Aftermath...

First of all I will start off with some more chuckles from Tom Doyle. This parody is based on the song "Here Comes Santa Claus" except the subject matter is a little different.

Well it's over. I will say that I had a very enjoyable Christmas eve and Christmas day. There was a lot of laughing and eating. On the eve we didn't have the traditional meal of seven fishes. This tradition started in southern Italy, which is where my family originated. The number 7 is the most repeated number in the bible so this tradition is rooted in the Roman Catholic Church. We never had seven fishes but we always had a few varieties. This year we had Baked haddock and sea scallops, shrimp along with a couple of varieties of pizza. Then there were the cookies and pizzelles, which is a wafer thin cookie. Below is an example. The pizzelles are quite delicate and all mine have broken but you'll get the idea.

Christmas day was pretty much the same. It was very Italian with lasagna, sausages and meatballs and various side dishes. I'll say right up front that I removed all restrictions on what I ate. Let's just say I ate well. I cannot continue at this pace though or I will pack on the 30 lbs. I lost almost 5 years ago. 

A special thanks to Nancy. She made a plaque for me to give to my sister. Her cat is having some health problems. She has added a deck to her house. She can let the cat out without having her waunder around. The deck is now known as Bella's Place.

Nancy she loved it! She teared up. This cat means a lot to her. Bella is a cutie pie. She's a sweet and affectionate cat and is doing ok.

My other sister did a bang up job with the food. Everything was top notch... except for the meatballs. Oops! I hadn't eaten a meatball in nearly 5 years and was looking forward to stuffing myself. Meatballs are one of those foods that I used to gorge on. Anyway as soon as the meatballs were placed on the table I went for one and noticed that they were a bit mushy. No. Real mushy. I cut into it and took a bite. My suspisions were confirmed. These meatballs were undercooked. My poor sister. She had worked so hard over the week preparing everything and it was all delicious...except for the meatballs. She took a lot of good natured kidding which she took quite well but the meatball jokes continued all day including references to a detectives solving a murder case. "It was the meatballs!"

At work we were taking a good amount catering and pre made dinner orders. One of my coworkers was talking to a customer. I paid little attention to the conversation until I heard, "You want to order a toilet?!"

This got my attention. We don't offer toilets as part of our holiday package. Well the customer didn't speak much english and he was trying to ask where the bathrooms were but there were enough people talking to us about catering orders that my coworker automatically assumed that's what the guy wanted. Well it gave us a good laugh amid all the hustle and bustle.

OK. I have squandered enough time this morning. It's time to get in gear, run an errand and do some much needed housework. Anybody want to help?

I'm outta here. 

  

   





A Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends,

This will be a short entry. As the title says Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends. It's midnight as I write this. Work has been busy and which I guess is a good thing. I have to admit that I am worn out. I have listened to the same Christmas music since a little after Halloween. The really started it much too early. Sometimes you could hear three different versions of Holly Jolly Christmas in a row. Way to beat the holiday spirit out of you. Still you muddle through trying to keep in mind the true meaning of the season, family and friends. So tomorrow, or should I say today is Christmas eve. I work till four go home get changed, make a visit to deliver some presents then head over to my sisters for the traditional Christmas eve meal of the seven fishes minus 5. So Merry Christmas my friends. I have to hit the hay.

Here are some cute animals singing a song written in my hometown, about a mile from here, Jingle Bells.

  Merry Christmas everyone.
I'm outta here and going to bed.

A Christmas Story

When four of Santa's elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure.
Then Mrs. Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more.
When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where.
Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered.
Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drunk all the cider and hidden the liquor.. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom.
Just then the doorbell rang, and an irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big Christmas tree.
The angel said very cheerfully, 'Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?'

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.

I did not write the above. I got it off an email. Still it's interesting to learn how traditions get started.

Speaking of interesting, well sort of interesting, it has been so unseasonably warm, except for today (20's), that some plants and trees have apparently been fooled into thinking we have had the shortest winter season ever because they are starting to bud. I wonder what will happen in the spring?

It's song parody time again. Back in the 70's Eric Clapton had a hit record "Cocaine". That's the music that is used here. I'm sure it's the same all over the country, but states that are close by will poke fun at each other. Here in New England I'm sure the surrounding state poke fun at Massachusetts. There's certainly plenty of material to work with. In this case Tom Doyle, the man who writes and performs these parodies, takes some shots at the state of Maine. He's done this several times. This one is titled "In Maine".

I'm getting over a little cold. It started 4 days ago and it's finally gone. This is the first cold I've had in 30 years. I have been quite lucky. I attribute this hardiness to having many colds when I was younger. I also had just about all the childhood diseases. Chicken pox, mumps, measles, scarlet fever. Then there was the eye operation and the ruptured appendix. And yet I would not consider myself a sickly child. I think we are sanitizing ourselves to death. I have no facts to base this on but I wouldn't be surprised if people have weaker immune systems now. Just a thought.

For Nancy. I received the package yesterday. It looks great and my sister's going to love it. Thank you!

Well that's it for now.
I'm outta here.

If it's Tuesday then I gotta work 4 more days. Yay.

Before I actually write anything, and I haven't a clue as to what, here's another parody song by Tom Doyle. I have more of these. This one uses the Billy Joel song "She's always a woman" However the subject is quite different. It involves a medical procedure that a man might have. I can say no more.

This is the third time I have attempted to blog this week. I really couldn't think of anything to say.During the course of my day I do think of things to write. I hear, see or think of something but by the time I am settled in for the evening I stare at a computer screen as blank as my mind. I could tell you about my day but it wasn't much different than any other day except you could stir in some aggravation over a sick call and blah blah blah. There's no point to it.

I do have two more gifts to buy for Christmas with a trip to the post office thrown in for good measure. I did shop local this year. I went out to breakfast Sunday morning as we walked down the square in the center of town I was looking at the buildings across the street. To digress I happened to be googling around one day and somehow I ended up at a site about the song Jingle Bells. Now I knew it was written here but there was supposed to be a plaque on a building at the site of the tavern where it was composed. Anyway, as we walked we passed a store that I have walked or driven by my whole life yet, I never went in. My friend said to me, We should go into Wards after we eat. And so we did.

What a great place! Basically I would call it a gift shop. The selection was much more eclectic than you would find in some chain store. From jewelery, I Love Lucy figurines, music boxes, Fine China, crystal, religious items, and much more.  I went back on Monday and dropped some serious cash. One perk is that if you spend more than $100.00 they'll box and wrap everything. You can't beat that kind of service though you get a box anyway. They don't take care of you like that in a chain store. They always talk service but they don't deliver. If a retailer talks up it's service you can rest assured that they are bad at it and it's their own fault. But back to this family owned business. It was a pleasure to wonder around that place. How could I have missed this gem all these years. I may go back later this week.

To my friend Beth, In case you didn't check comments, I received your lovely card. Thank you very much.

Nancy I left a comment as well yesterday but as you would say just in case. I mailed it Monday. My sister's gonna love it!

OK. That's it for now.
I'm outta here.
  

Howdy!

I know I know. I've been m.i.a. lately. Once again everything is fine I've just been very busy. I have some catching up to do. Work has been...well work. There was one amusing incident. A Spanish speaking woman came up to me. She spoke little if any English. She smiled kind of sheepishly and asked me,
"The papers for the ladies?"
I had no clue. She repeated, "The papers for the ladies?"
What could she mean? Why is she asking me? We sell luncheon meat, potato salad and pizza. Then light slowly dawned on Marblehead. That's a local saying. I took a shot and took her to the health and beauty aids aisle. That's where they have all the items just for the ladies. If you know what I mean, and I think you do. She smiled and nodded a thank you.

Thanks to all of you for the birthday wishes. I had a bad day at work that day but after work I stopped by my sister's house for a bit of cake. Boy was that cake good! I haven't had a piece of cake for a year. One of the gifts I received was a cd by a local guy. He's been on the radio for maybe 30 years or so. He's quite funny but what he does best are song parodies. Most of the songs refer to local cities, places in New England.They are all quite funny but all the references are local and wouldn't mean much to anyone else. However there are 8 or 9 that are general in nature. You will recognise all the original songs as they were all big hits in their day. Billy Joel, Paul Simon, The Rolling Stones, country music, 50's through 90's, songs that are very recognisable. The subject matter of each song has nothing to do the original tune. Nothing vulgar, but we're adults so let's just say it's not as bad as what you find on television any given night. And besides It's very funny and laughing is good for you. Now hopefully I will be allowed to post a little movie I made. It's not really a movie it's just a picture of old 30's or 40's upright style radio. The idea was to be able to play the song. Speaking of those old radios when I went looking for a picture of a radio to make the little opening, I looked at a few and really liked the art deco style furniture the radio was put in. They were beautiful pieces of furniture, well made and beautifully finished. But, I have digressed. Here's one of Tom Doyle's (That's his name.) song parodies. The original is "Stand By Your Man" by Tammy Wynette. The recording is apparently taken right from the original broadcast. You hear the disc jockeys laughing.

So let's see. I just came back from the dentist. I know what you're thinking. "What an exciting, whirl wind, life he leads!" Another day at 60 degrees. Very weird for December. Just a beautiful day. I can't kid myself though. The cold weathers a comin'.

Supper looms in an hour or two and I have to finish a little project I started earlier. Back in a while to catch up.

I'm outta here.