Life and Death

 November 11 is my brother Gary's birthday. He was born fourteen months to the day after I was born on September 11. He died on 12-12-01. 

When we were little, he always had the day off from school on his birthday, Armistice Day. I really miss him.  

And, my mother was a veteran. So, the day has double meaning for me. No matter how sad the day is for me, I still want to remember.

Tuesday night it was 70F at midnight. It gets scary when a storm is coming in and the weather is so warm as it can trigger a tornado. So far, today, Thursday there seems no problem. Good. I am in no mood for weather watching. 

So, it appears no one wants to play along with my charitable project and try to guess what it is. I was missing gathering Christmas Boxes and filling them. So, this serves the purpose of giving to someone else.  I think I will prepare this same project, planning and collecting items all year long. 

Well, I will just trudge along, doing it alone. Guess as many times as you like each day. Each guess needs to be in a separate comment. But, if I cannot find you to mail the prize, then I will go on to the next person. So, include an email. OR You can email me your email address with  at pparsimony@yahoo.com and "Thanksgiving Guess" as the subject.  

Third Clue--daybook. 

Clue two..HERE

Clue one...HERE

4th Clue: Vitamins

5th Clue: nail polish

Today's Clue:  hand lotion

Come play with me!

Free Lunch and Veteran's Celebration and Other Stuff

We went to Cullman today and had a meal at a church--soup, cornbread, half a grilled cheese sandwich, huge piece of pound cake with whipped cream and fresh blueberries on top, unsweetened tea. I gave Tommy my soup and he gave me half his sandwich. There were peas in the soup, so no thanks. I only took one bite of the pound cake, one bite of whipped cream and none of the blueberries since I am told to lay off fiber. Bummer!

I had things to do, and when they were done, we came home, arrived here about 3 pm. I wanted a chocolate ice cream from DQ, so we got one on the way out of town. We just got a mini size to save money and we were not hungry, just wanted a chocolate cone. One day when I felt so bad two weeks ago, we went to DQ for a chocolate ice cream fix and they only carried vanilla! That was a bummer. Does your DQ have chocolate ice cream?

We went to my house and just sat for a moment in the driveway. It felt really good and painful, too. I got to talk to my old mailman. I was supposed to meet the city arborist, but had to settle for a telephone conversation.

Tonight, we had pork loin with bbq sauce, sweet potatoes, and sliced tomatoes. That is the last of the burnt meat. With bbq sauce on it, the scorched taste/smell was hidden well.

I went to the Farmer's Market and bought pecans and tomatoes. The pecans were $5/pint bag. I got four. That is for all winter and came from money allotted for groceries for the month. Tomatoes were $6. I believe I got 8 good-sized tomatoes.

Today, I wore my black outfit, burnt orange sweater, and statement necklace. Next time, for the Christmas dinner at this church, I will wear the black outfit with a red sweater. Remember, the top is sleeveless so I can handle wearing a sweater indoors. Today, it was low 70s, so not too hot and not too cool. In the car in the sun, it was hot without the ac.

I sat in one office for about 30 minutes and Tommy was at the curb and had lowered all the windows, so I know it was hot for him. I left that office with the issue unresolved.

The program at the church before the meal was for a Veteran's Day celebration. The tables were festive with red/white/blue place mats and napkins, flags and flowers in vases. It made me sad that people talked about all the men who served in the armed forces. My mother was a WAC! I almost cried that she was left out! The music, poetry and all was very uplifting.

Do you have or have had a female family member in the armed service?

Tomorrow, I have to search for Crest or Colgate tooth paste that is not mint or gel. What are your plans?