If I Could Blog Back Time Thursdays - Favorite Annual Events

Come join me for a very special edition of If I Could Blog Back Time Thursdays! We'll be taking time out to share some memories. We'll Blog Back Time with possible ways to right past wrongs or about how times have changed. We'll share childhood memories, school/work memories, family and friend memories.

Today's topic is: Favorite Annual Events

It's kind of weird, but my father’s life insurer, Maccabees Mutual had an annual picnic. I believe they were held on a picnic grounds in Two Rivers, WI. There was a pavilion for the beer and soda that had picnic tables and then there were picnic tables throughout the grounds. They also had grills that you could use to bbq your own food. The first years we went, my parents did the whole grilling out thing, the last couple of years we’d stop at KFC, which was extra special because we never went there.

There were 3 things that were awesome about this picnic. One was the big, old fashioned red water pump (similar to the one in the photo) that we always passed as we walked from the parking lot to the picnic area. My sister and I could not walk past it without stopping to give it a good 20 quick action pumps to get the water to start gushing out. We would drive our parents crazy with excuses that we HAD to wash our hands, just so we could go back and play with the pump.

The 2nd great thing about this picnic was the loot bag. Everyone got a bag based on age. Younger kids got bubbles and Chinese finger torture toys and other cheap stuff that one can now find at dollar stores. Older kids got paddle balls, jump ropes, kites, or foam airplanes. All the kids would open their loot bags and immediately begin playing.

The 3rd great thing was the group games. There were kid games like running and holding a peanut on a spoon, 3 legged races, wheelbarrow races and potato sack races. For the adults there were also the 3 legged races, wheelbarrow races and potato sack races, but the best was the egg toss. Husbands on one end of the game area, wives at the other and they kept increasing the distance between them as each round finished. They had to toss a real, raw, in the shell egg. You lost if your egg broke. It was hilarious fun watching the different techniques. Some husbands did the soft underhand toss, others did the wind up and the overhand fast pitch. Some of the wives couldn’t quite gauge the speed of the throw and ended up with smashed eggs in their hands. Others were Chicken Littles and wouldn’t go near the tossed egg, letting it smash to the ground. Family entertainment at it’s finest to be sure.

The 1 thing that was not awesome about this picnic were the outhouses. Yup, they had outhouses and they STANK! OMG. After the first couple of years I learned to limit my beverages in an effort to limit the number of trips. The last couple of years there was a building added that had restrooms, but they still had the outhouses. I don’t know if it was for the ‘country charm’ or because of the crowds the number of bathrooms in the building weren’t adequate.

I as a little sad the year that I moved to Chicago and cashed out my policy because it meant an end to those picnics. I wonder if they still do them? Or if any other insurance companies did this sort of an annual event for policyholders. I bet not.

Please post your "Favorite Annual Event Memory" on your blog. Then come back to Lola's Diner and leave the actual post link here. Please grab the html code for If I Could Blog Back Time Thursdays! Badge HERE.

Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

IF YOU SEE THAT MR. LINKY APPEARS TO NOT BE WORKING, PLEASE POST A LINK TO YOUR "FIRST TIME I STOOD UP FOR MYSELF" IN THE COMMENTS TO MAKE SURE WE ARE AWARE OF YOUR PARTICIPATION. THANK YOU!



PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS MR LINKY IS STRICTLY FOR 'IF I COULD BLOG BACK TIME THURSDAYS' PARTICIPANTS ONLY.
ANY OTHER LINKS WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT PREJUDICE!

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Have you seen this story? Brooklyn D.A.: Man Impersonates Dead Mother to Collect $115,000 in Social Security, Rent Subsidies

Our son was watching the news with me Wednesday night. The minute the story started and he heard what Thomas Prusik-Parkin allegedly did, he said this, and I'm quoting here:

Son: "That sounds like something dad would do".

Me: Speechless.

What could I say?

The kid was right.

Our son then went on to tell me how his dad still has the old lady wig he acquired for a Halloween costume 10 years ago in a dresser drawer.

I just have one question though, how did Thomas Prusik-Parkin cover his blues patch with make-up?

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Farmer's Markets Rock! Week 2 (06/06/09)

Somehow I got behind in posting. This should have posted the weekend of 06/06/09.

I think I'm going to challenge myself to try to visit at least 1 Farmer's Market per week. It's a great way to get me out of the house, and the bonus is that we have a chance to patronize local growers and small businesses.

To find a Farmer's Market near you, visit Farmer's Market Search.

Last Saturday we visited a different local Farmer's Market. Many of the same vendors that were as the Farmer's Market we visited the week previous, but a lot of new ones too. And bonus! The Salsa Guys were there. Well, we call them the Salsa Guys, it's actually El Gringo Loco salsas & sauces. They are in Warrenville, IL.

We got a jar of Key Lime & Garlic Salsa, 3 lbs of large beefsteak style tomatoes, 2 cucumbers, a bunch of large green onions, a quart of strawberries, 1 pot of Daisies, and 3 misc flowering plants.
Benefits of visiting your local Farmer's Market/Farmstand:

1. Locally grown and picked fruits and vegetables are harvested at their peak of flavor.
2. Buying locally is good for the environment in that you're not relying on a massive distribution system to get your produce to you. (Very "green",)
3. You are supporting local farms and business. Especially good now considering our current economy.
4. Farmer's Market/Farmstand's prices may be lower than your local supermarket. (Not always true, but the quality is always much higher at your local Farmer's Market/Farmstand.)
5. You'll have an opportunity to purchase some items that you may not have grown yourself, or may not be available at your local supermarket.
6. Opportunities abound to try something new, weather it be a new variety of radish, lettuce, etc.
7. Opportunities to try some real homemade baked goods, jams, bottled pickled items and specialty foods.

Here's an article to check out for more tips Kitchen Refresh - Navigating the Farmer's Markets.

Is anyone else up for the Challenge? Sign up here and then post about your Farmer's Market/Farmstand experiences and keep track of your visits. Be sure to post your finds on your blog and include the Farmer's Market/Farmstand Challenge Banner which can be copied from HERE. As an incentive (as if getting the freshest produce isn't incentive enough) I will be awarding Entrecard Credits to the top Farmer's Market Patrons now until September 30th. There are 16 weekends until then. Can you visit a Farmer's Market/Farmstand all 16 weekends?

Note: This Mr. Linky is ONLY for particpants in the Farmer's Market/Farmstand Challenge, any "money making" blogs or advertising sites will be promptly removed.

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

TGIF! VGNO!

Time For A Party Game

"If I Were A Pink Lady..."

Let's get our Pink Lady jackets and sew on our new names. My name starts with an 'L' so my Pink Lady name is Smokin' Molly. Follow the chart to find your Pink Lady name.

A - D = Sassy Sue
E - H = Blogger Babe
I - L = Smokin' Molly
M - P = Naughty Nancy
Q - T = Hot Rod Helen
U - Z = Greased Lightning Gertie

I love me some Stockard Channing. Enjoy!

Thank you for stopping by!
If you like what you see, why not become a regular at Lola's Diner by becoming a follower.
You know you want to!

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

obsessed!

Anyone been watching the show “Obsessed” on A&E? I think I’ve watched 3 episodes. I'm obsessed with this show! I think perhaps it has a lot to do with the fact that the show depicts such extremes of OCD. It's proof positive, that some people out there have it worse than the rest of us. It also shows how dramatically 12 weeks of therapy can help a person with this disorder, that is if they truly want help. Now I don't know anyone personally with this disorder, but I think I relate to it because it is a form of mental illness and I'm fascinated with anything on the subject of mental illness.

New episodes of the show debut on Mondays. You can watch previous episodes online at “Obsessed”.

This weeks episode features Rick and Nidia.

#1 Rick – Is a mathematician. He exercises obsessively. Sometimes as much as 58 times a week. He runs from gym to gym doing 5-15 minutes of exercise at each. Daily! Then he runs upstairs to his office, where he has weights and obsessively does repetitions between spurts of writing. He also takes an obscene number of vitamins and supplements. All this because he wants to stay healthy so that he can stay alive to see the new technological advances that he knows will be coming in the future. He doesn’t want to miss out. He keeps track of all his workouts and can tell you exactly the last time he’s missed working out. He had notebooks filled with logs of his workouts. He obsessively calculates the numbers on license plates he sees. He also obsessively turns right instead of left. After 12 weeks of therapy Rick estimated he reduced his OCD by 66%.

Doesn't that strike you as odd, the reason that he wants to be healthy so he can live a long life? My Father passed away 19 years ago. Not much he could have done to lengthen his life, due to the type of cancer he had, but, let's say he could have. Would he have wanted to extend his life to see the invention of cordless drills, plasma televisions, ipods and cellular phones that weigh less than 3 ounces? I think not. I think my Father would have wanted to extend his life to be around to meet his grandchildren.

Rick seemed like a bit of a whackadoodle to me. I mean, calculating license plates really isn't OCD, it's probably another form of mental illness.

#2 Nidia – Obsessive compulsive to the max. She washes her hands about a hundred times a day. She won’t eat fruits or vegetables and she eats very little as it is. She fears bowel movements. After eating she obsesses about the bowel movement, cleans & disinfects the toilet, then goes in the shower, gives herself an enema, then uses a toothbrush to clean out, well, you know where. It takes her 2 hours to shower after the enema. She always has to shower after she goes to the bathroom. Twice she has needed blood transfusions. 2 pints of blood because of her brushing ritual. After 12 weeks of therapy she successfully began eating all types of foods and stopped her bathroom ritual.

Amazing. One of the previous episodes I saw was a man who was obsessively clean. So clean he did not have trash receptacles inside his home. Any time he had to throw out trash, he had to walk outside to the trashcan. That man's disorder seemed mild in comparison to Rick's and Nidia's.

Have you seen this show? What did you think?

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Guess Who's Back? - A Nut In A Nutshell!

I was comment hopping in the wee hours of Friday morning and stumbled upon a comment by BlueViolet. She's baaack!

Welcome back!

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

If I Could Blog Back Time Thursdays - First Time I Stood Up For Myself

Come join me for a very special edition of If I Could Blog Back Time Thursdays! We'll be taking time out to share some memories. We'll Blog Back Time with possible ways to right past wrongs or about how times have changed. We'll share childhood memories, school/work memories, family and friend memories.

Today's topic is: First Time I Stood Up for Myself

Sixth grade was the first time I ever stood up for myself. It was gym class, outdoors, we had just finished calesthenics (do they make kids do those anymore?). Mr. O'Riley, our gym teacher picked captains for basketball. As per the usual, all the good players and popular kids got picked first. Actually I had pretty good basketball skills, I could make the baskets alright, block, but this fat chick couldn't run fast. It was always Carrie Roberts and I that were left. (She was the quietest person I ever met. Very shy, in grade school, she NEVER spoke. Ever! Well, not until junior high when we were in study hall and I engaged her in passing paper football notes. We were both too goody 2 shoes to get caught. Lol!) This time she got picked before me. Then...wait for it...wait...can you guess?

I DIDN'T GET PICKED. Yup, that's right, I didn't get picked AT ALL! Mr. O'Riley didn't notice and had everyone run over to the basketball hoops. Since I wasn't part of either team, I didn't join them! I sat by the monkey bars, all by myself, my back to their game. Gym class had about 10 minutes left when Mr. O'Riley finally noticed me. He walked over and told me to join them. I told him no, I wasn't picked for a team and I was NOT going to join them now.

Seriously...it took him that long to notice me? He raised his voice and kept insisting. Mr. O'Riley was a big, burly, football player type. Very intimidating. I held my ground nonetheless. It was so empowering for this fat girl to stand up for herself and in effect say, 'They didn't want me, well then they can't have me!' 'You know what? You're not going to embarrass me any further.' I turned and walked away, while he was still taking and walked over to the school's front steps and sat waiting for the bell. I didn't know how to flip someone off or term f' you at the time. Had I, I think I would have employed them. I was just so angry. I had never, ever defied a teacher, but I would be damned if I was going to draw attention to myself, in front of the whole class by joining them so late. Clearly they hadn't noticed I was missing. I stood my ground and surprisingly, I didn't get into trouble for it. I guess he realized that his not keeping proper track of students in his class trumped my not participating in terms of which violation was more egregious.

And that's the first time I stood up for myself. How about you? Was it in school? On the school yard? College? Dating? Divorce? Married life? On the job? When was the first time you said, 'no this is not going to happen', or 'I'm doing it my way', or 'you can't tell me what do to'? Please post your "First Time I Stood Up For Myself Memory" on your blog. Then come back to Lola's Diner and leave the actual post link here. Please grab the html code for If I Could Blog Back Time Thursdays! Badge HERE.

Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

IF YOU SEE THAT MR. LINKY APPEARS TO NOT BE WORKING, PLEASE POST A LINK TO YOUR "FIRST TIME I STOOD UP FOR MYSELF" IN THE COMMENTS TO MAKE SURE WE ARE AWARE OF YOUR PARTICIPATION. THANK YOU!

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS MR LINKY IS STRICTLY FOR 'IF I COULD BLOG BACK TIME THURSDAYS' PARTICIPANTS ONLY.
ANY OTHER LINKS WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT PREJUDICE!

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009