Tues. Nov. 19, 2013

Not much to report on today. My day started out like any other day.... just the normal stuff.

I had 'The Price Is Right' on the TV this morning while I read my emails. I like to play along to see if I can guess the prices. But since I don't live in California, I'm always a little low on my prices. I watched a young man win an $87,000 Ferrari convertible. At the same time, Hubby was watching a muscle car auction in the living room and they sold a beautiful '57 Chevy convertible for $80,000. We both agreed, if money were no object, we'd rather have the Chevy. It's always fun to dream. Which would you rather have?

Here's a word to add to your vocabulary: "Selfie (noun)" .... Oxford dictionary announced yesterday the new word of the year. BBC News said: "The word has evolved from a niche social media tag into a mainstream term for a self-portrait photograph. Research suggested its frequency in the English language had increased by 17,000% in the last year." How many pictures have you seen of a teen-age girl and her friends taking a 'selfie' with their cell phone? Another word that was a contender was "twerk" - a raunchy dance move performed by Miley Cyrus. Well, I may do a selfie, but I refuse to twerk! (I feel like I'm speaking a foreign language!)

I put in an hour of practice after lunch. Then later I connected with my teacher. Julie is so encouraging and I think I'll be able to handle those 8th notes afterall. :)

After supper Bob and I went to the funeral home. Before we moved back to our home town in 1992, we lived in a small town 10 miles east of here called Middle Point. We lived there 18 years. During that time, Bob was the mayor for one term and he was on the fire department 12 years as a fireman and an EMT, until we moved. It was a small volunteer unit, but as in all fire departments they become a close-knit group of some of the nicest guys I've ever known. One of those fellow firemen died this past weekend, Max "Snowball" Friesner. He was such a dear man... always had a smile for you and could make me laugh. I'm not sure how many years he was on the department, but at the funeral home tonight, it was amazing. I've never seen so many uniforms in one place. I wanted to take pictures, but I thought that would have been inappropriate.

We stood in line 45 min., waiting to get up to talk to his wife Marsha. During that whole time, we watched as groups of firemen came through the door, each one representing a different department from all over the area, some even from across the sate line into Indiana. It gave me chills. But it wasn't until we got to the front of the line and I saw Snowball's bunker coat and helmet next to his coffin that I choked up. I can remember so many runs Bob went on with Snowball and the others, and how many nights us wives worried about our men getting hurt. One winter they had a big house fire during a snow storm and the temperature was almost sub-zero. The water was freezing as soon as it came out of the hoses. Us gals went up to the station to get the big pots of coffee going and made sandwiches. When they got back, their bunker coats and pants were frozen stiff and stood up on their own. As usual we were all thankful every one was ok. Bob has so many good memories from his time serving with Snowball and the other guys. Now there's not many of them left.

Until next time........