Ok, I'm giving this my best shot. I'm smiling. Mom, Dad, are you smiling too? The sooner we smile the sooner we will be through with this photo session.

Mom, Dad, Grandma, are we finished? Do the photos on the laptop look alright? Can I take a nap now?

Snow In Our Forecast Today

Washington D.C., Maryland and Northern Virginia have snow in the weather forecast today. So this might be the day that our baby grandson gets to put his first snowflake in his tiny mouth.
I wonder what he will think of that.

Answer to yesterday's blog question:
Jeanine, you were the only person to submit an answer and your answer was close but not correct. This pangram supposedly is the best:
Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs?
Because this pangram uses the least amount of letters (32) but still has all 26 letters of the alphabet represented in the short sentence without using any proper names or contractions.
But if I were still teaching first grade and wanting to have my students practice their handwriting (printing ) I would never ever choose that sentence. I would choose your answer Jeanine.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Appropriate content and vocabulary words for first graders.

What is a Pangram?

A pangram is a phrase, sentence or verse composed of all the letters of the alphabet. Example below are taken from Mark Dunn's novel in letters called ELLA MINNOW PEA:

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

A quick move by the enemy will jeopardize six fine gun boats.

John Prady, give me a black walnut box of quite small size.

Six big devils from Japan quickly forgot how to waltz.

My girl wove six dozen plaid jackets before she quit.

Zelda quickly wove eight nubby flax jumpers.

Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs?

Back in my quaint garden, jaunty zinnias vie with flaunting phlox.

Questions:

#1 Could you make up a pangram?

#2 Which pangram above is the best? (I'll give the answer to question #2 tomorrow.)

Memories of Aunt Corrinne

Aunt Corrinne was quite an independent spirit and fearless lady. She was the only woman I know who drove across country from Missouri to Arizona by herself with two preschool grand kids when she was in her 60's. Another time she drove alone to Washington D.C. from Missouri to visit her daughter, Vickie.

Aunt Corrine grew up on a Missouri farm and moved to Kansas City as a young woman to be a business woman. At one time she ran a restaurant in downtown Kansas City. Later she became a key punch operator for a Kansas City company. (Pre computer business practice)

She finally retired at the age of 65 but remained active in the following roles: widow, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. I will always remember her as a courageous woman who had a southern bent for hospitality and food. No one ever went away hungry from Aunt Corrinne's home. She prepared pounds and pounds of candy for relatives, co-workers and neighbors at Christmas time. Her favorite homemade candies were peanut brittle and divinity.

Jack has many fond memories of his Mom's older sister. Life was never dull with Aunt Corrinne around. She had a way of starting home projects and getting everybody involved in these projects. Even this fall she was supervising a remodeling project on her house!

My two daughters dearly loved Aunt Corrinne for she had a way of speaking her mind no matter what and Jennifer and Jeanine found this very refreshing. It was during a late October visit in 2002 that she showed both my daughters how to crochet. And could she crochet! Even though she was legally blind she could turn out crocheted afghans like no body's mother. While I was fixing supper each evening she along with Aunt Judy would sit by the fire crocheting and drinking bourbon and water. Now that's a southern dame! And she could even show Aunt Judy a new crochet stitch or two.

I will always remember Aunt Corrinne's beauty and style. She had the most beautiful grey hair and blue eyes. And she was not afraid to wear high heels as she grew older. I can still picture Aunt Corrinne in her new three inch high heels at Jennifer's high school graduation. My niece's husband, Guy Celeste, had to help navigate Aunt Corrinne from the high bleachers in the gym and thru the crowded hallways that day. She looked like a grand lady from the 1950's in her dress and heels. During her 2002 trip to Virginia Aunt Corrinne and Aunt Judy did the Washington D.C. tourist circuit from the Capital to the Smithsonian to Arlington Cemetery to Mount Vernon and to Monticello. She refused to use a wheel chair anywhere we went until the final day at at Mount Vernon. After a week of sightseeing she finally did admit that she was just a little tired so maybe she would sit in the wheelchair for a little ride down to Washington's grave at Mount Vernon. At the time she was 84 years old!

Oh, how we will miss Aunt Corrinne. And God better get ready for a heavenly home project or two or a new crochet group!

Corrinne Rosenberger 1918-2007

Corrine Rosenberger

Born February 8, 1918

Hale, Missouri

Died December 2, 2007

Lee's Summit, Missouri

I'm Free

Don't grieve for me, for now I'm free

I'm following the path God laid for me.

I took His hand when I heard Him call

I turned my back and left it all.

I could not stay another day

To laugh, to love, to work or play.

Tasks left undone must stay that way.

I found that place at the close of day.

If my parting has left a void

Then fill it with remembered joy.

A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss.

Ah yes, these things, I too, will miss.

Be not burdened with times of sorrow.

I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.

My life's been full, I savored much,

Good friends, good times, a loved one's touch.

Perhaps my time seemed all to brief,

Don't lengthen it now with undue grief,

Lift up your heart and share with me.

God wanted me now. He set me free.

Author Unknown

In loving memory of Jack's mom's sister, Corrinne Rosenberger, who had been in failing health this past year. God took her home for Christmas and all Eternity. Aunt Corrinne would have been 90 years old on February 8, 2008. Aunt Corrinne was quite ready and willing to "cross the bar" into Eternity. Therefore, I especially like the very last line of the poem above:

"God wanted me now. He set me free."

Grandma's Christmas Stockings

Grandma and Grandpa and Me. I am glad that I now weigh 15 pounds so Grandma couldn't possibly stick me in one of those stockings hanging on the banister rail. Actually Grandma was really nice to me. While Grandpa held me Grandma let me use her finger as a lollipop. Hmmmmmm----very tasty!
I just love sticking things in my mouth. I can almost put my whole hand in my mouth. I also like to stick my little stuffed monkey in my mouth.

Marine Corps Ball November 10

These are photos of our daughter Jeanine at the Marine Corps Ball in Washington D.C. Jeanine is the girl in the the vivid blue dress standing next to the Marine Corps birthday cake. Jeanine attended the ball with six of her classmates from American University who are also in the Public Affairs Masters Program at American University in Washington D.C.

Jeanine had fun dressing up for the event. It was deja vu for Jeanine for she wore the dress she wore to the Hayfield Secondary prom her junior year in high school in 1997. Jack and I were duly impressed that she could still fit into the dress after ten years! From these photos it looks like the gang of girls had fun at the Marine Ball. Semper Fi!

Little Slugger Learns to Sit Up

Mommy puts me on the floor to practice my sit ups. I can sit for a second or two after Mommy gets me into the sitting position with my legs spread outward. Learning to sit is a lot of work but I'm beginning to get the hang of it. Grandma calls this Slugger Sit Up Practice.

Grandpa's Little Ho Ho Ho Boy

Jack Aidan is sitting in the baby rocker that belonged to his maternal great grandmother, Theresa Gariety, who was born in 1902. That rocker is a true antique! A lot of Garietys have rocked in this chair and now Baby Jack is learning to rock in the chair. Go Jack. You rock!

Christmas Is A Coming!

Jack Aidan came this afternoon to check out the Christmas decorations in our home.

Did You Survive Thanksgiving Weekend?

Thanksgiving is over. The marathon of cooking and eating is behind us now. Did you survive the marathon? We did. We also survived some very strange weather on Thanksgiving Day. First it was unseasonably warm---in the high 70's. Then mid afternoon the wind started blowing really hard and many of the fall leaves came tumbling down. The weeping cherry tree in the side yard lost its top leaves but kept the leaves on the lower branches. And our beautiful red burning bushes lost all their leaves! The Bradford pear trees and the Japanese maple still have their leaves. After the wind came the colder weather from the Midwest. Jack and I are glad that we raked up leaves before the holiday. Of course we will have more to rake after the rest of the trees lose their leaves. It is interesting how in one metropolitan area like northern Virginia there are so many micro climates. We had the opportunity this weekend to drive along the George Washington Memorial Highway south of Alexandria and we noticed that the trees along the Potomac River were at their peak of color. What a beautiful sight. Later the same day we drove along the Fairfax County Parkway and all the trees were bare except for the brown leaves of the tall oak trees. These oak trees will hold on to their leaves till spring comes in March.

See Baby Jack's Little Hands

See Baby Jack's little hands.
Those little hands surprised me Saturday afternoon when Jack and I went to visit our darling grandson and his Mom and Dad. Alright, we both admit it. We were both suffering from baby withdrawal since we spent a whole week without our little guy due to the fact that Jack Aidan spent Thanksgiving Week on the Cape. So soon as we could we hightailed it to Baby Jack's house. Then when I grabbed my little baby he gave me a happy smile and proceeded to grab my eyeglasses right off my nose and was ready to drop them on the floor. Wow, what a surprise! When I gained my senses I held Jack with one arm and grabbed my glasses in midair. Just in time to avoid having a pair of broken glasses. So let me just say that those little hands are not only cute but fast.

How Do You Handle The Holiday Rush?

Well, the official holiday rush begins with Thanksgiving. Every woman responsible for a Thanksgiving dinner is preparing her food shopping list and even checking it twice before heading to the store. Tomorrow we get our turkey and the various other food items. In the past several years I have started a new tradition for the holidays. I decorate the home for Christmas the week before Thanksgiving. Why not. Every store and shopping center in the nation is decorated so why not get into the mood early by decorating early. I actually got in the mood in September in Disneyworld when I saw all the lights going up in MGM Studios. I don't know why I didn't think of this when I was working fulltime. Cooking the turkey dinner on Thursday, shopping on black Friday and decorating the house on Saturday and Sunday always left me exhausted and cranky on Monday morning.This is my new schedule for beginning the holiday season.

I decorate the house the weekend before Thanksgiving while thinking and planning my Thanksgiving menu. Thanksgiving week goes like this: Monday bring home all the groceries and the guest of honor, the turkey. Tuesday start preparing some dishes ahead of time and make my pie dough. Wednesday do more cooking and bake the pies and pumpkin bread and cornbread. Thursday we watch Macys' Thanksgiving Day Parade while preparing the meal. Friday we eat leftovers. Don't ask me why because I can't explain it but to me everything tastes better reheated in the microwave on Friday. When not eating on Friday we are usually working on our Christmas cards while listening to Christmas carols on the stereo. This is a great day to address and sign them and begin your holiday letter if you include one in your card. You can get a lot done in one day and then you can mail them early to everyone on your holiday list. Experience taught me this. One year I was sending out cards after Christmas! Bummer. I've also learned over time to avoid shopping on Black Friday. Too many cars on the road, no place to park at the mall and too many people in the checkout lines can kill your Christmas spirit. Another great thing to do on Black Friday is bake a batch of Christmas cookies. The kids in the family will enjoy doing this with you and you can eat them or freeze them for later. As for the Christmas shopping.....early Sunday mornings seems to be a good time to do it. Of course, we don't buy much these days. As your children get older they really do appreciate getting money for Christmas and then going out to buy what they really want. And my husband and I buy each other the strangest things for Christmas. One year we bought a snowblower. Another year we bought picture frames. You get the picture. We opt for practical gifts and we don't need surprises at our age. If anyone has some good ideas for handling the holiday rush, please leave me a comment. And have a Happy Thanksgiving!

English Cottage Pie

Most folks have heard of or tasted or made an Irish shepherd's pie. Well, for English Cottage Pie instead of using browned ground beef you use leftover beef roast. Sandra told us that the English tradition is to serve roast beef and root vegetables for Sunday dinner. Then Monday which was traditionally wash day you took the leftover Sunday roast dinner to make an easy supper for laborious wash day. Sandra's version of this traditional dish went something like this:

English Cottage Pie

Layer in a baking casserole shredded roast beef.

Place cooked vegetables over the meat.

Sandra had sauteed onions.

Then a layer of mashed cooked carrots which give great fall color.

Then well seasoned mashed potatoes on top.

Sandra used a fork to make a design in the potatoes.

Bake casserole till it is well heated thru. (At 350 degrees for 45 minutes)

Serve the pie with reheated beef gravy from the Sunday dinner.

Grandma's House

Take A Look Below
Mommy took me to Grandma's house Monday. See my souvenir bib from New Jersey. That says it all. Grandpa is the best thing at Grandma's house. Grandpa gives me rides on his knees and upswings in the air. And he takes me for strolls around the house to view the fall trees and birds outside. He reads me stories. He is learning to be a great grandpa. I like him a lot. Sometimes he calls me his little slugger because I like to wear baseball uniforms. In the bottom photo I am wearing my brand new sweatshirt from Gene and Sandra Barr. It has Valley Forge written on the front. The sweatshirt is a little big which means two things: I can layer it over other shirts for winter and I won't outgrow it next week.

Now grandma is another story. Last week she tried to stick me in a pumpkin for Halloween. I hope she doesn't make me ride a turkey for Thanksgiving or stick me in a Christmas stocking for Christmas. You never know with Grandma. She has already labeled me her Thing One from Cat in the Hat.