alaskan air taxis I am at least glad I don't have to go on one of those.

I do so sympathise with your friend Charlotte, that sort of thing happens to me all the time.  I remember leaving my parents-in-law's house years ago (before they even were my ps-in-law) to drive to London - something I would not even contemplate now - I got onto the motorway expecting to see a sign saying "south" instead of which it said "Bolton" one way and "Bradford" the other.  Being a person who in those days rarely went north of Hampstead, I had not got a clue which way was which - I ended up having to pull off the MW and park in a residential street.  I looked at the map, could not make head or tail of it, and ended up in tears.  I still can't remember how I got home.  When we are in Edinburgh now, I sometimes venture an opinion as to which way we need to go - needless to say I am always wrong, I really do think I lack the sense of direction gene, good thing I am not a swallow or a salmon.

The only time I have ever been to Philadelphia was when the Greyhound bus stopped there for 30 mins on an overnight trip!  I was 20.  I remember buying a postcard of the Liberty Bell to prove I had been there, but I've never seen it.  We are thinking about a US holiday next summer (depending on how our move goes - it might end up being 2012) - Madeleine and I would like to tour interesting places, maybe New England, but Anna and my husband want to go to New York.  I was there on that Greyhound trip and whilst I enjoyed it I am not sure I would have the energy now; also, I am more interested in seeing historic sites and the countryside.  Any suggestions anyone? We would probably only have 2 weeks.

We had another dusting of snow last night, but tg it has largely melted.

Best wishes,

Rosemary

[Steph]

Rosemary, since you live in a colder climate, you might like Boston and New England very much. Boston is a great city and walkable..Public transportation and New England , depending on the time of year has some great parks, etc. It is a pretty area of the country, just not in the dead of winter,
Then it is major snow and ice.. New York is close enough to spend a few days there. There is so much to do there, but the noise and rushing around is hard on people, unless they live in a major city.

[BarbStAubrey]

Rosemary some of my best traveling was when I had a theme - example back when I taught needlework before I was in Real Estate I took a month long trip to England and scheduled with the museums time to view their needlework holdings. 95% of museum holdings are in their attics and basements - the only museum I did not ask to go behind the scenes since there is so much out for public view was the V& A in London. The museums scattered through out included places like, Norwich, [great shawl collection in Strangers' Hall], Manchester, Halifax, Cambridge, [wonderful sampler collection in the Fitzwilliam], Nottingham - a group of museums in London that included: V&A, Bethnal Green, British Museum, William Morris, RCA Textile School and then I did travel by rail over to Cardiff to the Welsh Folk Museum. There was no time to study the work in Ireland or Scotland -  I would have liked to see the Paisley Museum - all those shawls.

The point being once out of London all the museums provided a curator, most were volunteers and they were anxious I should know about the area - they took me to lunch, tea, rides in the country side, visits to local Needlework shops - I set up the visit in advance by writing to every museum with the dates of my visit and did that 5 to 6 months before I arrived - all responded before I left the states -

Another year I did this with needlework schools in France and  yet another  year I accompanied a small group of 8 to places in France that specialized in some of the foods like goat cheese, wines in the Provance, truffle canning. We also visited 3 star, two 4 star and one 5 star restaurant - there was a group of us back in the 70s exploring French Cooking most of which was similar to how our mother's and grandmother's cooked except for the Haute Cuisine which we decided was a discipline of its own.

And still another interest I perused in travel was hiking - mostly with small groups of 6 to 10 - again, we laid out our itinerary in France, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico - in Mexico we had a friend who had friends [actually the folks who worked for him when they were in the states to get money - in the mountains of Mexico there is no money and very little need for money - however to buy land or add to their herd they need money] The area where they lived in a straw roofed adobe hut where we witnessed incredible scenery is located southwest of Creel which is a well known hiking destination that we avoided - we had family-prepared homemade-food and hiked with one of the men from the village along with his 11 year old son who handled the two Burros that carried our supplies. In Europe we hiked from Hut to Hut and met all sorts of wonderful folks from all over Europe who were also sleeping in the huts.

None of this was costly - the only expense was on the cooking trip that I had to work at putting together the funds. The other trips were very affordable - as a registered Girl Scout I stayed in London at the Baden Powell House for a song etc etc. With my experiences my suggestion is to pick a theme and follow it - I see having a theme is the way to  meet more everyday folks - and the out-of-doors is grand all over the US - New England has several hiking trails including the northern third of the Appalachian Trail that runs from Georgia to Maine - to spend a day on a trail would really give you a feel for the land where you have decided to visit.

In Maine there is a school where  you can spend a week hand making a wooden canoe - there are several small school that teach you how to sail - and if you do decide to do a southern visit the Campbell school in the Blue Ridge of North Carolina has wonderful craft classes - some for only a day.

Some links to further the possibilities...
http://www.northernnewengland.com/hiking/index.shtml

http://www.a1trails.com/hiking/hk_clne.html

http://www.trails.com/stateactivity.aspx?area=10071

http://www.thewoodenboatschool.com/

http://www.offshoresailing.com/locations/new-york-area.aspx

http://www.startsailing.com/

http://www.juilliard.edu/admissions/visiting.html  - this would be a fabulous opportunity for your daughter with her gifted voice.

http://www.antiquing.com/oldhomes.htm

http://www.visitconnecticut.com/current_category.129/companies_list.html

http://tinyurl.com/2det5d3  New England authors and links to other interests.

http://www.nyc-visitor-discounts.com/

https://www.folkschool.org/  In case you want to travel in the mid-south

I lived on City Island, for a few years when I was a child - my youngest sister went back and has a house there where she splits her time for her job half of each week from her home in Corolla North Carolina. And my sister Kate, just younger than I am lives in Newburg New York - Last I visited was abut 8 years ago however, if you would like ideas my younger sister is great for all the hidden museums and restaurants in New York - when my daughter took the two boys to NYC for Ty's sixteenth birthday Elizabeth found such wonders they still talk about that trip. If you would like some tips I will be glad to email to you her email address. She has a great blog that for the life of me I cannot find - it would be perfect - she is in Corolla now and her communications is down - In about tw weeks she will be back in NY and I will get her blog URL and post it in whatever discussion I find your name Rosemary.

I've really enjoyed this month of sharing - I too hate to see it end - Thanks Joan P for preparing this discussion . - the links to the stories were lovely however, it appears we had much to say about our own lives and did not do the stories justice with a good chin wag analyzing the story line or characters -  my favorite is still Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales. that man can do things with words that still amaze - and our own in-house Christmas recipe booklet will be our 2010 memory.

It became a daily visit that I will miss however I am delighted to know better all of  you - Sally yes, during the Bluebonnet season we must make plans for at least lunch and Callie I am not sure when but this year I would love to drive up and see the museums with you -  hope you are feeling better.

Toodles for now, wishing y'all a meaningful New Year. Hoping for you that 2011 becomes a lovely memory in years to come.

[CallieOK]

Barb, I look forward to having you come.

Loved reading about your "themed" travels.  I didn't get to an International one but I have been to 9 Elderhostels around the USA.  I picked ones with themes that had to do with local history and culture.

[kiwilady]

Rosemary- my daughter loved Edinburgh. She also went on to Stirling Castle ( our surname is Stirling and my late husbands ancestor was an armour bearer to King James) It was winter when she was in Scotland and it was snowing. At the inn near Stirling where she stayed the staff and guests were very enthusiastic about her Surname.

My cousins live in Cambuslang in Glasgow. My grandmother lived around the corner from the house where my cousins live. I have a photo of the house. It was really moving to see the photo of my dear old grannys girlhood home.

Carolyn

[Steph]

I love the idea of themes and travel . MDH and I did this, but not quite so extensively. First of all, I have been to John Campbell, probably a dozen times for various classes. The experience is quite unique. I love it.. Next.. In Kentucky , there is a restored Shaker Community, Pleasant Hill, you can stay in the community and be part of th e activities and enjoy the wonderful food and the peace and harmony.. We built Miniature doll houses and so used that as a theme in many cities in the US and England. Visited some truly magnificent doll houses.. and some shops that everything was hand made and glorious..
So yes Themes work. As a genealogist, there are so many many places in the US to pursue your ancestors, not that
Rosemary would have ancestors in the US..

[JoanP]

"I will be sorry to see this discussion end--seems like a learned a little more about each of you." Sally

I  think we'll all agree to do the same thing next December, Sally.  It was such fun! I have enjoyed all of your posts - Such a warm -  and varied discussion!  I had wanted to be here more frequently, but so many family emergencies arose mid way through, I was unable to keep up as planned. All grandbabies are healthy now and back to school, son back home in London - and life goes on.

Thank all of you for making the Holiday Open House such an inviting place - especially Barbara  who seems to celebrate every single Christmas tradition there ever was.  Thank you! Thank you, everyone!  We'll archive that discussion tomorrow evening.  Jan.6 - the Twelfth Day of Christmas, "Kings' Day" - this seems a natural date for closing the Holiday discussion, don't you think?  Do you do anything to mark the occassion?  We do.  I'm off to back the KIngs'  cake with the hidden coin right now...

Happy New Year to all of you.  Still haven't started to put those resolutions in motion!

[Babi]

Thanks to you, JOAN & ANNIE, for putting it all together and inviting us to
join you.  It's been a pleasure.

[Steph]

My younger son was born on January 6th and so The Feast of the Three Kings has always been quite special in our house.. He is 47 today which seems impossible. What happened to the cuddly noisy little baby.. Sigh.