NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

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Today I ate Chocolate!

December 13, 1952

A chilly winter morning - my wedding day! The Nuptials began at 9 A.M. What an un-godly hour! Remembering how I wanted to go back to sleep & Mom prodding me to get up, etc. "We have so much to do." The photographer came about 8 A.M. About then I realized that this was IT & put on a happy face. My sister, Jeannette was my Maid of Honor & my only attendant. Dad's brother-in-law, Charles Hacker was Best Man. Dad's brother, Kirby & Jeannette's financee, Tom Baines were ushers. My Uncle John was the priest who officiated. A nephew, Bud Hacker & my brother Bill served the Mass at St. Lawrence Church in Lindenwold. My mother's Bridge Club made breakfast in the cafeteria at St. Lawrence School to the wedding party. Afterwards, provided refreshments to those who attended the reception. We had music (records) from someone who provided a record player. All in all, a party & fun with relatives & friends. Dad & I hadn't made any special plans to go away. His brother, Kirby loaned us a 1950s Plymouth so we left around 3 P.M. We started South then decided to drive to Indiana & visit Joe's sister, Cass who wasn't able to make the wedding. We stayed in Indiana 2 days & headed home. Joe had to leave to return to France on January 4th. We stayed with Mom & Dad until he left. I followed him in late March on the S.S. Untied States & you know the rest of the story.

Musings

While grocery shopping early this morning, my cell phone rings. It's my neighbor next door asking me if I have "power" as his went out. I told him that mine was on earlier but would see when I came home. Shopping early meant no breakfast/coffee. To my despair, the electricity was definitely out. No coffee, no lights, computer, TV, etc. Interesting how much we depend on all these perks. I thought of all those folks north of me who haven't had power for over two weeks & here I am griping because the utility company didn't come right away. By the way, I ate an apple!

Around & About with Sandy, the superstorm!

We were warned. We watched the weather station all day. We packed a bag for three days. We checked for flashlight batteries, bottled water & I added wine! It was a very nerve-wracking time. My stomach was in knots & I actually thought I would have a heart attack. I tried talking to myself, took deep breaths but nothing seemed to help. Bill picked me up on Sunday evening as the hurricane was supposed to pounce on the coast at 4 p.m. on Monday. Up to that time, we were cautioned about strong winds and rain. As their house is higher in elevation with underground cables, it was the better place to be. Bill put a train platform against the large window & taped the other windows. We watched televison & hunkered down. Patty was well prepared with nine loaves of bread, endless bottles of water & lots of comfort food. Sunday night, I slept downstairs (my choice) & Monday night, everyone else joined me. We did have some strong winds that rattled the windows, knocked down their gas grill & that's all. I called my neighor & he informed me that we still had power with no flooding. How wonderful is that? When Sandy touched down, she immediately took another left turn & missed us all together. Unfortunately, as she traveled north, devastation followed. You have probably heard of all the flooding & power outages. Some are still without power. It was a horrible experience & I almost feel guilty that I came through okay. As the kids missed Halloween, Gov. Christy ordered this coming Monday as another day for Trick/Treating. Bill says he gonna give out water bottles & bread & eat all the candy!

Another Sleepless Night

It's only 2:30 in the morning so I guess I could get in a good night's sleep if I was so inclined, hmmm? My mind is whirling with coming events. Next Tuesday along with my sister & husband, are traveling down to my brother's house in N.C. He made it special for us by sending us a "ride". Then, there's all the "remembers" i.e. stop the mail, the paper, call the mechanic to service the car while away, etc. We'll be arriving home again on the 24th with my #1 daughter arriving on the 26th to plan our adventure in New York City and beyond. #2 daughter is arriving a couple of days later. Another reminder is to pick up a trip plan from AAA. Will I ever complete all this? Tomorrow, I've invited an incredibly nice man for lunch & we will catch up on the goings on in our lives. Yesterday found me in the closet pulling out old picture albums. As I was at the Community Lunch today, wanted to take old pictures of friends in our younger days & it was a blast! I gave them away, of course. I find it interesting that I can't remember last names of friends of long ago. Why didn't I put her/his name there? Guess I thought I would remember. Ha! My sister-inlaw, Mary came in for the lunch. She so enjoys herself & is everyone's friend. I think that living so far away must be lonely for her. Oh, girlies! All of my tests came back negative for cancer. So hopefully, I'm home free as they say. Well, guess I'll hang it up for this time. Jane, remind me to give you a Brownie pan. I have two. Then you can make perfect Brownies too!

Summer Time

Today, I made Blueberry Muffins but they were terrible! I used the basic muffin recipe with fresh Blues and they were too heavy for the mixture. So gave them to the birds! I always use them with Cobbler and they turn out fine. Guess I better stick to that and Brownies. I found Brownie tins at Boscov's and they had "separaters" in the pans. Great! Now, won't have any trouble cutting them. We're still getting lots of hot weather. Makes one feel like hibernating. I got my hair cut today and the gray is coming in big time. I look so washed out with gray hair & usually cover it. I went to a new stylist today (a recommendation from a friend) and came home with "highlights". The gray is there also so we'll see what'll happen. Can you imagine that I should be stressed about that? After all, I'm not 39 anymore. I'm not??? Keep forgetting to get my rocking chair rocking.....! Golly, just looked at the clock & it's 4:26 a.m. Time to get up! Wish I didn't mess up my bed as I have to make it again. Tonight is one of my rare sleepless nights so what better use to communicate by blogging. Good night & good morning!