Monday Morning Maddie

Monday, September 30, 2013




Shoot! Were my eyes closed? I think my eyes were closed.

Secondhand Sunday

Sunday, September 29, 2013

I'm basically too lazy to think of anything new to say so I'm re-posting a "vintage" entry.

If you aren't in the mood for repeats, please feel free to change the channel.


"I WANT MY INNOCENCE BACK!"

Original Post Date, December 16, 2010 



I have a love/hate thing going with the internet.

Let me give you an example.

The year was 1975. I was 9 years old and a card carrying member of the Bay City Rollers Fan Club. Oh, yes I was...

I was on the newsletter mailing list.

I knew when all the guys birthdays were.

AND I wore my tartan scarf re-ligiously.

I remember running home from school to watch the Rollers on The Mike Douglas Show. Mike asked them how they chose their name and they said that they stuck a pin in a map of the United States and named it after that city.

Bay City, Michigan

Only Derek pronounced it Bay City, MiCHigan instead of Mishigan. My mother laughed but I yelled at her and told her that they were from Scotland so there was no way they could know the right way to say it. I think she slapped me.

But the stinging went away when I heard them sing:






For some reason, this song has been going through my head all week. I was looking for it on YouTube when I came across VH1's Behind the Music about the Bay City Rollers and decided to watch it.

Big mistake.

I want to remember them as fresh faced young boys who wore ridiculous outfits and couldn't move on stage to save their lives.

I want to remember dancing around my bedroom while kissing Erik Faulkner's face on the cover of Tiger Beat.


Isn't he dreammmmyyy?

I want to remember thinking that the drummer looked like a little kid banging on pots and pans.

I do NOT want to know about all the fighting over money.

I do NOT want to know that their manager when to prison for underaged sexual offenses with boys.

I do NOT want to know that the drummer, Derek, was charged with child pornography.

Alcohol and drug problems? Make it stop!!

I just want to go back to when my teenage heart (okay my 9 year old heart) pined over her future love. Is that too much to ask?




AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Saturday, September 28, 2013

That's beagle speak for, "I met my Kickstarter funding goal!"

And I want to thank each and every one of you for helping me get the word out about this project. I'm so excited that I can get it published!

Maddie and Millie are over the moon with excitement! Sophie is speechless.

You're NOT hired

Friday, September 27, 2013

I left my stressful full time hospital administration position in May and my plan was to spend a month or so recovering from that madness before I started to look for a part-time position. I wanted to dive into my freelance writing career and supplement it with a part-time job and my eBay store.
 
My first interview was the week after I left the hospital and while I was thrilled that they called, inside I was screaming, "No! I'm not ready to go back yet!"
 
It turned out that the 20 hour a week job that was advertised was really 30 hours a week with no benefits. I felt my eyes glaze over and I started making a grocery list in my head when the HR manager offered this info in the interview. I did all the wrong things to make sure I wasn't chosen. I acted ambivalent about the job and didn't follow up with a thank you email or letter. The exact things that would have struck someone off my list when I was a hiring manager.
 
The beginning of July brought "the Vinny incident" so I spent about three weeks in July feeling guilty and sad about that and so, didn't look for part-time work. I started looking again in August and it feels like no one wants me. I'm applying for positions that in reality, I'm over qualified for but at this time in my life, I want a job that is stress free and "fun", not something I have to do to survive. Is that so much to ask?
 
I thought I had found the perfect match when I saw an ad for a Dog Walker. Really?? Oh my gosh, what a no-brainer this is.



I walk four dogs every day! I love dogs! I'm the perfect candidate. I had a long conversation with the company owner and he basically led me to believe that I had the job but wanted to meet in person first. I figured that as long as I didn't show up with an "I hate dogs" T-shirt, I was a shoo-in!
 
And then I got the "thank you, but no thank you" email. Wha??? I even went to my interview with him the day my sister went to the emergency room which I thought showed him my dedication to keeping an appointment. I hope one of the dogs bites him.
 
I'm tempted to just send a cover letter stating that I'm a bored housewife looking to get out of the house for a few hours a week.
 
I knew I shoulda been a stripper.

Send Frankie to Hollywood

Thursday, September 26, 2013

This guy rocks the weather!




Frankie needs to go to Hollywood.

Kickstarter update

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Okay, guys, we're at 51% with only 9 days to go. I've seen other projects come through in the 11th hour, so I'm hopeful that this one will, too!

The biggest challenge has been securing the illustrator but I chose someone this week so that's one less worry. I had set my budget for up to $1000, which apparently is not a lot of money in the illustrating world. The less I have to pay an illustrator, the more books I can publish and donate.

As with any project that is posted, you get a wide variety of responses from $300 all the way up to $3000. Um, my budget is up to $1000, how do you think I can pay you $3000? Someone even suggested that I shorten the book so I could pay them their fee.

I posted the project on the same site that I have my profile posted to do freelance writing and I know that I get frustrated by people who think a 500 word article can be written for $5. So, I get it, I really do. You want to be paid what you're worth. And if I could pay people more, I would. But in this circumstance, I can't.

I've chosen Jay Schwartz, a super talented artist from New York. His quote is within my budget and he really believes in the cause, too. In fact, his family has an adult beagle mix that they adopted from a shelter. Way to go, Jay!

He's currently working on an image of our dog that I can post on my project in the next few days.

Please help me continue getting the word out. We can do it!!

Here's the link.

Thank you!
Chrissy
xoxo

Monday Morning Sophie and Dino

Monday, September 23, 2013

I'm not a big fan of dog parks because I can't be certain that the dogs there have been properly vaccinated and I don't know if they're aggressive or not. All it takes is one distracted owner and chaos can ensue. Just in case you think I'm an alarmist, the worst happened to a girl I used to work with.
 
She took her tiny, aging Chihuahua to the dog park and in a split second, a large dog lunged at her dog's neck and killed her. I know, worst case scenario but I would rather not take my chances.
 
The weather was so beautiful the other day that I decided to take Sophie and Dino to the dog park in the middle of the day. I would have taken Millie, too, but I didn't want to leave Maddie home alone.
 
We got there and we were the only ones at the park. It was perfect! The two of them could run around and play and I didn't have to worry. I even emptied out the water dishes and gave them fresh water.
 
Here's a snippet of our time there. Listen to how Sophie's voice is HUGE compared to her little body and how Dino sounds like a little old man.
 
 

Secondhand Sunday

Sunday, September 22, 2013

I'm basically too lazy to think of anything new to say so I'm re-posting a "vintage" entry.

If you aren't in the mood for repeats, please feel free to change the channel.


"CAN I BORROW THAT RAINBOW FLAG?"

Original Post Date, April 8, 2009



I got an email from my friend, Kara, yesterday. She sent me two pictures of a handsome guy with the note, This is someone I used to know that I've been in touch with again. Not sure where it's going...

No big deal, you say, these things happen all the time.

Yes....Only Kara has been seeing someone for over a year and they just moved in together, blending their children into one big happy family.

And Kara is gay.

Or is she? She's been in relationships with men before, but since I met her two years ago, she's only dated women.

Maybe I should think about switching teams, too, if it's that easy.

I mean, we've all experimented. Right, girls?

Who hasn't kissed a girl when you're shitfaced and drunk on the dance floor and all the guys are staring at you?

And who hasn't strapped one on and rode their college roommate until she screamed for you to stop? No? Really??

My friends probably wouldn't be too surprised if I introduced them to my new girlfriend, especially since they've had to deal with my "girl crushes" over the years.

My first love was Kim Basinger in 9 1/2 Weeks. It was 1986 and she played an art gallery assistant who has a chance meeting with a wealthy man that leads her into this wildly erotic and controlling relationship.

They were both so gorgeous, I didn't know which one of them to look at on the screen. I was in awe of how beautiful she was and I couldn't figure out if I wanted to be with her or if I just wanted to be her.

Then came Baywatch and my girl Pam Anderson. Kim who? The bigger the hair and the trashier she looked, the better. My birthday gifts were easy in those years because they usually involved a video of Pam and later, Tommy, in some state of undress.

As you can see, I have a penchant for blondes but I really just thought it was a passing phase when seeing Kim or Pam no longer stirred those emotions in me.

And then I saw Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie. I realized that it wasn't that I no longer had latent homosexual tendencies. It was that I wasn't attracted to aging starlets. I likes 'em young!

But Angie having all those babies and adopting her own UN Council is a turn off so she's dead to me.

And, of course, these little fantasies are fun but I'm all talk and I would never go through with it. Just in case.
 
Can I borrow that rainbow flag, please?

C Cleveland - Bigfoot in Ohio?

Saturday, September 21, 2013

I love "unexplained phenomena". And it looks like we might have one here in Cleveland. Okay, well not exactly Cleveland but not too far away in Ashtabula.



 Is Bigfoot living in Ohio?

According to the Bigfoot research group (yes, that's what I said), there have been just over 200 sightings of a so-called Bigfoot like creature in various Ohio counties. The county that I live in has logged ZERO. That's good to know since I do have an affinity to wearing black and hiking in the woods. That would be embarrassing, huh?
  
The latest incident was on Labor Day weekend when a woman and her husband were both in separate rooms of their house and they felt a huge banging on an outside wall of their house. They didn't see anything but were unsettled by the sound as they've experienced annual sightings around their home for a number of years.
 
The first incident was about five years ago when her husband was walking the family dog. As they walked along on a quiet night, he heard a loud rumbling sound that turned into a growl unlike anything he had ever heard before. After a series of these sound occurrences, they caught their first glimpse of Bigfoot as they were crossing train tracks at dusk. Ahead of them in the distance was a large black figure that ran across the tracks and into the woods. The couple reports that the figure is seen and heard (mostly heard) every late summer and fall as if it's passing through the area.
  
They photographed this exceptionally large footprint in their yard that they can't identify. The area is popular with hunters because of the abundance of deer and turkey. There's even the occasional black bear sighting but this print has toes, not claws, and measures 7" wide.

You may think the couple might just be making this up for their 15 minutes of fame but others have seen and heard Bigfoot as well in Ohio. Some have dubbed him "Ohio Grassman."


Here's an eyewitness account:
 
"I was simply driving east on Route 90, I had just passed the Lake County/Ashtabula County border and I was looking around as I usually do and I look over at this wood line hoping to see some deer or turkey and to my surprise there was what looked to be a Bigfoot walking through the woods about 100 yards from the roadway. 
 
At first I thought I was imagining things but other drivers slowed to look as well. It was about 3:10 p.m. and the weather was partly cloudy, the temp was about 33 degrees and there was a dusting of snow on the ground. The Bigfoot was tall about 9-11 feet if I had to guess and it had broad shoulders and it was brownish grey in color. It was walking east then turned south toward the Grand River. I told others about this and some think I'm crazy and others believe me. I do hope to see it again, I was amazed yet unsettled at the same time."
 
There's even a farmer who claims that a family of Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) live on his property. He says he can hear them following him when he hikes and that he and his children have seen and heard them regularly. He hesitates to say too much because he respects them and wants them to be able to live a normal life and not be exploited.
 
 
Hmmm.....I can appreciate that. Sounds like another furry creature that was kept sheltered and protected from the masses.

You're becoming a woman

Friday, September 20, 2013

An old woman, that is.
 
Remember when you were 11 and your mother told you that your body would start changing and that you would experience weird and wonderful things? Fast forward 37 years and replace "wonderful" with horrifying.
 
I've always prided myself in being able to read the teeny tiny print on anything. While people were lamenting that they couldn't see what it said, I would snatch whatever "it" was out of their hands and proudly proclaim the contents. Poor sap. I can't believe they can't read that.
 
Behold the poor sap.

 
 
Yep. I bought my first pair of reading glasses this week. Last year when I went in for my annual eye exam, the doctor suggested progressive lenses. That's the new catch phrase that they give 40-somethings to make bifocals seem hip. I wasn't buying it.
 
"No, thanks. Don't think we're quite there yet.", I said, inwardly wondering where I could find a compact size magnifying glass to keep in my purse.
 
I lost the magnifying glass so I decided it was time to get the glasses. They're only a 1.00 which is the lowest magnification so I don't feel too bad.
 
Oh, wait, yes I do.
 
Now I can't make fun of my sister for  squinting or peeking over her glasses to read the menu. And did I mention she's thinner than me now?

Gosh, karma really IS a bitch.
 

Monday Morning Chrissy

Monday, September 16, 2013

Only 17 days to go on my Kickstarter and I'm feeling a little stressed. I started out strong but it seems the momentum has all but stopped.
 
I've gotten great feedback from the animal organizations that I have asked to help promote it through social media but most don't want to set that precedent. Disappointing but I understand.
 
I would appreciate any help you guys can give me to get the word out. I really want to make this project a success.
 
Thank you!
 

Secondhand Sunday

Sunday, September 15, 2013

I'm basically too lazy to think of anything new to say so I'm re-posting a "vintage" entry.

If you aren't in the mood for repeats, please feel free to change the channel.


"ONE RINGY DINGY"

Original Post Date, August 8, 2009



I needed to call Home Depot a few days ago. I reached for the phone to call information and I thought, Why waste the money to call 411 when I can just look it up in a phone book?

I went into the kitchen to get one and I pulled out the first one in a pile of phone books that were in the drawer.

Here we go. White pages in front, yellow in the back. I checked the white pages first.




H.....H-A......H-E.....H-O.....Hmm...no Home Depot.

Guess I'll check the yellow pages in the back.

Hardware Store....nope

Home Improvement....nope

What the heck? What else could it be under?

Paint? nope

Lumber? nope

Okay, I wasn't going to find it there so I pulled out the next phone book.

This one was yellow pages in the front, white in the back.



Again, I checked the white first.

H......H-A......H-E......H-O......nuthin'.

I flipped it shut to check out the title. Maybe I was looking at a residential book. Nope. "Greater Cleveland Business Listings."

I opened it again but this time to the yellow pages in the front.

Hardware store....nope

Home improvement....yes! Home Depot! But there was only one listed and this one was 35 minutes away. My Home Depot is 3 miles up the road.

I flipped it shut again to see if I was looking at a westside book. I live on the eastside. Nope. "Greater-Cleveland-Business-Listings."

Well, it wasn't in there so I pulled out the next book. "Heights area and Surrounding Communities." That's me! I'm Heights Area and Surrounding Communities. Jackpot!

This one was all white pages. Easy enough.

H....Hanson....Herman....Heisley....wait a minute! These were all proper names. I closed the book to check the cover.

"Heights Area and Surrounding Communities
Residential Listings
"

Son of a bitch!

I threw the phone book on the floor and pulled the next one out, titled "The Real Yellow Pages." Well, it's about damn time.

I was feeling confident so I started with the yellow pages instead of the alphabetical white ones this time. I had luck with Home Improvement before so that was where I began.

H....H-A.....H-E.....H-O....Home Improvement. Home Depot! And there were lots of them.

Mmmmm....not my store....not my store....closer, but no.....nope.....where's that?....nope.

Son of a bitch!

It had to be in there somewhere. These were "The REAL Yellow Pages!"

H.....H-A....Hardware....Home Depot! There were a few more listed so mine must be here.

Mmmmmm....nope, not me.....no....is that still open?.....nope....

Son of a bitch!

I took ALL of the phone books out and threw them on the floor.



I couldn't take it anymore. What happened to TWO phone books? One residential and one business? Why can't I find a goddamn phone number??

I broke down.


"Information? What number, please?"

"Oh God, I can't remember. Let me call you back."

C Cleveland - Great Geauga County Fair

Saturday, September 14, 2013

The Cleveland National Air Show is a Labor Day Tradition and for the last 6 years, I would get to watch the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds or the U.S. Navy Blue Angels doing practice runs from my office window. This year, not only was I not in my office anymore but there wouldn't have been any practice runs to see anyway. Sadly, the air show was cancelled because federal budget cuts grounded all military participation which is a huge crowd draw.

With nothing to do that weekend, I decided to head to the Great Geauga County Fair. Don't make the mistake of calling it the Geauga County Fair. That would be like saying Bowl Sunday instead of Super Bowl Sunday.

The Great Geauga County Fair has the distinction of being the oldest continuous county fair in Ohio with the first being held some 190 years ago. Yes, 1-9-0. How wild is that? Here's a pic from fair days of old.

 
 
I love carnivals and fairs and THE FOOD! Although, calling some of it food is questionable. See, exhibit A:
 

The elephant ear, AKA fried dough. It was about 12" long so it didn't even fit in the photo. Pretty simple recipe. Take a piece of dough, fry it, spread butter all over it and then sprinkle it with powdered sugar.

You might not want to wear black while you're eating this. I looked like I had been caught in a snowstorm by the time I was done. And, yes, I ate the whole thing.

For as much as I love fairs, I have never been to a county fair before. City and church carnivals, but never a county fair. I had no idea what I had been missing! There were 12,000 exhibits, over 2,000 animals, rides, music, games, tractor pulls. What didn't it have?



I went with my friend Michelle, her granddaughter and her 16 year old son. Since 16 year olds would rather not hang out with Mom and her friend, he wandered off ensuring us that he had his cell phone with him so we could coordinate when we wanted to leave.

This was our "shuttle" from the parking lot (grass) to the gate.


First stop. The pony rides!

 
So many animals.


Butterfly, the Appaloosa Alpaca
 


Brad Pitt, the fawn male Alpaca


Yorkshire, the piglet
 

No wonder she thinks his tractor's sexy. It's so biiig!
 
 
 

This sign should go on my back.
 
After 3 hours of fun, frivolity and food, we decided it was time to head home. Michelle tried calling Justin but had to leave a message. And then another. And another. And another. I tried calling from my phone. Voice mail. Over and over. Michelle was starting to panic and caught the attention of a woman passing by.
 
"There's no cell phone service out here."
 
Greeeeeeeat. We were out in the boonies, in the middle of 12,000 exhibits, over 2,000 animals, rides, music, games and tractor pulls. How were we going to find a 16 year old boy??
 
We went to the volunteer fire department but they were no help and suggested we go over to the "guy in the booth" to see if he could do an overhead page. He took off his hat and let out a deep sigh. When he started talking, he revealed a mouth full of missing teeth.
 
"I've been doing this for 40 years and every year I tell people, pick a spot where y'all going to meet so that no one gets lost."
 
No shit, Sherlock. Hindsight is 20/20. Apparently, losing a 16 year old boy at a fair is not an emergency. We asked everyone if they had seen him.


Have you seen Justin?
 
 Somehow, by the grace of God and tractors, we found him.

I saved the best for last. This was definitely the highlight of our trip. The pig races! They race for an Oreo cookie. You can hear me laughing at the end.

 
Promise you'll go with me next year! 


One year!

Thursday, September 12, 2013

You all know what a miserable failure I am with sticking to my 12-step program "Petfinder Anonymous".  I just can't help going on there and looking at all the babies who need new homes.
 
I did this about a year ago and I saw this picture of a 10 year old dog named Maggie.


Not sure what I was thinking when I got in my car to make the 25 minute drive to Rescue Village , the rescue where I got Bernie back in 2007. I was just going to see her. I really had no intention of adopting her. I already had Millie and Dino and they were more than enough work. You can catch up on what happened with that plan here. Oh and her name was Maddie, not Maggie.
 
The rest, as they say, is history. She was in such sad shape that I figured I would be able to give her a loving home for a few months until it was time to say goodbye. Well, here we are a year later and Miss Maddie is going strong! She turned 11 a few weeks ago.
 
 
 
I really think that being with the other dogs combined with proper medical care and diet have given this girl a new lease on life. I had her on some meds for her arthritis but they were affecting her liver so now she just takes a joint supplement and for the most part, does pretty well. Her spirit is amazing and everyone who meets her falls in love. I wouldn't give her up for anything, even though she did almost blind me
 
 
Love you, Mads!
 

Thank God that's over

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Last week started out great. I posted my Kickstarter project on Tuesday and I was already getting great feedback on it. Then my sister called on Wednesday and asked me if I could bring her some nausea medicine because she had an abscessed tooth and the antibiotics the doctor gave her weren't working.
 
I stopped over a little while later and she looked  awful. Her face was totally swollen and she wasn't able to eat. She said she looked much better than the day before so God knows what she looked like then. I told her that she should call her doctor but, stubborn girl that she is, she refused. Then I threatened to call her friend, Lisa, who's a doctor and she just got mad. I really thought she should go to the emergency room but she's so damn stubborn that she refused. I went home and called her later and she said that she had gotten a hold of her friend and she had prescribed her some anti-nausea medicine and a stronger antibiotic. She said she was feeling better already. She SAID.
 
The next day she called and said that she thought she should go to an urgent care. You guys...when I got there, she could barely stand up and she was really confused. She kept stalling and I threatened to call 911 but was finally able to wrestle her stubborn butt into the car. I, on the other hand, am on a first name basis with my paramedics from all the times I've called 911.
 
Long story, short, she was completely dehydrated and hadn't eaten in 4 days. She ended up being in the hospital for four days because they couldn't get her stabilized.
 
I was on bird duty. This is Waldo.
 
 
 
 
And dog duty. This is Stewie.
 
 
 
I could leave Waldo in her cage overnight but Stewie had to come home with me. I was really proud of the dogs for how well they got along with him and even let him sleep in the bed with us.
 
Until the third night.
 
Maddie has a habit of body slamming you when she shifts positions overnight and she must have bumped Stewie. It startled him so he growled which made Maddie go into full attack mode at 4AM. Yes, my sweet, crippled Maddie turns into Cujo. I had my arm around her trying to pull her off him as I reached to turn on the light. Who was sitting at the top of the doggy steps getting a front row show when the light came on?
 
Vinny.
 
It was the funniest thing. He just sat there watching the action. Dino, of course, had his head buried under the covers. "I didn't hear anything. I didn't see anything. I don't know anything."
 
Lisa came home yesterday. I had no phone, internet or TV service because when the installer was hooking up my neighbor, he flipped the switch and disconnected all of my services. I had no service from Saturday afternoon to Monday afternoon. AHHHHHHH!!
 
But I'm back now. Did you miss me?
 

Really? It's Thursday?

Thursday, September 5, 2013

I'm beginning to wonder if the freelance lifestyle is for me. Sometimes I wake up and I have NO clue what day it is. I think and I think but I just don't know!


It's a good thing I found this website to help me out.
 



Kick me. Hard

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

You guys I'm SO excited about my latest project! I just launched a Kickstarter campaign. For those of you who aren't familiar with Kickstarter, it's a crowd funding website where creative people (inventors, artists, authors, photographers) can go to seek funding for their projects.
 
You all know how much I love (am obsessed with) my dogs. While puppies are adorable, I'm a huge advocate of adopting senior dogs who are much harder to place in new homes. People have a misconception that the dog will be sick or have emotional issues or something like that. And some may actually have one or both of those issues but the majority just ended up in a shelter because of an unfortunate circumstance.
 
Mine have a lot of life left in them as I can attest to by the fact that they can drive me crazy! But I wouldn't have it any other way. I didn't have to deal with all the "puppy stuff" and I knew the temperament I was getting each time with a more mature dog.
 
So all that said, I wrote a children's book about the joy of adopting a senior dog. I want to donate this book to shelters and rescue organizations to use in their outreach efforts to support the adoption of senior dogs. And, of course, I'll have it available for sale on a dedicated website.
 
I wanted to share it with you here and ask that you donate if you can and please help to spread the word about the book and the cause we're looking to promote. The way Kickstarter works is that you need to reach your funding goal to receive the money and if you don't, you get nothing.
 
 Zip. Zilch. Nada.
 
So if I come up one dollar short, I'm outta luck.
 
This is the link to my Kickstarter project. I titled the book, He Chose Me, because as any dog owner can attest, the dogs usually choose us.
 
 
Thank you in advance for your support!
 
Chrissy
xoxo

I see the light

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

You know how much I love estate sales, flea markets and resale shops because you just never know what you'll find. I just discovered a resale shop a few months ago that is run by the National Council of Jewish Women. Their inventory is all from donations and they get some of the coolest vintage stuff! They're only open Thursday, Friday and Saturday so I try to head out a couple times a month to see what treasures I can find.

My new obsession is vintage lamps. I keep buying lamps that I plan to resell but the longer they sit on eBay or Etsy, the more I fall in love with them. Here a few of my latest.

This is a mid-century Hollywood Regency torchiere style lamp made by Stiffel. It looks like it belongs in Hedy Lamarr's living room, doesn't it? SO glam!




This one is a porcelain figural lamp that features a little girl getting water from a well.


But my favorite find this week is this Cleveland Plain Dealer (our local paper) dated January 12, 1931! It came with a certificate of authenticity and a vinyl jacket with the name of the person who owned the copy. 

It's one thing to read articles on the computer from 1931 but another to gaze at the actual newsaper from that year. There were already pieces of the edges crumbling off so I wasn't sure that I should take it out but my curiosity won out. Here are some of my favorite items that I think you'll enjoy.

The jacket and certificate of authenticity


I never did find the article on Mrs. Hart

Bowl of soup for a nickel

A car as low as $195. And that's not PER month. Houses? As low as $5000.

They converted these into condos and I had a few friends over the years who lived there.

 Here's how it looks today. They never painted the outside a different color. 

This is the lobby today. I love that they didn't modernize it. 

Vinny didn't understand the historical significance of what he was walking on. 

They separated the help wanted ads into male and female. I like the meat cutting one. "Steady job. People must eat."

An ad for my beloved Higbee's Department store that closed and now houses a casino. 


There were lots of ads for dry cleaners, loan companies and luggage stores. Everyone seemed to be heading to Florida!

Is it just me or are these prices awfully high??

I hope you enjoyed this trip into the past as much as I did.

Monday Morning Dino

Monday, September 2, 2013






"So I said, 'Well, sure, there's a hole in the grass but you have no proof that I did it.' You see what I'm sayin' here, Margie?"

Secondhand Sunday

Sunday, September 1, 2013



I'm basically too lazy to think of anything new to say so I'm re-posting a "vintage" entry.

If you aren't in the mood for repeats, please feel free to change the channel.


"LOOKIN' GOOD!"

Original Post Date, February 10, 2010




I've been battling a cold for about a week and when I got home last night, I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up three hours later and then, of course, was unable to get back to sleep so I did a little Facebook surfing.

A click here and a click there brought me to Hannah's new baby. What a beauty!



Then I compared little Marcus' pictures from this past Christmas to Christmas 2008. Gosh, he sure has grown!


Grandpa Dale isn't looking too good but he seems really happy visiting with all the grandchildren.



Marne and Jack's candid wedding shots are great! Wow, Nick took these? I'm impressed.




Then I thought to myself, Who the hell are these people and why am I looking at their pictures?!

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