Pssstt.. Joan, Catholics don’t wear crucifixes; only priests and nuns are alowed to wear them. They do however wear crosses. In my case I wear the tarranis the Catholics usurped from us Celts. :)

I’m an avid reader and find it quite annoying when the usually male person next to me ignores the wedding ring and decides to chat me up. I was raised in Ohio, but from Cork, and I do the burr quite  well. Aftr one or two quickly spoken responses I’m allowed to go to me book in peace.

I have two kids, one 34, one 32, so I survived the teen thing. I’ve been a Realtor for the last 12 years; our job is to make a win-win situation out of all deals. In spite of being a rather shy person I’ve closed over 220 million in sales; I simply treat the other agent like a teen! Works every time.

This wasn’t my embarassment, but a celebrity one:

I love country music; my nieces would rather go to the dentist than listen to it, but my 9 year old niece loves Trisha Yearwood. We ran in to her and her husband (who’s a lot thinner and really good looking in person) at the Barnes & Noble in Tulsa. Trisha was extremely nice to my niece, signed an autograph, and posed for a photo. My niece then turned to Garth Brooks and asked him loudly if he was famous. The look on Trisha’s face was priceless when he replied he was an old retired farmer she had picked up at the feed store! I completely cracked up laughing, and he couldn’t keep a straight face either. She was beet red, and smacked his shoulder. My niece never did figure out what was so funny.  Garth gave me a hug (he’s very solid) before they walked out of the store; she was still red.

I had poker straight, dishwater ash blonde hair for years, that I paid to have lighter blonde highlights put in every 8 weeks. Once I realised I was skipping gray and going to white I let it grow out by putting in lowlights and getting a series of really good, if shorter haircuts. That was 4 years ago; the white hair has tremendous body and with a good haircut I simply let my hair air dry. If someone comments on the white I tell them I’m reverting to being tow-headed!

I love Whoopis intelligence. My favourite role out of many good ones, will always be Lucy in ‘Call Me Claus’.

Whoopi as Santa; perfection. Thanks, Garth for the vision. 

 

I have my mum’s ‘albumns’, i.e. what looks like a photo albumn, but each sleeve holds a 78. I still play her Big Band records as well as my own extensive folk collection plus Perry Como, Guy Mitchell, Dean Martin, John Denver, Harry Chapin, etc. I prefer vinyl, but have given in to cds. Don’t have an ipod, as anything with ear buds aggravates a childhood hearing loss. I probably have 11-1200 albumns, and half again as many cassettes and cds.

I stopped highlighting my ash blonde hair 4 years ago. I’m skipping gray and going right to white. I call it returning to being a tow head!

Loved this post!! I grew up with grandmothers, one born in Ireland, one born in France, living next door to each other. My dad used to say the Irish killed their food twice, once with a gun and again with a stove, infuriating his (Irish) Mum in law. Dad’s Mum taught me to cook, and I make everything from scratch due to food allergies. Martha annoys me. Gran could walk into seemingly empty larder and turn out a 5 course meal with out a single smug comment about how wonderful she was.

That said, we have a dinner party 2-3 times a year, with our closest friends. They all know I have cooked some dishes ahead, bought great cheeses and wines, and if they are foolish enough to hover about the kitchen they will be put to work. Summer events involve the grill, usually lamb and lean pork, with the sides made ahead of time. Winter involves a large casoulet plunked in the middle of the table with crusty bread.

They’re very casual. No centerpieces, or hand made napkin rings. Just good, simple food, lots of talking and laughing with plenty of wine.

Invite the people who you cherish, and if cooking isn’t your thing, order it in. It’s not the food, it’s the company.

Best: Favourite two: Bread right from the oven. Breeze coming in from any harbour/ocean (preferably Cork Habour)

 Worse: Burnt flesh and/or the morgue ‘slab’ room. ( I worked in hospital for many years)

I have no idea why Lughnasadh is repeated at the end of my post!

I find it highly ironic that the Roman Catholic church hijacked all my high alter days: Yule,  Imbolc, Ostara, Beltaine, Midsummer, Lughnasadh, Mabon,  and Samhain. The even hijacked our tarranis, and renamed it a ‘Celtic’ cross; it ‘s a calendar!LLughnasaughnasadh

My Mum was Irish Catholic, Dad French Catholic, but we weren’t raised in the Church. In her later years my Gran recalled the druidic traditions taught to her by her Gran; traditions of faith in the creator and a journey of trying to always learn and grow to become a better person.

I guess I’m a Pagan, as I feel Faith is a gift from the creator, and Religion is man-made. I live each day with the creed of ‘doing no harm’. I have an alter and I do pray with an open heart so that I may always learn.

 

I have studied many of the world’s religions and find common thread of goodness to all on the earth in their teachings. Then man rather gets in the way. There’s a reason the religious books are not in the referrence section of the library; things get tricky when people take allegory as dictation from whatever they call their god.

I’m 4th of 5; me Da didn’t hire anything unless he had to. He’d go to the library, research and then teach his ‘crew’. As a result I can repair plaster, hang gypsum, plumb, run wire, set tile, do framing and finish carpentry, run a gouge on a lathe, build furniture and lay concrete. I can do all the cosmetics bits as well. I won’t do roofing as I dislike heights intensely. Owning an eighty six year old home the knowledge is welcome, but hubby has to execute as arthritis and lupus have taken their tolls now.

They scheduled Ralph J Perk, former Mayor of Cleveland, for the speaker at the Uni of Akron graduation. I ticked the ‘mail diploma’ box and worked that day instead.