Hi, All!
I know…I’ve been away for a while. I’ve been busy with office work and family needs. I know you all have too, so I won’t go through the entire song and dance again. I’m happy to say that some of you have kept in touch by e-mail, and I thank you for that.
Billy found a new blog for me to read, bless his heart, and I’d like to pass it on to those of you who have not yet visited. Go visit Legomen Is. He’s an English guy with an interesting view on life and a great sense of humor. I became addicted when I was introduced to his cat….Ruprecht the Unstrokeable.
And I have a newcomer I hope you will encourage. You’ll find that he accuses me of browbeating him (when he was down with a cold, no less) into taking on a blog. As if you can browbeat a Scot to do anything he doesn’t want to do. Go visit Tongue Oil, and meet my friend, Midnight. Right now he’s doing what we have all been told to do, writing about what we know. He knows woodworking, so that’s what he’s been writing about. But I want you to know, he has a LOT more in him to write about….and you’d be wise to add him to your blog roll. PLEASE encourage him to keep posting.
I get to go to dinner tonight! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!! I’ll tell you just how wonderful it was sometime later this weekend. Stay warm and safe!

Okay, I suppose that it’s not quite as exciting for you as it is for us, but DH’s daughter is going to have a girl! I get to make a pink quilt with “Winnie the Pooh” characters.
Only Daughter will be having her baby in late May. She had the last ultrasound recently and they determined the baby is a girl. We got to see the video of the ultrasound! Isn’t it amazing what technology brings us now? We saw the baby’s fist, and feet. We saw her “yawn.” So kewl!

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I’m sure I told you all about the chocolates I was given for Christmas. I’m still working my way through them, but I have another sourcce of great chocolate to share with you.
We were shopping at Trader Joe’s at the end of the year and were lined up to check out. My husband knows that I am addicted to all things raspberry. (Raspberry chocolates, raspberry filled cookies, raspberry sauce for cheesecake, raspberry jam, raspberry body paint….) Anyway, he saw a box of dark chocolate and raspberry. He asked if I wanted them, and I shrugged my agreement, thinking of the box of chocolates waiting for me at home.
Well…these are winners, and I don’t mind sharing these. They are “Les Sarments” dark chocolate with raspberry flavour. They are made by Revillon Chocolatiers in France. They are twig shaped.. I don’t drink coffee, but they would be excellent with a cup of coffee after dinner.
Those French sure know their chocolates!

I am an “X-Men” convert! When I first heard about “X-men,” I dismissed it as a kid’s cartoon movie. Then, I discovered that Hugh Jackman plays “Wolverine” in the movies. I first saw Jackman in “Kate and Leopold,” and then happened to see him in the role of Curly in an all English cast of “Oklahoma.”
I was working on quilts, and had the DVD player running. My son, on his way out to a convention, dropped off his copies of the two “X-Men” movies, and I watched the first on Saturday morning. I was astounded at what I had missed! They are GREAT movies, and I didn’t need the protective coloration of an eight-year-old to go to the theater to see them. If a third one comes out, I’ll take the kids if they need a ride, but I’ll be happy to go without them.
I replayed the first movie for DH on Saturday night. (It was a cheap date, what can I say??) Sunday morning I watched the second film. I can see we’ll have to have another hot date, so that DH can see the sequel.
Patrick Stewart (Picard in “Star Trek: Next Generation”) is one of the good guys, and Ian McKellan (Gandolph, in “The Lord of the Rings”) is Magneto, one of the bad guys. Halle Berry is “Storm,” one of the good guys. Jackman is superb as Wolverine, and Anna Paquin, who won an Oscar for her performance in “The Piano” as a child, is wonderful as “Rogue.”
The storyline is plausible, and absorbing. Enough is held back in the first movie that you are eager to see the second, to learn more. I hope there will be at least one more movie to come.

One Word?
I came across this site through a link, or perhaps a mention in another blog. The idea is simple. They post a word, and give you 60 seconds to write about it. Give it a try. Go to:
http://oneword.com/index.html

One of my niece’s friends forwarded this to me. It’s not only funny, it’s true. My hat’s off to the creator, and I’ll be happy to give you credit for your work, if you just step forward.
1. NAMES
If Laurie, Linda, Elizabeth and Barbara go out for lunch,
they will call each other Laurie, Linda, Elizabeth and Barbara.
If Mark, Chris, Eric and Tom go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla, Peanut-Head and Scrappy.
2. EATING OUT
When the bill arrives, Mark, Chris, Eric and Tom will each throw in $20, even though it’s only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back.
When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.
3. MONEY
A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.
A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn’t need
but it’s on sale.
4. BATHROOMS
A man has five items in his bathroom: a toothbrush, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel from the Marriott.
The average number of items in the typical woman’s bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify most of these items.
5. ARGUMENTS
A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.
6. CATS
Women love cats.
Men say they love cats, but when women aren’t looking, men kick cats.
7. FUTURE
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
8. SUCCESS
A successful man is one who makes more money
than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
9. MARRIAGE
A woman marries a man expecting he will change,
but he doesn’t.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won’t change
and she does.
10. DRESSING UP
A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the garbage, answer the phone, read a book, and get the mail
A man will dress up for weddings and funerals.
11. NATURAL
Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.
Women somehow deteriorate during the night.
12. OFFSPRING
Ah, children.
A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.
A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.
13. THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Any married man should forget his mistakes. There’s no use in two people remembering the same thing.
AND FINALLY…
A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a word. An earlier discussion had led to an argument and neither of them wanted to concede their position. As they passed a barnyard of mules, jack asses, and pigs, the husband asked sarcastically, “Relatives of yours?”
“Yep,” the wife replied, “in-laws.”

I’m in the weeds. I really should ask my children where that phrase comes from. I suppose it’s something similar to being up to your gluteus maximus in alligators. As THE office for my husband’s company, I get to do the filing and waivers, and bookkeeping and the payroll taxes. I handle phone calls and pay the bills. You know….the regular stuff.
Well one of the things I have to do is to close out the files for one year and create the files and binders for the new year. Usually I start making the new files in late November or early December. This year, I’m still trying to get to them.

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Dear Husband is a member of the Chicago Maritime Society. He found this article by John Hadfield in their Winter, 2004 newsletter. Mr. Hadfield and the Society have given me permission to reprint the article here. Mr. Hadfield’s source is unknown.

The U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides) as a combat vessel carried 48,600 gallons of fresh water for her crew of 475 officers and men. This was sufficient to last six months of sustained operations at sea. She carried no evaporators (fresh water dislillers).
However, let it be noted that according to her log, “On July 27, 1798, the U.S.S. Constitution sailed from Boston with a full complement of 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of fresh water, 7,400 cannon shot, 11,600 pounds of black powder and 79,400 gallons of rum.”
Her mission: “To destroy and harass English shipping.”
Making Jamaica on 6 October, she took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum. Then she headed for the Azores, arriving there 12 November. She provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine. On 18 November, she set sail for England.
In the ensuing days she defeated five British men-of-war and captured and scuttled 12 English merchantmen, salvaging only the rum aboard each.
By 26 January, her powder and shot were exhausted. Nevertheless, and though unarmed, she made a night raid up the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. Her landing party captured a whiskey distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons of single malt Scotch whiskey aboard by dawn. Then she headed home.
The U.S.S. Constitution arrived in Boston on 20 February, 1799, with no cannon shot, no food, no powder, NO rum, NO wine, NO whiskey, and 38,600 gallons of stagnant water.

Now, Dear Husband has done a bit of math for us. Keep in mind that there were 475 officers and men on board.
The first leg of the trip from Boston to Jamaica took 71 days. If the 79,400 gallons of rum were shared equally, each man would have drunk 2.35 GALLONS of rum a day.
The second leg of the trip, from Jamaica to the Azores plus six day in port amounted to 43 days. 68,300 gallons of rum divided equally to 475 men would be 3.34 GALLONS per day.
The trip from the Azores to England took 69 days. The 64,300 Gallons of wine loaded in the Azores amounted to 1.96 GALLONS per man per day, but you have to consider the unknown amount of rum “salvaged” from 17 ships.
On the final leg of the trip, from Scotland to Boston, over 25 days, the men consumed 3.36 GALLONS OF SCOTCH PER DAY.
It’s a wonder they were able to stand to sail the ship. Think about walking on a rolling deck after a gallon or two of scotch. Over 208 days at sea, 475 men used only 10,000 gallons of water. Most likely that water was used for cooking. It’s unlikely much of it was used for bathing or washing clothes. It boggles the mind.
The Chicago Maritime Society will have a booth at the Strictly Sail Show on Navy Pier in Chicago, January 29 – February 2, 2004. My thanks to John Hadfield for sharing the information on the U.S.S. Constitution.
UPDATE: Mr. Hatfield tells me that he got this story from Lt. Bob Doyle USCGR Ret. We don’t know yet where Lt. Doyle found it.

How do you get your daily news? Are you a newspaper reader, or do you listen to the radio? Perhaps you watch the news on TV as you have dinner, or do you surf at CNN or other sites on the Internet during the day?
In my lifetime there has always been a newspaper in the house. My mother always read the newspaper, and I recall her comments about the change in quality of reporting when they moved from the Chicago area to Southwestern Missouri. She tells me that my father preferred not to read the paper. Instead, he asked Mother for the highlights of the day

Poland.
I am at a time in my life when I have the great good fortune to have the assistance of a cleaning lady. She comes once a week, altogether too darn early in the morning, to whip us into shape. She methodically works her way around the house first dusting, then tidying things, cleaning, and then vacuuming her way out of the room. I finally got to the point where I could let her make my bed. Somehow, it felt wrong, that I should be making my own bed, but I got over that.

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