I Can See Clearly Now (328/365)

…'Hey lady! do I look all blurry to you? 'Cause you look blurry to me!'

Dean Martin (American Actor and Singer. 1917-1995)

TIME:  7:33 PM
PLACE:  My nightstand
SUBJECT:  My eyeglasses on a holder

This little ceramic holder was painted and given to me from my Aunt Alice (my mom’s sister) in 1975 for my 8th birthday.  Yep, it’s true, I have had corrective lenses since 2nd grade.  I am horribly nearsighted and have astigmatism.  At my eye exam last Thursday, for the 1st time in 15 years, my prescription, which had been holding steady, changed for the worse.  Oh the perils of being over 40.  The good news is that my sight can be corrected to 20/20 in my left eye and 20/30 in my right eye.  Now I have new gas permeable contacts on order.  All I can say is thank goodness for modern optometry – otherwise I would be on a corner, selling pencils from a cup.

Celluloid Snowman (327/365)

Buying something on sale is a very special feeling.  In fact, the less I pay for something, the more it is worth to me.  I have a dress that I paid so little for that I am afraid to wear it.  I could spill something on it, and then how would I replace it for that amount of money?

Rita Rudner (American, Comedienne, Writer and Actress. b. 1953)

TIME:  7:39 PM
PLACE:  My desk
SUBJECT:  Celluloid Snowman ornament

This past weekend, being the third full weekend of the month, was the flea market at our town’s fairgrounds.  I went on Saturday – alone no less! – and pursued the treasures that were there.  I love hitting the 50 cent/3 for $1.00 boxes of Christmas ornaments to search for that “special” ornament for my family’s “Ugly Ornament Exchange.”  My mom started it after finding what she thought was the most god-awful ornament at a yard sale and suggested that my sister and I find one and we do an exchange at Christmas.  And so a tradition began.  We are on the hunt all year for that one of a kind ornament.  My sister and I actually like these orphaned little guys.  The sadder the better.  We have even purchased special tabletop trees to display their loveliness.  I promise to take pictures of my “special” tree after I get it up this year. 

This vintage celluloid snowman I found is not considered “ugly”.  I like to collect ornaments made in Japan from the 1950’s to the 1970’s.  I used to be able to pick them up at yard sales, estate sales and thrift stores for under a quarter, sometimes even for a dime.  Now, that their popularity has grown, it is getting harder and harder to find the bargains like I have in years past.  Oh well, it makes the thrill of the hunt all that more exciting.  I did find this guy in a 50 cent box on Saturday.  He has a hole on his left side where the celluloid has melted, but it can’t be seen when he is sitting.  Vintage celluloid? Check!  Sad ornament because he is deformed? Check!  Did he need a home because no one else would possibly want him? Check and Sold!    

Pup Tent (326/365)

And the night shall be filled with music
And the cares that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. "The Day is Done." l. 41-44.  Yale Book of American Verse; ed. by Thomas Raynesford Lounsbury. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1912.

TIME:  8:26 PM
PLACE:  The living room
SUBJECT:  Tent & Oreo 

I attempted to clean and organize the dining room and living room today in anticipation of Christmas decorating this coming weekend.  This year, I decided I will begin decorating the day after Thanksgiving instead of putting it off until the week before Christmas.  My holiday spirit has been gone for the past seven years or so and I would like to get it back…for both the kid’s sake & mine.  While hiding putting some things away in the window seat, I found this play tent that my mom had bought for MB when he was about 3 or 4 years old.  I decided to set it up and SD loves it.  She immediately wanted to have a sleep over in it and attempted to camp out in the living room last night.  She ended up crawling into my bed about 3am.  I’ll keep it up until Friday, then it’s decoration time!

November (325/365)

 
“The stripped and shapely
Maple grieves
The loss of her
Departed leaves.

The ground is hard,
As hard as stone.
The year is old,
The birds are flown.

And yet the world,
Nevertheless,
Displays a certain
Loveliness—

The beauty of
The bone. Tall God
Must see our souls
This way, and nod.

Give thanks: we do,
Each in his place
Around the table
During grace.”

Updike, John. "November". A Child’s Calendar. Holiday House.

TIME:  8:25 AM
PLACE:
SUBJECT:  Road

MB went out with HH this morning for breakfast and picture taking.  This is one of the photos he snapped and I immediately thought of this poem.  “A Child’s Calendar” is a book of poetry by John Updike that I have read over and over again to the kids.  It has one poem for each month of the year.  The November poem is my favorite verse from the book.  I think MB’s photo illustrates it beautifully.  This picture also inspires me to imagine what could be around the bend.  Just think of the possibilities.

New Moon (324/365)

 
Bella Swan: Well, Gran, you might have noticed that my boyfriend glitters. It’s just something he does in the sun. Don’t worry about it…

Meyer, Stephanie. New Moon. New York. Little, Brown and Company. 2006.

TIME:  7:23 PM
PLACE:  Living Room
SUBJECT:  New Moon collage

(The following post was written by DramaQueen)

OMGOMGOMG NEW MOON IS SO AWESOME! The books were incredibly awesome! I’m seeing New Moon today at 10 pm. I can’t wait! What it’s about is Bella Swan is in love with Edward Cullen. [You probably already know that] Bella goes to a birthday party for her at the Cullen’s. Bella gives herself a paper cut, and Jasper tries to drink her blood. [He’s the newest vampire] Edward fights him off and Bella get thrown into glass. Carlisle stitches her up, and things go back to normal. Until a few days later. Edward leaves Bella because he is a vampire and he thinks that Bella doesn’t need him. He thinks that he might kill her. [Which he almost does in BD] Bella is depressed for about 4 months. [October, November, December, January] So she sees her good old friend, Jacob Black. [He’s so hot! EEEEE!"] They hang and build motorcycles. But, when they try them out, Bella sees Edward. For some reason, whenever Bella is doing something dangerous, she sees Edward. Bella busts her head and Jacob has to run to her and take off his shirt, [HOT] and put it on over her head. Then the get it fixed up. Bella starts to see change in Jacob. It turns out, he’s becoming a wolf. Later, Harry Clearwater, [Charlie’s best friend. Charlie is Bella’s dad] dies of a heart attack.  Charlie goes to the funeral. Alice comes back to see Bella. Jacob comes over. The phone rings and Jacob answers it. It’s Edward. Edward asks where’s Charlie, and Jacob says “At a funeral.” Edward hangs up. Bella is freaked. Alice tells her that Edward thinks she’s dead, and that the have to get to Volterra. Edward wants to die, too. Jake doesn’t want Bella to leave, but she has to go. They go to the Volturi Castle. Bella stops Edward. Then they see Aro. [King of Vampires] He says that he hopes to see Bella as a vampire, since she is mortal and she knows all about the immortal. They return home, and Charlie is really mad that Bella went to Italy with no permission. She gets grounded. And that is New Moon! TEAM JACOB! I ♥ WEREWOLVES!!!!

Accident (323/365)

Accidents, and particularly street and highway accidents, do not happen - they are caused. 

Ernest Greenwood (Romanian-American, Professor of Social Welfare, Emeritus, Berkeley, 1910–2004)

TIME:  9:58 PM
PLACE:  Across the street
SUBJECT:  Overturned vehicle

Around 9:45 I hear a loud "boom, boom" and the house shook.  My first thought was that someone ran the stop sign and hit HH's car that is parked in front of the house.  I go outside and see that a vehicle has crashed on the side of my neighbor's house and is lying on the driver's side.  I dial 9-1-1 and go outside to see if the person is ok.  Other neighbors are there as well.  They are able to get her out through the rear of the car and had her sitting in the street.  I went back inside and got a blanket to cover her until the ambulance arrived.  Her cousin was following her and speaking with her on a cell phone(!) and said that the driver told her that the brakes were not working.  The car ran up a lawn, damaged a porch, came back down into the street and then went between a stop sign and a fire hydrant and clipped my neighbor's brick house (which was 4 houses away from the 1st house she hit!), ran into their air conditioner unit and somehow flipped and landed on its side.  Several police units, the fire trucks and the ambulance arrived on the scene.  They took her to the hospital and the truck was towed away.  I do hope that she is ok.  I also hope that the accident was caused by faulty brakes and not because she might have been under the influence.  Why am I feeling so cynical about it though?

Tights And Leggings (322/365)

A bone to the dog is not charity.  Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog. 

Jack London (American, author, 1876–1916)

TIME:  7:57 PM
PLACE:  DQ’s bedroom
SUBJECT:  SD’s & my legs

This is what I wore tonight to the charity event. (Brown “Me Too” boots ($6 @ Goodwill), white tights - no, my legs are not THAT pale - ($5 @ Wal-mart) and tan corduroy skirt ($3 on clearance at Wal-Mart).  Not pictured is an orange cami and a white hoodie (Old Navy).  SD is in the background wearing leggings from Target.  Her shoes are from Payless)

The event went well.  For a donation of a toy or $20 per person, we get to sample food from around 20 different restaurants.  There were gift basket raffles and the County Animal Shelter held a drawing for 2 dogs and 3 cats.  DQ purchased a ticket for one of the cats but thankfully unfortunately, she did not win.  I’m stuffed and it was for a good cause.  All donated gifts and proceeds will go to local needy families.  I like that fact that it is a local charity.  Due to the economy, our charitable contributions are not as much as they have been in years past.  But this is one event that we definitely keep in our budget every year.