Wednesday, February 29, 2012

New machine

My grandfather used to order his three piece suit from the tailor and say:"This is the suit I will be buried in so make it nice".
He wore out 4 suits before it was his last one.
I bought a Maytag washing machine yesterday which is ultra modern in comparison to the old lady in the semi basement.
This one "weighs" your laundry and adds just the amount of water needed to wash the load, all automatic. Lowes had 10 percent off and State of N C had 100.00 off
if you buy ecology responding items.
So right there I had a great discount and they deliver for free and pick up the old one. Sears always charges for delivery!!!!
So I said to my daughters : "This is the last washing machine I will buy".
Answer came" "well they last about 20 years so that will be about right!
"Say what?"
I am excited, this old machine served me well, bought it at some estate sale years ago and the last 3 years of Bob's life I had to wash ALL the bedding of our Queen size bed ,every, every day!!! The girl worked hard.
Thank you Maytag you deserve kudos for that old lady and I will enjoy the new one.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Flags and the law.

I thought that Whitney was a power house singer with a voice so pure...I can't truly say that I was a big fan who followed her career because I did not know that in her last concert people had asked for their money back.
I did not know that the fall had been so enormous on her vocals , I read about the abuse now and then and shook my head hoping she could stop the down fall.
Not another Presley was my thought.

I watched about an hour of the funeral, no question about it, this is a different culture that I am not familiar with. The singing tributes never stopped and I hope that this would help her Mom and her child. It was an impressing lot of talents and expression of love.

I am just very puzzled about the flag at half mast in New Jersey.
What are the rules about that?
Do we have laws, suggestions, rules, put down somewhere on how to treat the flag and when to put it half mast???
My personal opinion is that NJ did go a bit over the top on that one.

Friday, February 17, 2012

WOMEN AND THEIR RIGHTS

I am beginning to wonder what in the heck is happening with our politicians and
how they stand on understanding our rights.....

I have experience in this matter ....October 28 1956 I delivered full term twin boys, healthy babies in all aspects but they arrived still born. I had an Xray 3 days before I delivered (on their due date) , first of all the xray did not even show I had twins, Dr. did not know I was having twins. BUT I stopped feeling life right after the Xray. Next day I rushed to the dr. and told him something was wrong. His answer was that just before birth the baby is quiet....did I believe him? Absolutely NOT.
I KNEW, I just knew something was wrong , this baby had been extremely busy (of course with 2 of them!) now the large expanded stomach felt like a rock, heavy and not moving.
This was my first pregnancy. The American child I wanted so very much.

Not much after this I read in the paper that John Hopkins had announced that Xrays were damaging to pregnancies.....I knew they hit it on the nail. I knew from experience.

Then on April 28 1960, 4 years after the loss of the twins I was expecting and in pain in the hospital. The baby was just not wanting to see this world.
Push as hard as I could, no baby.
The same dr. who had delivered my twins (and in the interim my first American girl in 1958) said he just needed an xray to see the position ...I started to tell the dr. that he just was NOT going to give me an Xray. Do a C section, do whatever but NO X Ray....he turned to my then husband and asked :"Joe, what do you think? You can sign for her, we do not need her signature!". Joe signed.
I screamed all the way down the hall to the Xray room and twisted and turned
when they wanted to do the work. I just KNEW I would loose this baby too and I was not going to give in.
But they (the MEN with their rights) won.
Lucky my Sabrina was a fighter too and she decided to come and join us, she had yellow jaundice but was OK after a few days.

For the young ones: they did not have ultra sound in those days and Xrays were common....the women had no say so or rights about their bodies.
I even picked a Jewish doctor because I knew the doctrine of the church , I was still a Catholic then, a Catholic Dr. then would have to save the child before the mother. I was not a selfish human being but I just did not see how my irresponsible husband who was still a child himself was going to take care of a baby without a mother.

My best friend and I often laughed at that time because she was Jewish and she
picked the Catholic Dr. The two OB-Gyn's were the best in the town.

I am not sure of the laws updates at this point, I would truly hope that in ALL cases the woman has a right what should be done with her body.
I would never have been able to have an abortion that is not in me but that is not to say that one should not have the right to choose. The church can dictate what they want I am my own person, I have to take responsability for my actions.
I listened to priests in my youth only to find out that they did NOT follow
the rules of the church ....they did not lead by example. Why tell me what to do,.. furthermore why should a government tell me what I can do about my personal life.

I am on a soap box and have a hard time telling what I feel but I will never forget the birthday of my daughter when 2 men took over and they won.

Monday, February 13, 2012

BIJOU SHOP

After Bob passed I felt so lost, no one to take care off anymore but myself and that was boring. In a foolish moment I remembered how in the 1970's we did a loot of beading, actually knotting beads of all colors. We sold them in Bob's shop.
It was the age of Acquarius and hippies loved beads!!
Bob and I even went to Venice and came back with a suitcase of Venetian beads.
They were gone as soon as we came home. We laughed and thought to make it a career to fly to Venice and come back and make necklaces.
The scenario came back to me and I figured I could do some "knotting" for my own jewelry which needed a lot of work.
The thought did not end there. Jeannot has retail veins. My first adventure being that I sold chewing gum in school from the soldiers who came to our house
and gave me the gum for free. I hated chewing gum. So I became the "dealer" in school for a bad habit.
My francs bought me chocolate.
Anyway....I started to visit bead shops, they are in every town, even in our small town, I looked at the necklaces for sale and the wheels started to turn.
I actually thought that I had the talent to put some necklaces together in the style of today. A friend recommended Fire Mountain Gems and I started to buy stones like jasper, onyx, agate and smaller glass beads.
I sat at the kitchen table gathering all these goodies and could hardly sleep anymore. Beads came into my dreams and I decided I would sell them at Etsy or eBay.

Then Sabrina heard of a shop opening up as a craft/antique mini mall on her town.
She said she'd help set up if I wanted to try. I doubted myself, I started to do some simple necklaces and got more and more adventurous. By Feb 1 2011, I had a space of about 9 x 10. Furniture for display was acquired at the thrift shops and
I was in business.

Being so in love with my Maltese named Bijou, I decided to call my shop "Maison Bijou". It rattles my french side of the brain a bit. Bijoux with X is plural jewelry, Bijou without the X is simply "Jewel" but I am still going with that as
I had my little friend Bijou in mind.

As summer came along I got braver and started to buy large quantities of vintage jewels, I repaired, renewed some stones, clasps etc...and started to sell them
as 3.00. I figured I was not going to go for BIG bucks , this is a recession and women do like to get a new "bling" or two. With 3 and 5 bucks they can find something in my shop which is better that the junk now on the markets made in...whatever.

I did well. I was not going to buy a yacht or even have a Belgian trip but I was so busy and so dedicated that even my own health did not bother me so much as did me breaking my back. That put me to rest for awhile. The cancer and kidney was just a quick thought.

By end 2011 we found out that the store was going to get bigger adding another wing. I have no idea what my BP was doing, I was not going to check it, I was doubling my creations and gathering other stuff from my storage. I was ready for shop 2.

Opening was last Saturday but I could not make it due to bad weather but here is a bit of an idea of the second "Maison Bijou shop"



closet not closed and I do not remember how to correct

the previous message!!!!!!

My Valentine

Bob and I married on Valentine Day 1969.
He was my everything and I was his.
We were attached at the hip and when he became ill with Alzheimer it devastated our life.
He never understood it nor acknowledged it.
I closed my antique shop and started to sell on eBay.
For awhile he was my mailing manager, he did a good job too, with the exception that he used o9ur bath towels packing the fragile stuff. I figured that out when people wrote me thank you emails. Then noticed the closed getting very empty!
He did not understand my objections, he thought this was what he should do.
I bought cheaper rags!
In 2002 on our anniversary, I hugged him with best wishes and kisses all over his face, he looked strange, I repeated "Anniversary"! "Marriage"!
He smiled ran to his mail room and came back with our label and his message,
he was so proud ! I glued it on my kitchen wall, I see it dozens of times a day.
Then I am reminded that he loved me so much and if he could he still would.
I miss him more every day and I thought it was going to get better but I am mistaken.
I love you and I always will!!!!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Elderly parents and kids...

I write to several of my peers and the daily emails I get are mostly about problems we are having with children.
Now our children are mostly in their 40's or 50's or later but are having problems either with spouses, money (that especially) emotions, changes in the hormones,friendships, health for sure, and the list goes on.
We are near the end of this journey and are not able to help.
Most of us are on limited income, have doctors who are retiring on us and can't advice on the new load of MD's and gadgets to get us alive and stay alive, our journey's into matrimony were quite different and when we bought a house we thought it was the best investment we ever made.

Decades ago my mother in law who was then 83 years told me that she was
happy to be near the end of life as she could not keep up with the changes.

I try to keep up but I am exhausted when I hear their problems.
Life goes on with different challenges.
It is how we can deal with them without 24 different Life Masters and Guru's.

If these Master planners are doing so very well, check out their household when the doors are closed, is everything perfect there? I doubt it.

If a financial advisor is so good, ask him how his portfolio is doing? Does he need an advisor too?

100 years ago both my grandmothers were beaten on a daily basis.
The husband was King, the supporter of the family, the man who could have mistresses and the wife look the other way.
How much has changed???
In every town in this country there is a shelter for battered wives....
say no more.