Going green! Been there!

I am a big proponent of going green.  We have looked at things that could save energy for years.  We would love to be off the grid, but it all costs money folks, and some of it big money.

My dad’s family were thought to be Dutch German.  My nephew has found out they are Norwegian, but I am thinking that folks might have thought they were Dutch because of the popular belief that the Dutch were a frugal lot.  My dad’s family was definitely a frugal lot.

My dad's family in the 40s

This was the usual group who we would visit with, twice a month when we drove to Kankakee, Illinois to visit my sister.  That is Granddad and Grandma to the left, then Uncle Clifford holding Richard and next to him Aunt Lucille with David Merle VanVleck in front of her.  Aunt Laura and her husband were behind and then, at the right side is my mother, Phyllis DeWitt and my dad (in uniform) Harold VanVleck.  In front of mom is my sister, Evelyn, and next to her is my brother David Merle VanVleck  (1942-1990).   I was not on the scene yet.

Yes, you read that right; cousins each named David Merle VanVleck.  It was not as common a name as John Doe.  One lived in Indiana and one in Illinois so no one thought there was a problem with it.  However,  when my brother got out of the Air Force, he ended up living in Kankakee, Illinois and boy did the problems arise then.    If you are going to be frugal with a name, and use it twice in a family, make sure that one of them isn’t a rather shady character.  My brother had to repeatedly prove that he did not owe the money or had not done the deed.

Anyway, I realized just how frugal my family was when I walked in Grandma’s kitchen, after one family gathering, and saw paper plates hanging on a clothesline drying.

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The Last Muggle to Read Harry Potter

Each of our senses can bring back vivid emotions/memories. 

The commercial for Harry Potter World in Orland, Florida evokes one of those moments in the (approx) eight notes that start it.  Okay, I have no idea what they are calling Harry Potter World, so maybe the commercial isn’t all that good.  But, everytime it starts, I find myself transported to a dark theatre, heart racing but a little lighter, with all the hope and promises of a magical adventure.

I have been reading a new-to-me blog, ‘The Last Muggle to Read Harry Potter via The Last Muggle to Read Harry Potter.’  She is reading the Harry Potter series, for the first time.  Since she has seen the movies and is twenty, she has an interesting perspective on the whole experience.  She also comes up with things that I never thought.

We do not go to the theatre much anymore, even though AMC is only $5.00 in our area and I thought we would go alot.  We still use our criteria for what is a “Big Screen” movie.  I miss going to the theatre and I hate watching movies at home with husband.  He is Mr. Logic.  I get totally enveloped in whatever world the movie is in.  I suspend belief because, hey, we are in the author/screen writer’s world and they probably just have different rules.  Then, suddenly, I am brought back to our world by his telling me that something or other is, “blah! blah! blah!”  He can’t do that in the theatre.  He’s a real mood buster.

So, after he goes downstairs, I pop in a  Harry Potter movie just to listen to those eight notes.

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Dude, please. | Blurt

Dude, please.  by | Blurt.  posted a rather disturbing picture today of what he feared would be a new fashion.  On his way for a bagel, he saw a man in a spandex wrestling suit. 

Now, this may not seem odd in the gym or in the wrestling ring, but trust me men, this is not a sight I want to see on the street.  It ranks right up there with those spandex bicycle shorts.

Mom and I were having breakfast, last summer, and I was up at the front register when four men, all in spandex bike shorts walked in.  Now, if you knew my mother, you would know that men rank right up there with dirt, snot, smelly pooh and, well, MEN!!!  She’s not a fan and the last thing she wants to see at breakfast is four men’s penis’.  How do you spell, penises?

Mom has reached the age where she can’t be quiet.  She comments and I hide.  All I could do, was walk back to our booth and pray.  “Keep your head down, Mom.  Keep your head down, Mom.  Please don’t look up.  Please!  Please!”  Luckily, at five foot tall, she sits with her chin in her plate.  She did not look up. 

But, really, guys, REALLY!

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