Total hip replacement countdown: 1 month

The bad news: We were bumped to Jan. 3 for the hubs' hip surgery due to the hospital's busy schedule. (Apparently, there's an end-of-the-year last-minute rush for ORs.) The good news: He'll be up and running (well, more like limping along slowly) for the holidays. Beyond stopping certain medications and supplements on a timetable, there's not much prep required....except for the post-op exercise plan. Treadmills are out. Ellipticals, too. So, we're shopping for a stationery bike.  I'm looking at the Schwinn AD6, seen above, and wondering how far the price will go down right before New Year's Day. This will require more research. Anyone have any experience with pricing/buying exercise equipment before making your annual resolutions?

Careful, people. I could get crafty!

This used to be an expensive wool sweater purchased for me in the early 90s by my family. I loved that sweater but I wore it only a few times due to its tendency to make me sweat like a sailor in all but the coldest weather. Eventually, it went out of style and became too big for me. Still, I could never bear to give it away. Inspired by the felted goods for sale at Bizarre Bazaar last weekend, I dug it out, felted it (by sending it through the washer/dryer in hot water/air....twice), then cut and sewed to make this cozy Santa Fe style pillow for the living room. I even made boot toppers with the sleeves!

Not these, but like these.

I'm bursting with pride, I tell ya, and scanning the closet for more old wool sweaters. If you have any hanging around, send 'em my way.

Happy decorating day!

I stole this from a friend's Facebook post because a) I hadn't posted anything here for a while; 2) it made me laugh: and c) I'm so busy getting decorated and polishing off the turkey, I can't keep my letters and numbers straight.  Here's to three weeks of low-carb eating again!

Happy Thanksgivukkah!

I

I wanted to be Jewish ever since I saw "Fiddler of the Roof" my sophomore year in high school. (Ask me to sing any song from that movie and I'll still know it, word for word.) Man, those people knew how to celebrate - the weddings, the receptions, the Sabbath prayers - even when the going got really, really rough. Now, I find out they get a double holiday this year as Hanukkah happens to fall on Thanksgiving! What can I do to sign up, Short Jewish Gal? (My kingdom for a pumpkin-cranberry kugel or chocolate beet rugelach!) Happy holiday(s) to all - Jew, and Gentile! Let the calorie consumption begin!

Wanted: World's warmest gloves

OK, I get it now. Quite suddenly, I understand why people of advanced age turn the heat up full blast or move to Florida in the winter. And to think I used to silently mock my mother-in-law while I was sweating buckets in her overheated apartment. I'm sorry, MawMaw. I was too young to feel your pain. Fingers being so cold they actually hurt, toes that won't warm up in a 70-degree house without two pairs of fleece socks and sheepskin-lined slippers. I get it now. It's our circulation, isn't it? It ain't what it used to be. It hit me like a ton of ice on my traditional Thanksgiving Eve walk through campus. Admittedly, I was a bit under-dressed for the weather (forgot a hat, but wore fleece jacket and chenille gloves) but, by the time I got home, I was in agony! I used to prefer winter to summer, big time. But now, the prospect of three months in the deep freeze leaves me... sorry, I gotta say it....cold. I'm not ready to be a snowbird and I'm not a fan of Florida, necessarily. (Now, a month in New Orleans I could get into!) So, in the meantime, I'm in search of the best, warmest pair of gloves I can find. All suggestions welcome.

Getting down to Black Friday business

First of all, I will not shop on Thanksgiving. No how, no way, ne-VAH. I loathe the very idea of it. Shame, shame, shame, Macy's! Tut-tut, Target! Booooo, Best Buy! Woe to you, Wal-mart! 

    But, I will not judge. If someone wants to spend the holiday doing this...

who am I to say it's wrong...and completely insane? What I will do is participate in Black Friday. The last two years, I have had to work because, as the downtown director, I was solely responsible for Santa's arrival in my fair city. That, my friends, makes for a stressful day.

OK, maybe I had a little help from Fire and Rescue.

Now, since I'm retired and because my husband's hip surgery is moving up to mid-December, I'm jumping into the Black Friday fray and then again on Small Business Saturday. I'm developing my strategy now. Friday: "Bizarre Bazaar" crafts show at the arts center, 40% off everything sale at the garden center, then home to make Turkey Mulligatawny soup. (Can't overdo it on the first day.) Saturday: Support the small businesses by hitting three or four of my favorite shops downtown, then home to make turkey chili and decorate for Christmas.

   Then again, I may spend the whole weekend in my pj's.

Scattered pictures, meet Flip-Pal!

This is one of countless boxes of old photos containing memories dating back to the late 60's. There are four or five photo albums and a few scrapbooks floating around, too. Plus, all the pictures in frames on the walls and various tables. Not to mention all the great vintage family photos in my mom's house. I've been meaning to convert those images to digital for the last ten years, but my old scanner leaves much to be desired and takes up too much desktop space to keep out all the time.

That's why I'm tickled pink that a review sample of the  Flip-Pal mobile scanner is on its way to my house. Battery powered, the color flatbed scanner features a patented flip-and-scan technology that allows for scanning photos in place without removing them from an album or frame. This saves you time and the frustration of dismantling picture frames, only to break the glass and...well, maybe that's just me.

 

Flip-Pal is continuing its support of the National Breast Cancer Foundation by offering a $20 discount on its Pink Bundle—Flip-Pal scanner, commemorative scanner lid and pink carrying case. As a second-year sponsor, Flip-Pal donates 10% of the purchase price to the foundation in support of early detection programs. So, you can support a good cause AND save those precious memories for posterity!

 

Simply go here to order. Once the pink bundle is placed in the shopping cart, just enter the code "pink5" to get the discount. This offer is good through Nov. 28.

Have Crockpot, will travel

My 80-year-old mother still insists on hosting Thanksgiving (she's got the largest dining room) so I've volunteered to bring one of two turkeys, a pan of stuffing, sweet potatoes and plenty of Pinot Noir. With everyone schlepping dishes from near and far, the insane "rush to reheat" minutes before the meal is served is inevitable. Piping hot pans being rotated in and out of ovens by wine-slugging women in a crowded kitchen....it's downright dangerous, I tell ya! That's why, this year, I'm bringing my sweet potatoes, as seen on Rachel Ray, in my Crockpot. They'll cook all day, then I'll simply unplug the thing, put the whole shebang in the car, and plug it in when I get to Mom's. Why didn't I think of this 30 years ago?

To be young in the Big Apple

Except for the year he lived in New Zealand, my son has never been away from home on Thanksgiving. This year, he'll be in Brooklyn with his girlfriend (and future, er, roommate) celebrating the holiday with friends. He'll stay for two weeks, looking for a job and a new apartment for the two of them to share in January. I was getting a little melancholy last night, wondering what Thanksgiving will be like without him moaning loudly in appreciation over my stuffing and sweet potatoes. Then, his girlfriend posted this photo on Instagram:

My first reaction was "Fiddler on the Roof on Ice!" (He didn't have time to get a haircut before the trip.)  Then I thought what a lucky couple of kids. The night before, they sat two tables down from Mike Myers (Wayne's World) at a restaurant. (The texts were hilarious.) AND, we'll get to go visit in the spring!

The day we'll never forget

I was in third grade at St. Ann School but stayed home that day, sick with some kind of childhood bug. My mother had brought the portable TV to my room so I could watch "Queen for a Day," "The Price is Right" and the "Loretta Young Show" which I only watched because it seemed racy. Mom had just brought me her signature "sick day" orangeade on the special bed tray, when a special bulletin came on the air. "President Kennedy has been shot...." I called out for her: "Motherrrr!!" I must have sounded panic-stricken because she ran up the stairs and, together, we watched the tragedy unfold, crying on my little bed. (I didn't realize until today, that she had left my baby brother and sister downstairs, unattended for who knows how long. I'm assuming they were in the playpen.) Although my mother was a Republican, we were Catholic and deeply enamored with JFK and the first family...if not for substance, for style, in my case.  (I was 7. What did I know of politics?) The rest of that day is a blur, as are the days that followed except for the funeral procession and that heartbreaking little salute of John-John's.

I remember being struck that Caroline was my little sister's age and John-John, my other little sister's. It was the first time I think my young brain realized that not everyone gets to live to a ripe old age. And what kind of monster would kill the father of two little kids?
     How do you remember that day?

He had it coming!

Tonight, I will be Lisa Richardson, escort service owner from New York City, who is accused of shooting her former business partner, Judge Paul Tu, in a premeditated ambush. Of course, I did it in self defense. At least, that's what I'm going to try to convince the jurors in my nephew's mock trial at law school. I would do anything for my nephew but I'll admit to being very nervous about tonight's performance.  He said his grade doesn't depend on it but added, "Of course, it's always nice to win." I will be cramming with the depositions all afternoon. In the meantime, what does a supposedly innocent madame wear to court?