Grandpa's Loafers

Jack Aidan: I like loafing around in my Grandpa's loafers. Easy on and easy off but not so easy for walking around. But I like Grandpa and his loafers are pretty cool in a Grandpa sort of way. Now I'll say cheese and you can snap the photo Grandma.

My World Tuesday=Mardi Gras

The Mardi Gras Tree in My Living Room
Houmas House Ornament From Houmas House
Which Has to be the Most Well Decorated Plantation House
On Louisiana's River Road Plantation Trail. The building pictured on this ornament is the small building separate from the large plantation house where the French sugarcane planter's teenage sons lived and slept away from the ladies of the household.
Krewe Drinking Cup
Caught By Yours Truly
At New Orleans Mardi Gras Parade
February 2005
Brand New Carnival Beads Bought
In Jamaica January 2009
Wrapped Around Dining Table Vase.

Porcelain Mardi Gras Masks Around Vase.


Happy Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) Everyone!
Now go visit other My World blog memes by clicking here:http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

NARFE

What is NARFE?

It is the National Active and Retired Federal Employees association. NARFE has chapters in every state and has its national headquarters in Washington D.C. It holds a national convention once every two years. In 2006 the convention was in Albuquerque, New Mexico and in 2008 the convention was in Louisville, Kentucky. The 2010 convention will be in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the 2012 convention will be in Reno, Nevada.

NARFE's purpose is to fight to retain federal employees earned benefits and to lobby for improvements to the current and retired federal employees pay and benefits. To make sure that the federal government honors our service and continues to support our retirement benefits in these trying economic times is a great reason for every retired and active federal employee to join their local chapter of NARFE.

My husband has been a member of the Manassas chapter since retiring in 2000 and last year he became the president of the Manassas chapter.

Are you a federal employee or a retired federal employee? If so, please join your local chapter of NARFE to ensure that you will have a retirement income and benefits in the future so that your olden days will be golden days.

If Walls Could Talk

If Walls Could Talk, What Would They Say To You?

#1 I'm new and empty, fill me up with stuff and memories.

#2 I'm still pretty new but my owners are in foreclosure now.

#3 I'm still pretty new and my owners are in foreclosure but they left town and took the washer, dryer, stove, fridge, and all the light fixtures with them.

#4 I'm still pretty new and my owners are in foreclosure but I'm not lonely. Lots of folks are coming in and checking me out. Now if the banks would just give out loans, maybe I would get a new owner to love and cherish me.

#5 I'm still pretty new and my owners are in foreclosure now but too bad they couldn't hold out till Obama passed this housing stimulus package then they might have stayed with me here. I wonder what is going to happen now.

Video: Elmo Entertains Jack Aidan Part II

Video: Elmo Entertains Jack Aidan

Video: Elmo Entertains Jack Aidan Part I

Video: Elmo Entertains Jack

My World Tuesday

My World Tuesday

Romance Is Here
Romeo and Juliet

Now go visit some other My World Tuesday meme sites by clicking here: http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

News Flash

http://piedmontreaders.blogspot.com/

Click on the above link and you will pull up the records for the Piedmont Book Club that DragonQuilter, Cindy and I belong to along with eleven other women in our neighborhood.

The PiedmontReaders have been in existence since the fall of 2001. Every month we have a meeting to discuss the chosen book of the month. We have now discussed 103 books that I have chronologically listed on the blog along with the name of the club member who chose the book for us to read and discuss. It is a very, very diverse list. Take a look. You might see a book that you might want to read from this list.

I will be adding a lot more data to this list in the near future so keep checking back to the blogsite.

Handmade Valentine Card

Look at this handmade Valentine Card that our 18'th month old grandson, Jack Aidan, made for us by fingrpainting and brush painting. I will have to keep this forever. I love it.

Sky Watch Friday February 12, 2009

Sky Watch Friday

February 12, 2009

This is Lorton, Virgina. This is where Washington D.C. used to send all their bad guys to prison in the Virginia countryside. Now the prisoners are gone. The countryside has become upscale housing communities, with schools and parks and shopping centers. The prison has lots of architectural interest. Lots of buildings with archways make it resemble the lawn at the University of Virginia. Today this former prison is being transfered into the Lorton Arts Center that will rival Wolf Trap with shows and the Torpeado Factory in Alexandria with artists in residence. We came here yesterday to view the art of some of the artists. Art classes are also offered here.

Happy Valentine's Day Weekend! Now go visit some more Sky Watch Friday blogs: http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Ten Things That Begin With Letter M

Ten Things That Begin With The Letter M That I Dearly Love

Wanda From California Gave Me The Letter M

Thank You, Wanda!

This list is how the things popped up in my head.

After I had a good list of ten I then ranked them from #10 down to my #1 thing. So take a look.

Mommies with babies (Madonnas) #2

They represent our future. This also represents the Virgin Mary and Jesus.

Money in the bank #4

We all need it. We all want it. We don't all have it.

Miami University in Oxford, Ohio #3

Miami is my Alma mater. Robert Frost thought it was the most beautiful college campus in the U.S. It is known as one of the original eight Public Ivys along with the University of Virginia, the College of William and Mary, the University of North Carolina, the University of Vermont, the University of Texas, the University of California and the University of Michigan.

Messages left on my blog #5

Oh, how delighted I am when someone leaves me a comment!

Members of my family #1

God bless Jack, Jennifer, Terry, Jeanine and Jack Aidan.

Military folks who serve #7

They keep us safe and who can resist a person in a military uniform. Oh, I love those marine uniforms! Breathtaking.

Mark Twain #8

The very best American writer bar none and he is from Missouri, another M word!

Mozart for piano #9

I love classical piano music to read by. If my letter had been T, I would have chosen Tchaikovsky; and if C, Chopin.

Montmartre in Paris, France #6

My favorite part of my favorite city in the whole wide world.

Mickey Mouse in Florida #10

Mickey rules!

Now please go visit Wanda to see her list for the letter C and to learn about who else is doing this. http://brushstrokesfromtheheart.blogspot.com/

Holidays: Distinctive vs. Generic

I can remember when all holidays were distinctive. None were this generic. Washington's Birthday was celebrated on his birthday which is February 22'nd. Lincoln's Birthday was celebrated on his birthday which is February 12'th. (Today is Lincoln's Birthday!)

Then some folks for some reason or another combined these two birthday celebrations and holidays into one generic event called Presidents' Day.

What is the result? Confusion to the third degree, that's what. First, whose birthday are we celebrating? This new name is so generic that we could be celebrating one of the following or all of the following on Presidents' Day:

Washington's Birthday
Lincoln's Birthday
All living presidents' birthdays
All past presidents' birthdays
The current president's birthdays

Or who know we could be celebrating the president of Mexico's birthday or the president of Russia's birthday.

Second concern. What does this do for school children? Long ago American grammar students knew the names of the two most famous presidents(Washington and Lincoln) and the birthday of each one. I bet most grammar students don't know the actual birthday of either Washington or Lincoln. They just know that teachers always talk about these two presidents along with Martin Luther King in February.

Third concern: three remembrances in the shortest month of the year is bound to result in one of the following folks getting shafted in the recognition department: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King.

Then there is the case of what happened to Armistice Day. Does any young person know about Armistice Day?

Moral of this blogpost: re labeling things is not always a wise idea in the long run. Think before you decide to tweak something. You might just end up with New Coke.

Poems Are Like Buds On A Tree

Poems Are Like Buds On A Tree

Poems are like spring days in winter's eye.
They cleanse our dulled eyes and brain.
They awaken our senses from a deep sleep.
They make us delight in the sound of words expressed.
They create images that express our true feelings.

We fall in love with poems.
We use poems to declare love.
We recite poems to those we adore.
We equate poems with a time and place and lost love.
We hunger for another poem to stir our soul.

Poems are small while novels are big, sometimes huge.
Poems carry more meaning then their weight in gold.
Sometimes novels are not worth the paper to print them.
Novels almost never are worth their weight in gold.
Poems do have more meaning then their weight in gold.

Poems represent good economy.
A huge product from so little material.
But the mental production progresses slowly.
Poems don't come from assembly lines.
Poems come from struggling words along a line.

Nursery rhymes are poems for mothers and babies.
And babies respond with coos, laughs and mimics.
Patriotic lyrics are musical poems for citizens.
And folks respond with tears, zeal and volunteering.
Gospel songs are poems for souls in search of God.

Poems are like buds on a tree.
Each bud has many tightly wrapped petals.
And each petal unpeels another thought
Each bud is a delight to the searching soul who finds it.
And each poem like each tree bud is a divine delight.


Joann Gariety Shipley
February 12, 2009

Studying the Congressional Bailout

Studying the congressional bailout has Jack and I hanging by our thumbs. You need to be a tax lawyer to fully understand what they are proposing in each house of congress and what they will finally work out as a compromise between the two houses. In the meantime the American citizen keeps sucking up the damage that the economy is doing to his personal finances.

For instance, who qualifies for the first time buyers of homes $15,000 tax credit write off? Could you qualify if you bought in 2008? And is the deadline to qualify a home purchased by the end of June of 2009? Beats me. And this is just one small legal detail in this ginormous bailout package.

Well, I guess the stimulus is creating jobs for lawyers if not for blue color workers who are looking for new jobs now that all kinds of manufacturing and construction jobs have been lost in the past year.

In my next life I'm going to be a lawyer.

Jack Aidan Goes Reggae

Jack Aidan goes reggae in the souvenir Jamaican Tshirt Grandma bought for him on the cruise the other week. Can you dance like the Jamaicans, Jack Aidan. Grandma will have to teach you the moves that she saw. You are going to have shake that diaper to do those Jamaican dance moves. And I understand that your mommy is going to give you an art lesson in finger painting this morning. That should be a hoot. I hope she takes some photos.