Happy $$$$days

I can't believe all the ads on tv regaling us with the early opening times for the stores on Friday. It is bad enough that Christmas decorations were in some stores back in July--yes, July! Now we are being pushed get out there and buy, buy, buy before 7am. I can't even imagine being an underpaid retail worker and being told that not only do I have to give up my holiday to this greed, but appear in person at 3am, because the store is opening at 4am--or worse, not closing at all. The only group of people who have work of this necessity are in the health care professions. Life and death have no time card. Everyone/everything else is on the level of optional. What has happened to our priorities? No wonder the economy is in shreds. No one knows how to live life anymore.

I think one of the worst things that happened was the repeal of the "Blue Laws". Businesses were to be closed on Sundays. Everyone had at least one day off each week, and it was the same day for everyone. Sunday was family day. In my family, the aunts and uncles and cousins all met some place--either a park, or the beach, and we hung out for the day. Everyone brought enough food for their respective families, the adults had coffee from thermoses and crumb cake, and the kids went to the playgrounds and rode the swings--all afternoon, if they wanted. We would walk around the lake if we were in the park, or swim if we were at the beach. The most expense involved was a season parking sticker for the car.

Then suddenly we needed two incomes, so that we could buy the "stuff". Our teenagers took minimum wage jobs in chain stores and restaurants that required them to be available on fluctuating, rotating schedules, which made planning family events difficult to nearly impossible, since there was usually some sort of parental transportation involved. Or worse, the kids worked more hours so that they could afford "the car". Talk about spiraling! It is like the tornado sucking everyone into its center, with things falling off the sides as it goes along. Unfortunately, those things turn out to be quality time--our vacations, weekend family outings, even just everyday sit-down dinners.

I confess I went to Paramus Mall on one Black Friday. We were visiting relatives, and we just thought it would be fun to take the kids and go. Ha! It was packed. There was no place to park--not fun at all. The only good thing was that we weren't there to buy anything, just to look. It taught me that I never want to do that again. But, nobody else seems to think it is weird. I can't even conceive of standing on a line to get into ANY retail establishment. There isn't anything important enough inside any store to get me to do that. And, if people wouldn't participate, the stores wouldn't do what they do. We have all become hostages to "The Economy".

The merry-go-round doesn't need to stop for me--I was never on. I sure wish people would thinking about stepping off...

Sojourner Completed

I confess I have trouble following directions. I work very well if there are pictures, but if there are only words, I have to sit down in a quiet place, read through the directions and see if they make any sense to me. If they vary from what I thought they were going to say, I have to work pretty hard to "color within the lines". Sometimes there is great success--Sorjourner's hat. Other times, I have to go my own way--Sojourner's blouse. The hat went together backwards from what I thought it was going to do, but I got it, and it came out just right. The blouse was another story. I did what the directions said, but the blouse was no way going to go onto that doll's body. So, made a second one, and put it together my own way, and it was a success. Then I had to find buttons.

I have a small plastic ziploc bag that has miniature shank buttons, which would have been just the right size. No way could I find those buttons. I resorted to sorting through the gallon jar full of white buttons, narrowing down to the smallest ones, and located four antique glass little buttons that looked very nice after they were sewn into place. Yesterday while cleaning up I came across the ziploc that I had been hunting for, but decided everything happens for a reason. The tiny ones were plastic, and really the glass buttons are more true to the period of the doll. At any rate, I was happy with the way she turned out, and she made her debut at the doll meeting this afternoon. This journey is over!

Sojourner In Progress

There are people who stick in my head, who for no obvious reason, reach out to me. People I have never met, but they capture my imagination. One was a woman named Lily, who was beautifully eulogized by her son-in-law, at a funeral service I was playing (being a church organist). What he had to say made me sorry that I had never met the lady. Another is an unusual man who lived on Cape Cod, where we vacation. He made strange little drawings, and published odd books that look like they are for children, but they are not. He worked in pen and ink, which was an early interest of mine, but I have not gone back to it, due either to a lack of motivation or talent. I am tempted, since he makes it look easy.... but I am not fooled.

When my daughter (Mother Necessity) went to graduate school in New Paltz, NY, I came across a commemorative plaque for Sojourner Truth, someone I had never heard of before. How great is the internet! You can just put in a name or a phrase, and come up with a slew of information, complete with pictures. Lo, and behold, in an old dollmakers magazine, there was a pattern for a doll of Sojourner Truth. The pattern is a very good likeness, and I cut it out, and saved it. My doll club project for this month (this Saturday is the meeting) is a historical doll. Time for Sojourner! She is underway, but good grief, it is Monday (going on Tuesday) and this is as far as I have gotten. But, I will be finished by the end of the week, and I am sure she will live up to who she was--someone who lives on through the years, by force of her person. She spoke out for women's rights, and for the improvement of the lives of former slaves. We vacationed in Seneca Falls a lot of years ago--a hotbed for the women's rights movement. Odd how your life is all stitched together. So, tomorrow, she will get her blouse, and her cap, and I hope I have done her justice.

Top O' the Marnin' T' Ya'

A strange phenomenon takes place every year at Garden Fairy's annual St. Patrick's party. I win a prize for the Irish trivia contest, even though I do not have a drop of Irish in me. But, I am very trivialized. A couple of parties back I came home with a pair of shamrock emblazoned boxer shorts that ended up being a sensation at Sunday morning choir rehearsal--but that's another story...

About two parties ago, I won a small green velvet teddy bear, that when you squeeze its foot, it responds with "Top o' the marnin' t' ya'!" It went into the toy basket in our front room, and it resided there peacefully until one day it was discovered by grandson Haddn. Haddn found that he could press the foot over and over, until he had the full attention of every adult in the house. A couple of times I found "TOTMTY" stuffed into a kitchen cabinet by a desperate parent, and I finally took the little bear and sat it on the top mantelpiece, which is about 6' up. Haddn would bide his time until there was a large family party, and sweetly ask an unsuspecting relative if they would take the teddy down for him. Most of the time somebody in the know would catch him, and say "No--don't give it to him!" I confess that I am a partner in this little game, since I put TOTMTY out there in full view...

Yesterday there was a twist. The boy is clever, I will say. He asked for TOTMTY, and I said he could have it for a half hour, and then it would go back up on the shelf. After only 15 minutes, Haddn had moved on to something else, and all was quiet. The bear was not back on the mantelpiece, however. Later on in the afternoon, TOTMTY reappeared, but only for a few minutes. After Haddn had gone home, I realized that the bear was hidden away. I emailed and said we were on to his tricks, and apparently Haddn had a good laugh at being found out. I would have left TOMTY to his hiding place, but he has been discovered. I'm looking forward to the next round, as this silliness will probably continue...

Two Weeks Later--Already?

Two weeks ago today our son married his lovely wife, and we attended the biggest party ever. Boy, was I tired! The in-house company lingered for a few days, and then MyTreasure and I packed up our duds and headed to the big city for the honeymoon. Well--we stayed in the honeymooner's apartment while THEY went on the honeymoon. It was fabulous of them to let us stay in their centrally located, doorman apartment, and we made the most of our time, since the city is one of our favorite places, and we don't normally stay there due to the amazingly high cost of hotel rooms. I am astounded every time I am in Manhattan at the number of tourists, knowing that they are coughing up those big bucks to stay. Just when you think you are doing pretty well financially, you get a little reality check...

Anyhow, since our room was gratis, we could go and do other stuff. The first day we walked the neighborhood, and found St Vartan's Church, which we had never heard of. We did O'Keefe at the Whitney, Blake at the Morgan, Kandinsky at the Guggenheim, American Story Paintings at the Metropolitan, Verdi at the Met, Fraunces Tavern, Wall Street, the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center, Chelsea Piers, Avenue Q, the Staten Island Ferry, cheered the runners at the Marathon, and came home soaked from the Halloween parade. We ate on a range of sports bar to very classy--the only thing we didn't have was street food. It always smelled heavenly when you walked past though.

It takes a huge amount of energy to live in the city. The sheer numbers of people moving along the streets all day and all night, and the constant din that goes on uses up your senses. It doesn't ever stop. I was amazed when a friend took us around Chicago once on a week day, and there was hardly anyone on the streets and sidewalks. We went into a fancy store, and it was nearly empty. That simply never happens in NY. Well, it was Halloween, the marathon, and the World Series...but next week it will be something else, and onward to the holidays.

It was nice and quiet in my own little bed last night. The trucks emptying the dumpsters at the Hemsley from 2:15 until 3 am (yes, AM!) didn't wake me up, and I haven't heard a horn blow since I got off the train yesterday afternoon. There is a reason why there are the burbs... Welcome back, bride and groom--we wish you the best life ever!