January 2

On New Year's Eve, we watched an excellent movie that I would recommend.  It is called, "The Way," and stars Martin Sheen as a pilgrim following the "Way of St. James," a route starting in France and crossing over into Spain.

The character played by Martin Sheen is on the golf course when he receives an overseas call on his cell phone.  A policeman with a pronounced French accent informs him that his only child, his son, has been killed on the first day of his pilgrimage on "The Way," a worn route taken by pilgrims since the Middle Ages.

Sheen's son is a scholar, a sociologist, who loves to study different cultures and peoples.  He had decided before leaving on the trip that he would abandon his Ph.D. program and instead concentrate on being with people, not just studying them.

When Sheen goes to the small French town to identify his son and claim his body, he is alone with the enormity of it. 

Then he makes a momentous decision; he will walk the trail called Camino de Santiago to Galicia, the site of a famous and beautiful Romanesque cathedral where the remains and relics of the apostle, James the Great, are interred.

Soon you feel like one of the pilgrims yourself as you watch the movie.  An unlikely band of travelers forms and you get to know why they are making their pilgrimage.  There are as many reasons as people, but some people definitely make the trip for selfish reasons, others for reasons so profound that they can scarcely iterate them.

The backdrop for this movie is the gorgeous countryside, bucolic fields with sheep, and here and there an amazing sculpture designating another milestone along the way.  It takes about a month to make the trip.  There are a number of different routes to take, but the one that the band of four chooses takes them through Pamplona, the city where they have the running of the bulls.

I don't know anyone that can't get something out of this movie.  Getting a good look inside the cathedral is worth it. 

It was out in theaters some months ago, and I found the movie for $5 at Ollie's.  We're going to lend it out to family members and friends.

Well, it's January 2 today and the OSU clan is celebrating.  That was quite a win last night; sloppy but good.  I stayed up for the whole thing and will surely pay for it later today when the adrenalin runs out.  Might be a good day for a Keurig cup of coffee!!

Have a wonderful day, readers, and Happy New Year!!

Sinus Trouble

I was sidelined most of yesterday with a sinus problem.  While the basement wood burner is just the most wonderful thing, it does cause some problems here and there -- sinus problems can be one of them.  The heat is very drying and there is some smoke from when you open the door to add a log.  That adds up to sinus congestion sometimes, and so we have to give it a rest for a day or so.  PLUS, my sinuses were already messed up from the cold/flu I had last week.

My problem yesterday was a headache and my head felt weird because of what the whole thing was doing to be sense of equilibrium and then what that was doing to my stomach.

We're going to give it another try today with the help of some medicines.

So that's about all I've got today for you.  Sorry, I am such a DUD.

I will share a little story from my days at work at The University of Akron.  One day I had a splitter of a headache.  I felt horrible all over!!  While standing by the mailboxes at the front desk area, I was lamenting my problems and our graduate student from the Ukraine was asking me about my situation.

I told him I had a sinus headache and just wished that I could take a drill and make a tiny hole in the front of my head to drain the sinus pressure and congestion.

He got kind of quiet for a second and then said, "Oh, well, that's what we do in the Ukraine!"

Wow.  That got my attention.

Recently, I've heard ads on radio for balloon rhinoplasty.  Sounds kind of strange, doesn't it?  But what they do is open up sinus passes with the use of a surgical grade balloon which stretches out the sinus passageways that might have gotten smaller from years of sinus trouble and infection.

Apparently, it is supposed to work.

Also, on the stop smoking front, someone we know is going to have laser therapy for smoke cessation.  It is a little like the acupuncture they were doing some years ago but permanent.  Apparently, she knows someone who had it done and when she walked out of the clinic, she was a non-smoker and has remained as such.  If this seems to work, we will check into it for my husband.  The cost is around $225.00.

Thanks everyone.  Talk to you next week!!

The Memories Made at Christmas

I hope that you had a chance to make memories on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  The winds that we had been warned about for more than a week did come, but they were not nearly as damaging as they had suggested. 

By the time our family members were leaving on Wednesday night, the roaring sound that the wind makes going through our woods was very audible, but it was more of a sense of awe than of fear.  A good thing being as though we've had our run-ins with trees since building our house here in 1987.

A wonderful kind of surprise is that Ella was doing so well on Wednesday that she got to come over.  She hadn't been running a fever for a couple of days already!!  Oh, thank you God for giving us the time together.  She was a very good girl; all the kids were good.  They opened their presents in order, patiently waiting for their turn.  It made the whole process so much more fun!!

We chose to have spaghetti and sausage, garlic bread, and salad for dinner.  The sausage is Sicilian and comes from a wonderful old market in North Hill, Akron, called Devitis.  The taste is just amazing, especially when cooked over a low fire in the sauce all day long.  What makes the sauce taste so good is the aged Parmesan cheese they sell at the store.  It isn't cheap -- somewhere around $20 a pound, but its flavor just does wonders to the mixture of tomato sauce, paste, and diced tomatoes.  We brown the sausage in onions and that's another element to the flavors.

My sister gave us a wonderful gift -- a set of soup bowls that have the thick handle on the one side.  We usually end up putting bowls on a dinner plate to keep from getting burned.  I can't wait to try them out.  I think maybe when we've done something with the leftover sauce and sausage, we'll christen them by making some potato/ham soup.  It will be wonderful going into New Year's Eve.

Years ago, we used to do something on New Year's Eve, but those days are over.  We love being at home.  Plus we'll watch the OSU game that evening and stay up as long as we possibly can, maybe for all of it if we get a little nap in there somewhere. 

I hope your holiday was very blessed and merry, and that you have memories that you can "treasure in your heart," like Mary did.  These memories are of love, care, forgiveness, acceptance, and joy.  And they might fade a little, but they last! 

Christmas morning Mass was beautiful.  When we were concerned that Christmas was going down the tubes due to the flu, I kept holding onto the fact that we would be attending Mass and that we would be spending time in our special church with people we've known for years.  There were a few babies there, but for the most part, it was adults. 

So now we are moving towards 2015 rapidly.  A new year that should be marked by something far more important than doing taxes and changing calendars.  I wish all of you a glorious 2015, and I pray that the United States find its way back to God.

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas to all of you! 

One little message that resonates with me today is about attitude.

Having a positive attitude affects virtually EVERYTHING around you.  Studies have shown that being more positive and hopeful is better for your health.  Families do better when there is positive thinking.  Children thrive on positive thinking.  And our society needs it desperately.

The joy of the Christmas season is that we are loved by God and that He showed that love by sending His beloved son to earth to be one of us and to die for our sins. 

It just seems to me that God wants me to reflect that love and show it to others.  One way is by trying to have a good attitude and to try and find good rather than seeking out things to complain about.

I made a mistake the other day coming home from my son's house.  I meant to return via Portage and then stop and get gas at BJs.  I didn't zig and ended up exactly where I didn't want to go.  Belden Village on Monday at around 1:45 p.m.

What a mess.  And in the middle of that the rescue squad needed to get down Dressler.  People were treating the oncoming ambulance the way that people used to cross the railroad tracks before a train came.  It was crazy.

When I got through the bottleneck, I was so thankful to be heading home.  Home where there is some peace and quiet and sanity. 

We are a little sad this year.  Our precious Ella came down with the flu and is contagious so she won't be able to come over tonight for Christmas Eve.  I talked to her on the phone yesterday and she didn't want to hang up.  She sang songs for me and talked, said hello to her cousin, and wished us Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  She has a great attitude almost all of the time.

I'm going to so miss her tonight!!  Because that's what the holidays are all about.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from your blogger friend, Karen

I'll try and get back with you on Friday.

Germaphobia

I am not a germaphobe -- honestly.  But after listening to the news the last couple of weeks and hearing about all of the stuff out there, it's hard not to think about the microbial world that operates under the radar.  It's a good thing that our eyes aren't more keen because who would WANT to see all that stuff?

The flu -- it's BACK.  Apparently, this year's flu shot didn't quite get it right and we have a strain that it more or less misses.  Today I perused the CDC's information brochure online that discusses all of the whys and wherefores of the flu. 

And a few other sites just to be sure I'd be thoroughly confused.

Here's what I can tell you about the flu for 2014 that is going around, shutting down schools, and wreaking havoc on Christmas plans in families all across America!!

1.  So what if I am exposed to it?  You'll have to wait from 24 hours to 4 days to find out if you get it or not.

2.  So then what?  Well, if you do come down with it, you could expose everyone around you a day before you  show signs of it yourself.  That's reassuring.

3.  And if you get it?  Well, you get tested at the doctor's office or stat care or the ER by means of a nasal swab which will show the presence of the virus. 

4.  And?  Then you get a prescription for Tamiflu which should shorten your flu by about 2-3 days as long as you went for treatment within a couple of days.

5.  How long does it last?  5-7 days

6.  How long are you contagious?  Maybe 7-10 days if you are a kid.  If you are a grownup, shorter time period.  Or go with the one website that declares that if you have not had a fever for 24 hours without use of medication, you are probably okay.  It probably would help if you aren't coughing or sneezing though.

7.  How do you get it?  Exposure to the virus that is in the droplets of liquid that come from your nose when you sneeze or that are expelled when you cough.  Apparently, and this is the good news, casual contact is not generally enough.

8.  Does this mean that I might want to don a mask if I'm caring for sick kids, etc.?  You are DARN RIGHT it does.  This is my own opinion; I didn't see anything about masks, and actually, the little viruses are probably smaller and would go right through. 

9.  Does this mean that the entire family needs to know if someone has the flu or has been exposed?  Again, see the answer to #8.

10.  Does this mean that Christmases all over the U.S. are probably on hold in some cases?  Yep, it does.

What about Santa?  I'm not too worried about that right now, how about you?

So that's my best take on the whole thing, but if you are confused as to whether or not you have a cold or the flu, the symptoms are about the same in a lot of cases.  Helpful, aren't I?  Here's the big difference.  If you get the feeling that you've been hit by a Mack truck and symptoms come fast and furious, you probably have the flu.  Colds come on gradually, one symptom at a time.  The flu hits hard.  Headaches come early.  The nasal discharge is thinner, I'm thinking.

So consult the doctor, for sure.  But maybe this will help you decide if you have a problem or not.

My granddaughter, Ella, was diagnosed with flu yesterday afternoon.  So she won't be over for Christmas Eve and I'm so sad about it.  I'm sad that my daughter-in-law won't be over either.  And if Ella's brother comes down with it in the meantime, he might not be able to come either.  This is turning into a weather mess for Christmas Eve and a sickness mess!! 

Take care, good friends.  We're getting to the end of another blogging year and I want to thank those of you who keep reading.  We'll talk about 2015 soon.

Peter Pan?

(I'm feeling under the weather today -- cold.  So this is late getting posted and it might serve for tomorrow's post too.  I've got to get to feeling better before the holiday hits.  So bear with me, everyone!!)

I's deja vu all over again!!  When I was a little kid, the Broadway version of Peter Pan was brought to the TV screen.  Like Broadway, Mary Martin was the actress who played Peter Pan.  It was live TV back then and the performances were shown in 1954, 1955 and 1960.  I'm sure I saw at least two of them.

As a seven-year-old, watching Peter Pan was interesting.  I'd heard of the story through the Disney version that came out in 1953 and was pretty neat!  The thing is, though, pretty early in the whole play Mary Martin bothered me.  I knew she was a woman playing the part of a boy, and it just didn't jive for me.  I was uncomfortable, maybe even a little embarrassed for her, especially when she did the "I've Gotta Crow," thing.

Coincidentally, Cathy Rigby was tapped to be the next Peter Pan on Broadway in 1990 -- the year Mary Martin died.

Rigby played the part for 30 years!  And she was on television with it too.  I was still uncomfortable although she did a pretty darn good job of "flying" due to her amazing gymnastics talents.  No matter -- Rigby was a girl playing a boy.  Just didn't work for me.

And so we have a third iteration of the whole deal.  And who did they pick for Peter Pan?  The daughter of Brian Williams -- another woman playing a boy.  And this one, sad to say for her, seemed to have neither the talent of Mary Martin nor the gymnastics ability of Cathy Rigby.  The whole production got criticized quite a bit by the critics. 

And they made fun of Carrie Underwood in Sound of Music?  Are you kidding me?  Underwood's performance to me was a LOT better.  The sets were terrific and the actors believable in their roles.

Christopher Walken was born in 1943.  He was chosen for the role of Captain Hook.  Really?  My granddaughter was going into whoops of laughter telling me that Captain Hook kept calling Smee, "Schmee." through the whole thing.  "It's SMEE," she said with an eight-year-old's authority.

I like Christopher Walken, but this just makes no sense at all.  None.  That goofy guy that used to be married to Katy Perry would have worked at least in the face.  For Peter Pan, who would you have picked.  Are you telling me that there aren't some guys out there who took dance lessons for about 12 years and who can sing reasonably well who could play Peter?  How about that kid who was runner-up for American Idol a few years ago -- David Archuleta?  He's short (5'3")and kind of cute.

Justin Bieber comes to mind, not that he'd take the part, mind you. 

But I think you can see where I'm going here.  James Barrie wrote a wonderful story for kids, absolutely wonderful.  Do it right.  Do it some justice!  Get a better casting director for heaven's sake -- because you know it's going to make it's way around again.  Why?  Because it's a story that pits good against evil, leadership against following, cowardice against courage.  It's a take-off on those stories where there are things that go bump in the night.  In other words, just outside the front door, a kid might never know what he will find.

I hear the dog was really good.

A Biblical Marketplace

My granddaughter came over last night after school and showed me what she had made at a very interesting and special place -- on a field trip.

She said that they passed by her tumbling studio on Manchester Road to get there, but beyond that she didn't know where they went.  She said the place took up two floors.

Her class went to a recreation of a biblical marketplace, something like what Jesus would have experienced as a child.  She was absolutely enchanted by the place, and learned a lot in a short time.

She made a placemat (I think it was) by weaving strips of cloth in between slits in another piece of cloth.  She said that this craft represented the art of weaving which would have been a very important part of a woman's life in Jesus' time.

She made a bracelet out of different beads which would have been yet another commodity at a marketplace. 

And somewhere along the line, she got a dreidel which is the main part of a game that Jesus would have played.  It's like an early die (singular of dice) that the children would toss.  Today it is still used by the Jewish people during Hannukkah, the festival of lights. 

For my granddaughter, Jesus was now a real boy, playing with toys and living near a bustling marketplace with all sorts of sights and sounds.  It brought Jesus' humanity to life for her -- a wonderful experience!!

We can read all kinds of books about what life was like in the time of Jesus, but there is nothing like experiencing it in some fashion.

I read an article the other day about children and how our society tends to "push" them with educational experiences too early.  The article said that children should be playing prior to school.  Children learn through play.  Have you ever watched a kitten?  Everything that a kitten needs to know in order to defend itself is learned during play.  Maybe that's a good comparison to what play is for children.  They learn the typical give and take of games, and develop their verbal and nonverbal skills to a much higher degree.  They also learn to read the faces and cues of the other children around them.  This is unbelievably important in life.  It helps make sense of all social situations.

Children who don't get that time to play and just be a kid are stifled in a number of important ways.  We need to get over this competitiveness about our kids and just enjoy them and let them develop as God intended them to.  Children are ready to read when everything else is ready for them to read; their eyes, parts of the brain, and even their motor skills.  Pushing them to read sooner does real damage, the article suggested.

I think the biblical marketplace was ingenious and wonderful.  It will be something my granddaughter and her classmates won't soon forget.  Learning by doing.

Take care and have a good Thursday, everyone.