I Apologize

Say what you want and then apologize. Do what you want and then apologize. I apologize is now the wild card for inappropriate behavior. It's also the get- out- of- jail- free-card for "going along to get along" even if you compromise your beliefs.

How many times has a parent told a child to apologize for some type of infraction. It isn't a true apology. It's something the child says so he can continue to play with his X-Box or so that she won't be grounded and not allowed to drive for two weeks.

Case in point (I'm about to reminisce)
Having a pair of Union Hardware roller skates was a household staple in the 1960’s. Western Auto (no longer in existence) was a popular purveyor of these goods. The good thing about these skates is that they could be lengthened or shortened with the aid of a skate key. That way one pair of skates could be used by more than one person or the same pair of skates could continue to be used as your feet grew. If you lost your skate key, use a pair of pliers.

A lot of female Baby Boomers have scars from skinned knees since most girls rarely wore long pants. Maybe that’s why so many have knee problems or need knee replacements.

On a breezy, fall Saturday I strapped on my roller skates and put a jacket on over my plaid dress. I was looking forward to whizzing down the sidewalk on my roller skates. My goal was to see how fast I could accelerate and then see how far I could coast.
My feet and elbows moved in sync forming a rhythm. I smoothly raised my foot when I got near the uneven sidewalk slab in front of the Z’s (not their real name) house. Skillfully, I’d hop off the curb of one sidewalk and onto the next while still coasting. The fluid sway of skating had me blissful. I was in the zone.

That is, until HE came outside and began taunting me.
I lost my rhythm, forgot about the crack in the sidewalk, tripped and fell.
As I prepared to kiss the concrete sidewalk, my plaid dress flew up over my head displaying my floral, cotton panties. Not only that, I hurt my knee bad enough for the blood to trail down my leg. ( If the blood drools down your leg it's considered serious when you're a child)YZ screamed in amusement. He hooted and jeered as I sat on the sidewalk crying, examining my knee and mostly embarrassed.

He came closer pointing at me and doubling over in laughter. He nagged in song, “I saw your panties, I saw your panties, I saw your panties . This only added insult to injury. I picked myself up still crying and wiping my runny nose on my jacket sleeve. I began limping off like a tail tucked dog. He followed behind me continuing to heckle and that’s when I heard it.

An angry, booming voice called, “YZ, COME HERE! NOW!”
It was YZ's Daddy, Mr. Z.
I don’t know what Mr. Z said to YZ but when the two of them walked over to me YZ had tears in his eyes.
Mr. Z looked at my knee with concern (he knew it was nothing but he was nice enough to pretend it was) and gave me advice on how to care for it when I got home. (Wash with soap and water, put on Mercurochrome and a band aid)
He then turned to YZ and told him to apologize to me.

A few days later I went outside. As soon as YZ saw me in the front yard he began to smirk.Moral of my Story: Forced, insincere apologies are useless.


THAT'S IT***

What Eye Csaw

These were four successive billboards.

TRAVELING

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Ad nauseam is a Latin term used to describe an argument which has been continuing "[to the point of] nausea". (wikipedia)

How much signage is needed to bring in customers?

If the adjacent parking lot is any indication, it’s not working.

#####
Another beautiful older home saved from demolition .

It’s new use being that of a senior day care center.
I have been inside of this home. It is very clean and well kept run by two sisters who are both LPNs. It even has the original working pocket doors.

Being right next door to this business could put a damper on the mood of the clients.

Just in case you can’t see the sign, here it is below.

GAS PRICES

Wonder why gas prices fluctuate so often?

They change themselves when they think no one is looking.

NEED SOME ASH? Hmmm. What kind of ash?
Is this what you meant?

and this one

( I couldn't resist)

That's IT***

UNIVERSOUL CIRCUS

I am in the fifth decade of life and this was my FIRST CIRCUS EVER. I’d heard such great things about the fabulous Universoul Circus. I was determined that this year I would catch a matinee of the circus after hearing so much about it.

The circus was pitched at Legion Field. Legion Field was used in the 1996 Summer Olympics for soccer matches. The the opening match between the United States and Argentina drew 83,810 spectators, the stadium's all-time record for any event.(Wikipedia)
As I stood in line to purchase my ticket a lady approached me and asked if I was alone. I warily answered , yes. I wasn’t sure if this was the beginning of a con game or what.

What made me even more guarded was when she said, “Here’s a free ticket.”
Hesitantly, I took the ticket and asked her who I should thank?
She informed me that a radio station had purchased several tickets for the matinee and she needed to get rid of them because they were only good for that matinee. She asked me if I was familiar with the station and I told her yes. (Although I never listen to that station, I had answered truthfully…. I am familiar with it.)

I remained apprehensive.
Suppose I get to the entrance and find out that the ticket is a fake?
Suppose someone who knows me sees me trying to get into the circus with a fake ticket?
I WILL BE SOOOOO EMBARRASSED!

I handed my ticket to the doorman. He scanned the ticket with a black light . The ticket was legit, and I was in. Apparently there’s a hologram on the ticket that can be seen with the black light.
Though it was hot outside, the inside of the tent was cool.

Photos weren’t allowed but you can go to their website.

I saw acrobats, horseback riders, aerialists, circus clowns dressed as old ladies dancing to Beyonce’s Put A Ring On It, contortionists, jugglers.

See some of their YOUTUBE clips .

This circus is truly professional. It is a class act . Everything ran like clockwork. While one act was finishing the participants knew what they needed to do to prepare for the next act in a timely fashion. Some acts obviously needed more set up time. Yet, the audience was never left bored. There was much interaction with the audience usually during the set up times. Seeing families out having good clean fun and bonding was heart warming.What an experience ! I had a wonderful time! I can’t wait to go again!

Photos weren't allowed but, what harm could be done by snapping a picture at the end of the show while all of the acts take a bow and receive their well deserved applause?

THAT'S IT ***

CRAFT-Book Purse

I got the idea of doing a book purse after watching it done on the Carol Duvall Show. It was such a novel idea I had to try it.



Libraries are always selling their old books for next to nothing. I purchased this out- of- date encyclopedia volume for $1.00.

This first one was to be pretty much an experiment. I used whatever I already had around the house.

The wider the spine, the more room you’ll have in your purse. That's why I chose the encyclopedia. If you’re thinking you can haul around all of your usual junk, forget it. This is strictly a conversation piece used for fun, light hearted events. It should hold the essentials, keys, cell phone, lipstick.

The fabric inside was leftover from a previous project. I didn't have enough for the side vents so I used clear vinyl that was also a leftover from a previous project.

I carefully removed the pages with an exacto knife paying special attention to NOT cutting the spine cover. If the cover is cut, you’ve cut the bottom of your purse. Throw it out, get another book and start over.

I followed the directions at Wikihow.com They’re great but I believe the cardboard on the side makes it too thick and takes away some of the space in the purse.

I also wasn’t pleased with the way the glue oozed through.

Michael’s had the chains for 98 cents. I bought only one because Michael’s sells out quickly when it has a rare bargain. I used rivets purchased from a leather shop to attach the chain handle. You can see that the closure is a button and a loop of ribbon.

I sealed it with transparent decoupage glue.

The price of purse handles has to be the priciest thing about this project though I lucked out in this case. The acrylic, plastic, beaded handles are a bit pricey.

There are numerous sites that offer directions for these book purses or sell them ready made. Here are just a couple.

scribbit

makeitandtakeit

My favorite is rebound-designs

THAT'S IT***

WANNA BE-Dressmaker's Dummy (the last in a series)

Whenever I’ve seen ads for dressmaker dummies they’re in petite sizes. Sure they have the knob to adjust but I’ve yet to see one that can adjust to my proportions. My bust is one thing, my waist another (not to mention the apron around my middle) and my hips are considered off the chart. (but I love them)
 Sure I can have one custom made but I’m frugal.
Let’s face it people. I wanna be a sewer but so far I’ve just been blowing smoke so why waste money.

I once subscribed to Threads magazine. There was an article titled Clone Yourself a Fitting Assistant. You can find the directions here.

There's also another one here

My niece helped me make mine. Actually, I guess she really did all of the work. I stood there turning periodically while she wrapped me in duct tape. This is a two person job and it takes a couple of hours.
TWO IMPORTANT TIPS1.Get someone to help you that won’t make fun of your cottage cheese thighs.

2. Don’t drink liquids before this project. Pee before you begin.Abbreviated Directions (See the link for the real deal)

* I stripped down to panties and bra (make sure you keep the girls lifted) and put on a clean, old, tee shirt that I would never wear again. (The one with the tomato sauce stains and coffee stains that you couldn’t remove will do fine).
* My niece began tearing off strips of duct tape (I don’t remember the number of rolls or the yardage I purchased) and sticking them to the tee shirt.
* When it comes to the bust area it’s best to use crosswise strips.
* At the neck and arms wrap the areas near the skin with plastic wrap so that the duct tape won’t stick to your flesh. Ouch!

* Once everything was taped, my niece carefully cut the combination tape and tee shirt up the spine and I slipped out of the shell. After being freed from this duct tape prison, I taped the spine area back together with duct tape.
* Next I stuffed it with batting, and taped cardboard under the bottom to keep the batting inside. I put addional tape around the arm holes and neck hole to keep the batting inside.
* I used an old lamp pole from my Dad’s house as a stand. It stood tall until gravity took over and it fell to the bottom.
As you can see the shape is off and the bust has sunken in.
I put the tee shirt on top of the dummy because trying to stick pins in the duct tape is difficult and gummy.  Update: since this post the dummy has been discarded. Who wants mix matched boobs anyway. 11-18-2012

I actually can still use it when I want to get a picture of how a garment will look.

The Threads article also gives directions using materials other than duct tape.

THAT'S IT***

Orange Pretzel Salad

I’d been wanting pretzel salad. It’s usually made with strawberries and strawberry gelatin but I wanted to use what I had on hand which was a can of mandarin oranges and orange gelatin. I found a recipe at tasteofhome.com if you want the recipe.

Here you see all of my ingredients

Place the pretzels inside a zip lock back and crush them.

Mix the crushed pretzels, butter and 2 TBS of sugar together and press the mixture in a pan. Bake at 350 degrees for ten minutes. Remove and allow the crust to cool.


Meanwhile:


Place gelatin in a bowl and follow the directions for dissolving it. ( I used orange juice and the syrup from the can of mandarin oranges) Add the mandarin oranges



Place the gelatin in the fridge until it is semi-set.(Sing the Jeopardy song while you wait or go on to the next part)

Combine the softened cream cheese and sugar. Beat until smooth.

Add whipped topping to the cream cheese mixture.

Spread the cream cheese mixture onto the cooled pretzel crust.

After your gelatin is semi-set spoon it on top of the cream cheese mixture. Place everything in the fridge for 2-4 hours until firm.

Remove and cut into squares.

WHAT I DID.

*I halved the recipe.

*It is important that you allow the pretzel crust to cool before spreading on the cream cheese mixture, otherwise it will melt and soggy the pretzel crust.

*MAKE SURE the gelatin is in a semi-set stage before putting it over the cream cheese mixture. If you can pour it, it's not hard enough yet. This one step can mess up the whole sheebang. I ended up pouring the gelatin which made for a soggy crust which is NOT what you want.

I ate it anyway.

THAT"S IT***