everyday is a winding road...: January 2014

Friday, January 10, 2014

Flashback Friday...Snowed In

The last time I REALLY shoveled snow was 1999.

(Benefits of living in the city and a landlord that hires it out)

Being Snowed in, shoveling out my car and of course it being this time of the year has made me think of the last time I was snowed in at HOME...

winter 1999.

I think Mom and Dad were set to leave for Florida right after Christmas...

but if I remember right, the roads were torn up in the Trailer Park and they delayed their flight for a week....or maybe the snow started falling and that delayed their flight...

I can't remember which came first.

But the snow came and we were stuck.

If you spent winters at this house, you remember how pretty, yet crazy the drifting was in the driveway in between the buildings.

I could not get him to STOP shoveling and come inside...

I think he was worried about getting Mom to Dialysis.

Then a hero in Green showed up and plowed thru the drifts...

making a path out.
If it's the same storm, I remember someone coming to pick her up and we put a step stool out for her to step over the snow and into the car.

Dad was not at all happy that they were here in the snow, instead of there in the sunshine.

But, seriously, if I knew what was about to happen in February...

I would have never taken them to the airport.

I would have rather been snowed in with them ALL winter long.

Wednesday, January 08, 2014

Tuesday, January 07, 2014

I can't even imagine how much pavement and typewriter keys were pounded in all the years of research that Ruby and all the other genealogists did to give us the records that are now being digitized.

I've been working on digitizing Ruby's Book on Grandma Fern's side of the Family as well as digging for more on The Vandercars and of course, I continue to steal info from Cousin Jane, who has put in thousands of hours on the Grandma Bryant's side of the family.

I feel like such a cheater, cause all I do is enter a name and "leafs" show up with hints to follow to add more and more info to the family records.

Thank You to all the REAL genealogists who paved the way for us WannaBes to come in and make it look easy!

Saturday, January 04, 2014

This Week on Main Street...

Drink of the Week:
Martini & Rossi - Asti Spumante

One of my favorite drinks!

Soup of the Week:
Clam Chowder Snap
Easy, quick and good.

App of the Week:
My Fitness Pal

New Year's resolutions of course.
Keeps tracks of food and exercise.
I'm amazed at how many calories tortilla chips have :/

TV show of the week:
House
Season 1: Episode 14

Movie of the Week:
Nebraska

This movie.
I left and felt like I had spent 2 hours with my Dad.
I don't want to give any spoilers away, but I may just have to do a blog post entirely on this movie.
If you've never spent time caring for the elderly, you might not think much of it.
If you have spent time with an aging parent, you will see yourself on the screen. But not in a "in your face way"…and that, is the beauty of this film. The reality is so subtle and underplayed…only those who have been there will see how well the actors have captured the heartbreaking bittersweetness of this simple story that is common to many parents and children.
Bruce Dern deserves an award…he is beyond Oscar good in this role.

Song of the Week:
Dancing Queen

I'm slowly rebuilding my iTunes library, since when my computer crashed I realized the only backup of music I had was on my iPod.
I'm revisiting my favorites…
I would have Abba and the Dancing Queen in my favorites anyway, but anyone who has seen or heard me talk about the movie "Muriel's Wedding," knows that this song is more than just a song.
It's an adjective…a way of measuring things up.

Album of the Week:
AC/DC : Back in Black

Shaking the cobwebs out of 2013!

Book of the Week:
The Bible
Again with the resolutions.
"In the Beginning…."

Directions to here:

Little known fact:
Abba's Dancing Queen was originally known as "Boogaloo."

Here's the lost verse!