I HAVE A PROBLEM



 I thought twice before picking this picture to use for my blog. Not because my two older sons are featured, but because of the "BOOKS" you can see.
If your thinking ,"she has a lot of books", your correct. Not only do I have a lot of books, but I have a lot of magazines.

In fact I have an overwhelming amount of books. Upstairs in my office/computer room, I have 4 bookshelves filled. Downstairs, as in this picture, I have one more bookcase like this, and two larger ones on each side of the fireplace.

My problem is,  I can't throw a book away. Even though bags of books went to the library, there are still more, many more, and some that no one would be interested in but me. It is hard for me to choose. Sometimes I become a child in play, going, enie, meanie, myni, mo, catch a tiger by the toe", you get the drift." which ever book my finger lands on, that is the one to go. I love all that I have, if I didn't, I would not have saved them.

Like all lovers of books, I love to browse in a bookstore. I could spend hours just looking. but, if  I see an interesting book or magazine, I buy it.  My husband says -"Why do you go into a bookstore, when you have so many?"  "Ah," I answered, "It would be like you going into a hobby shop, you just intend to look, but then find something you want to buy."

My books became a pain in the arse whenever I asked my husband to paint the living room. I looked at it as a day project.
 I didn't think it would be much of a problem at all. I was so wrong!
As always when my darling husband starts a project that should be easy, he makes it difficult. I should of remembered this, being married to him for 49 years and 4 months. (hm, I wonder if I am to type the words forty nine and four or leave them the way I have them?)
He is putting up crown moulding, plus he decided that the two large bookcases on each side of the fireplace will be replaced by the two little ones. He said "Books are overtaking our home",  you have to do something about this collection. 

All because I asked him to paint our living room - sigh. Oh, by the way, in case your wondering, he does not allowed me to paint.

We have a small home, I thought it was huge when we first built it. In fact we did not have enough furniture to fill it.  But, we have a small dining room and our living room is long and narrow, while our kitchen is a gallery kitchen. We don't have a family room downstairs, just the computer room upstairs. We have lived here since 1971 and raised our four sons here, but through the years, I have accumulated so much "stuff". 
ILast year I finally packed away my collection of McCoys, except for a few. I packed away all my lighthouses, except for a couple, and my tea pots.
Truly, I should just give them away or sell them, they are no use to me being packed away, I can't enjoy looking at them. I doubt if any of my sons would want them.

BUT! Today is the day!  I have heard the saying," if you haven't put on clothing in a year then get rid of it." I do that with no problem. But today this is what I intend to do with my books and magazines. I have been awake and at work since 6:30 this morning weeding through reading material upstairs in the office. So far I have three grocery bags full of magazines.

These are educational magazines on writing, and I kept them because of all the useful information they contain.  I haven't looked at them for over a year, so they are not very useful just taking up space in my bookcase.
The books on cancer were much more difficult to toss. I had to take my time and look through them to see if they were a keeper. I did toss some, but kept more then I tossed. I know some people who have had cancer throw away everything that reminds them of that time. I am not one that can do that, those magazines were a lifesaver at the time.

I have a long way to go, and I have to make a lot of room, so that the books I save from downstairs have a shelve home upstairs.

Now, I am taking a break. I'm downstairs with a hot cup of tea, and instead of playing games on my iPhone, I'm typing this. When I'm done, I will continue the process of elimination.  What would really be nice is for someone to come in and do it for me. In this way I would not have to pick the ones to stay or the ones to go.

Less is more, I know, and I am striving towards that today. Wish me luck.

IS YOUR STOMACH IN KNOTS?

 I play the radio a lot when I am home. I always have. I like to listen to 1320 AM. They play easy listening along with some of my type of oldies, and I put the radio on in the car to listen to music when I am driving.

Last Friday I had to be in Lower Burrell by 9am and in Fox Chapel by 10am. I was in Lower Burrell for about 25 minutes, that left me 35 minutes to get to my  meeting in Fox Chapel. It would be almost impossible to be on time.

 My stomach was in knots while I was driving, I kept hitting every single red light, or a back up of traffic, I was stopped at a red light, when on the radio came the theme song from the movie, "The High and The Mighty." No singing, just beautiful orchestrated music.

Without any thought, I felt myself relaxing, I could actually feel myself unwind and I let the music wash over me.
It's amazing what music, any type, can do to a person's frame of mind. This song was just what I needed. It calmed me down and I slowed down my speed, knowing it would be hard to get there on time. But, I actually reached Fox Chapel and the meeting on time. They didn't even start!

Back in the day, when my sons were growing up I use to listen to Jack Boget when he was the disc jockey on KDKA radio. I loved listening to his stories and his music. He now works for 1320 Am. I still find his voice soothing and his stories interesting.
 
Around Thanksgiving I kept an ear out  for him to play "There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays, by Perry Como. It was a song for Thanksgiving, and also Christmas. When I heard this play I would get all warm and fuzzy inside knowing that our family's would be together.

The Thanksgiving holiday focused on Thanksgiving. Sure, we would have candles in our windows, but we would have decorations for Thanksgiving up, not Christmas decorations like most people do today.

The exciting things most people did that day was to watch the Thanksgiving parade on television. We would make sure the boys would see Santa arrive in the parade before we would leave for home, or we would leave for home early enough for them to watch it on TV there. The other excitement was the football games played on TV. The guys would be all gathered around the tube watching the game, yelling if something went good or hollering if something didn't go the way they wanted.

The kids would play flag football outside if the weather was nice, or with their cars and trucks inside if it was to cold. 
The women? Guess where they were? Yes, your right. In the kitchen with all the dirty dishes and clean up. It was fun though, because the women all pitched in and talked about different things while cleaning up. With everyone talking it went fast.

My parents and my husband's lived an hour traveling time from Springdale, but they only lived 15 minutes away from each other.  We would pack up all four boys, diaper bags, toys and drive to my parents home first. They always had dinner around 1 o'clock. My grandmother, aunts and uncles would be there to share in the feast.

All to soon it would be time to go, but, oops, we were late for dinner at my in-laws. We were to be there at 5. Even though we started to get ready at 4:30, by time we had everyone dressed, and packed up toys, etc., it was almost 5. Thank goodness my husband's parents understood, because they always waited for us before they started to eat. We had to force ourselves to eat, because we were still full from the first meal.

In previous years Thanksgiving was celebrated by itself, not thrown in during Halloween or squeezed in with Christmas.

In my opinion, it is a sad state of affairs to see Thanksgiving being pushed by the way side. Really a turn off when you go into stores, and along side the Halloween decorations they have Christmas decorations. Then the Thanksgiving decorations are squeezed in beside the overpowering Christmas decorations.

Not only that, but the stores are open! Oh yes, they entice the people to the stores with large advertising on TV, and in the newspapers about their sales. People end up fighting and falling over each other so they get the so called "big buys".

What will the future hold for celebrating Thanksgiving?  Will our children treat it as just another Sunday meal, if they still have Sunday meals?
Will they be flying to the moon to celebrate? Or ,by some chance will they realize what a wonderful holiday Thanksgiving is and celebrate it like it should be?

What do you think?

this home is where I grew up from 5yrs til the day I married at the age of 20 in 1963.

A Cup of Soup and Love

When I was ill as a child, my mom would make special dishes to ease my stomach and entice me to eat.

 Of course the one thing she would always make was home made Chicken Noodle Soup.  The chicken breasts would go into a large pot of water and left to boil. Mom would skim off the fat when it would rise to the top of the pot.
 
Once the chicken was done, she would use a large slotted spoon to take the chicken out to cool and then pulled all of the meat off. 
While the chicken cooled, the carrots, celery, onion, plus seasonings would be added to the broth, then the chicken. 
It would simmer on the stove and pastina would be added at the end.
The  flavorful smell filled the house, making your taste buds water. Even if you were not sick, you still wanted to have a bowl of that scrumptious soup.

One of the most unusual soft meals made for me was a 3 minute egg and 2 slices of dry toast. The toast was broken up into small pieces and the egg and toast mixed together. It tasted delicious.
My mom also made jello with bananas. I would drink water, tea and gingerale. Depending on what was wrong with me determined if I would get ice cream or not.

Back in the 50tys, home made eggnogs were a popular drink. My mom didn't think twice about using eggs to make it. The way my mom made them was so delicious. Here is the recipe:
 She used milk, two raw eggs beaten until foamy, along with vanilla and sugar. This would make about 2 glasses. I always wanted to have one, and my mom would let me make my own. I can still remember standing by the kitchen table and using the egg beater.
I use to make them for my sons when they were younger.Today I don't make them, because I don't trust the eggs. I do miss drinking them though.

When my sons were sick, I would get a sheet and cover the couch with it, a fresh pillow case on the pillow and a nice snugly blanket. They would lie there till bed time. This way  I could keep an eye on them. They could watch television if they wanted or just sleep. In those days, we had one television. Not like today, where there is one in every room. I gave them a little bell to ring if they needed me.
I would make them the toast and eggs when they were ill, and yes, of course Chicken Soup. I made jello with bananas for them also. I bought them Juicy Juice to drink and gingerale. Back in the day, Juicy Juice didn't exist.

 I know now my mom made all of this with love. The cool washcloth she would lay on my forhead when I ran a fever. The spunge bath she would give me, serving me the food on a tray.

I know I took it for granted,  I should of gave an extra hug or kiss, said thank you for making the good dishes so I would feel better. For making my bed on the couch, and for covering me up with a special blanket. I remember feeling safe and secure, like nothing would happen to me because my mom was taking such good care of me.  

What do you remember about your mom doing when you were ill as a child?

A RUSH OF EMOTION

Have you ever felt a rush of emotion engulf you?  It happens to me quite often.
 Like this morning, I was listening to the radio while driving, and the song, "Puff the Magic Dragon" came on. I immediately felt this rush of love for my brother in law and his son, Suren. At first I could not put my finger on it, but then I realized I was feeling happiness for both of them having each other. All because of hearing a song.

One time, not to long ago, the song  "The Marvelous Little Toy" was playing on the radio, and hearing it, this melancholy feeling of love for my husband and sons came over me, as  I remembered back to Christmas's of long ago, when my husband would sing this song to our 4 sons.

Some music inspire me to pray, I pray fervently all because of a beautiful melody."Why Me Lord" - Sunday Morning Coming Down" are just a few.

When I hear polka's,  I have to admit to feeling sad, because of all the wonderful times spent with my family on Sundays past.I remember the good times we had at our Italian weddings, and  I can see in my mind everyone at my parents home, sitting at the round Formica table, extra chairs put around so everyone could fit. Talking and laughing about one thing or another. Sometimes my dad and uncles would start singing to the polkas, or just start singing. Remember " Tic ,TicTic, Tock Goes the Clock on the Wall?"
Or how about, "I Don't Want Her You Can Have Her, She's to Fat for Me?"?

 "Always" was my mom and dad's song from the forties. the words are beautiful. I had songs for my sons. songs like, " I Can't Smile Without You," " You Light Up My Life"--,"You Belong To Me",  :One Moment in Time", -  "Desiree " was, and still is our song, and as the years past, we added "Through The Years".   For my first grandchild I always sang to her ,"You Are My Sunshine" and "I love You a Bushel and a Peck" , so then it became the songs I sang for all 7 of them.

Songs do strange things to me, usually good things. I always feel better when I am playing music. Music inspires me. I clean better, I bake better, I do everything better.  I don't mean all types of music. I am into Country, Easy Listening, Oldies, George Strait and Neil Diamond. When these sounds fill my home, I am happy. 

Music has always been a huge part of my life. My parents played music on the radio daily when I was growing up. My dad was a great singer, and I married a guy who plays musical instruments and to me has a great voice. Dancing was right up there with the music, they go hand in hand, and we love to dance. We never won a dance contest together, but we each won separately with other partners.

My husband wrote the song and music for our first born son, "On September 5th". Sometimes we still start singing it.
 He also wrote a polka for me called "The Dolores Polka".  

The boys got involved early on  in their lives with music, playing instruments, listening to music, and dancing. 
A Dad and His Lads music group was formed when the boys were young. They played for the high school, churches, at Christmas events, and today still play together, they are now known as "The Family Tradition Band". They play for fund raisers, parties, birthdays and for themselves.

If your wondering what my part is in all of this, I can tell you that I am one proud wife and mom. I am not a singer, nor do I remember how to play the piano, except for one song. Heart and Soul, that is the extent of it. I sit back and enjoy my family when they are performing.
How does music affect your life?