What the Heck is This?

Over the years I have inherited a few interesting things from deceased relatives. Most of these items are not hard to identify. My grandfathers salt and pepper shakers, my MIL's tea pots (I don't drink tea), a cookie jar from my great grandmother (I do love cookies), some of my grandmothers jewelry etc. These objects were left to me, not actually by the dead relatives, but by the living ones after they had picked through the decedents property, taken the "good" stuff and deemed the remainder unwanted, except of course by me. When my parents die, I will get all the "good" crap too.

One thing left to me purposefully by my grandmother was her collection of miniature things she displayed in an old printers box. Her BIL owned or partnered a printing business, so even the box had special meaning to her. I just always liked miniature things.

The item in the photos, I think came from that same grandmother, although, I am not sure, it might have been from my other grandmother. I wish I had labeled it when I first got it.

Anyways, I don't know what it is. I have tried looking for similar items on the Internet, without luck. My guess would be an antique salt spoon? Do you have any idea what it may be? Thanks.

The top(those are inches)

The side

The bottom

Manischewitz and Medication

Back on April 2ND I was tagged for a meme by Jess Riley, a talented, funny and insightful writer of Rileys Ramblings and author of her soon to be released debut novel Driving Sideways. I recommend stopping by and visiting her blog, you will surely enjoy it. I can't wait to read her novel, which will be released May 20Th.

For this meme there are the usual rules, which I am not going to follow. I also don't ever forward chain emails, even though I kinda do fear bad luck! I am just rebellious like that. I live life on the edge.

The meme states to share 6 unimportant things about myself. Instead of random unimportant things, I am going to list 6 unimportant things I did while visiting my aunts house this past weekend for Passover.

1) I found out I was wearing the wrong size bra. I hear about such things happening to other women, but never thought it could happen to me. My aunt J, whose house I was staying at during the holiday, owns a fancy lingerie shop. One of the things they specialize in is finding a woman's proper bra size and then selling them a really really expensive bra. There was good news and bad news for me.The bad news was that my back is bigger than I thought, I guess I am still in denial about my weight. The good news was that I needed a bigger cup size! I was wearing a B but I fit much better into a C! WoO WoO! (.)(.) changed to ( . )( . )! Then my aunt sold me the really expensive bra for cost, phew.

2) I told my mom that the outfit she wore made me want to break out in a song from The Sound of Music. It was a 2 piece casual set with a really loud pattern on it. Not exactly like the pattern on the curtains Julie Andrews used to make the kids play clothes, but curtain-like enough. Perhaps a cross between toile, paisley and faux brocade? A jacket or pants alone or maybe a purse made with that design would have been more appropriate and less straining on the eyes.

3)I shopped as much as possible. Where I live in Vermont I have to drive at least a half hour to go clothes shopping. My aunts house is a mile or less from every store imaginable. I spent time at Target first, but didn't find much, which is unusual. I spent more time a Kohl's where I found lots. Everything was buy one get one free. You didn't even have to buy the same thing, it just had to be 2 things made by the same brand. I only regret not having enough time to shop at Loehmanns.

4)I snuck contraband into my aunts house. Kosher for Passover houses are cleaned before the holiday to remove any bread or other yeast made foods. I have a habit of waking up in the early morning hours starving. The only thing I have found that fills my stomach, allowing me to fall back asleep, is a Fig Newton. So I snuck them in via my suitcase, sorry aunt J!

5)I drank kosher wine. I always bring kosher for passover wine with me so I don't have to wait to be offered a drink, heh heh. My family, well most of them, are not big drinkers. I, on the other hand must have a drink before and Seder begins. The Seder is the special meal, which includes reading from a special book, singing Hebrew songs, drinking Manischewitz wine and eating special Passover foods. Did I mention singing?

6) Last, and perhaps not such an unimportant thing, more of an important thing about my Passover time, is the fact that I needed to medicate myself with Xanax every morning. Each morning after I drank my coffee and ate breakfast, I medicated myself with Xanax. The reason, which is old news around here, is my mother. I cannot be around her without medication. If I don't take something, she will suck the energy and life and any amount of happiness I might be feeling at the time, right out of me. I skipped Passover last year because I hadn't yet discovered the wonder drug Xanax. I can be around my mother and not feel like I want to strangle her or at the very least yell at her and tell her how crazy she is. The sad part about Xanax is that the effects are not lasting and it has no effect on my memory. Tuesday night, after a day driving home and not taking any med, was horrible. I spent the night obsessing about all the mean, wrong things my mother said or did during the weekend, which I didn't react to at the time. Reacting to her behaviors, trying to talk about my feelings or perceptions is useless and has always led to more heartache and pain for me. So the Xanax helps me not expend useless amounts of my energy and sanity on trying to fix things with her. Believe me I have tried time after time over the years and I get nothing but more pain. I am done with that. Obviously she doesn't give a crap about me and I do my best to accept this. If it wasn't for my children, who don't know yet how crazy grandma is, I probably wouldn't speak to her at all. But if at any time she becomes a negative influence on them, I will break all ties. They don't need to suffer from her bullshit games like I did. Okay, enough info for a separate post! Bored now.

I've Been Invited to the Oscars

E acted in her second play for the grade school drama club last week. They put on a slightly condensed version of The Wizard of OZ. I was very impressed with the whole production. Everything from the stage set and costumes to the individual performances was spectacular. It was easy to tell that the drama club had been working very hard at practices, which, by the way, were held at 6:30AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays, a full hour and forty-five minutes before school starts. The drama coaches were very strict when it came to attendance. If you missed more than two practices, your part went to someone else. These kids, about 30 in total, had to be extremely dedicated.
E took on 3 different parts. First she was the person who introduced the play and gave a little history on the original Wizard of OZ. Next she was the lead Lullaby League girl, singing and dancing and handing a flower to Dorothy. Last she was the lead Monkey, Nicko, who, along with another monkey, kidnaps Dorothy and drags her to the castle. As Nicko she was also the one who accidentally lets Toto escape from the basket. She was a perfect monkey, swaying back and forth like they do in the movie.
The main character parts went to the 7TH and 8TH graders, who all did an amazing job singing and remembering their lines.

After the show I asked if I could be her date when she is nominated for an Oscar, and subsequent winning, she said yes! Hus is the one who has been getting up early and actually taking her to her practices, so he probably should be her date, but he doesn't care about stuff like that. Heh heh, lucky me! I did sit in my car for over an hour during the after show cast party. I didn't mind and spent the time reading then watching part of a movie.

Notice I didn't say I was invited to The Tonys. I have to, perhaps embarrassingly, admit I am not a huge Broadway fan. There, I said it.

One of These Husbands is Not Like the Other

Can you guess which one?

A)

B)

C)

This is a photo of my hus when we first met..oh so long ago. Hint: It was cut off a week later, without any prompting from me.

Happy Birthday to the Best Hus EVER!

Is It Crazy To...

throw salt over both shoulders each time I use any? (I can’t remember which shoulder I am SUPPOSED to throw it over to ward off bad luck.)

brush my teeth at least 5 times a day, including while at work?( I have a fear of bad breath.)

think my cats understand what I say?(If you knew them, you would think the same.)

have rushed to the nearest pharmacy when I saw on the news that the Brazilian Diet Pill was being taken off the market because the morning pill contained amphetamines and the night time pill contained Valium? (I was too late, damn it!)

wish I would get sick so I could stay home from work?( Co-worker “Ma” is with me on this. You know who you are!)

like a song by Fall Out boy?(Sugar, We’re Goin Down)

watch an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer everyday?(Even though I have already watched all the episodes, twice.)

have the need to keep a box of tissue in at least 3 rooms in my house at all times?(Allergies, Okay I am really 80.)

use a clip board to keep track of my daily schedule and shopping lists?(How else could I keep track of everything.)

have thought about buying the X rated Brady Bunch movie.(For my hus, well, it did get good reviews.)

I asked my hus what he thinks some of the crazy things I do are…

When he let’s me sleep late on the weekends, the first thing I say is “Why’d you let me sleep so long?” Even though I know I love to sleep late.

I have a certain things I must have with me when I set myself up at night for “my time”. My book, tissue, diet Sprite or wine, back scratcher, pillow, blanket and remote control to both the TV and DVD player.

I put the closed captioning on the TV when everyone else is in bed.( I AM hard of hearing and I don’t want to wake others up with all the screaming on Buffy) Then I forget to take it off when I go to bed. The little words on the screen drives everyone else crazy.

Think that I am driving just fine at the same time I am eating.

I pass our 90 year old neighbor when caught behind her on the back roads.( Once I passed her while on my way to the post office. I drove the 10 miles to get there, went inside and did my business, came back outside and she was just pulling into the parking lot. Of course I am going to pass her!)

I think it is also crazy that I am sharing these with you all. So what crazy silly things do you do?