Hallowed Profession

Both of us got up way too early today. I woke up at 1:53, Jon at 3:30am. By 5:00 we were hungry and decided to go out for breakfast. As we pulled out of our driveway we saw six of our bags of leaves were blocking the street in front of our house. Couldn't have been much traffic during the night. Halloween pranksters had struck early.

I quit putting pumpkin Jack-O-lanterns in front of the house. The morning after Halloween we would have to clean up the smashed pumpkins in the street.

Years ago pranksters got into even more mischief. In the era of outhouses, pushing them over entertained the young. There is a funny story in Bulletin Board in the Pioneer Press this am. Sick of always dealing with his outhouse being tipped on Halloween, one relative of the storyteller moved it forward four feet. Later, when the vandals came to tip it over they landed in the s-----. He threw them a rope to get out of the pit, but refused to let them shower with his hose. Punishment was driving their car home in their stinky state.

Yesterday there was a story related about another relative who also was tired of smashed pumpkins. That night he painted his pumpkin with enamel paint which didn't dry. The teenager who picked it up ruined his letterman jacket. The next day the pumpkin owner got a call from the irate mother of the teen demanding the man replace the jacket.

There was a time when I worked at Abbott-Northwestern hospital that staff were allowed to wear Halloween costumes to work. It didn't look right to me and eventually was banned. One of the Drs. I worked with in ER said they used to wear costumes at the clinic she worked at. One year she went as Raggety Ann. Picture red yarn pigtails, big painted red freckles and a short gingham dress. She realized it wasn't working when she had to tell a patient he had cancer. Can you imagine getting that news from Raggety Ann?

I hope my work buddy Janie still dresses in costume for work on Halloween at the hospital. She gets by with it because she wears her old nurses uniform--white, long sleeved dress uniform, white pantyhose and shoes and the cap. I guess they can't find grounds to forbid her to wear that to work. I wonder if that scares patients. (Maybe just the ones who have seen nurse Ratched in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".)

Time Waits For No One. Fall Back.

Four more days until we are back on standard time. Will someone please explain to me how we are saving energy by the one week extention? The days are so short now, it is dark when you get up and dark at dinnertime. Unless some of you are showering in the dark or eating by candlelight, I can't account for a savings.
I miss the longer days as the colder months approach.
I took advantage of the nice weather today to walk downtown to pick up a few items at the Co-op. I don't think I would have done that a year ago. Climbing up those hills would have done me in.

Congratulations World Series Champs

Use your imagination on the graphics. Those are red stockings, which is what the Red Sox were originally called I believe. I watched parts of all four world series games, but have to admit the Red Sox made it look too easy. Not much intrigue, the Rockies were outmatched. I enjoy the cliffhangers more. I felt sorry for the young Rockies team losing by such a wide margin the first game. Their feelings are probably still bruised after losing in a straight four and not even winning one game at home. On the TV sports last night, the guy commented that the Sox may be the new Yankees. They may become the team to hate. Hope not. The struggling underdog is more fun to watch. Sorry, Red Sox fans. Maybe your coach should have played it like a little league game when the coach puts in the second string so one team doesn't humiliate the loser by running up the score. That will not detract from the celebration and parade today in Boston. Just remember to not become the Yankees if you want fans in the heartland.

Urban Campout

Read the Pioneer Press article for a chuckle this morning. Who would have thought-- I like the idea and could see doing this. Living back in the city would appeal to me if you didn't have to deal with safety issues. This combines the best of two worlds. Keep the small town life and enjoy the ammenities of the city. http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_7308569?nclick_check=1

Casteling Without Being Checked

Someone said, "Confession is good for the soul". I don't know. It may be good for my soul, but it might also damage my reputation to admit the following. After years of harangueing my husband, I found out I like White Castle hamburgers (sliders, gut bombs). One of Jon's friends gave him a coupon for a free case of burgers. There are 30 in a case and he had been waiting for an opportunity to get them. He couldn't redeem the coupon unless he had someone around to help consume. I have forgone that pleasure for decades. I couldn't get past the smell of the onions. When my daughter and husband said we were going to stop over Sunday night, Jon seized on the opportunity to indulge. I thought I would be a good sport and try one, maybe two. I ate five and liked them. Horror of horrors. I have been razzing him for years. What fun will I have now? Next year if we celebrate Valentine's Day at the WC again I won't order fish.

Burning Down the House

We're still standing. Jon had a cooking accident the other day that might have changed that. He is the french frying king. I am extremely cautious the infrequent times I use hot oil. I bought him an appliance to use when he makes his french fries. It has a cover. I like to use it on a snow covered deck --out of the house. He decided to make some french fried shrimp for his dinner. They had been in the freezer long enough and were somewhat covered in freezer snow. He heated the oil in a shallow frypan, burner on high and when the icy shrimp hit the pan it splattered the grease and a flash of fire hit the top of the range! He got it out quickly but it easily could have been disastrous. Why don't we have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen? Indeed, why don't we have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen. I am a believer now.

October is national fire prevention month. Time to test your smoke detector battery. Fires happen fast. Check those batteries. It is 3:30 in the morning as I write this. I think I will wait a few hours before I push that test button. Jon is asleep, but then it might be fun to actually test his response time.

I Have Become My Mother

This picture doesn't really look like my mum. She was much cuter, but in a way I have become like my mother. When you are young you say that and shudder. When you get older, you wish you could be so lucky. I am not sure the sense I am like her is good or not.

My mom was a saver. When she died, I found an old coat of mine that I wore in high school in her closet. Remember, she had moved eight or nine times and was living in a one-bedroom apartment. The coat is an avacado green, long, wrap-around number. I recall buying it when I was a freshman in high school. That would be around 1960! My daughter was into vintage clothing at the time and adopted it. Yesterday she emailed me asking if I would like it back since I have lost weight. I am not sure which story is the funniest; my mom saving it all those years, my daughter wearing it and saving it or my interest in seeing if it fits. Vintage coat. Vintage me.

John Wayne to the Rescue

Hey, my public whining on Bulletin Board paid off. Someone contacted the paper and asked them to email me his email address so he could advise on ridding the computer of the Spy Sheriff--for free. He does this for a living. Jon contacted him and he is a former Stillwater guy who "fixes computers" for a living. Nice of him. Good guys 1. Bad Sheriff zero. Good guys won.

Big Fall Moon

Spotted this in a yard in North Hudson and couldn't tell if they were Viking or Packer fans. The white jersey says "Favre". Cheeky display.

Today was the first day the "frost was on the pumpkin" at our house. It seems late for the first frost. My impatients finally wilted.

Complaint from my husband today; "I don't have anything to say to my sister anymore. When I call she says, 'I read that on Jane's blog'."

Besides this yard display, there is a "hunters' full moon" out now. It was so light last night I had trouble falling asleep until I closed the blinds. The moon is 30,000 miles closer to Earth in it's orbit. Amazingly, that makes a difference in the quarter million miles gap between the two bodies.

We have to enjoy everything about autumn now; snow is predicted for next weekend. Hopefully it will only snow in Minnesota, not Florida, California or Texas, although parts of California would probably welcome snow this week. We got news that one of Jon's cousins who lives in the Lake Arrowwood region of California had to evacuate, but their house was spared. Scary stuff.

Cat Bowling For Halloween

The title says it all. My apologies to daughter Mary with the cats. I do love your kitties. Honest.

Found out I don't bowl any better online than in reality.

link: http://www.itsga.com/fun/cat_new.swf

Shootout at the I'm Okay, You're Okay Corral but My Computer is Sick With a Virus

We are still dealing with the "Sheriff". Our watchdog program (Windows' One Step) still sends me messages that we have a virus (Spy Sheriff) and asks if I would like to clean it? Yes, Yes, Yes. We would like it gone. The sheriff is still in town and Jon is still gunning for him.

I got printed in Bulletin Board today. Go to the website mentioned if you dare. Really, it won't hurt you. Read below:

The MOM in Stillwater ("qualifying for Densa Distinction"): "I have acquired a dreaded computer virus that my husband has been struggling to clean from my computer. It is called 'Spy Sheriff,' and I hope you never catch it. It poses as an anti-virus. Being only semi-computer-literate, I must have clicked on it at some time thinking it was our spyware. It is extremely hard to get rid of, and I may end up with that blue screen surprising me some day. Conventional methods, and even newly purchased software pitched as being able to clean up the 'Spy Sheriff' virus, haven't worked.
"I frequently go to the Web Site of the Day on Bulletin Board. Yesterday's Densa Quiz [www.fakecrap.com/densa.html] was interesting. I have taken some of those Mensa sample tests and thought this would be fun. It was. I couldn't resist forwarding the Densa Quiz site to the techno husband. It gave him a few nervous moments when he found he couldn't easily close the site.
"It probably isn't nice to tease the guy who keeps my computer functional

An Aha Moment..

Educated people most likely seek information from books or other educated people. I go to Google. Today an aha moment. Why don't I google Spy Sheriff? I did, going to Wikipedia which my daughter advises can be more reliable. They say Spy Sheriff is a bad virus, hard to get rid of and repeated attempts can cause the blue screen of death. Oh,oh. They do recommend a program to rid your computer of it and I will see if Jon wants to do that. I have already met the blue screen of death once before. Not a nice scene. Wish us luck.

The New Sheriff In Tiny Town or is is The Tiny Sheriff in My Town?

After hours of work, Jon managed to clean the virus from my computer, or so we thought. We emailed the "Spy Shredder" technos and when he didn't hear from them was convinced that was a virus. Their emailed response was filtered to junk mail by our software which read it as spam. They were helpful and we are rid of the Spy Shredder. It is a legitimate program that probably got on my computer piggybacked on an attachment. All seemed well. The computer would now allow Jon to reinstall the firewall.
Bad news this morning. Once again my Windows One Care (spyware) ID'd a virus; "Spy Sheriff" is still in town. Jon won't be happy when I tell him.
I did the "clean all" run and One Care says it is removed. Time will tell. They come back. I liken this to HIV for computers. They may be suppressed but still hiding out in cells.

The picture above, closest I could come to a sheriff, is from the movie "The Terror of Tiny Town". We watched this with a group of friends a couple years ago. It was made in late 30's, using the cast of little people who were in town shooting "The Wizard of Oz". It seems exploitive by today's higher standard, but they were glad for the employment at the time. The movie is a western shot in a small scale western town using little people. They ride shetland ponies, use little props. Couldn't make this today. Camp. Not politically correct. Rent it if Netflick has it. I love B movies, especially black and white westerns.

When Andy was little we stayed in a hotel while traveling and watched an old black and white western on cable TV that made us howl. The white-hatted good guys were pursuing the black- hatted bad guys. Scenario: The good guys come over the mountain on horseback. They spot the bad guys ahead. Posse leader instructs everyone to duck down behind the rocks. They do, except they are holding the reins to their horses who are clearly visible. Hmmm...Bad guys wouldn't think anyone was there??? A shootout happens. Good guys win. Leader announces they had better stack the bodies before they make breakfast. Jon's comment; "I didn't know you had to stack the bodies." Love those B movies. http://www.badmovies.org/movies/tinytown/

Quoting the Cable Guy

I'm trying to get the nerve to use this message on the church sign next week. We have just sent off a mission team to Manchester, UK. They are doing street evangelizing and revival meetings in conjunction with Vision Europe Ministries and an Evangelical Free Church in Manchester. For some time I have wanted to use text-messaging language to catch the attention of the younger set. My problem--I am not good at composing in text language. What do you think about this? Let me know what you think.

Vision Europe Mission Team:
Git-R-Done
4 God

Spy Vs. Spy

Remember those cartoon characters from Mad Magazine?

Jon did some maintainance on my computer yesterday and informed me I have a virus. He tried unsuccessfully to remove "Spy Shredder" and "Spy Sheriff". No response to his email to these asking how to clean the computer. Must be bogus. We have "One Care" spyware and isn't the same as these. I probably inadvertantly "caught" these viruses. When I see an urgent message that my computer is about to shut down or disintegrate if I don't run the spyware, I may have succumbed to a scenario like that. What to do. It may be toast. Jon spent the last seven hours today (he was up EARLY) backing up my fiiles and again trying to clean the virus. If I am incommunicado for a while, it may be the virus. Too bad the solution is not as simple as washing your hands or covering your mouth when you cough. Oh, the problems of a barely computer literate 62 yr. old retired woman. I can't get a shot to prevent this.

The Name is the Same, But...

It must be the diet. I have been thinking of old friends from high school and grade school. My parents moved from my home town when I was 23 and I have lost touch with them. (The old friends, not the parents. I know where they are.) I have stayed in touch with friends and classmates from nursing school, but not high school. It doesn't help that my girls high school has been closed for decades and doesn't have reunions, or that women marry and change their last names.
For years I did not want to be found---fat. I would have declined being a contestant on Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune because I had gained so much weight. I didn't want an old boyfriend to recognize me and have an OMG moment. Vanity. Anyway, a few pounds lighter now and looking almost normal, I sat at my keyboard one day feeding in names of old friends trying to get a hit with Google or through the white pages online. I looked where I had last known they were. Time after time I struck out. Finally I decided to look in my home town. Viola, a hit! My old friend Suzanne D., age 62, was living in Little Falls. She must have retired and moved back "home". Some do that. We had visited LF this summer and I looked at ads for houses in the window of a realtor. Houses are much cheaper than here. Not a stretch for a retiree to move back to her hometown and cut living expenses. I was excited to talk to her and a couple of days ago when I had a chunk of time I called. She would be the connection to catch up on news of all the people we had both known. A woman answered and I asked if this was the same Sue D. who had graduated from St. Francis High School in 1962. She said no, this was her married name, but the Sue I was looking for was her husband's cousin. "Wait a minute while I get him", she said. He picked up and gently told me she had died from cancer a couple of years ago.
In recent years, my sister told me my best grade school friend Judy was living in Texas next to her sister in-law, and had died. Two for two. I should feel lucky to be alive and I do, but the message I got was not to neglect people or assume there is always time.

Dancing With The Stars Wannabe

http://youtube.com/watch?v=N7IZmRnAo6s

From Today's Bulletin Board--The MOM in Stillwater Strikes Again

The simple pleasures
Old-Fashioned Names Division (cont.)
Both inspired by Grandma Enid of St. Paul's comments about her Uncle Pearl and mother, Ruby:
The MOM in Stillwater: "Another sign of being OTD: I remember when Regis Philbin was an announcer on 'The Joey Bishop Show.' I don't suppose a lot of the younger generation have ever heard of Joey Bishop. That show was on a long time ago.
"Regis Philbin occasionally has his wife, Joy, on the show. I had an Aunt Regis (my mom's sister) and an Uncle Joy (my dad's brother). I thought those names were unusual, and it is funny they were of the opposite gender as the Philbins.

(I forgot to tell them I also had an Aunt Pearl, although she was an aunt by friendship not blood.)

Lost In Translation

My daughter sent an article with the caption, "Do you think the US press could have gotten away with this politically incorrect phrase?" A 65 yr. old Mexican politician, nicknamed "Speedy Gonzalez" by the press, was accused of cheating during the Berlin marathon. He claims he never intended to run the entire length and stopped after 21K. He was then directed to the judging stand to collect his participation medal but was recognized as a winner in his age group. He said there were language problems. I am inclined to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. I worked with a young nurse who went to Switzerland on her honeymoon. She and her new husband entered a cross-country ski race. She liked to ski, but was not a marathon-like competitor. There were cheering fans lining the course ringing those cowbells that got the adrenaline going. The scenary was great, the track fast. Officials with flags directed skiers at the turns. She was astonished to hear the crowd cheer as she crossed the finish line. She had won the race! They photographed Jesse with her bouquet of roses or whatever they give winners. Pretty heady stuff. Not many were speaking English. When her husband finished much later than her, she began to question the results. They had about the same abilities. It turned out an official had directed her to turn at one intersection that greatly shortened her race. It took a while to relay this information to the judges because of a language problem. She finally got across that she had not run the whole course. It took a little longer to disceminate the information to everyone. When she got back she showed us a news story online about the American woman on her honeymoon who won the race. And to think she did this without benefit of steroids or flax seed oil. (My husband and I are taking flax seed everyday, maybe I should enter a cross-country ski race this winter.)

I Still Miss Walter

We watched the network evening news yesterday and again I had to shake my head in dismay as they did another segment of non-essential "news". It seems talk show host Ellen Degeneres had an emotional meltdown on her show yesterday. She had adopted a dog from an agency. The dog didn't work out with her cats and she placed the dog with her hairdresser's family. The agency repossessed the dog because she had broken her contract when she gave the dog away. This distressed her so much that she could not compose herself to do the show without sobbing and pleading for the agency to give the dog back. Arn't you glad you are privledged to that "news"?

I don't think Walter Cronkite or the Huntley-Brinkley team of years ago would have done that story on the evening news. No wonder audiences are fleeing to cable. We don't have cable, so my only refuge is watching the BBC World News at 10pm on local public television. You become aware how trite our network news coverage is when you watch the BBC. They actually cover news from around the world and do not dwell on sensational pop-star drivel.

I do miss you Walter and I can't imagine you sobbing on air about your lost dog. I can't imagine you reporting a TV commedienne sobbed about a lost dog either. Maybe that is why you were called, "The most trusted man in America".

Yes, I Am Still Alive

No blogging for a week. I haven't been inspired. Nothing was coming to me. Today my sister emailed asking if I was okay. Yes. Just not inspired. Actually, that is not true. I am inspired by the news coming from the the Mission in Manchester group. Our pastor and church has been involved in setting up a short term mission project in Manchester, England. We are affiliated with Robin Roberts Ministries, a man of God I respect. He has taught at our church frequently over the years. He has a heart to bring revival to Europe. There are many churches in western Europe, but the culture is secular and the churches fairly empty. This mission involves four different US churches sending groups for a week each to Oldham, a suburb of Manchester, UK. They have linked with local churches there and the evening meetings are held in Firwood Church, an Evangelical Free Church. The reports from the first week are encouraging. I have the link to our church webpage. Click on Vision Europe, MIM in the upper left corner if you want to read more and see the pictures.

http://www.rvcc.info/

My Dad Would Have Smiled

I recently reminded my husband who loves dogs, that he should ask owner's permission before

reaching to pet a strange dog. Dogs are now treated like children, not dogs by many. The following article is from the morning paper.

Pioneer Press

"Enroll Now in Pet CPR Classes
You could probably administer first aid to a friend or family member, but what if your pet had an emergency? Learn how to care for a sick or injured animal at the Pet First Aid and CPR class from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, hosted by the Diamondhead Education Center in Burnsville.
The program is designed for pet owners and older children, and will teach CPR, rescue breathing, the Heimlich maneuver and pet care for poisoning, bleeding, shock and injury. The class is not meant to replace veterinary care but to help save your pet's life in an emergency. Anyone who works in an occupation that involves animals is also encouraged to attend. "

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.stl-cpr.com/cpr_for_pets_files/image004.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.stl-cpr.com/cpr_for_pets.php&h=152&w=208&sz=5&hl=en&start=13&tbnid=SXYdu-GMs4MHwM:&tbnh=77&tbnw=105&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpet%2BCPR%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den

Whoopee John

Whoopee John was a famous polka band from Minnesota. Actually, there still is a Whoopee John Polka band although the founder died in 1961. He began his oldtime polka band playing from New Ulm, MN and gained more fame having a regular program on fledgling WCCO radio from Minneapolis. The band was also nationally famous and the #3 record seller for Decca records. Bing Crosby was their #1 seller.

I grew up listening to Whoopee John and old time music on the radio in the morning. My mom liked it and we were forced to listen. I didn't develop an appreciation for this heritage music until much later in life.

My husband Jon's family has several ties to Whoopee John. They lived across the street from his daughter Jen since 1947. Jon's uncle wrote polka's for the band and Jon's cousin Bob played with the band on saxophone while still in high school and after his Navy years. Bob tells some good stories about being a teenager playing gigs with these hard partying guys. In later years, when my father in-law was a widower, he dated the former female band singer who was a cousin of the neighbor. Her name was Lola and we had to keep that straight from his Texas winter girlfriend Lila.

I am told the announcer would introduce the band by saying, "Now Whoopee John Wilfarht and his band will play." Great last name, pronounced just the way you think it is.

http://www.internationalpolka.com/wilfahrt.htm

Go Johnnies, Go !

We watched the evening news last night and saw highlights of the St. Johns vs. St. Olaf football game. Both teams had been undefeated and it was homecoming for SJU. St. John's won by one point in a nailbiter. Son Andy said it was the most fun he has had watching a SJU game. They are a division three school who usually win by a wide margin. They probably should be playing division two, but are a small school and fall in division three ball. Andy has high school classmates who are now seniors playing for the Ole's and knows more of the SJU players as well. Some were his "flat mates" in London.

St. John's has been coached by John Gagliardi for fifty-six years. He is in the College Hall of Fame for most winning football coach and certainly has the most longeivity, having coached 60 years. St. John's Alum love him. I went to school in St. Cloud in the 60's and would go to SJU games with boyfriends who were Johnnies. Gagliardi had been there a long time then. I love the poster. He is known for being a kindly coach who stresses character among his players.

link: http://www.gojohnnies.com/football/jg.htm

There Is Hope

We were recently talking about famous sons from small towns. Daughter Mary blogged she visited Worchester, MA, hometown of Denis Leary. We saw Allen Ludden's hometown. I heard yesterday that Hope, Arkansas is the birthplace of both Bill Clinton and Mike Huckabee. What will they put on the water tower? Wouldn't it be strange if Huckabee were elected president? A tiny town with two presidents claiming origins there--

And while I am wondering how to pronounce Worchester, why do they pronounce Arkansas the way they do instead of AR - KAN- SASS?

Mineral Point

The town reminds me a little of Fredericksburg, Texas. Lots of old houses and buildings are made of limestone and the area is hill country. They quarry limestone too. The mines are closed. The early Cornish miners left to join the '49ers looking for gold in California. They quit mining zinc in 1979.

We loved the residential areas and all the mature red maples around town. There is an outdoor museum dedicated to the old miners with many well preserved buildings. Main street still serves the needs of the community and while it has shops selling art, it also has all the hardware, pharmacy etc needed. No Walmart. One carpet shop was closed but had a sign in the window, "If you need Jim, look for him across at the hardware store." I didn't see Floyd's barber shop but would expect there is a similar shop here.

Pasty (It rhymes with nasty)

I've eaten them on "The Range" in northern Minnesota and found them in little towns on the U.P. I've never eaten one I liked better than the pasties we got in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. This old town was settled in the 1830 by miners from Cornwall, England. They emigrated to work the lead and zinc mines in this area. They brought the miner's traditional dinner, the pasty. It is a pastry wrapped beef, rutabega, potato and onion meal. There is an old restored section of town called "Shake Rag Alley" where the settler's lived. Their wives would bake the pasties and then signal the men at the mine dinner was ready by shaking a white cloth (rag) outdoors until they knew it was time to eat.

In other areas pasties were sent in the miner's lunch pail. Sometimes they were too deep in the mine to break and go home for dinner. This was the original pot pie. I love them and several restaurants have them as a specialty there.

The Password Is...

The Password is Allen Ludden. You have to be a "certain age" or an afficianado of the Game Show Channel to know who Allen Ludden is.

We took a little trip into southwestern Wisconsin following the fall color Wednesday and Thursday. Our intention, to spend the overnight in New Glarus. Sorry, no room in the inns. A convention in Madison overflowed twenty miles west. Our next choice was drive on to Mineral Point to find a hotel. (More on this area in future blog).
Looking at the visitors packets we saw a designation at the local cemetery for Allen Ludden's grave. I remarked, "I wonder if that is the Allen Ludden of Password fame". While eating breakfast at a small downtown restaurant, we spotted a faded picture of Allen Ludden, the TV gameshow host, shaking hands with a local dignitary. I assume it was a local dignitary. There were clippings about the event happening in Mineral Point. This was his home town. We found his grave in the cemetery. I was touched that is was small and the inscription says "Capt US Army", not TV personality. Neat. I googled him of course. Link:http://www.tv.com/allen-ludden/person/61350/biography.html

Fair Sweethaven or Sweet Fair Haven ?

Yesterday my sister forwarded my brother in-law Mike's sister's memoirs. I loved reading it. We have some similar stories. I found out the family had originally lived in Fair Haven. I had never heard of the town so inquired where it was. The name sounded familiar. Mike answered that the town is near Kimbal and St. Augusta in central Minnesota. Isn't that where mythical Lake Wobegone is located? Our son Andy, who attends St. John's, lives on the edge of the Lake Wobegone trail. If you haven't heard of Lake Wobegone (shame on you), it is the little town that time forgot where all the women are strong, the men are good looking, and the children are above average. I wonder if all the women are good looking in Fair Haven. Sweet name.

The name Fair Haven seemed familiar. Wasn't that also the town where Popeye lived? Did you see the 1980's film? The set built on the island of Malta is still a tourist attraction. Googling got my answer. It is called Sweethaven. Sweet Pea lives there. I loved the cartoon-like set for that movie. Sweethaven, where all the men are strong (Brutus and Popeye), the women are good looking (like Olive Oyl), and the children are as cute as peas in a pod.

An OMG Moment

Kind of before and after pictures. Me in purple, left at daughter's wedding last Sept 23. Photoshopped picture of me on right--more like me now -73#. I got rid of that dress at our church giveaway this fall.

Mary and Mike recently celebrated their first anniversary.