Sunday, Elegante Mother and I went to a family baby shower. I had some serious reservations about the wisdom of going out. It was ZERO degrees here, and there was wind, so I know the windchill was worse. We weathered it like troopers. This particular shower was held after the baby was born, so all her “aunties” got to hold her. I have never seen so many women planting their feet, holding out their arms for this little tiny bundle, and then rocking side to side. Everybody has their own style, but the baby wasn’t fussy. She enjoyed them all!
My nieces did an incredible job organizing this shower. Since it was for a girl, all the decorations were in shades of pink. I lucked out, and wore my pink turtleneck, so I fit right in! I wish I had taken a picture of the chocolate dipped strawberries, so you could see the work that went into them. Imagine strawberries dipped in pink icing and laid on a platter in perfectly lined up rows. Then, imagine that someone had come along after the icing had set, and added little dots of white icing on the sides of the strawberries. They looked so luscious that they pulled you to them!
This was mostly a family gathering, and my family is never at a loss for words. It was nice to catch up with nieces I hadn’t seen since Christmas, and hear all the family news. We’ll get the chance to do this again in a month or so, when the next of the girls has her baby. That will be the fourth baby shower since September. I’m SURE there’s something in the water!
On Sunday, as we left the shower, we were invited to choose a picture of the baby in a silver frame. What a lovely thing to do! You can bet I made sure I had one….this baby shares my name! *G* (NO….her name isn’t “Buffy!”)
Thank you, ladies, for a lovely time!

Yup. We had another nighttime visit from the local constabulary. This time it was close to 11:00 at night, not quite the witching hour.
A very tall, very thin, very young patrolman was sent to check out another 911 call from our house. It seems to be coming from our son’s phone line, the fax line that is connected to the dying computer. We have no idea how this is happening, but it seems tied to the repair work done on other lines to the house. It almost has the feeling of an “I, Robot” scene, where technology is developing a life of its own. Second Son wondered if the computer was calling for help in its death throes.
Our young visitor commented that it was scary driving up our driveway at night. I thought he was referring to the ice, but he went on to say that it’s like something out of the “Blair Woods Project.” I’ve never thought of my drive in quite those terms. I told him that might be why we have only had four trick-or-treaters in the past 18 years.
At any rate, Second Son is going to cancel that phone line, since it’s not functioning, and we’ll see if that resolves the problem.If not, maybe we need to have further discussion with the phone company to see if they can determine just what’s going on.
Now, I need to see if I can get back to sleep……

“From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night, Dear Lord, preserve us!”
My mother has a sampler with that saying. It caught my attention when I was a child, and it’s stayed with me all these years.
Things went “BUMP IN THE NIGHT” last night! I’ve been having trouble sleeping and had managed to block out all the little aches and pains, and was sound asleep when there was a knock on our bedroom door. It was 3:00 in the morning. I assumed that Second Son had knocked to tell me that Elegant Mother was in distress. I managed to unwind myself from the nest of covers and ran for the door.
The lights were on in the foyer, and I could hear voices as I approached. I’d left the bedroom in such a hurry that I was in my nightie and had left my glasses behind. EM and SS were standing there talking to two policemen! Let me tell you, when you’ve just been rousted out of bed in the middle of the night, those guys can look really fierce!
They explained that the police had received a 911 call from our address, and when they responded, all they could hear was static. Yesterday the phone company had worked on two of our three telephone lines. Elegante Mother’s phone was still misbehaving. The police asked if our phones had been worked on, and when I replied, “Yes,” they nodded knowingly and prepared to leave.
Second Son said this morning that he was surprised that they didn’t ask to check the house to be sure that no one was being held against their will. I guess we all looked properly sleepy enough to convince them that we were victims of a technology malfunction.
This morning, I called the phone company to ask for a repair call, and told the customer service rep about our early morning visit. She asked if we had any wireless phones in the house. Elegante Mother has a base phone, with a wireless. From what the representative said, wireless phones can send out that 911 call! I had no idea that was possible.
I guess this happens often enough that the police can just about guess what has happened, but they still have to follow up on the call. We wouldn’t want someone who needs assistance to go without because someone thought their call was just a phone malfunction.
Our visitors came in separate cars. They used their flashlights to look around as they came up the sidewalk. and then they rang the doorbell, THREE TIMES! I never heard it. In fact, I was so deeply asleep that I didn’t hear the knock on the bedroom door. Dear Husband had to wake me. We’re lucky that Second Son woke up and realized that no one else heard the bell, or the police might have tried to break the door down.
Well….all’s well that ends well. We all got to go back to sleep for a couple of hours, and there was no ticket or fine for the false call. I guess in the future things had better go BUMP louder! And, maybe it’s time to keep my robe by the bed! *G*

This morning Dear Husband helped me to take eight boxes to the Post Office to be sent off to our troops in Iraq. It’s quite an experience to do this for the first time. One of the ladies in our exercise class spearheaded this effort last year, when her son was stationed overseas. She took six or eight boxes to the Post Office and discovered that she would have to open and list their contents, the weight of the items, and the value, on a customs form, before they could be sent.
Needless to say, she guided us in the preparations this year, and we met after class to begin the work. I even remembered to bring my kitchen scale! We were very short on time that day, so I volunteered to finish the boxes in my car, and get them to the post office. Remember, I said I was short on sleep? (See the next entry) I was up until 1:00 doing the customs forms.
I finished addressing the customs forms this morning, and we headed out. I thought I had all the boxes checked, and everything was ready to go, when the clerk asked me where I wanted to put the addresses on the box. Rather than hold up her work on weighing the boxes and getting the customs sheets set up, I used labels the clerk provided, and wrote all the Sender and Recipient information once again, for the eight boxes. I can tell you I was really happy to see this project to it’s finish.
We hope these boxes arrive before Valentine’s Day. We thought it might perk up some of the troops, and ease their days. At least they’ll know that someone from home cares about them.
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Today is a day full of errands, but it snowed last night, and I’ve decided to get a late start so that I won’t have to compete with those who are trying to get to work under less than ideal conditions. (That’s a classy way of saying I slept in, and am off to a late start. *G*)
I need to start with the bank for both the business and our personal banking.
Then, Home Depot is across the street. I need Safer Soap, and those crystals that absorb water and then release it into the soil of potted plants. I hope they have them, this time of year.
Then I need to stop at one of the big fabric chain stores and pick up two yards of camouflage fabric to make cooling scarves for the troops in Iraq. Our exercise group is sending over comfort boxes, and I’d like to add these to the boxes. The absorbent crystals are used in these scarves.
The next stop is Target for toothpaste and nail clippers to round out the shopping for those boxes. Elegante Mother and I went hog-wild at Sam’s Club yesterday, but I wanted the small travel sized toothpaste tubes, and Sam’s doesn’t carry that sort of thing.
I need to make a stop at my favorite fabric shop to pick up a yard of fabric for the quilt I’m presently creating. I can’t wait, or it could be gone, never to be reordered. If I miss getting the fabric, I’ll just sit down and pull my hair out, I swear! I’ve been working on the color placement for this project for the past month, and I think I’ve finally found an order to the colors that I can live with. Unfortunately, I’m short about half a yard of fabric to create the design, and I’d have to start all over again should this piece not be available. Pray for me!
I need to go to the post office. EM has a letter that needs to go to Canada, and it requires overseas postage. I think I know the amount, but I don’t want this to come back, so I’ll make the extra stop.
THen…..groceries. I sure wish I knew what we were having this week other than salad. I’m fresh out of ideas. Do you think if I cooked grilled cheese sandwiches every night that my family would get the idea and give me a hand planning our meals??
Once I get the errands run, and bring in the groceries, it’s office work for me. I’m actually looking forward to it. The day is bright and sunny, but cold, so it will be good to be where I can look out,and enjoy it, but not have to deal with the wind chill.
Have a good day!

I THINK it’s spider mites. I’ll have to get the plant disease reference to check.
At Christmas, I moved the plants that reside along three of the big windows in the living room to make room for the Christmas tree. I have to admit, the Christmas tree is still up, because I’ve been enjoying it, and I’ve had other things to do. It has to come down before next Friday, when my quilting bee returns for the second time after Christmas, so I have a goal. But, until then, I’m going to enjoy it, darn it all!
Back to the subject… I’ve been growing a small, shrubby tree that was originally part of a mixed planting that was given to my mother years ago. It was perhaps two feet tall then, and is roughly four feet tall, with a spread of four feet. I love the silly thing, but it’s been hard on it, having to grow inside. We’ve had some leaf drop, and I thought it was due to my erratic watering, but now I think that it could be due to an infestation of spider mites. I can see small white “bits” on the underside of the leaves on about half the plant.
I’m fairly sure that this problem came into the house on a plant that was give to my Mother. That plant has been residing in the garage (read: dead, frozen, but not yet buried), since November. Apparently we weren’t quick enough to see the problem, and now, it’s spread. I’ll have to keep an eye on all the plants in the house.
My first line of defense will be to wash the leaves with Safer Soap. If that doesn’t resolve the issue, more drastic efforts might be necessary. Research first, attack later is the plan. I hope I’m not too late to save this plant. It’s an old friend.

To be posted VERY LOW on the refrigerator door – nose height:
Dear Dogs and Cats,
The dishes with the paw print are yours and contain your food.
The other dishes are mine and contain my food.
Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.
The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack
Beating me to the bottom is not the object.
Tripping me doesn’t help because I fall faster than you can run.
I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed.
I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort.
Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep.
It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible.
I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.
For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom.
If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open.
I must exit through the same door I entered.
Also, I have been using the bathroom for years — canine or feline attendance is not required.
The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other dog or cat’s butt. I cannot stress this enough!
To pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message on our front door:
To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit & Like to Complain About Our Pets:
1. They live here. You don’t.
2. If you don’t want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. (That’s why they call it “fur”niture.)
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
4. To you, it’s an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn’t speak clearly.
Gentle readers: I have no idea who wrote this e-mail, but he or she definitely knows my cat, and the dogs from my earlier life. I’d be happy to give the author credit for a post that made me grin in recognition.