Y'ALL!

Gratitude 

I smile because you're my family. I laugh because there's nothing you can do about it. - Anonymous

To me, family is not just an important thing. It is everything. That's why I'm grateful for you all.

Left: Family Dinner at Uncle Julio's. Right: First Grandson Takes The Gold. 51st AAU Boys Junior National Volleyball Championships. Orlando, Florida: July 2024

For being your amazing self.

For having been faithful readers of my blogs for eight years now. The very first one, In The Beginning, was posted on November 25, 2016.

For participating in and tolerating my piddly contests. BTW, here are responses received on "recurring November theme/imagery": 

AVH - The recurring theme is ELASTIC WAISTBANDS!!

ITV - Reference to elastic waistbands! I win! I bluffed when replying all that I may not have time!

Yup, you're both so right!

A long time ago, when I tried on a pair of skinny-fit jeans and it didn't look good, I just threw it on the floor. Like, No, you don't deserve to be hung up. Sit there and think about what you've done.

When it tried to reason out and told me to walk and exercise, I was like, Nah. I'm good.

Today, my pants have absolutely no desire to fit in (LOL... pun totally intended).

As winners:

* ITV, you'll be treated to brunch or Happy Hour at The Goat

* AVH, you'll get a Vietnamese specialty banh mi + dessert (to make up for "lost" pie slice that was supposed to have been shipped to you by ITV); both to be delivered to Queen's (you'll be texted of date and time)

For YOU ALL, I give thanks for being the compass that guides me. My inspiration to reach great heights. My comfort when I falter.

And when we dine out together, as is our wont, I'd definitely remember to put on my awesome ELASTIC-WAISTBAND PANTS and look fabulous!

Tons More Things

Gratitude 

Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude. - A. A. Milne

Like Piglet, I do have tons more things that I am thankful for.

* For nights that turn into mornings and dreams that turn into reality

* For all the troubles I didn't have

* For my phone alarm - without it, I would never know what time I accidentally wake up at

* For caller ID to avoid likely-scam calls and people I don't want to talk to

* For silent farts

* Grandma jeans with elastic waistbands

* Forever stamps

* The five-second rule when food is dropped

* Internet recipes I'll never actually make

I'm grateful for small things, big things, and everything in between. Best of all, even though I can't have all I want, I'm thankful I don't get what I deserve.

And as Dr. Seuss says:

You ought to be thankful a whole heaping lot, 

for the people you're lucky you're not!

TV!

Gratitude 

TV is the proper binge.

Thanks to primetime television, I can scan through numerous choices all day and night to get my daily dose of timely news, information, knowledge, and amusement.

How is it bad? Chicago PD, FBI, Jeopardy, and John Stewart's Daily Show, among others, provide first-class entertainment, as far as I'm concerned. My all-time fav contest show right now? Password. It's a game of words where you have to guess your partner's secret word.

Notably, I can exercise one of my greatest talents via streaming media - watching five years worth of a TV show in one week. A lie that I tell myself every time: Just one more episode.

Luv Netflix and T'UBI.

Where else can you enjoy Oscar and Emmy-winning shows for free and in the comfort of home? Perhaps, it should change its message from, Are you still watching? to You should shower and come back.

YouTube is awesome.

I have found amigurumi patterns, DIYs for making notepads and journals out of paper bags, soothing music, and myriad topics that I've been curious about.

The couch is calling. I must go. 

But first, gotta loosen these tight pants' elastic waistband.

Aaaah....

 

Shopping!

Gratitude 

I have enough clothes and shoes, I don't need to go shopping, said no woman ever. - Anonymous

I'm grateful for thrift stores like VOA (Veterans of America) and Five Below (discount $5 or below). They are my go-to shopping destination for affordable and fun fashion. Thanks to their rock-bottom pricing, I could put my money right where I can see it, hanging in my closet.

These places are jammed with good buys. Tees with Yoda and Betty Boop design, among others.

Even a prized Boyz n the Hood sweatshirt. I like to dress to entertain myself. Life is too short to wear boring clothes.

Other buys that I treasure?

Warm socks. They may not match, but my feet are always warm.

Dollar General $1.25 flip flops.

Deodorant.

Cotton panties. 

Pants with elastic waistbands. (Is there anything better?)

Glorious Food

Gratitude 

Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.

Thus, this series: my gratitude for some of the best things in my life.

*****

Live. Love. Eat. - Anonymous

I'm in a relationship with food. 

I think it's the foundation of genuine happiness. The ingredient that binds people and family together.

What specific consumables am I most grateful for?

Taco Bell's Nachos Belgrande and the thought that no matter how bad my day may seem, I only have to remember someone out there has to clean the bathroom at Taco Bell.

Chocolate-covered marshmallows. Thank goodness for chocolate because it's the answer, no matter what the question is. Note to self: Eat lots of chocolate when times get rough, and eat more when times are great.

Mixed plate of BBQ beef, boneless chicken, and mahi-mahi with double order of mac salad at the Rainbow Drive-In.

Happy Hour at Roy's. 

Sunday "worship" at Legend Seafood for dim sum.

Piada's carbonara.

And at the end of the day, grateful for elastic waistbands.

Oldest Antique

 Antiques

Here are responses received from my faithful readers:

ITV: The dryer!

VEV: No doubt about it - moi!

AVH: Does your avocado green dryer count? ;) If not, how about the black lacquered Chinese screen? To VEV's answer (which was SENT TO ALL), AVH says: Haha I thought about that same answer!

'Oldest antique' is featured in the blog that follows.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GOLDEN AGER

If things get better with age, then we must be getting close to freakin' magnificent. -  Unknown

What do you call an old folk? 

'Old' sounds a little rude. 'Senior?' Tolerable, but so high school. 'Older adult' sounds politically correct, but it doesn't say very much. 'Older' than what?

Well, how about 'super adult'?

I suppose that's what VEV is.

He is the oldest antique in the house.

Still Feeling Spry at Almost Eighty. Canada: 2024

When he was younger, everyone over the age of thirty looked middle-aged. Everyone over fifty, antique.

Time, as it went by, confirmed that he wasn't wrong. Those little age differentials, so crucial and so gross when he was young, eroded. He had been swept into the silver tsunami of the non-young. 

He might have wondered.

What happened?!! 

But heck, forget that.

Long live 

being vintage

and

fabulous!

Geri-Active And Unstoppable. Photo: ITV, Miller's Country Gardens, Delaware, OH: October 2024

****************

DECISION ON CONTEST WINNER

A comment on proceedings has been raised. ITV said that the two other respondents were both automatically disqualified for not following directions.

Also, this just in.

Received from ITV: Do you accept bribes? Like a margarita from The Goat on Harvest Night?

Comment from AVH: ITV is automatically disqualified for offering bribes. How will I get my slice of gourmet pie?

After careful consideration by a panel of distinguished judges, here is the final decision. 

Resident Judges: Shane the Possum, Beau Bean the Gerbil, and Chip the Chipmunk

VEV, you got the correct answer, but your prize is voided because you violated the contest rule of respond to sender only. As a consolation prize, you'll get carrot shavings, two pumpkin seeds, and an acorn.

Because of the foregoing invalidation, the category has been re-set to Next-In-Line Oldest House Antique (after LAMP and DRESSER). 

The correct answer is DRYER.

Maytag Dryer, circa 1976

For giving the correct answer and following the rule of reply-to-sender only, but influencing contest outcome with a probable felony (hic!), ITV loses... wait...er.. hmm.. Yay! I just love everyone! (hic!). Zhe gehts one big slizze av' pie. (Hic!)

For agreeing with VEV's correct answer though not responding to sender only, making a partially-correct guess (DRYER is not avocado green, it is poopy yellow), and positive attitude that she would win, AVH gets the grand prize of one slice of gourmet pie/cake.

It will be shipped to you by ITV. Trust her!

COONGRADULATIONZZS! 

P.S. No morre contests. (Hic!) YOU'rre ALL a probblematic concern!

Hickory Dickory Dock

 Antiques

Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going. - Anonymous

What a timely advice (pun totally intended).

A wall clock that graced the topmost reachable wall in our southwest home for five years, and which has continued to be a wall feature in our current mid-west home has inspired me to live by this motto.

I remember being obsessed with it.

It plays Westminster chimes on the quarter, half, and hour counts with each swing of a brass-finished pendulum. An off-white dial, surrounded by a brushed brass bezel, features gold Roman numerals and ornate, black hands.

Its architectural good looks have survived through the years, though twice-repaired for its chimes. I have relished looking up at it, positioned high on the loft wall, a perfect mix of traditional elegance and contemporary lines and texture.

Westminster Chime Wall Clock, Service Merchandise (now defunct), Phoenix, Arizona: Circa 1978

It has been a summons to not count every hour in the day, but to make every hour count.

That the clock is ticking. Hickory dickory dock!

That time is about making moments.

Live.       

Perhaps I should have bought

this clock instead?

Hickety, dickety, dock!