Once in a while....

Our little hometown newspaper had a lovely photograph taken somewhere in Arizona showing a huge moon hanging above a ridge of pine trees. The photograph accompanied an explanation of the phrase "Once in a Blue Moon". Nowadays, it refers to the second full moon that occurs within a month but years ago it used to mean something that was a rare and infrequent event.

Thinking about infrequent happenings made me wander mentally into some of the things I hope only happen Once in a Blue Moon. Sort of in order of importance....

Piccpiper having an auto accident.

Terrorists targeting our shore any time.

Waking up to snow in Florida.

Starbucks running out of No Sugar Added Banana Bread.

Someone punching an elderly Wal-Mart Greeter. (Yes, that happened! Can you imagine?)

Starbucks running out of hot chocolate.

Ol-Doc getting a dumb old ticket.

Arson

Floods

Riots

And just about any other bad thing you can imagine happening to those you love.

The coming year is a fresh slate. Let's all write with a gentle hand and try and watch out for each other. Happy 2010! Now, go . . . write the year ahead in your checkbooks!

Just wanted a hamburger....

Okay, so T. and I went to church this morning and heard a worthy sermon from our pastor. After church we shook hands and gave hugs outside the building then got in our car and started back to the house. I thought about all that turkey sitting in the 'fridge and asked T. if he'd rather skip a sandwich at home and go to town for a BK special. He agreed and we pointed the car northerly. Once we crossed the I-75 overpass, we took a shortcut through some apartments that line both sides of the road and then hung a left at the first road to the left. It was kind of like following instructions to Neverland. First star to the right and straight on til - you see the blue flashing lights.

The State Troopers had set up a checkpoint. Too bad we didn't flee the area!
The transaction went kind of like:
Trooper at the driver side window: Your license, sir. Thank you.
Who owns the vehicle?
Your license ma'am. Thank you.
Let me see your proof of insurance.
(Me in the glovebox: rummage, rummage, RUMMAGE)
Trooper: Are you aware your decal is out of date?
No, ma'am... you do not have until the end of the birth month. It's due by your birthdate.
Did you find your insurance card, ma'am?
(Me in glovebox: RUMMAGE, RUMMAAAGE "Will this one do? It's only 2008.")
Trooper: No, ma'am, don't you have your current insurance card?
(Me: "I have one, I just don't seem to be able to locate it. It may be in my wallet in another purse.")
Trooper: Pull ahead on the grass, sir and wait right there.
(Me: "Oh, that can't be good!")
We pull ahead. We wait. I rummage the glovebox some more.

Trooper returns to the car after a delay of several minutes. This time he comes to my side of the car. T. notices this and rolls down the passenger window for me. Trooper explains that he has to give me a ticket for the out of date decal and says that he could also have cited me for not having my current insurance information on hand, since the car is in my name.

He hands me a standard size sheet of paper with the ticket imprint of both front and back sides generated from his vehicle's computer. I figure it's my tax dollars at work. He explains that because it was a non-moving violation, there will be no points on my license. I just have to pay the ticket cost of ninety-nine dollars. Okay, so it's not tax dollars but my fines at work.

He ends our little transaction by telling me I can request a court date if I want to contest the ticket and takes his leave with a two finger salute to the brim of his hat, wishing me a nice day.

Yeah. Right. At Burger King T. got a whopper. I got a grilled chicken salad. It tasted like cardboard and straw. The good news is - I have thirty days to pay!

Seventh Inning Stretch

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

In the 2009 timeline, we're at the word "and" that's nestled after Christmas but before the New Year. This is the week when we positively regret some of the holiday dining choices we've made while looking forward to the traditional New Years dinner of black-eye peas cooked with ham hocks. Maybe with cornbread and some greens to go with it. This meal is supposed to bring luck in the coming year and I suppose it is possible. We certainly never had any luck so bad as to cause us to blame the black-eyes. Knock wood.

One year a well loved Aunt persuaded us to finish a non-cornbread with black-eyes meal by eating twelve grapes, one by one. Each grape ingested, she said was going to bring us good luck for 1 month of the coming year. We downed all 12 little green grapes and commenced to have one of the worst years in memory. I mean, if it could go wrong, it did. Mother vowed never to allow this Aunt to use the grape tradition again. We'd go back to downing black-eye peas and cornbread. Never mess with a family tradition. Or a Southern one!

Year end is also a time to reflect on the past and plan for the future. One of the photographs from the past is of the grandchildren gathered to celebrate December 25th. I will include a copy for your reflection upon the importance of family and while that's happening, I will lie down on the couch and close my eyes for a short planning nap.

Sometimes a thing is what it is....

Coming home at night is sometimes a thing of beauty. I get out of work at 5PM and home as the sun is setting. Last night T. picked me up at work and we went to the auto repair shop to pick up the car that had been left for a hood latch repair that morning. Surprisingly, the repair cost under $30.00 - which made me happy. We drove on to the house and turned in the driveway. As I was getting out of the car, I glanced over my shoulder to the southwest and spotted a sunset that looked as though the sky was on fire. In the quiet of the day's end the glow stopped me in my tracks. Some things should just be preserved either in memory or on a memory stick. I chose the stick last evening.

Tis the Season for Lights, Shopping and Gathering Round....

You can see the Christmas lights all around the town. The park downtown is covered with glittering colors and Santa is present from 6 to 9PM in his gingerbread house to talk with the children. And sell their parents photographs of the visit. I think his beard is real!

Elder daughter convinced me to rise and shine at 5AM on Saturday, to be at JCPenney by 6AM for the second day of their blowout sale. That is twice I've shopped before sunrise and really can't see myself doing it again. Even if I did get two neat wallets for the price of one. And T's Christmas gifts are finally purchased. Starbucks wasn't open when we tried the drive through at 6AM but they were there when we went back by at 7AM. They were sold out of all their specialty breads except for the Gingerbread. It makes a tasty breakfast if you add a hot drink.

And there are the church presentations to enjoy - watching our grandchildren perform in Hopeful Baptist's musical show entitled "Christmas in Egypt" was the highlight last night. The boys are in the Kids Choir and they were brilliant in their parts. All the children were special as they presented the story of Joseph, Jesus and Mary living in Egypt. There was a lot of humor in the play and it was very well done. The adults who work with the children deserve a special star in their crowns. Our own church will present their Christmas cantata next week and then the family will settle down and prepare for Christmas and having everyone all together. On Christmas Eve, I like to stay up until midnight and whisper a little Happy Birthday, Jesus and Thank You, before I toddle off to my pillow.

Top picture - Matthew is at the end, on the riser behind the four girls stage center. His head scarf is striped.

Bottom picture - Nathan is in the group of five boys on stage he is the tallest in the red head scarf at the back. Matt is barely visible in this shot, just above to the left, standing on the riser.

There's talent and then there's - - - talent?

Well, Thanksgiving is gone and Christmas looms. Zeta has welcomed a family member to the Blogging world and when I checked out her website, I was most impressed. Additionally, I was inspired to decorate the office tree in the same style but not necessarily with the same grace.

Piccpipper's tree is so lovely that I showed a printout of it to the two - ahem, gentlemen who come to our offices daily - from a facility where the clothing choice is either an orange jumpsuit or else a vivid green shirt and khaki pants. Both items are marked on the back with the facility name and the designation"property of"

Enough about that. One of the gentlemen had set up the office tree earlier in the week and had been returning to our area to decorate it as his duties allowed. Today the two of them came by and took out our storage box of decorations and I encouraged them to use the blue ribbon as streamers down the tree - they used only blue, silver or white ornaments. It's not as gorgeous as Piccpipper's tree but it looks quite nice in the corner of the office. Welcome, PiccPiper, to the blogging world and it's great to finally visit with you in this fashion.