{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. -- Inspired by SouleMama

Yes, I know.  This post should have been put up yesterday, as I always do my Wordless Friday thing on...well...Friday.  I got completely confused on what day of the week it was and missed Friday completely.  I blame it on the L-Tryptophan.  Anyway, having already counted my blessings, I will stay almost wordless and simply give you the photo of two turkeys...and a turkey.



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* MEET THE INMATES - THE PROFESSOR
* MEET THE INMATES - FOGHORN

SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY 2011

Like many Americans, I'm not feeling too chummy toward big business right now.  As a result I was thrilled to hear about Small Business Saturday.  The idea is to fuel the economy by patronizing local, small businesses on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  Given my choice I'd much rather line the pockets of an individual with half  a dozen employees than help provide some CEO with a $2 million bonus.

We'll be helping the economy in Milford, Ohio today when we attend the small town's Christmas walk and hit all the little shops on the main street.  Below are some of my other favorite Ohio-area small businesses:

Amethyst Book Store, Symmes Township, Ohio:  Wonderful little store full of New Age-y goodness like crystals, incense, jewelry, and meditation tapes.  The Professor is particularly fond of the Happy Hotei he got during Camp Gonnawanna a couple years ago.   They also offer psychic readings, if that's your sort of thing.  (It used to be mine, but now I've decided I don't want to know what lies in my future.  I'm afraid to ask.)  They are located at 11914 Montgomery Rd.  Although their MySpace page seems to be outdated, you can see some shots of the interior here.

Aglamesis Bros. Ice Cream and Candy, Cincinnati and Montgomery, Ohio:  A local favorite, especially in my family, they have what I consider Cincinnati's best ice cream, as well as incredible candy.  I'm partial to the Oakley location, which still has an old fashioned soda fountain charm to it.  There is also a Montgomery location.  More information can be found on their website here.

Roving Acres Farm, Pierpont, Ohio:  Yes, people I'm sure are sick of me rambling on about how wonderful their yarn is, but the fact is it's fabulous.  It's one of those small, family-owned farms that I wish were more plentiful.  They're wonderful to work with and produce gorgeous, high quality yarn.  You can check out their website here and their Etsy shop here.











Young's Dairy, Yellow Springs, Ohio:  While I stand by my conviction that Aglamesis is Cincinnati's best ice cream, this small dairy about 65 miles northeast of downtown could give them a run for the money.  Rich, delicious ice cream in a wonderful country location, complete with goats to be fed and cows you can personally thank for the milk.  They also have a restaurant and miniature golf course and Young's was the location for this past fall's Wool Gathering.  Check out their website here.

American Strength Karate, Loveland, Ohio:  If you're looking for a great place to learn karate in the Cincinnati area, you should definitely try American Strength Karate in Loveland.  Shihan Reuben James has been involved with karate for over 30 years.  He's an excellent teacher, patient with his students but accepting nothing less than each person's best.  He's also an incredibly nice man.  The Professor earned his blue belt earlier this year.  More information can be found at his website here.

The Professor's hamburger cake from 2010.

Servatii Pastry Shop & Deli, Cincinnati, Ohio:  With 13 locations, it's one of the larger of my favorite small businesses.  We've been buying our birthday cakes from Servatti's since I was about six years old and for my money they can't be beat.  They have a wide selection of cakes, pastries, and bread, all equally delicious.  And they can create just about any kind of cake you can imagine.  They've done some custom cakes for me with beautiful results.  Check out their website here.

NudgeryFaire on Etsy:  In the interests of full disclosure I will say that this is my sister's Etsy shop, but The Inmates' Uncle Chester also happens to produce really cool, unique merchandise.  In fact, she spent Thanksgiving making me a custom spiral bracelet with beads and purse charms.  She has frequent sales, including one for Black Friday (15% off with code:  NDGBF11), so check her out here.

What are some of your favorite small businesses or small Internet shops?  Please share in the comments.  And please shop small businesses this Saturday!

GIVING THANKS

THE TOP TEN THINGS I'M GRATEFUL FOR IN 2011:

1. With the exception of Foghorn's outpatient visit, no one went to the hospital this year.  When you've spent as much time in the antiseptic healthcare kingdom as we have in the last few years, that's truly something to be thankful for.  (I can hear my mother and sister now screaming, "Don't jinx it!  Don't jinx it!")
2. Perfect weather, perfect outcome, perfect day at Wrigley Field.  (Go Cubs!)
3. A new minivan with doors that actually open without being kicked.
4. The adoption of our beloved St. Jimmi (even she does have a penchant for chewing my antique books).
5. My mother getting over her bronchitis/pneumonia well enough to cook Thanksgiving dinner.  My sister and I in the kitchen trying to put it together would be have been too tragic for words.
6. A kick-ass Paul McCartney concert.
7. A kick-ass David Cassidy concert, during which my beloved took my hand.  (And I don't care what those other b*tches thought, he liked me best.)
8. My newly-acquired obsession for knitting.
9. Discovering Mad Men.  (I know, I'm several years late to the party, but I quickly made up for it by buying all the seasons on dvd.).  Many happy hours spent with knitting in my lap, licking the television screen admiring Jon Hamm's acting.
10. My fabulous family and friends who were there for me as usual.  (I'll even include The Vulcan in this -- he's getting me a new purse for Christmas.)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

GIVING THE TREE THE TRIM

Ever since my oldest child was born, my sister has come over on Tuesday nights.  Originally it was so I could get a little rest and a break from a colic-prone Professor.  Later it became a couple hours to get something done uninterrupted or get some alone-time, whichever was most needed.  Despite the fact that my youngest is now eight (and that Chester adds as much to the chaos as she does to alleviate it), she still arrives dutifully every Tuesday evening.  And for the last 12 years, on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, she's helped put up the tree.  Yes, it's a little early, but as you'll see the quality of my live-in help is questionable, so I'll take any able-bodied person I can get.

Of course, it wouldn't be tree-trimming without Christmas music.  As I mentioned yesterday, there are a number of tunes that make Chester writhe in pain, so we started with those...

Foghorn "helped" by hanging ornaments off her pants,
ensuring that the decorating process would take
twice as long.

Yeah, The Vulcan refused to touch those ornaments.

The Vulcan arrived just in time, as usual -- after the tree
had been hauled in from the garage, assembled, and
half the ornaments hung.

It didn't take long for The Inmates to become tired
and they began the first of their innumerable
breaks.

It's a long process with three two kids in the house.

Oinkers as the tree topper.

Poor St. Jimmi looked unnerved during the whole event, as
if she couldn't figure out what was happening.  Later she got a
hair up her ass and after rolling on the floor, raced through the house
at top speed.  She managed to crack me on the calf with her shoulder
as she zoomed by, nearly knocking me into the tree and leaving
bruises and a noticeable lump that is still there this morning.

Chester finally lost her sense of humor.

The Professor puts on the finishing touch.

Foghorn got the honor of turning on the lights, but during
the countdown Chester cracked her knee on the cat
perch concealed behind the curtain.  A few minutes later she
nearly fell backwards into the glass door of my antique china cabinet.

Ready for presents!

The whole experience was just exhausting.

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*  THE SAD TALE OF LITTLE RED RIDING CHESTER

THE TOP FIVE MOST WONDERFULLY ANNOYING CHRISTMAS SONGS

The Inmates' beloved Uncle Chester is not one to keep her feelings under wraps.  Therefore, when one of her most-despised Christmas songs comes on the radio (or on the cd I specially burned for her), her discomfort is obvious.  She usually lets out a howl, her face contorts, and she grabs the sides of her head.  This delights The Inmates no end and ensures that they will torture her with spontaneous renditions of her most-loathed tunes every few minutes for the entire month leading up to Christmas.  My sister has so many hated songs, in fact, that it was hard to narrow it down.  I think she will agree, though, that these are the ones most likely to send her into a frothing-at-the-mouth fit.

1.  "Poppa Santa Claus" -- Old Bing Crosby outdid himself on this one.  And since it's almost December, soon The Inmates' cheery little voices will ring out with Chester's favorite line:  "And when the circus clown put on a lady's gown, they laughed so hard the chandelier fell down."

2. "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" -- The most atrocious little girl voice in the world, but who wouldn't love a hippo in her Christmas stocking?  The Inmates zero in on Chester's hatred of the way she says "hippopotamus-us-es."

3.  "Santa's Got an Airplane" - There could actually be a whole Beach Boys sub-category for Chester.  She hates "The Little St. Nick" and she hates "Santa's Beard" (especially when Mike Love's nasally voice sings "you're not really Santa Claus...")  For sheer torture value, though, the winner is "Santa's Got An Airplane" with the particularly annoying (to her) "loop-de-loop flip-flop, Santa's got an airplane..."

4.  "That Holiday Feeling" - Who the hell could find fault with Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme?  I'm not sure which line bothers Chester the most.  It's probably either "you think you're such a smarty, come on let's have a party" or "when Santa Claus begins his flight, I hope he gets a flat tonight."  (The sheer lack of logic in the last line drives Chester crazy.  A flat what?)

5.  "Jingle Bells" - You would think "Old Blue Eyes" could do no wrong...  Well, not in Chester's eyes.  Of course, she's not fond of Frankie Baby to start with, so it's not a shock she loathes many of his Christmas songs.  This one is at the top of her list, though, and The Inmates know it.  Pretty soon they'll be leaning close to her ear and crooning, "I love those J-I-N-G-L-E bells...BONG!"

I could have easily made a top 10 list for Chester.  After all, there's no Partridge Family or Bobby Sherman on here.  I don't even have a track from The Ruth Lyons Christmas cd, with Bob Braun doing "Sing a Song of Christmas."  I don't know....I might just have to do a part two for this blog post...

I HEART BUILD-A-BEAR WORKSHOP

About five years ago, my sister gave me one of the most ridiculously awesome (or awesomely ridiculous) gifts ever.  I received a pink faux suede jacket with pink leopard trim and matching hat.  Oh, did I mention it was sized to fit a critter from Build-A-Bear Workshop?  Tucked in with the outfit was a gift certificate that would buy me any stuffed animal of my choice.  I was delighted.  I've always been fonder of stuffed animals than is normal and my mania has not diminished with age.  I was immediately drawn to a lovely little leopard doll, christened "Dooney" (for reasons obvious to anyone who ever reads my blog).

A few months later it was the Christmas season and The Inmates were happily torturing Uncle Chester with her least favorite Christmas song -- "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas."  It's one of those annoying songs that makes Chester writhe in agony, so The Inmates spend most of December serenading her with it.  She thought it would be fun to really get each a hippopotamus for Christmas, so off we went to Build-A-Bear Workshop.

In the years since we've bought dozens of outfits and I acquired a male black bear to go with Dooney (named, of course, "Bourke").  They reside permanently in front of the fireplace and have become my favorite seasonal decor item.  They're set for Valentine's Day, Fourth of July, Christmas, Thanksgiving.  There are bikinis and wet suits and skiing outfits with gear.  The Professor rarely gives his hippo, Harold, a glance these days.  Foghorn occasionally gets her hippo, Nancy, down to play, but just as often she takes off with Dooney and I have to race behind her with threats of bodily harm if she damages my leopard.

I'm ashamed to say I have not gotten them dressed for Thanksgiving yet.  I don't know what's wrong with me.  It just won't be a holiday until my furry friends are dressed up as pilgrims and Native Americans.  In the meantime, I give you a taste of the Build-A-Bear freak show in my home.  Enjoy.

We're not actually Jewish, but my son really likes the idea
of celebrating Hanukkah.  Every year we have a menorah and how
could I resist dressing Bourke up in a yarmulke?

Pilgrim Harold.

Dooney decked out in New Year's finery, Harold as
Santa (with beard, no less), and an angelic Nancy. 
(Dooney recycled the same outfit for the royal wedding
in April.  She looked divine with the addition of a
mini tiara.)

Get out the green beer!

Skateboarder dude.

Dooney in her 4th of July get-up along side (what else?)
two Dooney bags from our visit to the Williamsburg
Dooney and Bourke outlet.

Nancy and Harold hanging at the beach.

Foghorn with a vacationing Dooney
in her grass skirt, lei, and coconut boobs.

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*  THE WHY'S HAVE IT

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THE MARY-THON

At Cincinnati's Flying Pig Marathon
Final Mile

This will come as a shock to most folks, especially my closest friends and family members, but...I'm not a natural athlete.  I know, I know.  One look at me and words like "tri-athlete," "ripped," and "abs-so-hard-you-can-bounce-quarters-off-them" immediately come to mind.  Sadly, this is not true.  Friends, believe it or not, my major form of exercise is moving knitting needles (or lifting a spoon from a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream to my mouth).


 Well, it's that time of year.  Thanksgiving is days away and Christmas shopping is looming.  It's the season to think ahead to all the wonderful changes I'm going to make in my life in 2012 (after I lose enough weight to rebutton my pants and detox from my fruitcake-induced sugar coma).  My mother and I have been contributors to Project Linus for a number of years, providing blankets to kids in need.  In this month's newsletter I came across a way to benefit both myself and Project Linus in 2012.

Come January I will begin taking part in a Mary-Thon!  This exercise program was begun by a Linus volunteer (yes, named Mary) as a way to motivate herself and others to get active and stay active.  You can take part without it costing you a cent, but if you join with a premium registration ($35), you get extras like a bracelet, t-shirt, finisher's certificate, and (wait for it, wait for it) a medal!  Those who have read my drivel long enough know that I'm wild about awards.  Tell me I have the shot of earning a medal, a patch, a pin, or a ribbon and I'm in. 

There are three types of Mary-Thons:

• Half Mary-Thon:  Any exercise for 30 minutes, 3 days a week, for 26 weeks.
  
• Mary-Thon:  Any exercise for 30 minutes, 5 days a week, for 26 weeks.
  
• Mega Mary-Thon:  Any exercise for 30 minutes, 5 days a week, for 52 weeks.

I'll be going with the full, regular (i.e., not Mega) Mary-Thon.  It's on the honor system, with participants simply logging time, and Project Linus will receive $15 of the registration fee.  I'm a sucker for a medal and I'm a sucker for something benefitting charity and I'm a sucker for anything that promises to help me put down the needles and get my butt off the couch.  Anyone wanna join me?

St. Jimmi

On the subject of self-improvement combined with charity, I wanted to tell everyone about a goddess of a woman named Lori who is losing weight while raising money for Recycled Doggies, a rescue group near and dear to me.  Our beloved St. Jimmi came from Recycled Doggies in March and this group does tremendous work with shelters dogs of all sorts, even the ones who are considered "unadoptable."  Lori is chronicling her journey through her blog, dogs-lbs, and encourages readers to pledge money per pound lost.  I might also add that Lori was foster mother and now adoptive mother to a very special dog named Tristan.  (You can read his story here.)  I was actually helping to transport a couple other dogs the day they brought Tristan out of the shelter and I seriously thought this poor dog had post-traumatic stress disorder from what he endured at his previous home.  He was so terrified and paid no attention to my attempts to comfort him.  (I take this kind of thing personally, as I always assume every dog will love me as much as I love him or her.)  I wondered what would become of him and then I started seeing updates on Recycled Doggies' Facebook page.  The transformation is simply incredible and if you have time to look at a video of Tristan playing with his adoptive siblings, please do.  It gives hope to anyone trying to save shelter animals. 


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*  PATCH ENVY

*  PATCH ENVY - PART 2