Happy Birthday, Kathleen!

Kathleen,with Clara helping her, blow out her birthday candles-- after Uncle Charley helped Clara carry it in!

Why English is so hard

I will be curious to see if anyone needs a translation or clarification on these!
Reasons why the English language is so hard to learn:

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it
was time to present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

Happy Birthdays!

Happy Birthday, Kathleen, Erik and Eric!! We celebrated 3 birthdays on Sunday and today is a golden birthday for Eric...


he is 25 on the 25th. Happy Birthday, Eric!
He is holding his cousin who is visiting from New York.

Two Shannon's

When our daughter was born, no one knew how hard it would be to find a name for this new little girl. Had she been a boy(which is what I was expecting to have-remember-this was in the day when you still GUESSED at what you were having) she would have been Mark Phillip.....but no....she was a girl. The nurse had a hissy fit that we couldn't/wouldn't name her right away and the hubby and I struggled to find a name that fit this precious bundle. We finally settled on "Shannon" and all was right with the world.....until she found out-at the age of 7 or something- that "Shannon" is a boys' name in Ireland. Oh!! the wailing and gnashing of teeth and she decided right there that she would be "Monique"....which lasted not as long as one would think! As time went by, we heard different remarks -from her- about her name..."What, were you on DRUGS or something when you named me?" "How could you pick a name that has so many "N"s in it?" (with her middle name and last name she does have a copious amount of "n"s--6 to be exact)--"Why didn't you name me after a relative?"__(Okay --some female names in my family......"OTA", "LOTA","LETHA", "LENORE", "BESSIE", "AVIS","AVEN"---do you see what I had to work with?!!) AND, I was working with a hubby who had decided that one weird name in the family (mine) was enough---I know I know....I married him in spite of all prejudice's!!! So , Shannon eventually came to terms with her name and has settled into it. Over the weekend, she met-for the first time- a guy named Shannon and here they are. They really had a fun time with their names. Shannon, the guy, was amazed that we had chosen to go with the "river theme" for our girls' names in our family. (The Neva being a river in Russia and The Shannon being a river in Ireland) I didn't have the heart to tell him he was wrong!

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter to all of you! This is a house that decorates for each season. I drove by this today and remembered that they go all out. It seemed appropriate for today!And don't you love the snow?

Something fun

Sometimes I just find things that are good or funny and I thought this was both.

Girlfriends and family

Sometimes you are just fortunate enough in life to be blessed with good friends who just happen to be family! Olivia is married to my brotherinlaw(she is in black) and Kathleen is my husband's sister. Olivia and Mike were in from Hong Kong and we met downtown (Chicago) for dinner.....we had a GREAT time.....

Where are my pants!?

We were in San Francisco last week for a few days. Hubby had a medical meeting and #2 son and I went out to meet him on Thursday. We played the tourist to the hilt....took a bus tour all around San Francisco. Saw Lombard street, the street cars, Twin Peaks, Golden Gate Park, the Golden Gate Bridge and in the afternoon went to see the redwood forest.....Sequoia's ...not the Giant ones but the medium sized ones....they were awesome.
We went to the zoo on Saturday and I met up with a fellow blogger (hi Karen!) and we had a great visit all day at the zoo. #2 son and I joined her and some of her photographer friends and spent the day taking photos at the zoo. Lots of fun and I really enjoyed meeting someone I have communicated with weekly via our photos.
We had dinner with a cousin (hi Brian!) and went to China Town for dinner. Took the tour to Alcatraz....we REALLY enjoyed that. All I ever knew about Alcatraz I knew from the movies. In person, it was scarier and old and run down, but still, we enjoyed the tour immensely.
We stayed at a small hotel (8 stories high)that was under renovation. All 3 of us were in one tiny room with a rollaway for #2 son, a queen size bed for us, one TINY bathroom and one decent sized closet. So, picture this....ON Sunday morning at 4:30 AM the fire alarm goes off. A voice comes over the loud speaker and says "this is not a drill. A fire has been reported. Please evacuate the building immediately. Do NOT use the elevator". Well.....wow......
Let me tell you that the first thing I thought of was "where are my pants?" because if you thought I was going out side in my nightgown....think again! I threw open the closet door, pitched hubby and son their pants and shoes...all the while looking for mine..the fire alarm is shrieking in our ears and then we scoot out the door ...making sure we have a key to get back in.
After the 7 flights down the emergency fire staircase..which was about as narrow and steep as any stairs I have EVER been on....AND when we got to the 2nd floor (we started on the 7th)...there was a sign that said that using the main staircase might be more comfortable.
WHHAATT???? more comfortable than... a fire? a heartattack?
We get outside with all the other patrons in various states of dress and watch while 2 San Francisco fire trucks pull up. A few firemen rush into the building and shoo all the people out of the lobby. Another few pull out a ladder and extend it to the metal fire escape on the outside,
Now we are standing here watching the firemen attach the ladder to the fire escape.
The people next to us were from England and wanted to know "does this happen often?"
and "I wanted a wake up call but this is a little much!"
The young couple on the other side whipped out their phones and this is what I heard,"Well, the honeymoon from hell continues. We are standing outside because our hotel might possibly be on fire".
Ok....my first thought--"who do you call at 4:30 AM in the morning to say this too?" my second thought---"what the heck else has happened to make this the honeymoon from hell?' Under other circumstances, I would've asked but I was then distracted by the firemen when they started going up the ladder to the fire escape. What distracted me was.....they were using a WOODEN LADDER-- on a building supposedly on FIRE.
Was it just me or do you think that is odd? San Francisco has had a few fires over the years. Somehow this did not strike me as a safe use of a wooden ladder. The good news was....it WAS a false alarm and we were allowed back in the building.
And me with out my camera (gasp!) or my purse (double gasp!) Because all I could think of when the alarm went off was....
"Where are my pants?"
It was a great way to start the day!

ABC Wednesday G is for Glass

These are some more pieces of Blenko glass. These were a Christmas present from my mom's gentleman caller (boyfriend!) when they were here for Christmas. They are water pitchers and I love to use them. Thought I would give you all something to look at besides my rants!

Good Friends are hard to find...or not!

Flo is my 92 year old friend. Not only is she my friend, she has been my bridge partner and she is my neighbor. Her daughter and I are VERY good friends. She has recently been in a Senior living community while she fights off an infection. She has been here a few weeks and I have had lunch with her almost everyday. Today, the staff gave her and another resident a mini party as they both are going home this week. It was really sweet. She was so happy that they thought of her. I was glad to be there to celebrate with her. Here are some photos of the celebration.

To ponder something else.....

I know my family had a lot to say about my last blog entry here. Obviously they know me very well and the title to my blog could not be more accurate if I tried. One of my girlfriends refers to me as the best "truth before tact" person she knows. This is mostly true...and I say mostly because I am not really out to hurt anyone's feelings on purpose. I go out of my way to help others. I have a revolving door for those that need a place to stay ( I have had Germans, Koreans and Colombians live with me)....I live my life in a way that involves no need for me to be embarrassed about how I live. I will go and sit with you in a nursing home or hospital, I will take you to the grocery store...I might not remember your birthday but I am always willing to help out. I am clean and neat. I am a control freak. I like to get along with people..I would just as soon smile at you as to not. I love to talk to anyone.
Having said all this.....apparently I have annoyed, unintentionally, my neighborhood neighbors. Many are upset that I have chosen to blog about the town I live in and have asked me to cease and desist.....at least of taking pictures of the neighborhood. It begs the question...why? and if you live in such a lovely community do you expect no one to drive through the neighborhood and admire your gorgeous homes? Do you really think I am setting you up for robbery's?(yes, apparently) Have you heard of google earth?
I am not quite sure how to respond. I have edited a few of my blogs in order to be a good neighbor but I feel that smacks of censorship and I am not very willing to do too much of that. I blog freely. I make no claims to honesty or truth...I write to amuse my self. Stories I write are mine and mine alone. I am not derogatory nor am I doing anything illegal. I follow the The Blog code of conduct. I love my daily photo blog and will continue to blog and photo what I find interesting about my town. I am proud of where I live and choose to share it with my family and friends that can't come to see me or my town. I will consider your comments....but that by no means gives you the right to tell me what I can or can not blog.I have never blogged private information. I appreciate your concern but I am a pretty nice person...I am a good neighbor...regardless of my long standing desire to not be part of the Homeowners Association. (I had no idea that-after 23 years of living here- in order to be a good neighbor I had to be a member of a strictly voluntary/social organization and then have to listen to the whining about no 100% participation.)
So, stop by for a visit and enjoy what I enjoy about where I live.