Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Happy New Year's Eve! Contest!It's nearly 1 p.m. here in the Ozarks. I have no idea what I'm gonna do for the ticking down of the year tonight. I'm afraid I'm remarkably predictable on the "falling asleep early" thing.
My husband and I talked at his break and he asked me what I had planned for tonight. I let out one of those gasping laughs. I mean, really...I'd like to have something whiz-bang up my sleeve, but invariably, it will be the one night I fall asleep early without a sleeping pill. I have no control over that...unless I'm out listening to a live band or something.
But the night life in our area, uh, kinda sucks. We live next to Branson. It's a town famed for its g-rated entertainment. Wayne whatshisface (Newton) came from Vegas, started a show, and they sent him packing. Told him to cover his show girls or take it back to the strip...which he did pretty quickly.
So, what's offered here? We got us a Baldknobbers show. It's out by 10. There's a band called Big Smith, not too bad, if you like jazz and horns. (I do. I like everything but mariachi and screaming guitars.)
I really want the warped tour to do a show here on New Years. I could stay up for that.
What sort of music do you like best? (Remember, responding by posting just about anything on this blog gets you entered into the next drawing or two.)
For years, I would fall asleep listening to Dick Clark's countdown at Time Square, and wake up to my husband's sweet lips kissing me, like Prince Charming leaning over Sleeping Beauty. It was very romantic, and dreamy (from my viewpoint, anyway.)
I remember when I was a little girl, my mom went to bed early and my dad stayed up with us older kids. He taught us the silliest thing ever, I think. He convinced us that it was an old American tradition to take a spoon and beat a metal pan out the door, so others in your neighborhood knew you were ringing in the new year.
Year after year, my older brother and I carried on this stupid tradition. One year, right before midnight, we were ready and set with pans and spoons in hand and I said, "You ever think about the fact that Dad was raised on a farm and never had neighbors close enough to hear him beating on pans?"
He chuckled and said, "Yeah. And notice no one EVER beats on pans besides us?"
We felt pretty ridiculous, knowing we'd been had. Not once or twice, but several years in a row. It was just about that time that Dick Clark (always Dick Clark!) did the countdown and, while we were standing there staring at each other over the whole thing, lo and behold, some other poor sucker beat a pot with a spoon as hard as they could, yelling "Happy New Year!" as we had done for the last few years.
With glee and giggling, we started hitting our pans with gusto, yelling louder than ever before.
Dad, who was getting too old to stay up, I guess, was sent to hush us up. By mom, obviously.
He came out of the bedroom and said, "I thought you kids would have figured out my joke by now."
But the funniest thing was his expression when we stopped beating the pans and he could hear our neighbor really "ringing it up."
We all laughed.
The next school day, I mentioned to my brother that I'd told people all over school that it was a HOOSIER tradition and that we were probably the only ones still doing it. Just us and one other person in our whole neighborhood had true hoosier spirit. (I was born and raised in Indiana.)
The next year, I swear, there were a lot more than two or three of us ringing in the new year poor boy style.
Now, I have carried the tradition on with my kids but they came to a point where they, too, realized I was putting them on. And that it was a bad joke straight from their silly grandpa. He's a total "Inspector Clusoe type of humor" guy.
His idea of a joke is..."You hear about the serial killer? They caught him." (pause) "He was easy to recognize. Had a Cheerios box on his head and a spoon in his hand."
Yeah. That's what I grew up with.
So, when my daughter Cheyenne told me the joke, "What's brown and sticky?"
The answer being "A stick. DUH."
I laughed and laughed.
I was warped by my dad. What can I say?
Anyhow, I think I'm thinking about him because his birthday's coming up, January 2nd. And he actually called me for Christmas to tell me he loved me. And before he hung up, he mentioned that he figured he had to get going so he could call the rest of the kids. Which means he called me first.
It's silly to let that cheer me up, and make me smiley, but hey...we get what we can out of whatever is offered. Right?
Okay, so back to the other story. My dad taught me the pan beating thing. Some things you're taught never seem to slip out of your memory. I'll probably be senile and alzheimered out one day, but remember I should be beating on a pan with a spoon in the middle of the night...for some reason that will elude me completely.
Anyhow, as you know, I have four girls. They set me straight one year when I tried to get them to sit like roosting hens in a neat little row, ready by the door with their pots and spoons.
"Uh uh," the oldest (smart aleckiest one) said. "The real tradition is kissing someone when it turns midnight. Dad does it all the time. This pot and spoon business is just your way to keep us from going out on New Year's or watching the action...which we think is almost creepy when you two do it, by the way."
I had my defense.
"It's a scary night to be out. Crazy drunks are everywhere. You're lucky this is all we do."
I still believe it's better to beat a pot and pan and look silly out your back door than be out in the melee.
I once spent New Year's Eve on Fremont Street in Las Vegas before they put the Fremont Experience overhead light deal up. I remember standing under the canopy of the Gold Nugget with the rest of the crowd surging forward to watch fireworks overhead.
Some dumb nut brainless wonder threw his damned beer bottle over us. Just slung the thing. It flew in slow motion, spewing shook up beer in a shower, and I swear...it came down with a clunk and a bunch of us squealing versions of "Look out!"
A woman was hit in the head. Next, blood spewed everywhere. Nothing bleeds like a head wound, except a main artery.
We decided to get out of the crowd and head to our car. My husband always chooses to beat the crowd to the cars or sit them out and be the last one to leave the parking lot. On this night, he was hiking fast. Traffic had been blocked off for several city blocks and we went hot footing it to the car--in time to see a couple guys taking swings at each other. Drunken, loud mouth taunting stuff...it was silly foolish. Swaggering like John Waynes, throwing out "I'm gonna kill yous," before it was a felony anger management charge.
Cops were circling but not interfering, since they had those scary beer bottles in hand. New Year's in Vegas used to allow booze carrying down the street WITHOUT a bag. I dunno what you can get away with there now. Anybody know?
Now, I'm not saying people shouldn't enjoy a New Year's night out, or have a bit of bubbly (or another favorite beverage) to help the evening seem a little rosier. BUT, I say watch out for yourself. Be responsible. Get a designated driver, if you're under the influence and need to get from one point to another. Call a taxi. Call a church. Pull out your cell and dial a non drinker. A lot of places do the "free ride home" thing for the inebriated on holidays like this.
Just don't put your own life, or someone else's in danger. I don't have enough fans, friends, family, or flyby readers to lose one of you for something like dui.
Did I mention that 90% of all fatalities in Missouri come from people crossing the center line? THIS is not the night for people in Missouri to press their luck.
And no. I haven't taken up preaching, what with the political rants of this last week and this DUI discussion, I'm sure you're wondering. I'll get over all of it when the holidays pass. Seriously, I only handle a couple of options during the holidays--get depressed and think about alternatives to living, or bother the people I care about over issues they don't really want to hear me talk on. Sorry. It's this or talking about depression, shelters for abused women, separation, divorce, and the damned four letter word we all hate-- DIET.
I'm more interested in you being around to enjoy the gift certificate I'm going to pull this evening, or the one I'm going to draw tomorrow.
Just chip in a HI, or a "Hey, what's up?" Or a real comment to something I've rambled about here. Anything will get you into the drawing. Feel free to email me with your choice of where you'd like your gift certificate to be from. Must be something that is online and easy for me to send you an e-gift certificate, so you can order from the convenience of your home. I'm not making anybody go out for this win!
And one last question, if you had to pick the perfect song besides Auld Lang Syne to ring the New Year in with, what would it be? And if you were gonna be kissing somebody, who would it be?
I'm going traditional. I'd pick my husband, Tony, and play our song (which he picked after years of me saying, "Can't you think of one song that is perfect for us?)...which is Alison Krauss's When You Say Nothing At All.
Labels: allison Krauss, auld lang syne, celebrating, certificate, contest, dui, gift, New Year's Eve, when you say nothing at all, win
4 Comments:
I love the oldies from the 50's,60's and 70's. But I found a new group, I guess they aren't new. IL Divo, they are 4 men from 4 different countries. They are opera singes. Here is a link to a utube video. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YtrnB4FZ-yc&feature=related. They are singing Amazing Grace.And it is amazing. Makes you want to cry..
I like Michael Bolton, Barry Manilow, Kenny G and Air Supply.
I know Kay loves the Eagles.
I can't think of any song for New Year's Eve.
An old neighbor used to bang pans at New Year's Eve and we hated it.. We were asleep. So you and your family are in the same league with her. We didn't like her so much. She was a very nosy lady..UPS delivered one of our packages to her by mistake..She opened it, It was some french condoms and other sex toys from Adam and Eve's.. I hope she got her eyes full. She also would go out and start scooping snow as soon as it starting falling.. We had gotten several inches and David went out to clean the driveway. She came out and said it is about time. DAvid put down the shovel and never cleaned the driveway again.
Have a good night and I will be kissing my husband. He is the very BEST.
Carys, it's great that you have traditions for the New year no matter how crazy your daughters think they are now. Because at least your girls will remember them and have stories to tell later in life. Our family had no traditions and I have no memory of New Years as a child.
Good luck keeping the girls in on New Year's Eve, it sounds like you're in for a fight with each passing year. Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year's Eve celebration!
P.S. I'll sent you an e-mail so you know where to send the GC to me. Thanks again!
I love the Eagles. Always have.
I won an Il Divo cd in a basket at RT a couple of years ago. I had never heard of them until then.
As for your neighbor, I had to laugh. I'm assuming she brought your sex toys over after she got done making mental notes?
Dare I ask...was your New Year's Eve kiss...great?
I always say, "Survived another year. Hope the next one will be better." Always doing the neverending resolutions, you know.
And, Sue...it IS good to have traditions and memories that make you laugh, or roll your eyes and wince, maybe. Since I was raised with two sisters and two brothers, I had way too many of the latter. Do you have brothers and sisters?
Brenda? Kay? Vickie? Regina? Do you have sisters or brothers?
Did the rest of you get great NYE kisses?
By 
CarysWeldonblog, at
8:24 AM
The Kiss was great, they always are. It's hard to believe it will be 39 years this May. It seems like yesterday.
I have 2 1/2 brothers and one sister.. Yes, I know 1/2 brother, my mother was married before my Dad married her.. And the 1/2 brother and his three sons could be on the Jerry Springer Show..
Yes, my neighbor returned the package and everything was there.. We got her back..When we sold our house to move to where we are now, we used a different real estate person than her husband.. He had his sign in front of his house and we had a different real estate sign.. He removed it soon after we had our sign put up. He was a very nice man. I know we are terrible.. But I am a change person now. HAHA!!!!!
We are still babysitting the grandkids. David is ready to past the torch.The kids will be back in school next week.. Hurray!!! I love them but 12 hours a day for 3 full days.Need a break. I am trying to work on computers also.
Well back to work.
The title of your new books sounds great, "smooch".
Oh, I found your book, plan on reading it this weekend. It wasn't in the trailer but in my bookcase of to be read books in the basement. Thanks to Kay and Rt I have a to be read bookcase full of books. Never had that problem before Kay came into my life.. She is such a good friend. I thank God for the good friends I have in my life now.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Post on this blog and WIN a gift certificate! Contest winners announcedI pulled a name on Christmas Eve, as I promised. Sue A. won that. I pulled a second name on Christmas Day, and Brenda won that. So, girls, tell me where you'd like your gift certificate. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, at one of my publisher houses? Any place I can purchase online, so you can be sent an e-gift certificate. That makes the giving and using easier for all of us.
I probably won't send them until after I pull the New Year's Eve and New Year's Day names, too.
So, anyone who wants to be in THOSE drawings, please make a comment on this blog between now and the end of New Year's Day. I will be doing another drawing on February 14th (Valentine's Day!!!)
I see from the lack of responses that politics don't really stir the readers into commenting a lot. Thanks to those who did, though.
NEW QUESTION:
What's your favorite tv show and why?
I really enjoy NCIS. I've always been a Mark Harmon fan.
I also love Chuck.
I hate it when the seasons end.
One thing that never seems to end are the wedding shows. Bridezilla enthralls me for some ugly reason. I just can't imagine people putting up with so much crap. I mean, some of them, I can see why the brides are hard to deal with. But most of the time, I think...how on earth can a woman get away with treating people like they are all peons?
I think we should show respect to all individuals, even if we think they are doing some job we would never personally want to do.
Every time I go to a gas station at 5 a.m., I walk out and send up a prayer of thanks for the person who works behind the counter when most of us don't even want to be out of bed. There are so many people who do jobs that are hard, or that some would consider demeaning, that just need to be appreciated more.
Think about the janitor at a hospital or school. Any janitor. I hate to clean the toilet and bathroom at my own house, let alone after a never ending stream of people. I am continually horrified by the things people do in public bathrooms.
Nothing ticks me off more than walking into a stall and finding out that somebody peed on the toilet seat and didn't have the decency to wipe it off. I mean, geez, you don't want to sit on it, obviously---but making it even worse for the next person? I send up curses on the women who do that. How hard is it to glance at the seat and wipe off something you've put on it?
Or FLUSH?
Or, for men, to put the seat down? Fall in a toilet with the seat up ONCE in the middle of the night and you'll get anal about it.
The word anal brings me to a billboard (hoax picture probably) that I recently saw. It was an ad for KY jelly that said "We can't think of another use for it either." I saw it days ago and I'm still grinning when I think about it.
SECOND QUESTION:
What uses can you think of for KY jelly? ANYTHING besides sexual lubrication?
Labels: anal, certificate, contest, favorite, gift, jelly, ky, lubrication, sex, show, tv, win
6 Comments:
I hope that your Christmas was Merry..It was a very nice Christmas here.
MY favorite Tv shows are Clean House and CSI. It is hard to decide which one is my favorite.
Clean house is a program where the show goes to a really terrible messy house..You would not believe these houses and you wonder how these people could live like this.. But My mother is one of those people. She keeps buying stuff and never throwing anything away.She stills has my baby clothes and my brothers and sister's, I am 57..Anyway these people have to give up things and they have a huge garage sale and they are given $1000 also.It is amazing to watch what most people don't want to give up.Dumb stuff. But they must.. The show comes in cleans and buys some new furniture, paints.It is wonderful to see the results and the faces on the people. Most are crying they are so happy. They had one show the messiest house of the year. That was really bad not only cluttered but dirty also. They went back to this house in a yeat and they were already starting to mess it up again..
CSI the orginal one is the best. DAvid and I love to try and figure out who is the killer. I will miss Gil, the main man is leaving soon.
About KY Jelly, I can't think of any other uses.
About the poor people who do jobs I wouldn't like to do. I do respect them and the jobs they do. I agree about the cleaning toilets, I hate doing that except when we were cleaning them this summer in the campground.It was fun then..Go figure.....
I would like an amazon gift certificate. I don't post to win only to be able to talk to you thru the blog. We love you so much. And you have really changed my life for the better. I don't think you realize how much you have done for me as well as my family. Because if I have a better outlook and feel better about my life and self then they feel that also.. So Thanks again for your help.
I could talk about politics forever, but WTF! LOL It's the holidays, forgive and forget for a while. Like you I love, love, love Mark Harmon and have since Summer School and his ratty old dog, LOL! And my husband who hates anything with commercials says the only things I watch are cop shows where they are killing someone, finding out who killed someone or something like that! ; ))Anything with CSI in it as well as the new show Life. And I do miss Saving Grace, she was bad to the bone and didn't care and Supernatural, those guys are Hawt!!! Good thing I have DVR and I still don't have time to watch them all unless I stay up half the night, cuts into my reading time, LMAO
By 
, at
10:56 AM
Carys thank you so much! And congratulations to Brenda too (well deserved)!
I"m not sure if you wanted me to post my pick here or not, but here goes.
I choose: AMAZON.COM
Carys,
Wishing you and yours a healthy, prosperous and Happy New Year!
I have a lot of old favorite TV shows like LOST, CSI, HOUSE, NCIS ...
But I also have a new favorite in FRINGE!
I googled the KY jelly and found this.
Source:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/781139/7_alternate_uses_for_ky_jelly_you_probably.html?cat=7
1. Make Fake Glowing, Green Blood
1987 sci-fi movie titled "Predator", the Predator "bleed" glowing, green blood - the liquid from a Glow Stick was mixed together with K-Y Jelly
2. Remove Tight or Stuck-On Rings
Use to remove tight or stuck-on rings from your fingers.
3. Lubricate Sticky Zippers
Dab onto sticky zipper on an article of clothing, on a sleeping bag, or even on your purse?.
4. Loosen Sticky Price Tags and Product Labels
Cover the tag or label with a light layer of the lubricant and let it set for a few minutes. Then, peel it right off!
5. Untangle Knotted Jewelry Chains
Dab on to loosens up knot and you can pull the knot apart.
6. Lubricate a Fishing Rod Reel
Applying a light oil like K-Y Jelly to the working inner parts. K-Y Jelly won't damage plastic or nylon gears, and other parts too.
7. Shine Your Patent Leather
If you need a shine in a hurry, K-Y Jelly can come to your rescue. A dab of K-Y Jelly and a soft cloth can clean and shine your shoes, bags and belts, et cetera, in no time at all!
Okay I won't ever be using tip 1, but tip 3 & 4 would come in handy for me.
Hi,
I just want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. We will be babysitting tonight.
We both went to the Dr yesterday for a check up.. The Dr is changing my choesteral sp medicine.. She also wants me to exercise. Right. Really I am going to try to ride my bike in the new year. I lost 3.6 pounds, for the past 2 weeks. So I have lost 9.4. in 3 weeks. I know that from now on they will be smaller losses. I do feel better, I hope that I remember this feeling.I might have lost more if Becki hadn't brought sugar cookies and David's mom hadn't brought homemade candy. I love sugar cookies and Pepsi's. And I haven't had a Pepsi in 3 weeks.
Enjoy the night, I will be asleep before midnight.......
For those who won in the Christmas Eve and Christmas day drawings, email me with the email address I can send the gift certificate to, so I am sure to have your most current address. You can email to JENNtheRICHwriter@centurytel.net. I'm not sure if the Carys@carysweldon.com is clogged up again or not.
Special thanks to Sue for posting those alternative uses for KY. LOL They all make sense, but I never would've thought of 'em. Thanks.
And, Regina and Brenda, I like all the shows you've mentioned. I learn some good cleaning tips on the clean house shows, and I'm constantly amazed at the houses people let them show on tv. Even if they're giving you a free cleaning job, and gifts, I dunno if I could air my dirty house on television.
It's sort of like the Jerry Springer thing. Even if I did have cousins that frog gigged, and cross dressed, and dated transexuals, and slept with other relatives (which I don't think any applies in my family thank God), I don't think I'd tell it on tv.
Kinda funny since I pretty much tell all here. I guess it's another thing to get your face on television.
Oh, yeah, Brenda...I know that you post because you enjoy the blog and interacting. I LOVE that, and you and everyone that participates and lets me know I'm not talking to the wall. So, no worries. The drawings aren't rigged. They are honest name pulls from those in the hat. I'm gonna wait to send the certificates because who knows, you girls may win in the next two drawings. After New Year's Day drawing, I will dump the deal and start fresh for the Valentine's drawing.
Honestly, I type fast. I don't realize how LONG my posts are until after I post and go to view the blog. SORRY I'm so wordy folks.
Going to work on my sf novel now. *Smooch*
By CarysWeldonblog, at
11:58 AM
Friday, April 20, 2007
Blog contest cluesI haven't given up on that blog contest I'm running, in case you're wondering about that.
I set up a couple new blogs with the name Jennifer DiCamillo. One at Xanga and one at Wordpress.net and one at Livejournal. So, by all means, tune into those. I'm separating my thoughts. Wordpress is gonna be for writing related helps. I wanna interview other authors and provide helps/discussions on writing. So, if you're a writer and want to be interviewed email me privately.
Yesterday, on the xanga one, an author named Cheryl commented on my post about my first novel, The Price of Peace. Today, I went to her blog (link in her comment) and posted there. So, um, go, and see her site and put that on your list.
And somebody tell me how you post a comment that says my website underlined and then all people have to do is click on that to be taken there. I am SO challenged on stuff like that.
Anyhow, on the blog contest thing...if you check each of my blogs daily, and can put that on your list of what I talked about, I'll give you kudos or points or whatever toward the drawing at the first of May. You know, the one with the best list of blog stuff/visits is gonna get a gift certificate.
Labels: blog, contest, gift, livejournal, wordpress, xanga
1 Comments:
To make your website underlined, you have to use a little bit of HTML. So you'd use < a href="[your website addy]" target="blank" >[Your Website Name or addy or other text]< /a > (without the extra spaces before and after the brackets).
The part about "target="blank"" is optional. It'll make the page open up in a new window IF they don't have a pop-up blocker. Some sites (like Blogger comments) don't allow the "target" part, though.
9 times out of 10, if you see a link I've posted, it'll open in a new window.
Let me know when you get a WordPress site up & going. I'll add you to Créatif's blogroll.
