30 October, 2011

Ok, I am back from the valley of the shadow of death. Outdoors it is sunny and bright. I almost expect the birds to break forth into song and the lion to lie down with the lamb. No I am not drugged, but that would have been a good guess most of the week. Today, at last, I am actually joining Hope Hall in Paisley. I am not sick, I did not oversleep, and I took into account the time change for the clocks.
I am so happy. I was always proud of Jesus and all he has done for me, but this is his people inviting me to join. I am part of the family so to speak. The people of the rugby club love me and are more than kind, but something in me needs to go to church. I really do get something out of it, even the weeks when I am wishing it wasn't Sunday. Sometimes it is a chore to go because of staying up or out too late the night before.
I am not the only new person, our little church is alive and growing. Also, I am not the most unwell, I am just one of the gang. We worship together, and we learn from each other, and then we get coffee, tea and biscuits!
Is this a perfect group?no, or I would not fit in, it is perfect for me and I have a few ideas where I can be of some use to them. The point is, I can aspire to be more than the tea and coffee lady. I do not have to be alone now unless i want to be.
So if you are free this am at 10:30 please stop by and join us for our celebration. I don't have family here so I will make you welcome.
This IS  the day the Lord has made, we shall rejoice and be glad in it.
Blessings.

Insufferable

I have insomnia and on top of that i can't sleep.
Will accept all remedies and suggestions.
This really is not funny anymore.Help.
This i s so traumatic i didn't even try the chocolate cure.
Blessings.

Pillow Talk

The man of the house had a favorite pillow. We both enjoyed using it, and when i went to bed first, I would snatch it. When he came to bed he would snatch it back. Because he is a good husband, and he wanted me to leave his pillow alone, he bought me an expensive memory foam pillow. Needless to say, I hate it. At first I thought it was just because we had the bug and weren't sleeping well anyway, but over time I have come to realize the pillow is worthless for sleeping.
And oh how i love to sleep. I could sleep for Britain, but not on this pillow.
And with the cold/flu gone, it left me behind a small gift of a cough you would have to hear to believe. So it would appear I have entered the ranks of snoring this week.It is nice to disturb someone elses sleep for awhile. I guess whilst JIm was out sick, someone asked how he could be sick and spend so much time on FB?Let me explain it. Jim would rather be on the computer than breathe. He would not thank me for that, but it is true. It is not just the mindless rugby chat, but he actually googles things he wants to know. He does research for his blog, and some of them (the blogs) would get published if he sent them to Glasgow's papers. He says he is a loose thinker. Nah, he is a loose cannon, but his thoughts are very articulate. By that I mean he has the ability to transfer ideas from inside his head, to paper in a format even I can understand. Not that I agree, but i understand his points.You see anyone can write, but if your reader doesn't understand you, what have you gained? You learnt something you have no way to share, and that's a big heartache if you love words like I do.
So if i get a wee bit discouraged on this blog forgive me. I always have a point, but the delivery is just too stiff sometimes, like the new pillow.
Blessings

Sorry gang this thing in Cumnock

I just do not know what to say, think, or do.
The world is just plain evil, and there is no longer any respect for human life.
People have a right to exist simply because they are born.
I am a marshmallow, but i have always had friends in martial arts, or sports and that helped them channel aggression in positive ways(for the most part).
I have been going crazy trying to think what Jesus would do. I think he would try ot help the family left behind in any way he could. I think he would try to talk to youth about choices and consequences. I think I really have no idea how someone or some ones do this to another. I mean to the point of death.
I am having a quiet day.
Blessings.

The Great and Glorious Rugby is Over !!!!!!!!!!!

Sadly for France it was so close, but New Zealand managed to win the world cup. As the New Zealanders went mental with joy, i couldn't help thinking Wales would now feel vindicated. It was not a "pretty" game they said. Well at times it was almost like ballet to me, and one more penalty kick would have given either team the victory. New Zealand 8 vs France 7 was the score, but that is all itis. It does not convey the 80 minutes of joy and heartbreak that is rugby. It is also ironic that the man of the match was on the losing team. I was so excited that France would win i could not sleep last night, and I ended up being wrong, but only by one point. One measly point.
Anyhoo, the game being on NZ time has wreaked havoc on my weekend sleep patterns. USA Eagles and Scottish  were long gone, but i still had to watch. Rugby transcends nationalities and at its best it is the beautiful mess. It seems like a lot of athlete-people who would never play for their side got in due to so many injuries.In fact one fellow who got in today's world cup final with his first cap. His Momma was so proud i bet.
Now repairs must be made. I must go and rebuild relationships with people from other nationalities i didn't root for. One fellow from Wales was upset how few UK people got behind Wales. This made me laugh because most Americans did not know we had a rugby team. I did not see a lot of support for the Eagles but i didnt care, the point was, we made it to the games and we would happily have taken fourth place if possible.
Yes some referees, being human made mistakes, and some penalties were a bit iffy. No doubt a lot of games would have ended differently  if the kickers had made it between the posts. Kickers turned the game by their lack of prowess at times, there now i have said it.
I know nothing of rugby, but i love it when i do not hate it, kinda like being a Buffalo Bills fan.
Blessings.

The Occupy Movement

Right now many places in America have an occupy movement going,and i think i understand why. All over the world people are reaching out for freedom. Within this economy one has little they are risking or have to lose. The part that upsets me is police officers some sworn to protect and to serve, carrying guns in a crowd that is unarmed. I am not too naive to realize guns are everywhere in America, but i remember my Dad saying twenty years ago we needed to go to DC and take America back. I though the was a kook then, but now i wonder. My Dad loved America, bu the saw the constitution being ripped out from under citizens it was written to protect.
Big money will always have power, but if my Joe Citizen doesnt hold the government to account hey will feel they wear bulletproof briefs, and the lack of respect for Americans by their government is appalling. Obama is far form our greatest problem, but if they keep us focused on non-issues they can pay off their great debt on the backs of the American people.
Protest is such an integral part of how we formed America to be, and now they want to limit how many citizens can assemble at one time?
The question becomes for me not is the occupation movement dangerous, but what took it so long? Iti s better to be angry than docile couch potatoes. Make some noise. Let your government be reminded who works for whom.
Or if not, accept like sheep what happens next.
Your choice.
But don't just sit there bleating.
Blessings.

Paltalk posting

First of all , I do not hate Pal talk. It is an on-line chat forum and I have met many people who also use it. In fact, I married one of them. For the most part people can be who they wish to be, and a few brave people are like me, always the same, warts and all. I have only had one nic, Toodleloo, and it is the only one i have needed for about ten years now. My Uncle Jerry gave me that nic, and i love it.
I was totally dismayed in a room claiming to be christian in nature, while every kind of blasphemy and nonsense is touted. I found myself literally typing count to ten as people started saying all manner of evils falsely against people they hardly know. I could feel some of them getting under my collar, and i was not best pleased. I respect the title of President,and I do not feel a need to lie about Obama because times are tough. It does not make me a proponent of abortion or gay marriage. It makes me respect the mans title. Now that bush has been cleft out of the white house I have no problem him going to jail for war crimes. He should share a cell with Cheney, Tony Blair and many tea party whelps like Sarah Palin. Tony finding religion does not forgive all he has done or abetted.
Now, although many assume they know, i am happy to tell you my position on these topics. First of all, I come from a place where God loves everyone he created.I also believe whilst there is breath you can repent. Even Hitler, Bush and Judas Iscariot. Sadly, two of them are no longer breathing so i hope in their last seconds they called out to God.
I do not feel it is a sin to be tempted to do anything. Even murder. It is a sin to do the sin. Now if you have murder in your heart that is an issue that must be dealt with, but he temptation is not the sin. Jesus was tempted in all ways as we were. That means lust, power, greed, pride all the big ones we struggle with.    Having said that, many times we have done these things in our past. I have recently been told that today many kids experiment with drugs and sex, and that includes both genders. Almost everyone i know did something they would rather their children didnt have to know about. I never had kids so I amused by this, but i don't want to know more about my Mom than i do now.
I do not think abortion is hte unforgivable sin. Here is my solution. My friend Lisa took a young pregnant girl into her home.Trust me, Lisa had enough chaos on her own in her home. If you believe something is wrong you can't just sit like a couch potato and saay "shame on you". Rather than counsel the girl to abort the baby, she took her in and made the way for her baby to be born. Now the mom has left and Lisa has another mouth to feed. See, sometimes doing the right thing has consequences. All Lisa says is, "I always wanted a girl". Lisa will love and raise this child knowing the other Mother can show up at any time and change her mind. At least there will be a child to be wanted by two families.
Now the fiery storm that is gay marriage. It is not a sin to be gay. You are not born that way in my opinion, but since i am not gay, I cannot say for sure. It just seems like human bodies were made to reciprocate each other in the making of both love and children. I am happy this is not up to me. I trust god to do the right thing.The fact that i fell in love with Jim and not a Jane or a Jill is just my good fortune. The fact that we could arrange our lives to be together is also good fortune. One hundred years ago, a mixed racial marriage would almost certainly ended up with death for all concerned, and these new honour killings are just as abhorrent to me as two same sex people getting married. Imagine if God killed us every time we rebelled? We certainly would have a lot less over-population. I am not being smug i am just not sure how to be fair and express my true feelings. I have always believed you should not die for who you love, whether that is a man, woman, someone of a different faith or creed or colour or nationality. I am glad I am old, i would not want to raise kids or be dating again in these times.
I almost said the world is going to hell in a hand basket, but that is too trite even for me.
Blessings.

Jim is nigh unto a slow hacking death

About the most grand thing I can say about this cold/flu/terrorist bug that has hit our home is, I got rid of it. Yes I gave it to JIm. I don't mean just shared it as on Facebook, I mean the mighty man of oak has been chopped down in the prime of his life. He is so full of the bug that he has cut way down on his smoking as that requires him to go downstairs and outside. He was so cold yesterday he left his coat on for hours when he climbed back upstairs. He hurts equally, sitting, standing on flat on his back. He is actually taking pills, and the great man rarely takes anything not prescribed.
If there is one thing I know, Jim loves his kids and the people they love, but last night we had to discuss missing a family birthday party so we do not become typhoid Mary types and pass this around the people gathered. He would go despite the pain, but he just doesn't want anyone to feel as rotten as he does now. Now having decided that, he must accept this exciting James Bond theme party we have talked about for weeks is beyond us.
Jim is like my dad was, about work, and if he is not there how can  the show must go on, go on? Jim loves his job even on the hard days, and I am pretty sure he will be out till Monday unless a God he does not believe in intervenes with his miracle. I will keep you posted.
Blessings.

I didn't thin k Stephen Fry could be boring....

I am sorry, he may be the Stephen Hawking of words, but this new series on words is a real sleeper. Today he is sucking the life out of my favorite book, THE BIBLE. My better half has watched it faithfully, so being we share a house, I have to pretend to listen to it as well (secretly I am planning my blog notes).
Anyhoo I eagerly await his next series.
Recently he went to America and took the mickey every chance he got. Billy Connolly took a tour of route 66 and taught me about a lot of America i will never get to see.Billy didn't gloss over weaknesses, he celebrated them. It is a weak comparison, but it gets to the heart of my angst. Stephen doesn't seem to enjoy his topic, and Billy never stopped grinning even with his tongue in his cheek.
That he is a genius there is no doubt, and he can be proud of his brains, but he needs to make what he is excited about interesting to people of less brain power like me. That would be a series.
Blessings.

A sad day for sports, and my friend Dan

Rugby is my husbands religion. Case closed. He spends hours reading up on the new laws and when he could no longer play or ref, he began to manage a local team of people he considers his friends. He really has tried to enjoy this world cup 2011, despite the fact that Scotland tanked out almost as early as America. Yesterday  there was what I can say in the least a controversial call by a referee. Not only did Wales get a red card, but the person was their captain. People are getting furious over this. Perhaps as a captain he should have known better than to make a dangerous tackle.
This is gonna become as tiring as Englands constant  reference to 1966, the last year they felt like men. In sports people are sometimes robbed and sometimes elevated above their talent. Fair play is the goal, but sadly, as long as referees are human, errors may occur in good, well-meaning men. It is done, get over it, move on. Wales will not be stopped by this, but for their fans thisis a unique opportunity to show sportsmanship. Lets see if the players are better at it than rugby fans per se. Life and sports are not totally fair, but we have to live them.
The referee has a parent that is French. I do not know his nationality to be fair. It does not matter in the least. This is not cricket that has been thrown in such disrepute. This is rugby, and we hold it to a higher standard because we can. Those of you who have never made a mistake  at work cast the first stone. I am just thankful this blog is not read by as many people as watched that game. Even though after all these months i have only had 5,000 hits, I have had detractors as well. I have been called everything but a white woman, or patronized as a female thinking above her abilities. LIFE IS NOT FAIR.
FRANCE IS NOW IN THE FINAL. I DO NOT BELIEVE WALES OR FRANCE COULD TAKE AUSTRALIA OR NEW ZEALAND SO IT IS A MOOT POINT OF HONOR.
Many referees like "clownshoes" make errors all the time. He is not fired e is laughed at if he refs for others and cursed if you draw him for your game. But in any case, you play the game. It is a game, and life must be pretty carefree if we can give one game in a series this much ire. In a split second a red card was handed out. it was not a death sentence, Wales threw away their own game when Hook and others could not make kicks work for them, and so even despite this call, the game was lost by Wales.
The referee is always right, even if wrong because he is always human, and we can't second guess every pronouncement they make. We can try to learn form this, maybe adjust dangerous tackle definitions, but if the fellow had severely injured his neck, Mr Warburton would be the first, I know, to regret that decision.   Now this is his chance to lead his team, as their captain into the future, and we all know Wales has a bright one. Wales will rise again, and that will be another game worth watching. The dragon will fight back to many scoffers regret.
Commiserations to all the teams that fought so gallantly and went home.

the river styx

Somewhere in my frantic attempts at education, I ran across the term "the river styx", and i think it had something to do with crossing over into death. If you knew me, you would know no matter what health condition I am in, I say fine, or mustn't grumble if i am in pain. If i take to my bed, as I have since Monday, I think I am dying. Not the good kind where you actually die, but the slow long suffering of a diabetic whose body has given over to infection again.
Yes, I am still referring to my knee, the one i fell on in the beginning of the summer. Now I am waiting, in NHS time, to get further ortho help. The renal consultant through some antibiotics at it, and it helped, so he stopped those. Then he called in an ortho whose advice was to x-ray the area, although the x-ray the day i fell showed no breaks, in fact, i walked into the ambulance. But ok, we got another x-ray, and guess what? nothing is broken.
So now I am on the NHS guest list to get another shot at the ortho who heroically suggested an x-ray. To say I had little confidence in him, but I must go through channels to get help is both truthful and frustrating. It seems these days they treat you until they go above their expertise and then just pass you over. Meanwhile my knee is huge and purple and angry again, and little infections are springing up in places you don't want infected.
I thought dialysis would clear these types of things up, but no such luck, and so in my extreme paranoia i see my leg being chopped at the knee. That would clear the infection, no doubt. SO I am back to my bed. I get up for a drink this am, and was so thankful JIm wasn't nagging me about extra chores while i am ill. Guess why? every room in the house is a tip. I could use some of those hyper-active meerkats just now. I could use a good cry as well, but neither is coming, so the dishwasher is running and the wet clothes are hung, sorry gang, that is me back to bed a few hours.
I worked so hard to get out of the bed and learn to walk again and dress myself, I can't imagine feeling more like a loser than i do today. Thanks for listening, better days are coming.
Blessings.

6 months on

Hello my friends. I have not been blogging for a few days, mostly due to exhaustion. We have been getting up in the middle of the night to watch the rugby, on weekends, and then that led to a short spurt of insomnia. 
My leg has flaired up again, and the x-ray showed nothing. Now it looks like it is climbing outward and upward, in fact in the middle of the night my hip hurt so bad i was afraid i would not be able to walk this morning. I must be able to walk as the computer is not in the bedroom.
So, I apologize to you all. I went to bed at 7 last night and slept through to the alarm. And guess what, I could do another 7 hours i think. In most cases i would say i was just lazy or depressed, but I am really sleeping. Deeply, and while asleep my knee does not hurt as much.
SO off to dialysis I go, and we shall see. We have a rider in my car that is a moaner, so I may take her head off today if she starts. She is the kind of woman, who, when she eventually dies will say, "see I will told you i was sick." In a place where a positive attitude is so important, she is my cross to bear. To hear her speak, she is already on the way out. I hope she doesn't take prisoners.
Blessings.

Boycott Braehead--they need to step up

If you are on Face Book, I am sure you have read about the account of a Father taking a picture of his child eating ice cream. There are no other children in the photos, and a security guard apparently tried to enforce a no photo policy that Braehead has. I myself have never heard of or seen documentation of this policy,  but in this age of paranoia i believe it may exist.
Here is my question. Not, did the security guard (rent-a-cop) over react, of course he did. Not were the police hostile, of course they were. But my main question was, was the real concern over the child? No one seemed to question the child came and left with the parent. The gestapo tactics used i would think were more appropriate for a child abduction. Then, if the authorities were over zealous, better to err on the side of caution.
Now, because we have no idea what rent-a-cop told the police was going on, that could explain some of the hostility as the cop tried to figure out the facts. And the Father could have deleted the photos as asked. But what kind of nation would ask a parent to delete a moment between Father and child? We seem not able to stop truly evil children s pics, but eating ice cream? my golly people are we all going cuckoo?
SO anyway, as far as I can tell there were about 20,ooo FB likes on this issue so far. It is less than 3 months till Christmas. If Braehead is that hostile, there are plenty other places to shop, and for this Christmas I intend to. This is just too silly. Braehead at the very least owes this man a huge apology (the customer is always right!) and perhaps ice cream for a year to the child. One cone a week to restore public faith that Braehead is not just some money-grubbing super conglomerate who forgot for a moment the simple joys of taking a break from shopping to rest and get an ice cream.
Bad on ya, Braehead, shame shame shame.
Blessings.

the end is coming

When my mother calls, if I don't expect the call, I brace myself. Her brothers and sisters are quite old now, in fact she is quite old. The reason she called yesterday was I had forgotten a promise to call her Wednesday after an x-ray. I think I forgot, because true to the NHS, I hadn't heard anything yet. So we discussed that and a few other things, and I sensed Mom was needing to say more. "well, I have some other news, too".
My mother grew up in a home form hell, but we have talked about this before. After Grandpa was long gone, and his money, (which Gram would argue was her money), two of the children remained the most bitter. The oldest sister, Barbara, and the youngest sister, Charlene. Charlene because she was forced to grow up without a Father. Barbara because she was forced to live in the home with a crazed violent man, and he didn't drink, he was just ugly mean.I can only imagine where he leaned that rage, but i will never know. He beat pretty much whomever he wanted to, especially if they interfered in his beating his wife. He set an example all his sons had to fight in themselves, to varying degrees of success. So whilst the oldest kids wished he would just go away, the youngest resented that he did. And Gram got to be the victim the rest of her life so she was happy.
Once in an attempt to reconcile with her Dad, after Bill and I were pretty much grown up, Grandpa and the second wife were invited to come to visit after a lovely graduation card he sent when Mom sent him my graduation announcement. It was long after the festivities, and he came bearing gifts. Then in the fall when i left for Geneseo, he faithfully wrote me and always included a stamp and a dollar. When Gram heard of this, she let me know on no uncertain terms that it was her money he was sending, and after all those years of no child support. My Gram was so foolish, not to see her safety as a gift from God, and as far as I know, her kids did everything to keep a roof over Gram, Mick and Chary's head. In that sense, they were a family.
My Dad lived in Camden every day of his life. He brought my Mother there to live in 1957.  Almost all of his brothers and sisters lived within 5 miles. If left to their own devices i think my parents marriage  would have been fairly ok, but two things ruined there marriage right away, one was a fall my Dad took off a scaffolding at work, rumored because the crew was drunk. The second was my Mothers family, who basically moved to Camden with their kids. Some stayed only briefly, and some stayed forever, and in fact are still there. When sober they were a networking system out of this world, and when not, the recriminations would come, each one convinced they had been most hard done by. And the glue that held them all together was Mom.
Hard to imagine her being strong, but she was tough as nails like her Dad. She just didn't put her hands on anyone, except her son.(strangely who is also like her), except without beating his kids. Some of the Delarm children are doing very well, and some aren't, but that is true in every family, I believe.
The news (what a tangent) is that Barbara, the oldest of three girls, is gone to purgatory. She is not alive as she was, nor will she die soon as she always kept herself so healthy. She has advanced dementia. She will be trapped in that body as long as God allows. I do not know what her mental state is in her head, but Mom says she no longer recognizes her husband. And so all the letters must go out today, not condolence letters exactly, but not get well soon ones either. What do you say to your aunts and uncles? Sorry will have to do. Barb kept herself on the other coast all her adult life except for visits. The four oldest left NY never to live there again, for the most part. Oddly Grandpa was closer to them than us as he went to Florida, then to New Mexico where he eventually died. One by one the people who lived through this nightmare are passing. I do not know where the oldest boy Leo even is, but he would be in his late eighties now i think. Uncle Bob had a brief dementia scare, but he was spared that, and seems to be doing well (for his age). As they go, soon no one will be left who lived through, and would like to be able to forget. Believe me,each of them has paid for their sins many times over.

Many people write, but if you are a writer, words are always twirling in your head, and God help me have the right ones now. The end is near, and each generation seems a wee bit better than those who came before. Bills kids probably don't have a clue who these people are, I am not even sure how much they know about me. We must  push on, and break the chains of bondage to the past. Not with drugs or booze, not with crazy religious fervor, but with honestly looking at it as it was, and choosing to move on. And we will.
Blessings.

the funny thing is...

As i do housework, i start thinking of a topic for  my blog. Sometimes that is even what i write about. I more often read my Face Book messages, and get some topic like a bee under my bonnet. Those are the days i write drivel. I really can't be angry and focus.
And sometimes I want to use my words to hurt something or someone. That is not why I have this gift. These words have two purposes in my mind. One is to reconcile my past so I can move on, and hopefully the second one  is that my words will resonate with someone else who is struggling and help them push through the quagmire. There is alight at the end of the tunnel, and when i am angry all i can see is a huge train roaring down on me.
A shrink once told me that chili incites riot mode in me. Can you imagine? My mom found a way to terrorize me with chili con carne. Yes I am that weird. Any other night it was take it or leave it, but she wasn't making anything else till morning. I could live with it, and usually did. Too much in fact.
But when she was mad at me, she would make chili and insist i eat it. I know it sounds paranoid, but mom was losing her grip on us, and she didnt dare beat me like Billy got. Dad was no better. He just didn't cook it. So anyway we are not here to talk chili revenge. See what i mean? Even when i have a topic i can go on a tangent.
My overeating was based on supply and demand. My mom did not eat that much, and they had a tea room where they had a nice dinner at lunch time. At night we would have soup and sandwiches or some such. weekends she would cook like an angel and keep my Dad really sweet. Roast or a lasagna or something we all liked. But more than once i went to the cupboard or fridge and it was bare. They were away on a horseshoe tournament, and it did not occur to them to bring something in. I learned to eat when the food was there. Now my Mom had been raised by maniacs, and she always tried to give a leftover pork chop or extra potatoes to him because he worked so hard and was thin as a rail. My Dads food was to gaze at Mom, that's all he wanted  in life, and I don't think she appreciated it. It came to be an obsession over time, but he didn't need food like normal people. I never seemed full i ate so fast. I learnt not to go to the bathroom during dinner, as my milk would be messed with (drunk) in my absence. We were not allowed to eat until they got home from work because dinner was early(4:30 so they would be done before the news came on.) Billy would rifle through say a row of cake or half a loaf of bread, and say"look at her, and look at me ,who ate the cake?" When my folks weren't home, we would seek wicked revenge for snitching, and once i was so nice to my brother my Mom solemnly asked me, "was does he have on you? just tell me and he loses that power". The simple truth is we did not know how to be kind to one another. We used sarcastic humor like a weapon. We never missed the mark.
Wow I guess i am still angry. Talking about it is supposed to help, but it don't seem to have dissipated one bit to me.
Now my Mom is a benevolent old grandmother who never sees her 4 grandkids much, but she has really mellowed. I think partly due to a new marriage, and partly dementia, as in can't remember what she don't want to. Now she says all the time, "Brenda it just didn't happen" 
and she believes it. It is good that i have Jim so i don't lose my own sense of self.It is good that i have Jim so I am not alone. It is good I have Jim because i need him, and all (with him) will be well.
Blessings

Mothers are complicated.

OK enough said on that topic, at least while she is still alive, lol. My cousin recently posted on Face Book that she had made a homemade lemon pie, including crust.That brought zinging back to my memory when my mother tried to make a pie, though for the life of me i don't know which one. It had many things to do and i think it was a custard one. She finally finished and put the pie filling in the pie plate and started baking it. We were so excited, even Dad kept wandering in the kitchen, as our oven was above the stove so he liked to take a peek. Mom finally called her friend who was walking her through the recipe and asked if it were supposed to bubble like that. Hmmmm...
My dad craved sweets so he would eat it anyway, but Mom had so much invested in the pie being her perfect standard. When she served it, she quickly realized in her excitement, she had never made a bottom crust. We had baked custard, though i must say it was good. If only for the laugh. After that she was back to baking frozen pies again. 
Mrs Smiths as i recall. And Dad ate that too. Miss you Daddy.
Blessings.

there is no joy in Mudville--

Yesterday we were sent home by England in a pretty convincing way.That was bad enough, but now one of my good friends from the Paisley Rugby Club is moving to Australia. Sadly he is leaving me here in the land of perpetual cold and rain. We had originally formed a band and were headed to NYC to make it rich, but that fell through as the guys started meeting and chatting up girls. So, Kevin is moving on without me. Just one in a long line of men that have moved out of my life.
His leaving party was a roaring success by all accounts, and I think quite a few people will have "the flu" this am when it is car boot sale time. We have to set up tents looking at the weather outside, but I bet Seve won't have the crowd he hoped for to help set up due to the partys demon rum supply.
I can remember in my glory days we would close a bar, go out for Breakfast (pig ass we called it) and then Billy and Barbie had to be at the Super Duper for 6. I think Bob Bellinger gave them Sunday shifts to punish them for being young. One can only speculate.
The Super Duper is long gone now, but it was a landmark for many years as was ACME, and Wilkes IGA. Main Street was so different the last time i went home, that almost no one owns the businesses they did when i left. The pharmacist has been there maybe 20 years now, but he was fairly new when i left, and he frankly gave better advice than the local Doctor, in my humble opinion.
Kellys had started a sports place, and my Mom bought me a bike there that was adjusted to me, instead of the other way around, so being quite short i appreciated that.Also i no longer needed to peddle backwards to brake, i had hand brakes on the steering. I thot i lived in the most amazing times, and remember that was before the internet.
I also miss Millimans fudge, though instead of a store they sold it at the pumpkin farm. To this day i have never had better fudge. I remember at CJ's my dad won an instant draw(scratch off) prize of $1000 . Al Garbarino and Mr Van Ornum started a restaurant in the side next to CJ's. Can you remember it? If you ever saw a menu there you saw my favorite meal. Gramma Festa made the best meatballs, and I was lucky enough to have them regularly. I remember Ellen Turk  was the cook there and she made the family a fortune. My favorite customer there was Phyllis Halliwell. She would come in with a group every week after choir practice. First of all, no plastic dish for her, then she would order a mega sundae and top it off with a diet coke. I would run to the kitchen and laugh and laugh. Perhaps thats why I made next to nothing in tips.
These little stories amuse me, and I guess they do you as well, as i have had over 4,500 hits so far.In total, not daily. I can remember the past almost more vividly than I can remember today. Part of it is my constant longing to go home, and as the people who live in Camden now tell me, it is totally different. My family has left for one.Bill is up north, and mom lives half the year in Florida. A lot of the Face Book accounts are from people whose names I do not know.Also a lot of my girlfriends married and I do not know their married names.
Times move on, and we must move with them.
Blessings

I am gubbed, I am distraught, I am a Scotland Rugby fan

AS an American who has an american football background, ten years of living here has not helped me understand much more than fundamentals.This much I know, I have too many games lost in the last ten minutes. I am gonna petition the IRB to make the games only seventy minutes in total. 
Both teams played very well,Tuilagi was my man of the match, but it is time to consider retiring Wilkinson. Yes he can still kick, but his glass jaw of a few years ago was replaced by a steaming pile of lack of confidence. 
Gabby Logan could not present her way out of a wet bag of England, and even she is better that JW.
But i am not bitter.