Brave Roo World

  Quote of the day from Jodie Picoult.  "Anxiety is like a rocking chair.  It gives you something to do but it doesn't get you very far." At the end of December I seemed to be having a renaissance when it came to productivity and creativity.  I was not only writing blog articles on a weekly basis, sometimes it was on a daily basis.  I had worked a few months with a therapist to come to terms with my job loss, and to develop strategies for reclaiming my life.  It was working. I was feeling so good that I dismissed my therapist.  Then came January 6. Watching the Capitol building overrun by domestic terrorists, I felt something that I had not felt since 9/11. It was that same feeling, wondering how could this be happening?  I was brought up in a family of staunch Republicans that voted in every election, flew the American flag in our yard, wore flag pins and brooches, and brought me up to respect our democractic institutions.  I have many famil...

This was a Facebook memory from 2016 Lisa Mackey was telling me about these great Christmas specials on GetTV, I am getting a chance to re-live the horror of all the '70s variety shows that I watched as a child. Tonight we watched Cher and also the Sonny and Cher Christmas special.  Where else can you see Redd Foxx sing songs from the 1930s, or William Conrad sing opera.  I also learned that Chastity (Chaz) Bono wanted racing cars and a Planet of The Apes treehouse for Christmas.  Redd Foxx even got political, with his wishes for all the bigots of the world. This also stirred up a memory that, if you believe in Hell, makes me a candidate to go there, for certain!  I remember Sonny & Cher was my favorite show when I was in third grade, I was completely mesmerized whenever it was on.  I was even jealous of Chastity, thinking how great it must be for her to get to be on TV and have cool parents like Sonny & Cher.  So one Sunday, while the s...

When most people think of tap dancing, they think of that adorable moppet Shirley Temple dancing to the tune of the "Good Ship Lollypop". As a child I had a speech impediment where I pronounced the L's as W's.  Lollypop in my world was Wowwypop, until I graduated from the speech therapy class at Starbuck elementary. I was in that class much longer than I needed to be because I enjoyed it and thought the teacher was nice, so I feigned having the problem as long as I could. Becoming a tap dancer was not my idea.  It was my mother's.  This was a solution to a problem.  I had become a voracious eater around the age of 8.  While I was proud of myself as I kept increasing in size, thinking it made me a big girl, I was actually becoming a BIG girl.  I was soon going to go beyond the size 16 Pretty Plus Toughskins from the Sears children's department and go into adult sizes.  My pediatrician told her no more pizza and chocolate cake. I cried.  My mom didn...

  800 years in the making.  The 2020 Great Conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon.  A cosmic spectacle, they say.  I can't even remember what day it is or if I took my pills, so I add this event to my Google calendar, which manages my life these days. The day has arrived.  December 21, winter solstice.  The shortest day of the year, and as expected, my Google assistant reminds me to check the skies.  Several times I check the back yard, standing out in the snow without my coat and accompanied by my dogs, who wonder what I'm looking for.  They don't see any rabbits in the yard, I don't see any stars, so we all go back inside. My half-glass full husband sweetly offers to drive me somewhere that it's not cloudy.  Seems reasonable.  I check with my Facebook friends in New York to see if anyone else can see the blessed event.  Nada. Then I Google (there's that company again) "Syracuse NY and Great Conjunction" and find this doom and...

Unless you have been living under a rock, you have heard of the Hallmark Christmas Movie Drinking Game .   We chose to play the version created by People magazine. The movie: Christmas at Dollywood starring Danica McKellar (Winnie Cooper from the Wonder Years!)and Niall Matter. The plot : A New York City event planner travels home to Tennessee for the holidays and ends up working on the thirtieth anniversary Christmas event at Dollywood alongside the theme park's Director of Operations. The drink: Coquito , which is a Puerto Rican version of eggnogg.   Unlike the Food Network recipe, ours was more boozy and called for 1-1/2 cups of white rum. Even the dogs wanted to play along! Here is why we had to drink.  A sip each time one of the following happened: The camera panned over New York City The main character worked as a corporate business woman. The leading lady is heading to a small town on assignment during the holidays.  Two more sips because Pigeon For...

 My Amazon Alexa device has made my life more fun and easier in many ways.  She is also a source of endless frustration, which I sometimes wonder if it is on purpose. I like being able to add to my grocery list as I run out of items.  If only she understood me all the time.  I was planning on making collard greens so I needed a ham hock.   "Alexa, add to shopping list" "Sure.  What can I add." "Ham Hock" "I'm Hawk added.  Anything else?" "Broccoli" "Rockleigh added.  Anything else?" "Mozzarella Cheese" "How's The Rella Cheese added.  Anything else?" (Sigh)  "Nothing." I was able to use Alexa to find my phone.  She used to say, "Calling Roo" and my phone would ring and I could find it.  Somehow she forgot how to do this so I assumed that I had to add a new skill to find my phone. I started by saying, "Alexa, find my phone." She asked for the phone number.  Good start. No...

Jenga is a great metaphor for the year 2020.  According to Wikipedia, Jenga  is a  game of physical skill  created by British board game designer and author  Leslie Scott , and currently marketed by  Hasbro . Players take turns removing one block at a time from a tower constructed of 54 blocks. Each block removed is then placed on top of the tower, creating a progressively more unstable structure. Like most people, my husband Dave and I are not getting out much during the pandemic, so it seems our weekly grocery shopping has become one of our only forms of entertainment.  It also feels like security to have a freezer full of food. If we are unable to get out, we have at least a month's worth of food to keep us going.  The only time this could backfire is if we a) lose power or b) receive a gift of food or c) have left overs.   Today we received a very generous gift from my mother-in-law.  A box from Omaha Steaks.  Filet mignon,...