News Flash RE: Countdown to 40

So, I've been doing these posts where I'm basically reliving five years of my life at a time through photos. I've covered the first fifteen years of my life, so far.

You know what I figured out? I'll tell you what I figured out.

I think making a big deal about a countdown to something that seemed 'final' or the 'end of the road' was freaking me out. Yes, that's right. I had to be talked down a few times and reminded that turning 40 is not the 'finish line' for this countdown. The 30's were the best decade of my life so far and I was beginning to worry that the 40's wouldn't be just as great or even better.

So, I've tabled the countdown. Or, rather, I've renamed it. I'll pick it up again and rename the series of posts, "Celebrating 40 and Beyond By Looking Back."

No pressure for me to have relived all 40 years in photos/blog posts by February 3rd (because it sure as heck isn't happening.). I can do it at my leisure. I have plenty of time, because I'll be 40 for a whole year...and more if that's what I tell my mind and body!

That ends this news flash. Carry on with your regularly scheduled blog reading.

BQOTD: If the President of the U.S. Invited You to the White House...

...would you go or not go if you...

a) weren't a member of that President's political party?
b) strongly disagreed with the President's stance on various political issues?
c) felt that US government in general was a mess?

You may know where this is coming from, or you may not.

Background -- The U.S. President invites the teams that win the Stanley Cup (hockey), the World Series (baseball), the NBA World Championship (basketball), and the Superbowl (football) to the White House for a visit/celebration/ceremony in their honor. They make some jokes as if the players and the President know each other personally and then the President is usually presented with a personalized jersey from that team.

The Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins were recently at the White House to be honored by President Obama.

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Notably absent from this visit was goaltender and playoff MVP Tim Thomas. According to Yahoo! Sports, Thomas chose to not attend, "...due to his political and ideological differences with the Obama administration."

Of interesting note, he's not the first professional athlete to boycott/not attend a White House celebration. A Chicago Bears player from the '80's skipped his team's White House bash.

Car Research Makes My Head Spin

Time for a new car. Really time for a new car. Mine's 15 1/2 years old. Yes, that's right. And yes, I've had it that entire time. It's a 1997 Honda Civic and looks just like this (although mine has a bit of rust and some more dents...)

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Fifteen plus years ago it was incredibly stressful to choose a car and thought of making such a huge purchase gave me the hives. Well, you'll be happy to know that not much has changed! Feeling pretty nervous about the whole thing. BUT, I cannot avoid it forever.

Based on "paper," i.e., Consumer Reports, I've narrowed it down to six models I'm interested in test driving. Do you have any experience with any of these? If so, I'd love to hear about it -- the good and the bad.

Here are the six models (in no particular order, well OK...who are we kidding, thanks to the librarian in me, they're in alphabetical order):

1. Honda CR-V: I really like the 2011 model in terms of aesthetics and they've gone and redesigned the 2012 model, which from pictures I don't like as much, but I'll reserve judgment until I see in person.

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2. Hyundai Tucson: Loving the Chai Bronze color.

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3. Kia Sportage

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4. Nissan Rogue

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5. Subaru Forester: Worried about it looking too much like a station wagon?

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6. Toyota RAV4

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Fave "New to Me" Things

Looking for a healthier alternative to Cool Ranch Doritos? Look no further. I bought a bag of Late July Dude Ranch Multigrain Snacks. They are delish. I can't wait to try the other flavors...

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Next? Chobani's Blood Orange Greek Yogurt. I'm usually on a berry yogurt-type girl, but I took a chance and ended up loving it.

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Lastly, from Annie's Homegrown, Organic Chocolate Chipper Granola Bars. So so good. Great for a snack on the run or a quicky breakfast.



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Countdown to 40: Years 11-15

Ah yes, the tweens and teens mixed in with some life altering events.

1982: My first experience with the death of a close family member. My maternal grandmother passed away from breast cancer that year. She avoided going to doctors and by the time she did, it was too late. I remember being so upset and I can still picture to this day sitting on my dad's lap crying and asking why did this have to happen? She and I shared a special bond -- Scrabble. Whenever I'd sleep over her and my Papa's house we'd play Scrabble (she had the "deluxe" turntable edition). While she was sick, she kept promising me that when she got better, we'd play Scrabble again. I wish we'd been able to. I feel like I was robbed of really getting to know her. Here are a few of the only photos I have of she and I.

Shortly after I was born (I'd say Easter of 1972). My maternal grandmother is on the right and my paternal grandmother is on the left:

Here we are again (yes, I'm the chunky monkey).

5th grade school picture (the shadow photo was "all the rage." I remember the photographer saying "give me a serious look for the silhouette." Eh...that was the best I could do) (Oh, and we've graduated from patterned turtlenecks to patterned button down shirts.):

1983:
We moved. I had lived in the same small town all of my life up until this point. I remember holding onto my bedpost and saying I wasn't going. (FYI: It didn't work.) I was so so sad to leave the only friends (and most of my extended family) that I'd ever known. It was an EXTREMELY rough year. Not only did I move to a new town, but it was the first (and only) year that I attended public school, I went from living in a house with a yard to a second floor apartment, and went from living a car's ride from everything to being able to walk to shops.

map courtesy of Google Maps

6th grade class picture(s). Yes, plural. Guess what happened in the first take? Closed eyes. Ugh. So, we had the class picture as a composite and there I am smack in the middle with my eyes closed. Nightmare. Way to make new friends. So, for my own sake, I taped my re-take over it and no one was the wiser. (I think I must've scratched my mouth out or something...and apparently got a new hairdo or a curling iron...)

1984:
On the road again. This time it was across the state -- from small city to gigantic city. Another scary move, but definitely shaped the rest of my life. I loved life in the big city. I loved being able to take public transportation into Harvard Square in Cambridge or to my junior high.

7th grade class picture (let the perming begin):

Friend Jen's b-day party. Yeah, I have the EXACT same hairdo and the EXACT same sweater on. ::sigh:: If you look REALLY closely, you'll see that I have multiple colors of nail polish on...that was oh so chic back then.

1985:
WARNING: Hair disaster. I should've stayed with the perm and NOT let my hair grow out. ::sigh::

8th grade class picture: Oh no! I don't have a copy of my 8th grade picture. I know you're all disappointed...I sure am... NOT.

Almost as good is my 8th grade yearbook picture (I was quite the philosopher, eh?)

Yes, everyone had a Cabbage Patch Kid, but was yours one-toothed and bilingual? That's right, folks. Mine came from Canada and had a tooth and a French/English birth certificate. Kasmira Alfonsine.

Yes, everyone went to concerts, but did you go to see Jack Wagner? Frisco of General Hospital. Heartthrob. Crappy musician, but who noticed these things back then? (Oh, and $13.50 was a lot for an 8th grader.)

Typical mid-80s girl teen's "stuff": (and yes, those are tapes on the left...had cassingles come out yet? and records on the right)

1986:

HIGH SCHOOL!!!!! Big change again. I went to a Catholic high school with some of my friends, while others went to a different Catholic high school or public high school. More awkwardness. More bad hair.

9th grade school ID. Braces? Check. Collar up? Check. Cowlick/perm? Check. Throw up? Check.

9th grade class picture. Braces? Still a check. Collar up? Still a check. Feathered hair with bangs and different cowlick? Check. Unfortunately, like most things in life, it gets worse before it gets better (wait until you see my sophomore school ID -- cliffhanger!)

Book Review: "Keeping the House" by Ellen Baker

Title: Keeping the House

Author: Ellen Baker

Description (from Ellen Baker's website:) When Dolly Magnuson moves to Pine Rapids, Wisconsin in 1950, she discovers all too soon that making marriage work is harder than it looks in the pages of the Ladies’ Home Journal.  Dolly tries to adapt to her new life—keeping the house, supporting her husband’s career, fretting about dinner menus. She even gives up her dream of flying an airplane, and instead tries to fit in at the stuffy Ladies Aid quilting circle.  Soon, though, her loneliness and restless imagination are seized by the vacant house on the hill, and, as Dolly’s own life and marriage become increasingly difficult, she begins to lose herself in piecing together the shocking story of three generations of Mickelson men and women:  Wilma Mickelson, who came to Pine Rapids as a new bride in 1896, and fell in love with a man who was not her husband; her oldest son, Jack, who fought as a Marine in the trenches of the First World War; and Jack’s son, JJ, a troubled veteran of World War II, who returns home to discover Dolly in his grandparents’ house.  As the crisis in Dolly’s marriage escalates and she seeks answers from JJ’s stories of his family’s past, KEEPING THE HOUSE moves back and forth in time, exploring themes of wartime heroism and passionate love, of the struggles of men with fatherhood and war, of women with conformity, identity, forbidden dreams and love. 

Why I Was Drawn to This Book: I had read the description of Baker's newer book, I Gave My Heart to Know This and thought it sounded interesting. Generally when this happens and it's an author I haven't read before, I check to see if he/she wrote anything previously. I went to Ellen Baker's website and the book's description sounded good and admittedly, I was drawn to Keeping the House by its cover shown there:

Review: Well, this is a CLEAR case of "don't judge a book by its cover."

I thought, "What a cutesy cover" -- I'll love it.

Fannie Flagg's review is on the cover -- can't go wrong.

WRONG.

Awful, awful, awful. Baker should've stopped after 200 pages. The book was 500+ pages and after page 201-ish, I started skimming. Too much detail. Too much back and forth between generations. Too many unrealistic twists and turns happening to one person/family. Dolly, the main character interested me, but the book wasn't really about her, in my opinion. It was about the Mickelson family, whom she was obsessed with.

The Mickelsons were one messed up bunch. Seriously. MAYBE crazy stuff happens to all members of a family (over and over), but just not in my world (or even in my fictional world.) Don't get me wrong, I like reading about families and their issues, but they have to be at least somewhat believable.

The one cool thing about this book? Each chapter started with a quote from "Ladies Home Journal" or a similar magazine from the 1950's giving advice to homemakers. These were interesting. I can't find any specific examples, but basically things like, "put yourself last and your husband first" or "make yourself presentable and cook a good meal." It was very reminiscent of Donna Reed.

Grade: D

Don't bother!!!

Countdown to 40: Years 6-10

We're talking 1977-1981. Kindergarten through fourth grade.  We're talking the Blizzard of '78, Voyager space exploration, release of Pac Man, and Ronald Reagan being shot.

1977:
Sketchy guess on the date, but since it's one of my fave photos of all time, I'm adding it! This is my granddad and me, ready for the pool! (Check out the old school floaties.) I used to refuse to jump into the pool and he'd offer to pay me a $1 to jump. Yeah, I ended up doing it most of the time.

Kindergarten school picture. (This is just the first turtleneck you'll see in a loooonng line of them!):

Another guesstimate on the year. Yes, this is a letter from Santa. No, I didn't catch on that it was really my mom disguising her handwriting.

1978:

St. Patrick's Day 1978 -- Everyone in my kindergarten class was Irish for the day!

Kindergarten graduation. I remember I LOVED this dress. It had a fake little rose pinned to the neckline.

First grade Halloween parade. I'm the ladybug.





1979:

Second grade school picutre. It's personally one of my faves. (Too bad you can't see my red kilt, knee sock, and Buster Brown's!)

My only first cousin T. & I at my Grandma & Papa's house:

1980:

Third grade picture. (If it wasn't a turtleneck, it was an Izod velour sweater.)

Third grade passport. I was going far!

1981:

Fourth grade picture. The printed turtlenecks were all the rage back then. I'm willing to bet I was wearing purple corduroys to match.



Countdown to 40: Years 1-5

Eeek!!! 4 weeks, 2 days and I'm 40 -- still enough time to be in denial.

According to the ever reliable Wikipedia, here's what happened IN ADDITION to me being born on February 3rd, 1972:

• The 1972 Winter Olympics opened in Sapporo, Japan, with 1,006 athletes from 35 nations marching in the opening ceremony at Makomanai Stadium. Schoolboy Hideki Takada lit the Olympic flame.
• The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued new rules for cable television in the United States. American systems had to carry at least 20 channels (including a Public-access television). The reform opened the door for new cable television networks.
• "Tutankhamen's curse" claimed another victim nearly 3,300 years after the death of the boy pharaoh (1324 BC). As King Tut's mask was being placed on a plane to be taken from Cairo to Paris, the museum's Director of Antiquities, Gamal Mehrej, died.

Some exciting stuff, eh?

1972:
Four days old -- probably my first photog. Photogenic, eh?

August 1972: Here I am at my great aunt T.'s & great uncle A's.

August 1972: First professional picture.

1973:
February 3, 1973: First birthday! Raggedy Ann was "in". With my uncle B.

unknown month 1973: I'm making the leap that this is from 1973, as I'm wearing the same dress as in the picture above. Check out my bling -- necklace, bracelet, ring. Clearly the photographer tried to foster my basketball playing abilities, but it didn't work out for him/her.

June 1973: Family photo.

 

1974:
I'm making the leap that this is from 1974. I'm sure my mom will let me know if I'm wrong...

1975:
This could be 1976. Either way, my disdain is clear for Santa.

Another guesstimate on the year. This photo has a story behind it. My nana took me to J.C. Penney to get my picture taken as a surprise for my parents. First thing I do when I see my mom? Spill the beans.

1976:
July 1976: Fort Ticonderoga, NY

Year is unclear (don't you hate it when photos aren't labeled?)

Definitely 1976. In front of my mom's prized possession -- Fiat Spider.