Black Friday - Part 2 (I'm not that Scrooge-like)

Christmas is an odd amalgamation of feelings. The holiday decorations and twinkling lights are all very pretty, and there's supposedly Peace on Earth - Good Will Toward Man, and yet . . . . . When we pulled into the mall, there was a $5.00 sur-charge to park ground level. Christmas spirit . . . I think not. It was just the mall share holders soaking us for a little more cash.
Sales were everywhere, but were they real? I once told my brother that what sales REALLY are is jacking up the price then slashing it down so the customer FEELS he got a deal. I think what the mall were doing was price cutting their winter stock, which they needed to do anyway. Sales personal were non-existent and yet people were spending like there was no tomorrow. Bing Crosby was crooning his all time best selling song White Christmas over the mall's sound system, and if you paid St. Nick a couple bucks you could have your child's photo taken with the man in red. BUT is it really about the birth of Christ. . . . I think not. I think its about getting caught up in the euphoria of a shopping. It's the "Gotta that personal a gift" insanity that comes with this holiday period. It's the endless subliminal priming we get with the non-stop Christmas music, which I am already tired of hearing, and the twinkling lights on every street corner and in every window, be it a bagel shop or shoe store. I wonder if Christmas would have ever survived as the holiday it is today if the merchandising industries were removed from the picture . . . I think not.
Baa Humbug . . . And happy holidays, and to all a good new year.

Black Friday - Part 1

I really tried to fend of the impulse to participate in Black Firday. I don't want to brave irate parking lots filled with shoppers chomping on the bit to spend spend spend. I don't want to try and find my size in understaffed mall department stores, but I couldn't do it. I will go out and navigate my way through Macy's, Target and all the others in an attempt to save money. I hate that the peer pressure has worked and that I have weakened, but what can I do, a sale IS a sale.

Airport Scanner Protest

We are on the verge of the Thanksgiving travel rush. We all want to get home and sit with family and friends, so what is all this hoop-d-doo about being scanned? Have we forgotten that they bombed the twin towers? Have we forgotten that they've tried to smuggle bombs onto planes in shoes and underwear. If I were traveling, which I'm not and some jerk held up the line, just to be obnoxious and I missed my flight home - WOW, would I have something to say.
I have the answer . . . . For all those that don't want to be scanned or x-rayed, we'll set aside a special airplane just for you. You get on that plane and I wish you well . . . you and Johnny bomber. But don't you complain when all hell breaks loose and you hit the ground quick.
No one likes the travel situation we have, but thank you lunatic bombers, our world has forever changed . . . for the worse.

A Christmas tree virgin . . . . NO MORE!

Today, I helped trim my first Christmas tree! So what you say . . . well it was my very first one. I am a Jew, married to a man from Israel, so a lovely smelling Christmas tree is out of the question. Christmas has always been one of those holidays I coveted. Channukah, which is the miracle of lights, was fine but come on, Christmas with the tree and the decorations and wreaths is pretty spectacular. And if you could remove the religious overtones and the buying frenzy, it would be a neat holiday for everyone. Back to my inaugural tree trimming experience. Two friends and I are writing a children s book and we are participating in a Christmas tree Boy's & Girl's Club of America charity event. For anyone who has not decorated a tree, let me tell you that to make the tree spectacular and professional looking is no simple task. We didn't simply toss strands of tinsel and call it a day, OH NO. In fact there was no tinsel on our tree at all. Garland, filler - consisting of silk poinsettias, glittered picture frames and ornaments of every size covered almost every inch and branch of our tree. The ornaments were a fabulous assortment of gold, red and green, and came in a variety of shapes and designs. We had to be so careful to make sure that it was balanced and there were no large spaces of emptiness. We couldn't have too many of the identical bulbs hanging, lest it be boring and the small figurines were difficult to hang so, and don't tell anyone this, we wired them using their necks as the anchoring spot. After a few hours, I wandered around the hall which housed a plethora of yet-to-be auctioned trees and I have to admit ours was one of 3 of the best there. So for my very first tree, I'd say I did pretty darn good, but it helped that the other two knew exactly what to do. Thanks Nora/Daryle Ann for making my first experience such a lovely one!

Family Vacations

My husband hit the big 6 ohhhhhhh, and in addition to an impromptu birthday party, the family went up to Big Bear Mountain for the weekend. The cabin was small, but charming and it fronted a duck and coot filled azure blue lake. I don't know about the kids, who are all grown up, but I had a wonderful time. Cooking blueberry pancakes, learning how to jump and strike in a game of Wii, and playing Boggle . . . my favorite board game, which my son beat me with the word 'rosin'..., might sound trite, but it was complete bliss. When the kids were young, I was so frightened that one day they would no longer want to travel with their old, out of touch parents, but time after time, they surprise me. Everything about them surprises me. They are intelligent, self assured, confident persons in their own right, but then they still love their Mom's vegetable soup and pancakes. The world might be going to hell in a handbag, but my family rocks!

Hitting the big 6 -Ohhhhhhhhhhh

Today my husband hit the 60 year old milestone. Thank god I have a few years left. Think back to when we were in our teens and early 20's. Sixty years old might as well have been 100. Persons of that age were: Over the hill . . . At the end of the line . . . Older than sin . . . Too old for words . . . Ready to die. Now that I am an eye blink away from sixty, the number no longer feels the same to me. I look at my husband, and he doesn't seem THAT old. While my brain feels 30ish, I can't deny that my body continuously shouts from the rooftop: "Hey, you are getting old!" Adventures are now tame by comparison. Excursions, even if left relatively unplanned, have perimeters of order and safety to them. When did this happen? When did we crest out of the "Anything goes" state? I don't know, but I do know that as they say in the old musical - Bye Bye Birdie, we got a lot of living to do. Happy Birthday to my man!

Husbands are difficult

My husband is celebrating the big 6 0 this month, and knowing him, as I do, I began planning a fabulous birthday party for him back in January. I designed a special bingo set with cute little words that described him. I put together a wonderful movie-ish slide show about his life, and I started decorating the house.
THEN he told me "I don't want a party."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"I'm sure."
Like a dummy . . . I believed him. I planned a nice intimate dinner at one of his favorite eateries, for family only, and we were good to go. UNTIL yesterday.
"I have decided to invite a few more people." The word few more people doubled the guest list to 40. In my world 40 is a party.
Switching the party back to my house wasn't possible, because after being told there wasn't going to be a party at our house, I slacked off thinking we had plenty of time and no reason to rush. His favorite eatery can't accommodate 40 on his exact birthday, and the other locations he would be willing to eat at, don't have television sets, so they can't play the slide show I made for him.
Why are husbands so difficult? Why did I listen to him? When will I learn - husbands don't mean what they say!

Elections . . . Schmections

So the elections are finally over . . . yeah! No more commercials slamming this person or that. A blissful end to the lies about what the initiative what they meant or don't mean. It's over and the winners have won and we the public are stuck with them. I am a pessimist, and sadly know in my heart that it won't really matter who is in the government. Politicians are not there to help us, they are there to make connections and have their palms greased. We had a democratic majority with a democratic president and nothing special happened. We also once had the republicans in power, and still nothing really happened except our economy tanked and we all suffered and continue to. I guess in two years, when nothing good happens, we'll have another election, and as long as Palin is nowhere to be seen I'll be ok, and I'll vote yet again, and have nothing happen . . . . yet again.

Anticipation of a great movie H.P.

In my opinion most movies, as well as a majority of television shows aren't worth the cost of admission or the time to watch them. BUT everyone once in a while there is such a movie that I MUST go to see . . . and I must do so on opening day. Harry Potter, Part 1 of the 2 part finale, is such a movie. Here is a movie that stars actors who never remove their clothes, never bump and grind in some dirty alley, where there is constant action, good versus evil and a wonderful secret world that exists simultaneously with ours, without our knowledge. Don't get me wrong, I love a good "R" rated movie, but films like this particular franchise are wonderful. There were the movies about that Hobbit fellow . . . I liked it, and I know many of you found it superior to Harry Potter, but you're wrong. While they were both written for children, the Hobbit movies had long and glorious (IF YOU WERE A MAN) fight sequences. I enjoyed those for 5 - 10 minutes, but come on, 25 minutes? On November 19th, I will be sitting center stage in a movie theater, knowing it was worth the wait.