The Fork War

A few years back, I was really into collecting antique china and silver. It didn't have to match; that's what makes it interesting.

I fell in love with Occupied Japan and couldn't get enough of it. So, I collected, and collected; as much as I could find. Ebay was a great source.
After I had collected enough china, I began looking at silver. Forks, knives, spoons, demitasse, butter knives, ladles, muffineers, napkin rings.... You name it, I had to have it. And it HAD to be silver.

One day, I found some forks. They were beautiful, they were silver, and they were mine! (At least in my mind they were mine!) They were all I needed to complete my set, allowing me to be able have 12 dinner guests. I could feel them in my hands. I could see them on my table!

I put my bid in. I waited. I watched. No competition.
The last day of the auction, still no bids, and I had to leave the house, something I never do on the last day of an auction. I felt confident that I would be eating with my new forks later that week.

When I returned and checked the auction, someone else had bid against me and stole my forks! I was so disappointed! But for some strange reason, I was calm! Later, I would learn why.
At the time, ebay allowed users to use their email addresses as bidder names. I noticed that the thief winning bidder had an AOL address. I don't know what possessed me but, I immediately added the name to my AIM list and IMed her/him (?).

"I had to leave the house today," I said, "or those forks would be mine!"

Holding my breath, I waited for the response. I really expected to be ignored or worse; get a nasty response. Instead, I got the old, "LOL"!

So, I responded with some other witty retort and ended up having a nice, long conversation with a really nice lady who, it turned out, lives a little more than an hour from me! We continued to have conversations for days, then weeks, months....

It has been years now (I can't even remember how many) and we still laugh about the forks. Things happen. Life interferes. Children get married, grandchildren are born, loved ones pass on, houses are sold, spouses get sick. But we continue to be Internet friends. We laugh about the forks. We exchange birthday, anniversary, and Christmas cards. We laugh about the forks. We exchange confidences. We laugh about the forks. Someday we will meet.

"Kevmeema" is one of the best friends that I have never met! Sometimes, it takes being a loser to become a winner!

I survived the NY Subway!

Wow! The kid's first day of school took a lot out of me. I needed a week to recover. Ok, 2 weeks.

On Monday, I took Big Daddy to see a Yankee's game. The Yankees are his favorite team; Mickey Mantle, his idol. So, when he mentioned that he was sad that he had never actually seen them play, I decided to buy us some tickets and journey to the Bronx before the stadium came tumbling down.

He was so excited to be going to see his team play; I was excited to be going into Manhattan for lunch!

Ok, so I amthe typical tourist; shoot me! Oh never mind, by the looks of this picture, somebody already did!

We took the NJTransit from Hamilton, into Penn Station. Then we went up to the street to walk around a bit and have some lunch before descending into the dark hole known (to me, anyway) as the New York Subway.

The trip wasn't as bad as I had imagined, even though I had to stand and hang on for dear life; swinging and swaying like a pole dancer. When we ascended the stairs, the street was alive with tourists and Yankees fans, all taking pictures of the new stadium. There it was in all it's glory.

The new Yankees Stadium

We wandered around under the train tracks, looking at t-shirt shops, hat shops....Big Daddy didn't want one of "those" hats; he wanted one from inside!

So whatever Big Daddy wants, Big Daddy gets...

Um, no, you cannot have a hat like Mickey Rivers'.Outside the stadium, somebody painted on a wall in a parking lot. This shot shows Mickey Mantle (L) and Joe DiMaggio (R)Here's the whole gang:

Inside the stadium, here's another gang:

Yup, this is as close as we got to Monument Park. They only allow so many people through there at each game! How fair is that? :::note sarcasm::: Before the game started, I took a bunch of pictures and I will not even attempt to tell you who these guys are but if you are a baseball fan, Big Daddy said you would know.

FOUL BALL!!

This guy comes in, late, toting a bag and a toddler. Who takes a 3 year old to a ballgame?!Oh, perhaps when the 3 year old is a huge fan? This kid was so excited, he almost lost his PB&J! He was my favorite part of the game.Some of the Yankees fans are crazy! You'd never catch Philadelphia fans doing anything like this!

Hmmph! The Phillies will disagree!

Kindergarten!

Today was The Kid's first day at Kindergarten! He was all set since he had already gone to pre-school last year. He loved it then and he loves it, still!

While waiting for the bus, the neighbor came by with his company vehicle. The kids loved it!
Saying goodbye to Mom.
Here comes the bus!
7 hours later; home from a hard day at the office.

Another fun day with THE KID

I have been wanting to go to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire for a few years now and when I got the email about Children's Weekend, I thought, "Yeah, 2 birds; one stone".

Whoa! People actually come dressed like gypsies, maidens, wenches, etc (body parts busting from their garb, and all...makes for a hard time hiding the tatoos!). Whole families. I couldn't help but feel sorry for some of the children who's moms dressed these poor little darlings in velvet and leather clothing in the sweltering August heat! What the heck is wrong with people?

We were first met by some really tall guys.

Then there were some pretty ladies.

Gotta love these outfits: The Kid had more fun than The PopPop on the swinging boat!

But they both had fun on the elephant! $15!?!?!?!?!?!???? WHAT?????

Ok, so this kid was cute:

The horses were a big hit. Yeah, I was there, too....making sand art (woohoo!).
In any event, The Kid had fun that day but The PopPop sure was beat when it was over.

God, I love having this kid all to ourselves!

36 years ago, today

As I sit on my back porch enjoying my morning cup of tea, I am reflecting over the past 36 years.

August 26, 1972 wasn't as cool as it is today, in fact, it was an ungodly hot and humid day that year. Hurricane Agnes had left a mark on many that year.

My DH's best man was unable to make it to the wedding because of the devastation done to his family's home (as well as those of everyone else in the town of Wilkes Barre, PA.)

When I woke up that morning, I was excited, as any bride would be on her wedding day. The sun was out and shining brightly. As the morning progressed, it became a little overcast but I wasn't even concerned. We came home from getting our hair done and I began the challenge of "getting beautified". In those days, I was still in full makeup mode at all times (false eyelashes included) but today, it had to be even more special. I remember coming from the bathroom to show everyone my makeup and I noticed that the drapes had been drawn closed in my room. When I asked why, I was told that the sun was shining in so brightly that the girls couldn't see to fix their own faces. Little did I know at the time, that my dutiful 'maids' thought they were protecting me from the ugly truth outside; It was pouring buckets!
Little did they know that I couldn't have cared less! It was my wedding day and nothing could spoil it. Nothing else mattered. OMG! Look at those dresses!

When the photographer finished with the family shots inside the house, we opened the door to leave and the rain had slowed to a drizzle. Barely noticeable drops were few and far between.

By the time I settled into the back seat of (now here is one of those times I warned you about; when you become jealous of my fabulous life) our friend's brand new black Grand Prix, the sky opened up again, and poured all the way to the church.

When I reached the church, the rain slowed enough to get inside after which it began storming once again!

Then it happened; a thunderbolt so loud and so close that the electric went out in the church which meant....no music! Horrors! My organist was a friend and he was so disappointed. Luckily, my mother's friend jumped up and ran to the piano and saved the day. Or so she thought. I held out hope that the lights would come back on and my friend could play. We waited as long as we could and finally, started the procession for the girls. Just as I reached the doors, the lights came back on and the organ started up again! The ceremony went on while the sun shone through the stained glass windows of the sanctuary. It was beautiful!

The rain held out for the receiving line and throwing of the rice (which I subsequently picked from my hair for 2 days!). While we were inside doing some more pictures, the rain came, but only long enough for the pictures and then it stopped again while we were in the car going to the reception.

Once inside the (Washington Crossing) Inn, I didn't care any more!

The night was wonderful and at the end, you could hardly even tell it had rained at all!
So, I guess it's true what they say; "Rain and sunshune on your wedding day is lucky!"

Wow! Have we changed much?

Swirl, Baby!

I have been really busy this week; thus the reason for my slacking, again!

This group of ladies I know have been busy preparing a "care package" for one of our own.

T was on vacation and went into pre-term labor. Within hours, Baby T was welcomed into the world. Her weight was 2lbs 10oz and she was 14 inches and her gestational age was 28 weeks 3 days!

BabyT was flown to Cooper University Hospital's NICU where she remained for 18 days. While we were preparing the package, Baby T stabilized and was transferred to a hospital closer to her home; a good sign that things are progressing nicely. This news was a good thing in more ways than one. Mom and Dad live about 45 minutes away.

Anyway, I decided to contribute some handmade, custom baby items. I looked up the nursery registry and tried to "copy" the bedding as best I could. What do you think?

There is an "inside joke" that I wanted to capture as well:

I have one more thing to finish before I wrap this project up and mail it off so I am going to get to it!

Strange day in the city

Today I had to go into the city to dispute a parking ticket. No problem.

I asked my friend to go with me so we could do a little shopping and have lunch on Rittenhouse Square. Good idea.

Well, at the parking authority office, we had to go through the same kind of security that you go through at the airport. (We (tried) to make a joke about where our plane was loading and where we were going but the "security guard" had no sense of humor.) I was told it would be an hour before I had my turn so we decided to head over to Reading Terminal Market for a cup of tea. My friend went to tell the security man who then asked her if either of us had any vaseline in our "big bags"! Why would anyone ask such a question? It seems he had a big sore on his lip and I didn't even want to know about it. Talk about being 'skeeved out'! I couldn't even look in his direction on my way out. When we came back, my friend went around the corner to a dollar store while I went back inside to wait my turn (which I had missed). When I came out from my hearing (which I won hands down), the security man was standing at the door with some white cream around his lips! My friend got him some antibacterial cream at the Dollar Store! I left, still unable to look him in the face!

We headed on down the the center of town and did a little shopping along the way. I got some great things on sale but that's another day!

So, we went to have lunch at the newest Stephen Starr restaurant, Parc. In case you live under a rock and never get out, Stephen Starr is the number one restaurateur in our "City of Brotherly Love". We worked our way through the crowd that was gathering, to the hostess and told her which seat we wanted; up front and with the best view of the Square. While we dined al fresco, I daydreamed of years ago, when I would come to visit my aunt who lived on the 19th floor of 1900 Rittenhouse, and sharing lunch at the Art Alliance, when ladies still wore hats & gloves, and membership was required.

Our lunch was excellent and we enjoyed everything about it (including the cute waiter who we both wanted to adopt). While we were looking over the dessert menu, my friend began giggling. When I asked what was so funny, she nodded toward the ladies having lunch behind me. We had just commented on how "put together" they looked with their outfits and accessories when she noticed one of the women's ultimate accessory; a long stream of toilet paper hanging from below her jacket, obviously tucked into the waistband of her skirt. (Did I mention that these ladies were well into their golden years?) The longer she looked, the more my friend giggled as the paper began blowing in the breeze. Every time someone walked by, the paper waved at us like a muleta; the red cape that a matador flaps at the bull to draw its attention.

I couldn't let her just sit there like that! So I went over to tell her, but I just couldn't bring myself to touch it! She tried to reach back to find it but couldn't. So, she sat there (I think she thought I was lying to her) and finished her lunch all the while, that TP was flapping in the breeze!

Then it happened! She got up and started walking to the ladies' room! There it was, hanging in all its glory; that stream of TP. Her lunch companion looked horrified and she caught the eye of the gentleman (and I DO mean gentleman) seated next to them. He saw what she was looking at and he jumped from his seat and plucked the elusive TP from the lady's back and made it disappear like magic! Chivalry is not dead!

As we left the restaurant, I stopped at their table and told them to enjoy the rest of their day! I'm sure they did! As did I.

Ok, so I am not the nice person you thought I was; The devil made me do it!