Painting, mulching and other excuses for not writing
Well, that was a long time. Since I last posted something, I decided to give up on my one computer account that I've had forever because my ability to write or process any online material was taking        way            too        long. Numerous contacts with my cable provider convinced me that I couldn't blame them, so I decided to start with a new gmail account and, thanks to my daughters, a new computer, which has taken a little getting used to.

Along the way, I helped my mom through a short, albeit still concerning, hospital visit, worked on some decorating projects at home and then painted, painted, painted, and painted some more at my daughter's home, along with some always-anticipated babysitting, or should I say toddler sitting. The baby has been replaced by a much more verbal and I-want-to-do-it-myself model.

Now, hopefully, the lawnmower has replaced the snowblower and the new topic of conversation is where to find the latest deal on mulch -- nearly 40 bags used so far. Ibuprofen and a heating pad are my new best friends for muscles that have come out of hibernation and are protesting

Then, I couldn't figure out how to get back into this blog. The more I tried, the more frustrating it became and frankly, I don't know how I even found it to write this post. So it may be awhile before there is another one.

Here is a not-comprehensive list of books read and reading in the meantime:
- Savvy chic: the art of more for less.
- Life is short (no pun intended): love, laughter, and learning to enjoy every moment.
- V is for vengeance
- Hiding from reality: my story of love, loss and finding the courage within.
- Been there, done that: family wisdom for modern times.
- Called for life: how loving our neighbor led us into the heart of the Ebola epidemic.
- G is for gumshoe.
- X.
- The Paris wife: a novel.
- A year in the life of a duchess: Catherine HRH the Duchess of Cambridge. 

   

Just read: Books to help escape the snow, the wind chill and the post-holiday doldrums
- Going Off Script: how I survived a crazy childhood, cancer, and Clooney's 32 on-screen rejections, by Guliana Rancic
- My Journey, by Donna Karan
- Tales from the Back Row: an outsider's view from inside the fashion industry, by Amy Odell

- W is for Wasted and G is for Gumshoe, by Sue Grafton

- Happily Ali After, by Ali Wentworth

- Is This Thing On?: a computer handbook for late bloomers, technophobes and the kicking & screaming, by Abby Stokes

- William's Princess, by Robert Jobson

- William & Catherine, their story, by Andrew Morton

Cherished cinnamon popcorn recipe Prologue: In response to no requests, I am providing my highly cherished recipe for cinnamon popcorn. I made three batches this holiday season, which basically means it's foolproof. A few tips contributing to foolproofness: I use the Jolly Time brand popcorn in an air popcorn popper, with practically every kernel popping every time. The only places that seem to sell Red Hot candies are the Dollar Tree stores, and you will need to buy two bags for one batch. I use salted butter. I also use a wooden spoon to stir and separate the sticky popcorn. The recipe: 1. Begin by putting parchment paper on two cookie sheets (for baking a sticking-free batch.)  2. Next, pop 8 quarts of popcorn (about 24 cups) and divide it into two large bowls. This makes coating the popcorn easier. 3. Then, melt together 1 cup of butter, 1/2 cup of light corn syrup and 9 ounces of the candies until everything is thoroughly melted. (Yes, this is a lot of butter and corn syrup, but at least the candies are fat free.) 4. Alternating between the two bowls, gradually stir the syrup into the popcorn until it's well coated. You will want to do this quickly so that the syrup doesn't get too thick. 5. Place the contents of each bowl on a cookie sheet, spreading the mixture so that it will bake evenly. 6. Place the cookie sheets in a 250-degree oven and bake for one hour, turning/stirring the mixture every 15 minutes, ie. 4 times. Using an oven timer is suggested. 7. Once baking is complete, transfer the popcorn into two 9"x12" pans and break apart any large clumps using a wooden spoon. 8. The resulting cinnamon popcorn will cool quickly and can then be extensively taste tested before being placed into bags, tins, bowls, etc. 9. Enjoy!

'Tis the season:
some favorite Christmas memories so far 
Who doesn’t love a holiday. The decorations, the food, the extra time to connect with family and friends, it all comes together during this time of year. Following are some of my memories-in-the-making for Christmas 2015:
- Every year, I haul decorations out of my garage and it’s almost like a prelude to presents as I unwrap the lights, evergreens and wreaths. I always try to add a few enhancements annually. This year, I hung more than 80 ornaments on my front yard evergreens and added a spotlight for more illumination. It hasn’t hurt that temperatures have been unseasonably warm, with none of that pesky snow to obscure the fa-la-la-la-la.
- I also like to add a touch of whimsy inside and this year it’s a French hen stuffed toy that also doubles as a doorstop. Who can resist a chicken wearing a beret priced at 50 percent off.
- I love to collect the Spode Christmas tree patterned china, as a salute to my love of all things British (even though it’s made in China now).
- I’ve been a little too enthusiastic about holiday treats this year, with hard-to-resist gingerbread lattes and scones adding a few extra pounds. Ditto on chocolate crackle cookies and all things minty. Plus I’ve been accumulating goodies for my upcoming tea for the girls and plan to make cinnamon popcorn for my annual food gift. Oh well, there’s always lean January.

- Speaking of sweets, it was so heartwarming to buy some beautifully decorated boxes of Russian candy for my daughter -- boxes she had received as her only holiday gift during an early childhood in an otherwise bleak Russian orphanage.  The candy came from the Russian government back then but we found it online this year, from a store in New York. Her smile when it arrived was the only holiday gift I needed.
- Another early holiday gift came with the surprise arrival of my second daughter from Italy. A college student there, she hadn’t been home in nearly three years. And that meant we could organize the first-ever comprehensive four-generation family Christmas photo, with nine people ranging in age from 89 to two. The first shot was the keeper, but at least we got one that pretty much caught us all smiling. And it also became our first-ever family Christmas card photo.
- Now that I have the aforementioned two-year-old granddaughter, I have been buying her too many toys. I am unapologetic. I want to see her have the same joy I did when unwrapping lots of fun stuff on Christmas morning.
- I’m reading Christmas themed books right now, such as A Catered Christmas Cookie Exchange, and watching the wacky movie families of the Kranks and the Griswolds fumble their way through home for the holidays.
- That’s about it for now, as the anticipation builds for the arrival of Santa. I hope he can find a chimney for access to my electric fireplace. There also may be a lack of snow.

Ho, Ho, Ho.

Read and Reading

The Scent of Something Sneaky, by my cousin and very talented writer Gail Hedrick. Great read for mid-level grades and above. This is Gail's second published book featuring young intrepid sleuth Emily Sanders and I hope there are many more. 

- Better, Michigan native Amy Robach's compelling memoir about her breast cancer battle, life in television journalism and much more.
- Making Piece: Love, Loss, and the Healing Power of Pie (with recipes!) by Beth Howard.
- B is for Burglar and O Is For Outlaw. Gail introduced me to mystery writer Sue Grafton and I look forward to reading the rest of her alphabet books.
- You're Not the Boss of Me: Adventures of a Modern Mom, by Erika Schickel. The title is self explanatory.
- I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away, Bill Bryson's hilarious account of moving back to the United States after living and raising a family in England.
- Modern Woman: Eileen Ford and the Business of Beauty, by Robert Lacey.
- Love and War: Twenty Presidents, Two Daughters and Home, by James Carville and Mary Matalin.
- Always Pack a Party Dress by socialite Amanda Brooks. How the other half lives.
- A Fine Romance, Candy Bergen's memoir about the second chapter of her life.




 

Skimmed, and we’re not talking coffee

Skimmed – if you had asked me just a month or so ago, I would have said this was one of those made-up shorthand words for ordering a light coffee. As in skim milk, no whip. But I learned the true meaning of the nefarious word recently when a $1,300 air ticket to China got charged on my credit card. And I had no intention of going to China.

I only found out about the air ticket when I tried to charge some gasoline and my credit card was rejected. Ditto during a trip to a retail establishment. Since it was a Sunday, my only recourse was to call the credit card company’s hotline and invalidate my credit card through some telephone prompts.

The next day, I learned that not one but two tickets to China had been the destination of my credit card when it got skimmed. Fortunately, the second air ticket was rejected for payment. The credit card representative couldn’t have been nicer or more sympathetic. All I had to do was complete and return a form verifying that the air ticket wasn’t my charge and the funds would be promptly returned to my account. And they were.

 

Figuring out how my credit card actually got skimmed has proved to be much more challenging make that impossible. I learned from reporting the incident to my local sheriff’s department that skimming has mainly occurred at gasoline station pumps, through a device easily installed within the actual pumps. None of the gasoline stations I had visited had been skimming destinations, at least not that the sheriff’s deputy knew about. And he said that gas pumps are the only places skimmers have been found, raising doubts that criminals are walking around with portable skimmers in their pockets.

Just to try to better ensure the safety of my replaced credit card, I put it in a supposedly anti-skimming card protector and buried it deep within my wallet. I’m checking gasoline pumps to make sure the paper seal on the pump opening hasn’t been compromised.  I’m also checking my credit card statements much more regularly online.

I thought I was skim-free until this past weekend, when I tried to use my debit card at a grocery store and it was rejected. I thought maybe it was just the store’s equipment and, in fact, decided to try the debit card at my bank’s ATM machine, where it worked just fine. But it didn’t work just fine the next day, rejected again at a store. So when I called my bank I discovered that, sure enough, the card had been skimmed and used as a credit card on the east side of the state. Fortunately, the purchases weren’t large. One, for $106, was rejected and a second, for $20, went through before the card was deactivated.

I have some comfort in realizing that the debit card was used as a credit card and that the crooks don’t have my security code. But where the card was skimmed is a real cause for concern, because I don’t pay for gas with my debit card. I raised this issue in an email to the same deputy who had taken my original skimming report, but this may be out of his jurisdiction since the purchases did not occur in the area. I also raised the issue with my bank, which appears to be skimming central. While I was there, a woman was going over her account with a teller because her debit card had been skimmed for $250.



My debit card is being officially retired

I hear that credit and debit cards will one day have chips embedded in them to help prevent this crime. But at least for the foreseeable future, my debit card is being officially retired. Which means I will have to order more checks. And maybe think twice before I swipe my credit card at the pumps or for that skimmed coffee.

Postscript: My new credit card got skimmed shortly before Thanksgiving. This time, the main charge was for hundreds of dollars of tickets to a Detroit Pistons game. The thief also enjoyed a pizza in the Detroit area. I'm canceling that card and getting a new card with a security chip installed. Sigh.

Welcome to my garage sale

I held my first-ever garage sale this weekend. It was rather ironic, considering I have lived in homes with much larger garages, yet was able to cram four generations of household items, knick-knacks, clothes, toys and stuffed animals and furniture into a one-car space.

Despite living near a construction zone and in a secluded neighborhood, I still attracted a fairly steady stream of customers, especially after deciding to add “1/2 off” to my sale signs on the last day. This ploy pretty much eliminated people asking me to discount my merchandise, which I was already selling on the cheap.

Is it really that outlandish to sell cute children’s chairs, barely used and retailing for $40, for $10? They didn’t sell until they went down to $5. “Bargain” takes on a new meaning when it’s in a garage.

Among my most memorable visitors were:

- A very elderly man wearing a rope around his neck with an old 78 record attached. Maybe it was a reminder to look for a record player?
- A young man with platinum hair and glittery polished nails who bought serious books. He said he had more time to buy books than to read them.
- A man who told me that my house should be in Connecticut, followed by a woman who had actually moved from Connecticut.
- A Romanian native who had recently moved to the U.S. after living in France and China. She was trying to understand the use for some of my merchandise, including a dress and wig labeled “goose clothes.” That one was pretty much unexplainable.
- The little boy who assured me that he needed a hot pot to boil water. His mother wasn’t convinced.
- My toddler neighbor who was fascinated by a plastic car that she would climb into and happily sit in on my driveway. Her mother finally bought it for her after admitting that it was not exactly the kind of developmental toy they were looking for these days.
- A man who took all of my free cement block remnants and then asked for a free DVD to offset the heavy lifting. I gave him “Wedding Crashers” even though he said he and his wife found “Mad Men” was too risqué.
- A little boy who rammed into and broke my gazing ball, which wasn’t even for sale. My breakables inventory remained intact.
- The two children who pretty much unsized all the baby clothes I had neatly folded and sized in plastic totes. Aaugh, I didn’t want to speak to their mother about their behavior because she was buying some high-ticket goods.

Now it's time to reclaim the garage and get rid of the remaining inventory through donations to the library and Goodwill. Unfortunately my first Goodwill drop-off resulted in the purchase of some shoes, a sweater and a small set of Christmas dishes. Which means I may need to have another garage sale in the future.