Here, Kitty, Kitty

Have you noticed that when people see a cat's litter box, they always say, "Oh, have you got a cat?" Just once I want to say, "No, it's for company!"

New Blogger

I finally switched to the new Blogger. And I don't see any major differences to my template at all. This or the other one. All that worrying for nothing.

It is indicative of my attitude towards change. The way I've been drug kicking and screaming into the 21st century speaks volumes about me so I'm not surprised I took so long to accept the "change" to new Blogger.

I do have to integrate the new labels and archiving features. But as of now, it all looks fine.

Happy Sunday, friends.

Old Lady Lap Quilt

Good morning, world. I usually stop in after coffee and errands, but today I'm waking up here at Susan*Jayne with my first cup of coffee and juice. I've got my trusty old lady lap quilt in place! This one happens to be a red tartan stadium blanket.

Is it Friday? Yes, it is. Have a good one.

Snowflakes

Hello beautiful people. I've been watching the snow flurries coming down around me today. We've not had a measureable snowfall yet this winter and soon it will be February. We DID experience the Blizzard of 1996, I believe it was, in April so there's still time for my neighborhood to be blanketed in snow.

Minimal amounts of snow are in the forecast for the next couple of days. And next week, the possibility of more substantial snowfall.

I'll bet some of you are absolutely over the snow this season. And some of you on the other side of the planet just might welcome some snow to cool off with.

Check-ing In

I'm trying to stay with a promise to myself to check in here on SJ every day. It may be late before I get here, but I'll get here.

I'm at Mother's house today and I just balanced the check book and advised her of what bills to pay. She still writes out her checks to pay the bills. I just keep track of what she's got and what to transfer or pay. I have gotten her to set up some automatically to come out, but she feels more comfortable writing and sending checks.

That seems to go with what I've observed. Our older citizens rely more on checks and our younger citizens rely almost exclusively on bankcards or checkcards. Me? I'm an old chick who exclusively uses her Visa Checkcard!

Southern Charm

Somes thing that are "southern" I'm all for and embrace with every fiber of my being. Other things considered "southern" just downright make me shudder.

Have you ever heard that old chestnut, "The fault you find in others are the faults you also have." Or something like that. I actually first heard this from my Mother-In-Law, the patron saint of southern charm.

This maxim is never more accurate than when I hear someone stretch out a one syllable word to two syllables, or a two syllable word to three.

Example: This girl comes onto the tv screen and exclaims about her diet success,

"Look at me! I'm in a size 2!" But the number 2 comes out like "tuh-eww-uh".

She may as well be running her fingernails down a black board!

The other day I asked my dog if he wanted a "cookie". But it came out "cuh-ooo-kie". Oh, no! A stretched-out word is an automatic IQ reducer and all season pass to the Jerry Springer Show.

I stopped cold in my tracks and kept repeating "cookie" over and over until I was sure I'd reduced it down to the normal two syllables. It was a cringe-worthy event I hope I never to repeat!

Third Age

This was one of those crappy Mondays where I didn't get anything done. Why not? I sure was busy all day. Because I didn't manage my time well at all.

First I did a little bit of A, then left it, went onto B. Did a little bit of B, got distracted and moved onto C. And on and on. I'm tired now and nothing's accomplished. By the end of this alphabet soup of a day I didn't get anything done.

Do you ever have a day like this? I'm really going to need a plan for Tuesday.

And I've been doing way too much thinking lately. Can I be honest with you? I'm a little apprehensive about getting older. Scared? Yes. That, too. An at 54 years old, and with birthdays flying by so quickly, I want to make sure I have my head on straight. I don't want to become some bitter old lady.

I want to explore this angle of my Third Age--that time between menopause and death. Sounds gruesome, doesn't it? But it's supposed to be a beautiful time in your life. I'd like to get some feedback from you all and learn more about growing old as gracefully and passionately and with as much fun as I possibly can. It doesn't have to be a bad ride on the Other Side. To be continued...!

C O L T S WON!

An historic comeback -- Peyton Manning and the Colts were 18 down (21 - 3) to beat their rivals, The Patriots 38 - 34. Peyton Manning was University of Tennessee Volunteers quarterback so most all of Tennesse pulls for Peyton. They're going to the Superbowl to play Chicago Bears February 4th. Oh boy, oh boy!

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Audition :: Broadway


2. Urgent :: care


3. Lunch :: box


4. Adult :: diapers!!! oh, no!


5. Mug :: coffee


6. Awful :: waffle-- used to be what we called the local pancake house


7. Comics :: RCrumb


8. Damage :: there's a band called Damage


9. Kicks :: punts


10. Experience :: "Are You Experienced?" Jimi Hendrix' 1st album

from Unconscious Mutterings

Good morning, my leetle chickadees. Will try to post a little bit before I take Mother to church this morning. (Her priest also has a church in a neighboring town that he goes to for early mass and hers doesn't begin until 11:15 am.)

Anyway, it feels good to post here where I let my hair down a little among friends. The last time I renewed Easy Bake Coven I was going to renew for another year and I didn't think my credit card went through so I submitted it again which lead me to two more years with the account. I was going to fold it up and begin anew, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooo. At the end of 2007 I will probably close it down and open up another one and start fresh. Still pondering that one, but I know it's run it's course for me and I've felt that way for well over a year now. Just wanted to share that with you. I have a good website name in mind, but it's a tad long so I'm still working on a good title.

It's yucky rainy outside. Would much rather stay in today. I'm going to cook some good ol' soup beans and cornbread for dinner. I'm the only one who really likes it so I don't fix it often. Mother never fixed it when we were growing up either. It's especially good with my sour cream cornbread, which is in my recipe file.

Photo taken 11:58 am, January 19, 2007

I thought this was an odd weather photo. It's on top of Holston Mountain in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and I found it on my WeatherBug. The sky is a strange blueish-pink and then you see only the treetops which are iced over!

Much of the country has had a lot of ice with icy roads to contend with. Guess winter is finally here.

Just back from running some errands and stopping to pick up some fast food breakfast for Mother and I. Before I could sit down to eat I had to engage in a game of "Monkey Man".

You know how a dog or a cat will depend on certain rituals? You know, your dog expects his food and water bowl to be in a certain spot. They lie down in a certain place, their playtime is done a certain way. Buddy is 6 years old and he hasn't been playful in a few years or so. Now he's taken up this funky furry monkey and he wants me to play with it/him.

Preferably outside.

And first thing in the morning.

sigh...

But it's cute and hard to resist.

Blue Ridge Blogging

Marie @ Blue Ridge blog is a photographer for her local newspaper in western North Carolina and posts a beautiful photo most every day for us all to enjoy. If you've not met Marie before, stop in and have a look around.

Today she has a photo of an angry deer that Shirl might like to see. Shirl also takes many nice photos of deer around Michigan.

powered by performancing firefox

Well, my Skyler is back home which is great news! She's not sure what her next move will be, but at least she's not going to move to St Louis, MO. She had an excellent job offer while she was gone.

Do you have a favorite morning drive radio program you listen to on the way to work? I listen to Bob & Sheri which is also in a lot of cities now around the country. They're a fun couple and they became part of my routine years ago. She's written a few books which are pretty funny.

I digress. I just drove over the mountain from NC to TN on the edge of a major snow storm. When I say "mountain", I'm talking about the mountain that's part of the range that has the highest peak this side of the Mississippi River. I travel back and forth from NC to TN a LOT. Asheville is called the Land Of The Sky because of it being a mile high or so. Mother is about 30 miles from the state line in Tennessee and my house with Skyler and hubby is about 30 miles from the state line in NC. The state line is a mountain range that finally has an interstate straight through it now after 30 years of building and blasting through the mountains. With lots of time in court about the deets.

Wow, I sure can ramble, can't I? Well, I decided to make this Susan*Jayne website totally LIVE and off the cuff. No rough drafts, just wild keystrokes slapping out something tedious and tantalizing.

I'm off to check my email, news, and of course, visit with YOU!

Have any of you ever been to the Classmates.com website? I first signed up on it probably 10 years ago when it was not very active, but I updated my profile there a couple of weeks ago and I've been hearing from people I've not talked to in almost 40 years!

One girl emailed me that I grew up with, went to school with her, spent the night with her, was in scouts and cheerleading with her. Do you know the one? She was the captain cheerleader, the best in sports, made the best grades, teacher's pet, president of the class, homecoming queen... whew! Everybody looked up to her.

I felt like a complete slacker around her when I was about 12 but because of her I was so motivated to try harder at everything I did. Especially with my studies. I began buckling down and studying very hard to get all A's like her, but I never quite made it to the Superior Honor Roll. I had a few B's that never turned into A's and occasionally a stray C. I finally got my all A's much later when I got to College. I made the Dean's List each semester.

Did you ever make the Honor Roll? Dean's List?

Offbeat Brides (and grooms) tell their tales. A new book provides resources for indie weddings.

When Ariel Meadow Stallings and Andreas Fetz started making out at a rave in 1998, they weren't planning on hooking up for good. But love sparked in the warehouse where they met, and they stayed together.

Stallings writes in her first book, they were planning a "hippie/raver/freakfest wedding," for which she wanted to dress "like a fairy-freakish electro forest queen" and Fetz, who "dresses like the Midwest academic feminist he was raised by," wanted something comfortable because they'd be outdoors. Everything came off marvelously in August 2004.

So what to do next? Clearly, help others with their fairy freakfest forest (or underwater scuba diving or circus musical or Burning Man) weddings. That is, write a book. [via]

See (www.offbeatbride.com) and her Flickr group (www.flickr.com/groups/offbeatbride/), where other "offbeat" brides can upload their unconventional wedding photos.

*Photo of Rebecca's wedding can be see on Flickr.

Offbeat Bride: Taffeta-Free Alternatives for Independent Brides by Ariel Meadow Stallings has a publication date of Jan. 28.

Although it's not for everyone, it's nice to see people add their own creative twist to the traditional wedding and fun to read their stories. My two weddings were both pretty dull. The first one I wore a floral jacket and skirt and the marriage lasted 3 years. The 2nd one I wore jeans and a nice blouse and we're about to celebrate our 20th anniversary this summer!

I was tagged by Shirl, so let's see what we can come up with. 6 weird things... hmmm, we should probably ask other folks to answer that, because about me since obviously there is nothing weird about ME! Ha! OK, these are pretty lame, but here goes.

"THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the �6 weird things about you.� People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don�t forget to leave a comment that says �you are tagged� in their comments and tell them to read your blog."

1. I could eat cereal day and night and nothing else and be perfectly satisfied.
2. I went for years without wearing a bra. Now I need a belt. The only time I wear a bra is when I go to work or maybe out someplace. Never when I'm out running errands, in the yard or at home.
3. I'm borrowing from Shirl here and will reveal that my nickname is Sudie. Some call me Susie, but never ever SUE.
4. I keep christmas lights around my bedroom windows year round.
5. While I'm talking about windows, these same bedroom windows once had American flags on them fixed so you could open and shut them. It was the anti-VietNam era and was reported to "officials" who came to my high school to talk to me about it. (I KNEW I would end up telling on myself with something here)
6. I keep my original baby chair on my bedroom wall. (Can you tell I'm stuck for ideas and am looking around my bedroom for ideas?)

OK, anyone else who wants to jump in and do 6 weird things, have at it!

T E S T I N G a dotted box around my post. Thanks, Meg. She sure showed us many things I still use everyday online.

Today's Quote
With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.
~ William Shakespeare

His ol' beard probably hid his wrinkles. Honestly, I don't really mind the wrinkles so much. I mind the jowls and the bags and the stuff that used to be in one spot and has now moved south.

I saw this website called EONS that's a community designed for those over 50. Do we, umm, know anyone over fifty? heh heh.

Fiddling with the template again.

This past year and a half have certainly been challenging. With losing Robin, and then moving away to care for my Mother. And now my 18 year old baby, Skyler, has gone to live with friends in St Louis, MO. Now they're discussing travelling across Europe and staying in hostels and biking around. Sigh. Nothing will ever be the same, will it?

It would be so different if she was going off to college or moving away to start a new job, but she's just blindly staying with friends without any real plans and I don't know when I'll see her again.

I looked up Empty Nest on the internet today and found some wonderful blogs. I believe there are online support groups I may look into. On a more positive note, my blues have catapulted me into major house cleaning, rearranging furniture and I may redecorate this old bedroom. Starting with painting these sad old walls maybe a vibrant barn red.

xoxo

Whoa... haven't been here in awhile. Recently, most of my spare time, besides tending to my aging Mother, have been to purge this house of junk. She hasn't thrown anything out in 30 years, so you can imagine the accumilation.

I've always heard when a loved one passes on that it's wise not to go through things and toss them out for the first year. So I left things alone of Robin's. Now it's been over a year and I'm finally going through old things and throwing them out. The living room has been closed off with all her collectibles and other storage in there so I'm redoing that room, too. I don't want to sell her collectibles, there's at least 50 MIB (mint in the box) Barbie dolls, and other stuff so I'll just find a new way to display them. I left most of those Barbie Christmas ornaments boxed, too, this year. Guess I should keep them safely tucked away, too.

What else is new? Oh, dear daughter rode a bus down to St Louis a few days ago. What, 1500 miles from NC? Her father and I are concerned, naturally, but what can you do when she's 18 and has her own money? If she likes it there, she's going to stay there. She has to spread her wings, and we all discussed it first, so we'll see how that pans out.

Gee, I sound so calm about it, don't I? I'm not.

I better get ready to take Mother to church. Hope to talk with you guys soon. xoxo