Memories

Ah, yes, memories.  In 70 years I have a lot of memories, good, bad, funny, awesome.  I thought I would bore you with a few of my memories.  I have to do memories, right now I don't have much going on other than Kaiser.

When I was a toddler my Daddy would stand me on his feet, hold my hands, and we would walk down the stairs to breakfast. 

I adored Mother and Daddy, but one day they ticked me off.  I was around 3 or 4.  I was probably still mad they brought home that redheaded baby boy.  Anyway, I called my Aunt Rosie and Uncle Fessor to come get me.  I could call them because I knew their number 314, and the operator also knew who I wanted when I said call my Uncle Fessor.  (This was before dial phones kids, the operator would say Number Please.  It was a small town and no numbers longer than three.) They came and picked me up.  I left in my pajamas, so they opened their store and outfitted me with shoes and clothes.  After a few days I forgave my parents and moved back home.

I remember us driving and Daddy would point out white smoke in the forests.  He explained it was from moonshine stills.  Remember I grew up in the mountains of Kentucky. 

I remember when I realized my widowed mother and Papa Jack were in love.  That is an awesome memory.  I also remember when Papa Jack said he was going to put bells on my shoes, because I kept walking in on them necking. 

Awkward memory that turned out great:  blind date with my husband, Marty.  Not the best date I have ever been on, but something was there.  47 years of marriage and counting.

Scary memory, the drive to the airport the day Little Brother left for Vietnam . 

Fun time, for years we played canasta marathons with Susan and Gary.  The kids played games and were put to bed.  The adults played cards.  Susan and I won every game for years and years.  Susan is a great partner.  She knew where every card was.  I drove her crazy because I hardly knew what was in my hand.  While we played cards Marty and Gary would drink Bourbon, Susan and I drank Pepsi.  The ladies had a big time edge there.  Then Susan and I discovered white wine.  The teams were suddenly equal.  Susan and I went years before we won another game. 

This was sort of fun.  Be warned, I will do memories again. 

Censored

Censorship, censored, censor. What ugly words. And we as Americans rarely have to deal with the words or issue.

Many people think the last 8 years have been a dictatorship. Some think rights were taken away, that we no longer have any rights or freedom. They are oh so wrong. We can protest in the streets, we can write letters to the editor, we can blog. We can get changes made. We can do about anything we want if we don't hurt others or property. On Tuesday our national leadership will change. It changed because the people wanted it. There were no battles, no guns, there was a day of voting and there will be a day of moving vans.


Things don't work that way in the some parts of the world. As some of you know we have a friend in an Asian country. Blogs are no longer allowed in this country that will go un-named. He has been shut down. No postings since Christmas Eve. Some things are automatic on his blog: Janet Rudolph's blog and mine are updated as is the stock market report. But he can't post. For some reason he can IM to Marty and tells us he is safe. But he is not allowed to post his thoughts.

Be thankful of being in the United States. We are so blessed.


Censorship an ugly word.

WE AS AMERICANS ARE SO LUCKY

I blog and I can write pretty much anything I want. I try not to hurt feelings. But I can write about the government, my neighbor, taxes, stupid Yankees clerks. I can write, and no one will bother me. I am an American. We Americans are free, we don't fear writing our thoughts. We are so damn lucky to live here. Thank your lucky stars.



Please read today's post from our friend Hoang. It is titled Test for Vietnam government: free speech bloggers.



http://hoangleonard.blogspot.com/

WHAT A DAY

Today was a crappy day. It was awful in oh so many ways. I'm not saying what happened, just want you to know Marty and I did not like today. I called my brother in law and asked him to call tonight. And if anyone asked, I was on the speaker phone with him. I might need an alibi and he was it. He called, I wasn't there, but I let a jerk live. Trust me, you do not want to upset me by being crappy to my Marty.

I was really upset by events today. I met with friends for dinner and lost it and ended up crying. They listened to me vent and calmed me down. They also bought me a margarita which always helps. Then they were willing to let me hash over and over my bad day. Thank you Janet and Kirsten.

The day became much better about 9:30pm. Tonight there was a surprise when I got home after dinner with my friends.

We received an early Christmas present, two Vietnamese cookbooks. They are from Hoang. This is a young man in Vietnam who has become Marty's friend. They met through the wonders of the Internet and talk on line regularly. Marty helps Hoang with his English. Hoang connected Marty with a wonderful artist who did portraits of Marty and me. Hoang sent me a sun hat that I love, wide brimed but a loose weave so it is cool. Hoang also is a follower of this blog. If you click on his picture you can find the link to his blog. He posts pictures of things happening in Vietnam. Some are of floods, tortured children, whatever is happening that he cares about. So check out Hoang's blog. Most is in English for those of us who only speak one language.

Hoang, thank you for making an awful day better. I think Marty will be cooking Goi Guon and Pho Bo soon.