Tipping during the holiday

I've got a question for you; it's about holiday tipping. How many of you tip or get gifts for your mail delivery person, the people who pick up your garbage and recycling, hairdresser, vet, pet walker/sitter, doctor, dentist, etc., etc.? If you do tip, what do you tip? I was talking to a friend today who does tip these folks and she said she knows lots of people who do this. She's the only one I know who does it! I've heard of it, obviously, but other than the mail delivery person and my hairdresser, I don't gift or tip. Love to hear your thoughts about this!

Led Zeppelin live at the O2 Arena in London...

Oooh, how I wish I was a fly on the wall there! And this is how it began:



Set List:

'Good Times Bad Times'
'Ramble On' [leaves are fallin' all around, it's time I was on my way *shivers*]
'Black Dog'
'In My Time Of Dying'
'For Your Life'
'Trampled Under Foot'
'Nobody's Fault But Mine' [love this song!]
'No Quarter'
'Since I've Been Loving You'
'Dazed And Confused'
'Stairway To Heaven'
'The Song Remains The Same'
'Misty Mountain Hop' [I'm SO psyched they did my favorite song, Misty Mountain Hop! If anyone finds that on youtube, please email it to me!!!]
'Kashmir'
'Whole Lotta Love'
'Rock And Roll'

They didn't play any songs from their album, "In Through the Out Door"; I would've loved to hear "Fool in the Rain", which is one of my favorite songs, and "Hotdog".

Read more here!

Manic Monday by Lisa!

It's Monday! That means it's time for Lisa's Manic Monday meme :-)

For the holidays, are you a last-minute shopper or do you shop well ahead of time? I actually do both!

If you had to pick a new first name for yourself, what name would you choose? In my 20s, I hated my first name and asked my friends and family to call me Beth (from my middle name). My mother HATED that and when my boyfriend called the house and asked for Beth, she'd say there's no one here by that name. He'd sigh and say...ok, can I speak to Janet, then?

What's worse,having expectations that are too high, or having no expectations at all? Expectations that are too high. Nothing worse!

Week 253, Unconscious Mutterings

From here:

1. Master :: Mistress


2. Tour :: Led Zeppelin!


3. Input :: output


4. Downtown :: Crossing


5. Pricey :: caviar


6. Acceptable :: margin of error


7. Terrace :: sunny


8. Sunday :: Freedom


9. Payoff :: Mafia


10. Jack and Jill :: ran up a hill

The weekend so far...

Born 9 October 1940; murdered 8 December 1980 at the age of 40 :-(

I could never choose my favorite Beatle...it's always been a tie between John and George. What I loved about John was his wit and his artistry, he was irreverent, rebellious...what was not to like?

When he was killed outside the Dakota in NYC, I was living in a bus in the back of my boyfriend's father's sawdust factory. We woke up that morning, cold and shivering. He turned the bus on for heat...and I turned on the radio. We both froze when we heard and I felt a chill that was far deeper than the cold day outside. All that talent, snuffed out in a second. I still miss him and always will.
He died the day before my Mom's 57th birthday...and today would've been Mom's 84th. I miss her, too.



Also, last night I went to see Hall & Oates with Megan & Jimbo.



They were great, Daryl's voice was in fine form, and they started out their set with some Christmas carols from their new CD, seen above. Apparently, some in the crowd thought this was past wrong, and after about the 6th song, they began booing the band. Now...what the hell were they expecting? It's the Christmas season. All around us people were screaming out the names of songs they wanted them to play, plus such niceties as "Daryl, you suck" etc., etc. The band took a break, then came back out and performed many of their hits as the crowd went wild. It struck me as very disrespectful and unkind.

After the show as the crowd was leaving, a couple of guys smacked the tour bus sitting out there and expressed their displeasure at not hearing "Maneater" or "One on One"; then discussed where'd they go to drink for the rest of the evening. The hell?

Photohunt #87: Long

Here are the rules for Photohunt!

Florida in December

While I was enduring frigid temps and LOTS of snow...these are the pictures I was getting, DAILY, from friends on a FL trip:



The nerve!

Thanks, girls, in reality I LOVED it!

Friday Fill-In #49

1. I enjoy Christmas.
2. Blue is my favorite color for the Christmas tree lights.
3. The candles in the window have white bulbs. [usually they have orange in my house, but I bought new battery operated ones and have yet to change out the bulbs!]
4. Scrooged is one of my most favorite Christmas movies.
5. My favorite Christmas lyrics are It's coming on Christmas / They're cutting down trees / They're putting up reindeer / And singing songs of joy and peace / Oh I wish I had a river / I could skate away on.
6. I'm dreaming of a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro Lens White Christmas.
7. And as for the weekend, Friday I'm looking forward to relaxing, Saturday my plans include going to see Hall & Oates sing Christmas songs (!) and Sunday, I want to take the dogs for a long walk through the woods!

Thursday Thirteen #97

Thirteen Things about Christmas and me!

1. I LOVE Christmas! It's such a magical time of year. Miracles do happen, you know.

2. The Christmas songs are fantastic; Chestnuts Roasting, Jingle Bells, Santa Baby, Silent Night, Father Christmas, even Santa Claus and His Old Lady by Cheech and Chong...love it all!

3. The decorations are just so beautiful and I love getting them all out, being flooded with memories about where I got this one, or that one. My first ex-husband and I really got into Christmas and we bought many decorations together...I ended up with them. I like to put the tree up as early the day after Thanksgiving, depending, of course, where Thanksgiving falls in the month, and I don't take it down til a week into the new year. Only see it once a year, might as well enjoy it!

4. Finding a perfect present for someone and watching them smile when opening it...love it!

5. I don't look at Christmas as a stressful time; I look at it as a beautiful holiday, full of goodwill and a spirit of loving and kindness.

6. I even enjoy shopping; I love to watch the people in the malls.

7. Receiving presents is always good!

8. Visiting friends and seeing their decorations is good too!

9. I love baking holiday cookies; we had a tradition in our family of making cookies called Sand Tarts. You had to make the dough beforehand, chill it, then roll it out thin and use cookie cutters. Then we'd brush them with beaten egg, sprinkle on yellow, red and/or green sugar or sprinkles, saving, of course, the cinnamon and walnuts for the horse cookie cutter. Don't know why, but the horse always was done different. My parents would do this each year and I couldn't wait to do this with my kids. Alas!

10. A holiday table, laid with all the trimmings, and all the foods I enjoy cooking at Christmas: roasted turkey or maybe a crown roast of pork, chestnut stuffing, mashed potatoes, green crunchy string beans with slivered almonds, brussels sprouts with a mustard sauce, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie for afters...mmm!

11. Although I'm not religious, I love going to a church service on Christmas Eve and singing the carols & hymns, not that I can carry a tune to save my life (but I do know all the words!).

12. Carolers; I love wandering carolers, especially when it's snowing!

13. The smell of a fresh Christmas tree, or wreath!


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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I <3 the number 7!

Miss Meliss has tagged me to tell you 7 things about myself. Since it's illegal to not do a 7 thing meme, I guess I must participate!

1. Breakfast: I have a new favorite breakfast - Fage 0% yogurt, a bit of honey, and some Udi's natural artisan granola...YUM! Add a clementine or two and I'm in heaven!

2. Curly Hair: My hair is bone straight, and I wore it that way til I was 21 or so. My first ex-husband had a couple friends that were hairdressers, so I made an appointment with one of them to get a perm and I was THRILLED! Nick, the hairdresser, was concerned with such a drastic change (my hair was halfway down my back) and I just told him GO FOR IT! I LOVED it and wore my hair that way for many years. Once I started coloring it, tho, the combination was too much and I stopped perming. Last year, I decided to give it a try again, and it felt like home. Even friends who'd never seen me with curly hair said it looked extremely natural on me.

3. Scents: I love playing with different scents. Lately I've taken to using Aveeno unscented lotion, four pumps of lotion, two spritzes of perfume and voila! Scented lotion!

4. Photography: When I first started getting in photography again, I thought this time I'd try making some money at it. But ... that kind of spoils it for me, and I'm not sure why. I like to take pictures for me; it others like it, so much the better. When friends ask me to shoot their wedding, I stress out; what if they don't like the pictures, what if I don't capture the perfect moment, what if, what if! And I want photography to be fun! So I think I'll stick with fun and not sweat the rest of it.

5. Health: Lately, I've been worried about my health. I think that has everything to do with turning 50! I'm taking high cholesterol meds, BP meds, happy pills and vitamins now. So maybe I should exercise more than just walking the dogs and seriously start to watch what I eat. Actually, no maybes about it! DO IT! As I'm always saying to others, just frickin' do it!

6. Biting my nails: I've been doing that for years...on again, off again. I used to wear fake nails when I living in Japan and had a high profile job where raggedy nails didn't cut it. But now I wonder if it's just me. I used to go see a nail lady in the town where I work, and once she worked her voodoo magic, I had no desire to bite ... until the nails got too long.

7. Knitted things: I think I have an obsession with mittens, gloves & scarves, also blankets! I adore knitted & crocheted things, but unfortunately I can't knit or crochet to save my life.

a biiiiig yawn!

Isn't he disgustingly cute?

Had to move the chair to make room for the Christmas tree...it's not normally so close to the bookshelf, altho it's a handy spot to put my mug of tea! Wolf also found the tennis ball I'd hidden there (and forgotten), smart boy!

It snowed late Sunday night into Monday morning, delayed the start of work by about two hours. It was flurrying slightly this morning on the way to work and I saw a few poor bastids walking...one with a blue scarf completely wrapped around his face! How he could see to walk, I have no idea. Brrrrr!!!

I did something to my back Sunday...no idea what, but it hurts to sit. I'm just sucking it up til my chiropractor can fit me in. Advil and rum are my friend! Ok, just Advil...no rum at work ;-)

Heading to Target at lunch to get the new Pirates movie...and speaking of Pirates, how do you like my new look? Actually, it's an older design, done by the incomparable Heather of GoofyGirl Designs. Thanks again, Heather for all your help last night! I'd tried to do something myself and messed it all up to hell and back!

Manic Monday

It's Monday! That means it's time for Lisa's Manic Monday meme :-)

What's the longest you've ever waited in line? I'd have to say it was probably at Disneyland in Japan. The lines there were pretty long! I've been lucky at Disneyland and Disneyworld in the states...never really had to wait too long!

It's been said that, "The best things in life are free." Do you think this is true? Why or why not? Luther and Janet said so, so it must be true :-) The best thing in life is fun...and fun can be had relatively cheaply in some instances. Of course...real fun for me is taking pictures, and that can get a bit expensive. Still...a walk through the woods is free :-)

If you could go back in time and re-live one day in your life, which day would you choose and why? I'd choose the Christmas eve I spent with Brian...and I'd not do it. It was demeaning, had bad karma and long lasting consequences.

Janet's SoupStew

I woke up Sunday morning wanting to make soup. For some reason, it was going to include cube steak, salted & peppered and seared on both sides, then cut into very small pieces. It also included an onion, some celery, about 10 carrots, a handful of chestnuts (yes!), one each Knorr's beef and veggie bouillon, one small can of Rotel diced tomatoes with lime & cilantro (was going to use regular diced tomatoes, but forgot to buy that), about 3 cups of V8, 6 cups of water and 1/2 package of Pennsylvania Dutch Homestyle Egg Noodles.

Here's how I did it:

Sear the cube steak, both sides, til not pink, in a big soup pot (I used a bit of peppery bacon fat, about 2 tsps). Take it out, and set aside.
Saute chopped onions and celery in the same soup pot (adding a bit more peppery bacon fat, like a teaspoon or so), until soft.
Cut the meat into small pieces and when the onion/celery mixture is done, add the meat; also the tomatoes, bouillons, carrots, V8 and water. Simmer for 45 minutes or so til the carrots are done.
Add the chestnuts, simmer about 5 minutes or so
Turn the heat up to a boil, add the noodles and cook til the noodles are done, and serve!

As you can see, it turned out pretty thick, more like a stew than a soup. But that's ok, cause the taste is all that counts!


OMG was it good!

The one about pajamas

The ever lovely Claudia bestowed on me "The Blog Most Likely To Inspire A Pair Of Pyjamas Award", which is a good thing because I have a great pajama story to tell!



The picture above is of my favorite pair of jammies; sadly, I lost the bottoms to these! Well...not really "lost", but forgotten in a hotel. I never did like the top very much, preferring to wear a t-shirt. The eclectic look is more my taste...matching is boring!

Anyway, a friend and I drove to Connecticut to see Robert Plant at Mohegan Sun. Excitement!!! We get there, only to find out he'd cancelled :-( Sadness!!! So we wandered the casino, having a drink, a bite , a drink, a Krispy Kreme, and finally ended up back at the hotel. That evening, I had the most wonderful dream about ... Robert Plant! We were at a lovely hotel (unlike the one my friend and I were at lol), with a green, wide, sloping lawn, white adirondack chairs and gardens bordered by stones. He and I walked the property, talking about J.R.R. Tolkien and how the movies compared to the books. He bent down, gave me a hug (damn, he smelled good!) and told me how much he enjoyed talked with me, whereupon the dream turned into something else (as dreams are wont to do) which I won't share ;-)

I miss those pants!

Today, however, as cold as it is, these are the pjs I'm wearing:



Generally, tho...it's just a big, old t-shirt that I'm most comfy in!

In turn, I'm giving this award to:

Deb R; cause I just know she's got some interesting pajamas :-)
Julie; my partner in Led Zep crime!
Mrs. G; we share a secret boyfriend :-)
Lisa; I bet they're red!
MB; she's my cousin, and our tastes are worlds apart!

Photohunt #86: Red

Here are the rules for Photohunt!
As usual, I couldn't make up my mind on just one red picture...so please enjoy these five!

Friday Fill-In #48

My Sacred Life
Day 30
1. When my blog is broken, I'm sad cause I'm missing out on NaBloPoMo.
2. I saw the most amazing sunrise this morning [see above]!
3. Sweeney Todd is the new movie I'm most looking forward to seeing.
4. Work: Necessary and evil.
5. Of all the new tv shows, I enjoy Cane the most. [damn, that Jimmy Smits is HOT!!!]
6. If only sigh...yeah...if only...
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a nice glass of wine, tomorrow my plans include more Christmas decorating and Sunday, I want to go to Boston!

I finished, both NaBloPoMo AND My Sacred Life! Although I can't prove it, cause the database on my fondofsnape.com blog was corrupted, I know I did it, and that's really what counts! I found this Official Completion Token over at Moving Right Along and I'm putting it right here at the end of my last entry in November! Congrats to all who finished!

Thursday Thirteen #96

My Sacred Life
Day 29
Thirteen Photos for sale at my Etsy shop!

My regular blog isn't feeling well today...and may not be feeling well tomorrow, either, so I thought I'd post my T13 here! This week, my friend Megan and I finally got our Etsy shop up and running. We created it back in July...and there it sat, sad and lonely and unloved. But now we've got some photographs up...if you're interested, here's the link; below is a sampling of what's available!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It's easy, and fun!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Round Robin Challenge: "Shadowland"

What a perfect challenge this week; "Shadowland"; Vicki, author of the blog, Maraca came up with this one. She says:

"October. Darkness reigns and spirits gather. Gone are the sunlit days of summer, and the heart turns strange and melancholy. Welcome to Shadowland.

The theme is open-ended, so go with whatever your imagination can conjure. Photograph actual shadows, perhaps; capture the mood in a striking portrait or landscape, or even - if you dare- catch a ghost. This would be a great time to try working in black and white or to experiment with editing and effects. After all, it's Shadowland. Anything could happen."


Pumpkin stem shadow


Shadows and foliage


Poppet shadows


5 o'clock Shadow


Shell and shadow


Werewolf shadow?


Scary shadowy branches

Round Robin Challenge: Backyard Photography

The challenge this week is "Backyard Photography"; Tammie Jean, author of the blog, Long Drives to Nowhere came up with this challenge:

"What I like best about backyard photography (or photography at the local park) is that you don't have to go very far to get great shots - there are plenty of opportunities right there in front of you."

My garden in early summer

Little visitor

October garden

Funny little dragonfly on a tomato stake; doesn't it look like it's wearing lipstick and smiling???

Another dragonly on a tomato stake; they LOVE my back yard!

Round Robin Challenge: "Talisman"

The challenge this week is "Talisman"; Vicki, author of the blog, Maraca came up with this challenge:

love the word itself, "talisman," so mysterious and evocative. Talismans protect against evil or bring good luck. Many things come to mind, from a bowler's lucky shirt to folk amulets. Odd garden ornaments that include glass spheres and beads are fairly common these days, and would fit the bill. It could be something unusual that a bird has woven into a nest, a necklace or a saint medallion, coins, a stone, a special place ... anything, really, that says "magic lives here."

A friend made this for me when we were 14 and enamored of all things different and new to us. It says: "Fire cannot burn me; Earth cannot bury me; Air cannot freeze me; Water cannot drown me" we found it in a book of spells and it was cast for protection. I've had it close by ever since...just because.

A coin my boss gave me when I was working at Yokota Air Base in Japan. One of the things I miss most about working on a military base...your efforts were actually appreciated, unlike my present job. And with the lack of appreciation...my effort fades as well. Not good, I know!

I've had this guy since my early 20s...a talisman of sorts applicable to this day [one of the Wee Forest Folk collectible figurines made by Annette Petersen]

My preciousssssss

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