Veterans Day

Today I honor and thank all the men and woman 

for their patriotism and for their willingness 

to serve and protect our great country. 

President Wilson declared the first Armistice Day in 1919, in 1954, 

President Eisenhower changed the name to Veternas Day.

Photo Source: NYC Department Records

Remembering my Veteran who served in the Vietnam War.

An Acorn, Even Chicken Little, Would Like

My niece from Florida sent me an email with direction on how to make acorns from donut holes, I decided to give it a try.

Donut holes, Jif chocolate hazelnut spread,
chopped walnuts, and pretzel sticks.

Dip the donut hole, into the chocolate.

Roll in chopped nuts.

Push half of a stick pretzel into the center.

Chicken Little would love these!

These sweet acorns are a quick and easy treat to make, and they are delicious.

Let's Twist Our Tongues

It's International Tongue Twisters Day, let's start the party with a well known tongue twister...

Want to write a tongue twister of your own? Follow these easy directions.

Pick a letter

Think of a noun that starts with that letter.

Think of a verb that starts with that letter.

Think of a which, what kind of, word that starts with that letter.

Think of a how, when or where word that starts with that letter.

Try to say the sentence out loud fast three times. 

One of my children's story books had theses two pages full of delightful illustrations and tongue twisters. All  twelve of these tongue twisters are new to me.

The Children's Friend Story Book, 1951

According to the Guinness Book of World Records the most difficult tongue twister in the english language is:

The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick.

For more tongue twister fun visit the 1st International Collection of Tongue Twisters where you will find 3,584 tongue twisters in 118 languages.

Long Island Medium

Theresa Caputo star of the TLC program, The Long Island Medium, had a tour stop in a neighboring town, and for some reason back in September I thought it was a marvellous idea to purchase two tickets.

On Sunday afternoon, my friend and I drove to Waukegan, Illinois to attend the 3:00 PM show at the Genesee Theater, starring Theresa Caputo.

This was a sold out show 2,500 seats were all filled by Theresa's fans.

As we were seated, I noticed that the audience was comprised primarily of women. The stage had a large screen hanging in the background, a throw rug on the floor, with a tall chair, a table that held a vase of flowers, and of course the obligatory bottle of water.

Waiting for the show to begin.

Theresa never sat down on the chair.

Theresa Caputo the star of the hit TLC show The Long Island Medium has been a practicing medium for ten years. Before the show started you could feel the anticipation in the air as people waited for The Long Island Medium to walk on stage, hoping that they would receive a reading from Theresa about a loved one who has passed away.

As Theresa Caputo came on stage, she was greeted by thunderous applauds and a standing ovation from many of her fans.

Theresa Caputo is a petit woman who had on a fabulous pair of shoes.

You would think it would be difficult to walk in these,
but she didn't seem to have any trouble.

At the start of this two hour show, no intermission, she thanked everyone for their concern about her family after the storm Sandy. Her home and family in Long Island weathered the storm better than most.

She explained that she could not read everyone in the audience, but she did say;  "You will witness today why someone may get a reading and not you."

First question out by Theresa was who has brought the cremations of their loved ones with them today? Hands shot up all over the place. "Who has the cremation in a necklace, a locket?" The Long Island Medium started her first reading. 

Half way into the two hour show she asked; "Who has cancer?" Again hands were raised in the air, after several more questions, to make sure she had the correct person, she said; "...are you in remission?" The response was; "... no I have stage four cancer and will be stopping my treatments." The Long Island Medium told her that her loved ones were encouraging her to continue treatment because remission seemed possible. 

I have to tell you Theresa Caputo is a likable, spunky, personable, well dressed woman, who knew how to dissipate a tense moment, of which there were many. I was extremely uncomfortable during this two hour show, and breathed a sigh of relief at its conclusion.

At the conclusion of the show, you heard people saying how disappointed they were that they didn't receive a reading. The air was no longer filled with anticipation and hope but of disappointment and sadness.

I held no expectations when I purchased the tickets for this show, and if truth be told I am not a believer or disbeliever, I never actually gave this psychic business much thought. I purchased the tickets to see the television star Theresa Caputo with the New Jersey accent.

Window Display Becomes a Street Gallery

On the corner of Walton and Michigan Avenue in Chicago 

is the Louis Vuitton store. Take a look at these marvelous window 

displays done by the Japanesse pop artist Yoyoi Kusama.

Louis Vuitton display windows on North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois

Pop artist Yayoi Kusama has created an  eye catching window display.

"Eternal Blooming Flowers in Mind"  

  

The center of the flower is an eye.

"Beginning of the Universe"

The red and white polka dots make theses nerve endings come to life.

The window displays were transformed into a "street gallery" showcasing 

both Kusama's art work and Louis Vuitton purses.

An American Girl Birthday Celebration

The magnificent mile on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois was where we celebrated my granddaughter's birthday this past weekend.

We arrived at our hotel and got fancied up for the birthday celebration at American Girl.

Sweet LuLu Belle insisted that she was wearing her pink cow girl boots, some battles you don't want to fight, and this was one. 

The dinning room at American Girl is decorated in black, white and hot pink, what a festive and happy place this restaurant is. At the table, a birthday crown was waiting for LuLu Belle and her American Girl Doll Kate.

The birthday girl and her American Girl doll Kate.

Lunch was served.

Cake and a gift for the birthday girl, a birthday outfit for her doll Kate.

We all had a marvelous time celebrating.

Happy 5th birthday, LuLu Belle.

As I Get Older...

As I get older, I just celebrated my sixty first birthday last Friday, historical events that held no interest to me as a teenager and young adult have become extremely intriguing to me now.

As a Netflix subscriber I have the opportunity to consider many different types of genres,  I found a show produced by  PBS for Masterpiece Theater, titled: Foyle's War.

A short summary about Foyle's War, taken from: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/foyleswar/

"Set along the South Coast of England in the 1940s, Foyle's War stars Michael Kitchen as Christopher Foyle, the straightforward sleuth who fights his own battles on the home front while war rages across Europe." 

I enjoyed this series, and I felt as if I lost friends after watching the last episode.

I just finished Kate Morton's newest book: The Secret Keeper, while the story setting is in the year 2011, the answer to the secret is found during WW2.

For two days, my life seemed to revolve around this book, toss in a load of laundry, read a chapter or two, clean the bathroom, read some more. I have liked all of Kate Morton's book and her newest book  The Secret Keeper did not disappoint me.

After reading and watching  stories about World War Two, I decided to find out more about how people coped during this horrible time.

I found the site; WW2 People's War. The BBC asked people to contribute their memories of World War Two, so between June of 2003 and January of 2006, the BBC collected 47,000 stories and 15,000 images.

I have spent many hours pouring over these pictures and stories that have been submitted by people who had memories of this dreadful war.

Here, is one of the happier stories that was submitted by Ida Vee.

Source:

'WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories contributed by members of the public and gathered by the BBC. The archive can be found at bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar'

Picture and Story:

A Doll Sent from Canada:by Ida Vee:WW2 People's War 

This website has touched my heart, and I just wanted to share it with anyone who might be interested.

I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower