Welcome 2013!

I wrote this 47 years ago in my then "Dear Diary".  Still true today as I welcome 2013!

December 31, 1965
And so, dear diary, these pages mark the close of a fruitful, and painful, year.  A year holding wonderful, wonderful times that I shall never forget (2012 note: and I never did forget them). When I think of all of them my heart is filled and overflowing and ready to burst!  The bad, hurting times are only a dull, void ache or a wistful memory. "May the old year end with all its curses, may the new year begin with all its blessings!"  Good-bye 1965!
Lots of lots of love, Evvy

Road Trip

Off to Orlando today to meet up with special people in my life.  Scott's birthday is today and he and Victoria shlepped his in-laws, brother-in-law and his fiance, six kids and a friend to Disney World to help celebrate.  He has every detail for an entire week planned perfectly, including some needed medical equipment.

Of all these folks, we've known Scott the longest, since he was born.  When he was growing up he certainly didn't suffer but he didn't have it easy either.  Everything he is and has - and that's a lot - he earned himself. 

His Mom used to tell Scott to look to us as role models.  Well Scott, YOU are MY role model.

Happy Birthday sweetheart. 

How Old Am I?

Neighbor Marilyn sent me a long joke/missive called "How old is Grandma?"  I have modified it for myself:

I was born before color television, TV remotes, polio shots, DVRs, contact lenses and "the pill". 

Growing up there were no credit cards and my school pen used ink cartridge refills (I loved peacock blue).  I shlepped my books in my arms, walked to school, and never owned a backpack. 

I never worried about terrorists, perverts or being kidnapped.  Just "The Bomb".

I wore hose with garter belts and we didn't have air conditioning or a clothes dryer. 

I have the remains of my smallpox vaccination on my arm and silver fillings in my teeth.

There was no space travel but every child I knew had both a mother and father at home. 

You got married first and then lived together and you definitely needed a husband to have a baby. 

I never heard of gay people, computers, cell phones or men wearing earrings.

Tattoos were for old sailors.

My phone number lacked an area code and the first part of it was UP for "Uptown". 

My suitors met my Mom and Dad and treated me when they took me out. 

How old am I?  Only 63...  

:-)

Twelve Angry Men

Twelve Angry Men is and always will be one of my favorite movies.  The recent remakes have not come even close to emulating the original.

The message of the movie is that what we see and perceive upon our first glance may or may not be the truth. Our first impressions and/or long held beliefs may be totally incorrect.  Then again, they may be spot-on.  In any case, a thinking person will be careful to question and explore what lies beneath the surface.

Jack Klugman, AKA Juror Number 5, passed away a few days ago.  He was one of my favorites, entertaining me through the years with The Odd Couple and Quincy.  He was one-of-a-kind, wouldn't you agree?

And just like Twelve Angry Men (1957), there is no one who can equal the original.

RIP Jack Klugman, the last of the Angry Men.

A Woman Should Have

Maya Angelou, poet extraordinaire, wrote the definitive work on what a woman should have.  I may not have them all but I do have number two, something perfect to wear if, well if WHATEVER!

It is my black shirtwaist dress, purchased in New Orleans over 30 years ago for what was then (and still is to me) the exorbitant sum of $100.  It fits me beautifully and the wide belt makes my waist look tiny.  I have worn it to job interviews, bar mitzvahs, to take our 25th anniversary picture, funerals, major presentations, weddings and to work.  It is perfect for when I have no idea what anyone else will be wearing or what is appropriate.   

I took my old friend out today to see if she was still up for the Israel Bond dinner ("business dress") next month.  A trip to the dry cleaner is in order but otherwise I am good to go.

Still working on the rest of Maya's list...

;-)

It's A Wonderful Life

It's Christmas morning and of course there is no tree, no sparkly lights and sadly, no Santa.  But there, recorded on TV last night, is that inspiring movie It's A Wonderful Life.

You don't have to be a Christian or even believe in Angels (which I do) to love this movie.  Such simple premises - how is the world better because you lived in it?  How much more can you do with the time left to you? Does hard work and sacrifice really pay off in the end?

One thing I know for sure, Christmas (and every-other-day-of the-year) Miracles DO exist.  I have first hand knowledge of this (see last year's Christmas blog).

It's early Christmas morning and I'm settling in with my hot cocoa to watch this heart-warming movie that never gets old.

Yes, indeed, It truly IS a Wonderful Life!

A Year of Firsts

2012 is dwindling down and as I look back, it was a year of firsts.  Here's a few:

First pair of designer jeans
First time not working (and not looking for a job)
First time volunteering
First mail-in vote
First Swamp Buggy ride
First time making a photobook
First time playing Canasta
First trip to the horse races
First Talmud study class
First live political rally
First time using the community exercise room
First Wordle - hahaha I used it to sum up 2012!

Israel Bonds

I am proud and happy to be the owner of Israel Bonds.  They are a good investment, paying over 3%, and I figure if Israel ever has to default on the semi-annual interest payment I have much, much bigger problems than the loss of either interest or principal.  Incidentally, Israel has never defaulted or delayed a single interest payment on their bonds.

So because of our "big investment" we received this invitation to the International Prime Minister's Club Dinner at the Boca West Country Club.  The cost for this dinner is $180. a person, $360. a couple.  It did not occur to me that we would be attending.

Oh no, says hubby, he wants to go!  Why I ask?  Is it because our friends Fred and Nancy Katzin will be honored with the ISRAEL65 award?  Or perhaps because Howie Mandel will be the Master of Ceremonies? Or perhaps you wish to show off your lovely wife in her new 4+ inch patent leather heels???

All of the above he said, but mostly because attending such events is how he envisioned life would be at this stage. 

 Wow.  Wow.   Lucky I have those new shoes!

;-)

Chanukah Presents

The last Chanukah gift exchange is today with cousins Morry and Barb.  I wonder what I'll get???

So far I have done very well:

Not one but TWO pairs of Miss Me jeans!  So nice and well fitting too!

My Blog printed up in a beautiful book, at least the entries from 8/1/2012 through 12/11/2012.  All the others I printed out one-by-one everyday and put in a giant loose-leaf notebook.  This way is much, much nicer!

A beautiful piece of Judaica - this artwork depicting Shabbos. 

Gorgeous 4+ inch black patent high heels for simchas and big nights out

Fuzzy Wuzzy jacket for chilly evenings

What a haul! 

;-)

End Of The World

According to some folks, the World will end sometime today.  If you are reading this, that has not (yet) happened.

As the Queen said: Keep Calm and Carry On!

;-)

Ameliorate

I learned a new word today - ameliorate.  It means to make or become better, more bearable, more satisfactory; to improve.  A great word, no?

New Years is approaching and with it comes my annual contemplation of New Year's Resolutions.  I plan to ameliorate lots of things!

Will keep you posted...

;-)

Surviving Christmas

Christmas is five days away and for the next few weeks life slips into a surreal alternate reality. My favorite TV shows have had their season finales or are on hiatus until mid-January. Chanukah is over, friends are out of town and it is too scary to venture out to the malls or big box stores. Christmas cheer is everywhere and I am rapidly approaching Holiday Overload.

A JAP like myself needs a plan for surviving the bleak days ahead!  Thanks to careful preparation I have managed to secure the latest Best Sellers by three of my favorite authors for a two week secluded book-fest.  This will be supplemented by a foray to the movie theater to see Jack Reacher or some other holiday blockbuster and also an overnight trip to Orlando to celebrate Scott's birthday at Disney World.  Chinese food on Christmas is traditional but I have a frozen turkey so I think I will go all out and cook a real meal. 

At least this year I will be skipping the annual office party with its pot luck lunch and gift exchange.  Reason enough to be glad I retired!

;-)

SPAM

Lots of the email I get goes directly into my SPAM folder and is thankfully never seen again.  I wonder what sites that legitimately had my email address sold it and I wonder why any of the companies that send me SPAM would want to solicit me for any of their products. I peeked at my SPAM folder today and found ads for

I don't want to learn Portuguese or date Evangelical Christians.  My car is still under warranty and I don't need Viagra or unemployment assistance and my blood pressure is just fine thank-you-very-much. 

Of course I would not mind at all if $1,500 US dollars were deposited into my bank account in the next hour!

;-)

Havana

I bought a new little carry-on for a short trip I was planning last spring.  It was an impulse purchase, only $30. at Ross, and sooo cute I couldn't resist it!  It is embossed with adorable travel graphics and it's called HAVANA, as if I was planning a trip to an exotic locale that embodied a touch of mystery and adventure.

The trip was unavoidably canceled and I never got to use HAVANA even though I expect I will use it someday, perhaps for a quick trip to Chicago or Toronto.  Today, many months after the trip was cancelled, I finally unpacked HAVANA and rediscovered the cute outfits I had selected while visualizing new experiences and fun. 

I was a little melancholy to think of the trip-not-taken.  In a way, HAVANA (aptly named by its designer, Jessica Simpson) will always represent a place where good times await on a distant shore, just slightly out of reach.

;-)

Best Laid Plans

John Lennon said "Life is what happens when you are making other plans". How smart he was, who knew???

This morning I was perusing articles on how the fiscal cliff would affect our finances when a friend called with some bad news about a recent diagnosis. She has so many plans! So many projects!

Bad news seems to always be unexpected, even if you are basically a worrier, as am I. And it always arrives when I am doing something that is instantly rendered completely unimportant in the scheme of things.

Last night cousin Cary called to wish us Happy Chanukah. He too had sad news - a divorce in the family (the second for a wonderful person) and his complete and irrevocable loss of sight in one eye. No one plans for these things in their lives, yet there they are.

We survive. We cope. We change our plans or put them off for a little while...

Les Miserables

I have no words to describe the horror that took place in Connecticut yesterday - 20 small children and 6 adults gunned down in Sandy Hook Elementary School by a deranged and obviously mentally ill man.

For awhile the media reported that the perpetrator of this heinous act was a man named Ryan Lanza.  It ultimately turned out that the shooter was Ryan's brother Adam.  So for a brief time Ryan, who lost his mother yesterday, was wrongfully accused.  I feel for Ryan as well, as he is also a victim.

The theme of the play, and now the soon-to-be-released movie, on everyone's lips these days is Les Miserables.  It is the story of Jean Valjean, who, though not entirely innocent (he stole a loaf of bread to feed his sister's children), was branded and despised as a former offender and parolee.  It is the story of the suffering of many, many people in those terrible times.

Can any good come of this senseless tragedy?  Can Ryan, like Jean Valjean, go on to be a kind, dignified, respected, benefactor to society?  Can we finally pass gun control laws that require more stringent background searches and ban automatic and assault weapons?  Can we renew our faith in humanity and restore our schools to places of safe haven? 

Or are we forever to be Les Miserables?

Big Surprise

When I was contemplating whether to retire I asked a friend "what will I do all day??"  I seriously pictured a life of wandering from room to room looking for dust mites. My friend answered "whatever you want".  It was the "whatever" I was having a problem with.

No one is more surprised than I to discover that I am so busy I have actually had to cut back on certain activities and that I haven't gotten around to some of the things I planned on doing!

I watched Senator Joe Lieberman give his farewell to Congress speech today.  He is retiring after a long, productive career and many accomplishments.  The pundits on TV asked "what will he do now?"  Hahaha I thought.  For an intelligent, involved man with a wife he adores I have no doubt he will be busier and happier than he can imagine. 

Congratualtions Joe!  You have truly earned the "Gift of Rest"...

The Road Not Taken

I think my career in Information Technology was perfect for me but cousin Jeannie asked me  "if you couldn't have had your IT career what would you have done?"

I couldn't think of a thing!  But I gave it some thought and came up with these:

Mystery novel writer
Life or diet coach
Accountant
University professor (of IT of course)
Financial planner
Software product representative
X-Ray technician

Here's some things I couldn't do:

Retail sales
Pre-school teacher
Factory assembly line
Bus or taxi driver
Airline pilot
Flair bartender


Luckily I have found my real, true calling.  I excel at Retiree!!!

;-)

Jenny Kissed Me

I was reading several beautiful romantic quotes a day or so ago and into my head popped Jenny Kissed Me, a poem by James Henry Leigh Hunt that my father had read to me several times.  I never forgot the last lines:

Say I'm weary, say I'm sad,
Say that health and wealth have missed me,
Say I'm growing old, but add,
Jenny kissed me.

Of course as a child I could never image being weary, sad, sick, poor and especially not old.  I remember thinking what a terrible life the poet must have had, to have a single kiss be the highlight of his existence.  I tried to imagine what his miserable days and years must have been like.  Was he a cripple? A failure in love and business?

Now that I am getting old - but thankfully not weary, sad, sick or poor - I understand this poem better.  I know that the times we remember most fondly when we have more memories than future possibilities are those instances when we experienced Pure Joy.  Perhaps seeing a child born or the happiness of being united under the Chuppah.  Perhaps recognition by professional colleagues or seeing your work in print or the first dollar you made in your own business. 

Or perhaps the best of all, the kiss from the one you never forgot...

;-)

Rock On

Last night we went to see Dion at the Hard Rock.  I remember listening to Runaround Sue at GG's Snack Shop - the hangout for the high school kids - when I was only 13 and still in 8th grade. It's a little hard to believe that the guy who wrote The Wanderer and Runaround Sue also penned and performed Abraham, Martin and John a few short years later.  That song never, ever fails to move me to tears.

Dion was still wearing the jaunty black beret that I see on the 60s version of Abraham, Martin and John that is saved to my YouTube playlist.  And his voice has not dimmed with the years.  Nor his stamina to do a full stage performance at 73. 

I guess it's true. The old performers from the 50s, 60s and 70s never die, they just ROCK ON!

;-)

A Day at the Races

Gulfstream Park

In the category of "never been" was a day at the racetrack.  Friends Terri and Fred had never been either so yesterday we decided to make a day of it at the Gulfstream Racetrack in Hallandale Beach, just a few miles from home.  I pocketed $15.40 on the very first $2 bet - on Collymore Place to win in the 3rd race. But after that, bubkus.  Still, it was exciting and fun and you move around a lot between races, checking the horses, wandering around the casino and restaurants, and especially people watching. 

After the racetrack I suggested we stop by the Yellow Green Market since it had extended December hours.  This was the highlight of the day.  Fred and Terri loved the Cuban decafs and the bread and pastry vendor and the selection of Twizzlers in tons of flavors. We promised to go back there as often as possible.

Cross this one off the "bucket list"!

;-)

Rube Goldberg

I love to see Rube Goldbergs in action!  You know, those complicated series of mechanical processes designed to accomplish a very simple function.  Sometimes I think my life is just a bunch of Rube Goldbergs because it seems harder and harder to accomplish simple tasks without being distracted and getting off track!

For example, I'm trying to write this post while watching last night's episode of Elementary and drinking my morning coffee.  Why did I start writing this post instead of concentrating on Elementary?  Because Elementary starts off with a fabulous Rube Goldberg device (although I suspect it's just a series of disjointed shots and not an entire functioning device). 

See what I mean?  Time to rewind Elementary and start it over.  Life really is a Rube Goldberg machine!

;-)

Altophobia

I suffer from Altophobia.  Fear of Heights. I hate looking down from high up and don't even go out on friends Terri and Fred's 19th floor balcony which overlooks Fort Lauderdale, the Las Olas high-rent area, the Intercoastal and the Atlantic Ocean.

I am even nervous about the looming Fiscal Cliff, though, while not actually a cliff, is also scary.  It's not that I expect to be impacted too too much; I'm more anxious about the country being hopelessly in debt and seemingly unable to move forward.

I understand that phobias can be conquered by confronting them directly. 

I think I'll take a pass...

The Story of All of Us

I will not say I watched all of the new Mankind - The Story of All of Us series on the History Channel but I did catch two small snippets.  The first was about Genghis Khan, the most ruthless butcher in all history who even succeeded in making Hitler seem almost human.  The second piece was about the bubonic plague, complete with extremely graphic representations of the suffering and disfigurement of its victims.  After several minutes of each I had had enough.

Perhaps the history of mankind is not as bad as the small pieces I saw on TV.  I know there were good things - discoveries in medicine, advancements in human rights, great works of art and music - but oh! the butchery! the wars! the hardship and misery of just trying to exist! 

When I changed the channel to escape Mankind - The Story of All of Us, even the nightly news looked good...

Rashi

How surprised was the Rabbi to learn I could trace my lineage to Rashi!  It came up in conversation at Torah Study today.  The Rabbi said I should do a presentation on the topic sometime and I had to laugh and sheepish admit I had never heard of Rashi before cousin Jeannie and I embarked on our genealogy project a few years ago.

But yes, indeed, here is the proof (click to enlarge). And yes, indeed, I AM proud.

 

C'est Si Bon

Thanks to Madame Lenters and my three years of high school French followed by two semesters of college French, in my younger days I could almost speak French fluently.  I definitely could read French and understand almost everything. 

In the days before Rosetta Stone and "conversational" language learning, Madame Lenters drilled us on the conjugation of all of the forms of a verb in fixed order as in "I am, you are, he is, we are, you are, they are, I was, they were, I had been” etc. etc. etc.  This of course was further complicated by the gender differentiation in French.  As a result of her incredible teaching skills, I was able to place into advanced French in college and I knew more than everyone else in the class.  To this day, I will interject a French phrase that pops into my head when there is no English or Yiddish one that will do. I can also sing La Marseillaise, the French National Anthem, off-key of course.

I guess I don't need to mention that Madame Lenters was both hated and loved by the student body, myself included  When she passed away there was quite a write-up in the Chicago Tribune.

Merci beaucoup Madame Lenters.

C'est si bon...

Miss Me

Hubby asked what I would like for Chanukah, a mere 8 days away.  For once, I had an answer, a pair of Miss Me jeans, size 27 (as long as there's a bit of stretch), straight legs, with lots of bling and fancy trim please.  Oh and look!  I just happen to have the exact thing saved to my Wish List on eBay ;-)

A major purchase for me in the wardrobe department!  But I deserve them, don't you agree? I can't wait for them to arrive "on or about December 5th".  Just in time for Chanukah! 

;-)