Not supposed to have favorites but..,

I had a great Christmas! The family! Kids, grandchildren, the tree, a fire in the fireplace, the food, but THE PRESENTS! I got the best presents this year for some reason! I guess either I have been especially good or they felt guilty for what they gave me last year. I was showered with beautiful things that I love. But the mother lode, my favorite, I have to admit is MY NEW KINDLE! It is such a cool little toy. I hope eventually it will become an important tool in my reading. Right now I just want to buy books. It is very cool and I want to stroke it like a mink coat (I oppose fur) but it feels so smooth to the touch and it is as thin as a - thinner than the pencil they compare it to in the advertising and, well I'll have to pass it around at the next meeting. What a fun toy, I mean tool, yes, tool for me and all the reading I have to do. I love books and their covers and the feel of them and all of the arguments you hear regarding ebooks but the fact that I have a dozen of books on this right now and I can carry it in my purse is amazing. AND it syncs with the kindle on my iPhone and I didn't even know it would do that - it just happened! I give it a thumbs up! My other favorite gift? My LBC bookmarks - you'll see those soon too! I am still playing with all my toys. I must have been a good girl or I just got lucky, probably the later, either way - Thanks family and friends!

"This is what evil looks like"

A day after Christmas trip to Houston to see the Princess and a New Years Eve trip to New Orleans. Sounds fun, huh? A $260 dollar flight cancelled the night before because "I just don't feel right about it". Halt the packing! Christmas gifts will be returned. The party is over. Great timing girlfriend, you are on my list now and Karma of a certain kind comes round to those that screw with it. That's all I want to say about this now except for I should have left you at Chubbies and you could have hitched your own ride to the airport, you wench!

Take down the lights, it's over for another year....

Another Christmas has come and gone. All that's left is the after Christmas sales, the remaining company, the holiday for some that had to be delayed and for me the gift I can't seem to find for my daughter than was exceptionally special. Where is it? I've done the whole retracing my steps routine but.., yesterday after all the opening of presents, I asked her, well? and she replied, yes? I said, you didn't get it? and she said , no... and I said, I did! Where is it! Worse has happened on Christmas Day I'm sure and it will turn up... since this is turning in to a material girls post I may as well say, I got the best presents! And you will see them soon. I LOVE them, they are high gloss and have our logo and byline and everyone will want one - if only they had my picture on it....how cute would they be then? AND...The best part, thank you everyone for rooting for me...I got my Kindle! It is a very fun gadget right now and I hope to make it a very useful tool soon! But seriously the thing on my mind is getting life back to normal. That is usually what I like to do after Christmas. I love it and everything, but I like order and routine and I want to see things back the way I'm used to them, and Book Club is one Big thing that I like having in apple pie order and it has been a fruitcake mess since the beginning of December. Now I enjoyed the Open House- don't get me wrong, but it did shuffle us up a bit and now I'm trying to get us back on an even keel and you all as well. Rumors are flying about Panera Bread being a preferred venue and I like the heart and soul of Borders Books and we will need to deal with that I suppose. So the holidays ruffled feathers in many ways that are best left alone. But we deal with it. Because we can, being so bright and beautiful and all, kind of like Christmas. See you all soon!

Hail Mary full of grace, help me find a parking place..."

Oy, what an airport run it was! The weather was snowy, single digit temperatures, worry about flight delays or even cancellations. The Passenger had to be picked up in Estes Park first as if things weren't bad enough. So a phone call to the cabin where the guest, we'll call her "Princess", was staying to inform an earlier pick-up time due to the weather, was the first order of business. Things were off to a bad start on the Longmont end, arguments with the Bob about should the Princesses Host, my son John, ride along requiring another trip back to Estes Park, and in his opinion risking harm to more individuals than necessary in inclement weather. Pish Posh I said, he is a hardy mountain boy I would want along if I was in trouble! Oh what a morning! But this was the least of it. Arriving at the cabin - no one was there? No one was packed for a trip home either. A phone call found Princess to be downtown buying Christmas ornaments. What the ? There's a blizzard raging and we need to leave, we even called ahead to say we were leaving an hour earlier. That hour would even give you time to clean up this mess you made of the place one would think. Moving along.... Returning to cabin, packed, we're on the road and even in Boulder County when Princess in the sweetest way possible asks "can we go to Downtown Denver to Chubbies and get Mexican food to take to my Mom?". Smiling and withholding laughter as best as I can, I say,"You want to take Mexican food to your Mom?". "Yes, I always do." On the airplane?" I respond. "Yes, it's our favorite, you can't get good Mexican food in Houston , well there's this one place, like, it's ya know, Tex-Mex, not really authentic....blah blah blah.."

Well, suffice it to say, my now very accommodating and sweet husband, took the Princess to "Chubbies" - getting off the toll road, through bad weather and closed roads we arrived at DIA with, the Princess , $64 in Mexican food, and our good manners in tact for a 4:55 flight at 4:25. She even got to kiss my son goodbye. I averted my eyes. Sometimes I've just had enough of a good time.

"That's the Spirit!"

The Longmont Book Club(s) had a lovely Holiday Open House. I'll say that even though it was at my house. I can say that because the people that came made it so lovely and special. The group of people belonging to that book club are really top notch! I can't imagine if I was to go out and pluck 40 people off the street they would be as entertaining and as intelligent and creative thinking, and fun! But they must be! This is a random group to some extent, right? Or is the LBC like a people magnet drawing only the best, the brightest and the beautiful as I always say? You know I think you guys think I say these things to be funny but I'm on to something... To the Best the brightest and the beautiful! Cheers!

"I Feel A Nap Coming On"

It's the night before the night before the Holiday Open House and I find myself in my usual state of complete immobilization and inability to do anything or decide even if I need to. I have made lists and checked them twice but it's not the menu or the need to vacuum that throws me into catatonia. It's the weirdness that revolves around me. An example. My spousal equivalent, we'll call him my husband, let's go ahead and call him Bob. Bob reminded me that "the cabin" would not be available this weekend for him to make his escape while I spent my time with my Book Club homies. We made the rare exception and let my son's out of town friend use it. I've known this for a long time and still I was shocked to remember it the other day. OMG! What am I going to do with Bob and Petal?! So we're making arrangements for getting Petal out from underfoot and Bob's brilliant idea was "I'll go to the basement and nap.". So what am I to tell my Book Club friends if we should wander down there and find him sleeping...oh, here is my 65 year old husband sleeping with his nap blanket." This will not do. No. He can squirrel himself away at some point I thought, but I'm not going to have a sleeping man in the basement when guests arrive. How weird is that? I don't make explanations and I'm not starting now. I just now decided that. He can go to a sports bar and watch the Basketball game or he can watch it in the basement and make me have to explain that he is ... what? Shy? Weird? Socially retarded? I do not need that issue to deal with on Open House day. WWOD? What Would Oprah Do? She would send him packin' to a sports bar or give a Christmas list and tell him to get busy or OMG he could actually stick around and mingle and no one would mind. Most women are better at this than most men I have noticed. We are willows, we can bend. I don't remember a time recently when I took my blankie and hid in the basement but I guess if anyone is keeping score I might be one up here soon.....

'Blue For Black Friday"

There is nothing like a Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving. Or Christmas. And every year I keep trying to have one. I come very close to perfection with the kids, the grandkids, the food is great, and here we sit in a cozy cabin in Estes Park. What more could you ask for? After writing about missing Thanksgiving especially. Well I will tell you what I want now --- there is always something out there I want - Black Friday! I have never been "home" or available for retail on Black Friday and dang, I'm itchin' to snag some bargains! To even sneak some of those low priced goodies for myself. To read my favorite "book" that comes out tomorrow - the Target ad! Many times I've not even been close to a newspaper. I feel what it must be like to quit smoking or worse! I need to see those circulars! What am I missing? I'll let you in on a secret. The rush to Christmas that I whined about being such a terrible thing, did kick start my shopping early and I'm almost done. I want more! I want to be standing in line at 4AM at Kohls for something I don't even know what it is yet! My daughter and I could make a list, a road map of sorts, where to go, in what order, who opens first and where's the best stuff? Maybe she should get in one line and I in another? This could be a Christmas miracle for me. I was able to do it with out missing Thanksgiving. So maybe this early start isn't so bad. I did finally see the generic Thanksgiving commercial. Now Christmas will come and I'll be ready, and I imagine I'll do it all without getting involved with Black Friday. I'll turn my attention to something else. I can focus on the once a year, not to be missed Holiday Open House for the Best, the Brightest, and the Beautiful. Our Book Club members. I'll be shootin' for a Norman Rockwell Open House, did he paint one of those?

"Missing Thanksgiving!"

I covered Halloween, but this is serious. Where is Thanksgiving this year? This is the first time I've ever noticed it's complete disappearance. I haven't seen a single commercial for a Butterball Turkey. The Rockwell family gathered around and those boys fighting over the last crescent roll. We truly did jump straight from Halloween to Christmas with nary a gobble. Now there are some things I like about it, I have to admit. I fell into their trap. It's hypnotized me into a state of thinking I need to shop. So I've already started my Christmas shopping - early. But when I walked into Target a week ago and they had snowflakes plastered on their windows and Merry Christmas written on them I was thinking " Shame on you!". I could hop on the Merry-Go-Round and go for the Christmas ring and make Thanksgiving a glitch in the week, but something won't let me. I like Thanksgiving. For one thing it gives me a trial run at the turkey again. But I like the family around without the fuss and gimme presents that goes with Christmas. Fortunately my kids have outgrown that gimme stage. But I put a lot of pressure on myself to have the perfect Dickens Christmas. It's a lot of work but I don't want to change anything. Thanksgiving really does make me feel thankful for my family and for making it through another year and taking stock that life is pretty good. I need that right before the Christmas race starts, I think we all do. So come on Network Television, put that Butterball turkey ad on and those boys fighting over that last Pillsbury crescent roll (relax, we know mom has more in the kitchen!) and let us make that grocery list and plan a time with our people. Then we can race to the finish line for the perfect Christmas, the tree, trimmings, meal, gifts, and most of all some time with the people you care about that you just saw a month ago.

"A 5 Star Day"

First I must say we had a great meeting on Saturday! What a great group of people to spend time with and I consider myself lucky to get to do so! A good book discussion, Two mini "Happy Birthday party's for Nan and Maxine with a fun lunch at Oskar Blues. I give Oskar Blues ...... how many stars shall I give Oskar Blues? I was facing the wall. Like four feet from it......., not their fault, I think the atmosphere was fun, I heard laughter coming from outside our table. I'll give them five stars for atmosphere. The wall in front of me was pleasant enough to look at. But it was still a wall, so let's sit on that a minute. The menu was fun bar food and what I ordered was yummy. But I ordered a Turkey Roll-Up, it was good but I wouldn't have ordered it if there had been what I consider to be a good salad on the menu. Oddball salad menu, I'm not hard to please in that department. Don't get the wrong idea! They probably had salads you might like! So do I give them + stars for the Turkey Roll-Up or - stars for the sub par salad menu? So, where are we? We started with 5, minus oh, half a star (I'll be nice) for staring at the wall. Not everyone can face the direction they want to. Subtract a whole star for the lacking salad selection - that's fair I think. Service was a bit slow but they just opened, have a new wait staff, it was the busy lunch hour, all the excuses, I mean reasons. We're now at 3.5 stars. But wait! I had a great time! I really liked what I had to eat, I enjoyed the whole experience although I'm sure it was enhanced completely by my dining companions. So what's with the star system? We have it in the book club. I even pay attention to it and get all happy and excited when things are running straight fives for a day after the meeting. Then maybe someone will rate the meeting and the rating dips to an OMG 4.86! What did I do wrong! Did I let the meeting run amok? Was there inadequate lighting? Was a member unruly and I didn't rule? How did I lose those .14 points? I want them back! I want a perfect meeting! I want to know who, I want to know what, I want to know where did I go wrong? It's frightening and just plain unhealthy. So I spank my inner brat and tell myself that Oskar Blues can have a line of people waiting to get in , waiting to order a sub par salad and face the wall while eating it and it's the hottest spot in town. They do this with out being a perfect 5. The LBC meetings may never get a perfect 5, I think the book club has never gotten a mark as lowly as a 3.5 (how humiliating, I'd shut it down!) so according to my math and maybe even Gerty's, that makes us the hottest thing in town! So I forgot for a minute ..... I'm all better now.

"Sneaking Around"

I have a person in my life. Her name is Tal. She is from Israel. She is cute, I enjoy her accent and speech patterns and tend to imitate them when we are together, twice a week. I tend to imitate any accent I hear, I get a huge kick out of that but perhaps the person with the accent doesn't, HHhmmm, note to self...., consider this. Well Tal, has gotten a little high and mighty. I made an appointment with Gerty (member in good standing) to discuss important book club business, over lunch at one o'clock. Now Gerty, if you don't know this, is a Mathematician of the highest order. And if you don't know this, it has gotten to the point that we need a mathematician of the highest order to figure out who gets a turn in book club picking out a book. There are only twelve picks a year. I want new members to get a chance, but longtime (members in good standing) haven't had a chance in over a year! What is fair? So I gave Gerty a list of all members, told her how I was working in the new people and gave her time to study this. I was pleased she agreed it was a difficult issue. This is where Tal comes is. She is a whip-cracking ball buster who makes me do athletic things I'd rather not. When I emailed her and told her I had confused my appointments and needed to reschedule, (Of course I didn't tell her it was lunch with Gerty (member in good standing)! She had the nerve to tell me no! I was to be there at one o'clock sharp! Now very few people get away with telling me no. In fact I can't think of anyone at the moment. Least of all Tal! But she has got me! I can't tell her I'm sick now! I don't want to spend a tortuous hour with her and be a brat! That vile woman! The choices I have to make are almost to much to bear! Book Club chat lunch with Gerty (member in good standing) or beaten by Tal for an hour! Life is so unfair and why do all the worst things happen to me (sarcasm)? Tal is mean and I hate her! I think I'll barf on her Nikes! I am going to pout my way through that hour and she will rue the day she said "no" to Julie Masterson! Unless I can come up with something before one o'clock....... anyone? anyone? Email me quickly @ jmasterson7@yahoo.com

"That's a Darth Moll in the background in case you were wondering..."

"My Shy Superman!"

What has happened to Halloween? I do all the things I'm supposed to do. I spend way to much time trying to decide what kind of candy the little kids will want this year. Will I have good candy? What will they think of my candy? I put it in a festive dish buy the front door. I leave on my porch light. My two favorite trick or treaters come by early - Maddox and Nate. Who/what is a "Darth Moll"? A Star Wars guy? That was one, and good old standard Superman was the other. And I hate to say this..., that was it. Two. As in 2. 1 + 1. Other than my two blood relative Grandsons, I was SHUT OUT! What if, I was thinking, it's assumed that me and my surrounding neighbors are considered old and the kids don't bother with us? They all think I went to bed at 8:30? Living in a Town house area surrounded by houses with young families, we are the older folks. We are mostly couples, no kids. That is a logical assumption, but I'm not going down that road today. Or tomorrow either. I'll take the two I had over the whole neighborhood. What more could you ask for than your own Darth Moll and Superman?