Morning Folks 05 30 06

Morning Folks! I am back, sort of. My brain is still on the honeymoon, but I guess I am back in Massachusetts. Our official pictures aren't back yet. But here are some more taken by the folks at the reception. I have lots more but I need to organize them, etc. For more pictures, click on the link to Kathy's blog over to the right of the screen.
Looking off into the future, I suppose.
Doug, Mom, Ed, Kim and Bill
Joe, Me, Ed and John
Doug makes his toast.

Arabella with Grampa and Grandma
First Dance.

The head table enjoys the cake.
Bill dances with Mom.

I hope to post more of the grandkids. They were so good and I know we got some good shots. Of course, Arabella took more of the pictures than anyone else. She was quite the shutterbug that day.

Off to work.

Love,
Suz

Morning Folks May 21, 2006

Well, I had expected that because we were on our honeymoon this week, I would be too busy laying on the beach in Florida to do my blog. However, the best laid plans...

Don't worry, we did get married. Those plans went fine. In fact they went beautifully. We had a wonderful wonderful wedding ceremony. The service was beautiful. Our 4 boys stood up for us. Doug and Bill gave me away. And we had both priest and pastor officiating. It really was very special.

The Reception was lovely. John, Ed's eldest was the "wedding planner" and did a crackerjack job. We had a nice meal, nice music and great company with lots of Ed's family and friends, and of course my kids and Bill's girlfriend Kim were so loving to come all that way to support me. It was really nice for the 3 of them to get to know Ed's family and vice versa. Doug is now an official member of Ed's grandson Zeppelin's "spy team." (But I don't really know anything else about that because it is top secret.) Arabella and Kim are fast friends and Saturday night after the wedding Doug, Bill and Kim went to John and Robin's to play cards and visit with them and Ed's younger son Joe. I thought that was really nice, even if Joe won all that money from my sons!

We all met again for breakfast at the hotel the next morning for one last "family" gathering.We said goodbye to the boys and Kim who had to catch a flight and to John, Robin and the kids. Ed's brother Bob and sister-in-law Susan left for Louisville. We packed up our gear and Joe helped Ed hook up the trailer carrying his little sunfish sailboat. We waived goodby to Joe, who was just leaving to take Kathy to the airport and we set out on 75 south to Sarasota.

About 4 hours into the trip, someone waived to us and pointed to the back of the truck. We pulled over to see if there was something wrong with the boat we were pullinga and sure enough, not only had a tire on the trailer gone flat, it was gone and the rim was all torn up. We pulled way off the road and unhitched the boat. Ed knew he could get a replacement at Walmart and with the help of a GA state trooper, we found one about 25 miles away. We arrived at Walmart's tire store at 6:15 and of course they closed at 6:00. We did find a wheel and tire on the shelf at Walmart, but they have to be mounted. We looked all over the area and found nothing else was open.

Wwe drove all the way back to the boat, removed the wheel so we could bring it back to Walmart with us the next morning, drove back again to that area. And, here we are, not at Siesta Key, but at the Holiday Inn Express in Cordele, GA. Ed is already fast asleep and if the train whistle doesn't wake us up, we'll be well rested, get everything fixed in the AM and be on the beach by 3:00 PM tomorrow. And because Holiday Inn Express has free WIFI, I could do my blog!

So, if we are in Siesta Key by tomorrow and our original plans get back on track, I will be too busy laying on the beach to blog again until next week. Keep your fingers crossed!

Love,
Suz

PS. today, May 21st was Bill's 29th Birthday. We sang to him this morning, gave him a T shirt and an Elvis CD. Fitting the locale, don't you think? We embarrassed him at the rehearsal dinner, too, singing to him in the restaurant as well. Send him a B-day greeting if you get the chance nailspetersen@hotmail.com.

Morning Folks 05 17 06

Morning Folks!

Well, this will be my last blog posting before I become Mrs. Ed Eaton on Saturday at 11:00 AM, God willin' and the creek don't rise, that is. Although there are a lot of creeks rising in New England these days. But that is material for another day's blog.

It has been a long time coming, this wedding of ours. 6Years ago last month Ed contacted me after 34 years of traveling down our own separate paths, only for them to re-converge in that fateful e-mail. I have posted it below and if you click on it, you should be able to read that now famous document. I hope Ed doesn't mind me showing it to you. Seems simple enough, but it changed our lives.



Yes, Ed and I were in love, truly, madly and as deeply as possible for a 14 year old and a 16 year old. That is until our love was tested with me going to California for 2 weeks while he remained on the Cape with all those young bikini-clad beach bunnies! But 2 weeks was just too long and Ed moved on to a girl who would become Chuck's first wife. (Doesn't this sound like a Lifetime Movie to you?)

I guess our romance lasted about as long as most do at that tender age. But there had been a connection made then that transcended time and with a few short e-mails, I was once again swept off my feet! I still see that 16 year old boy when Ed smiles at me and in my mind's eye we are still dancing to Elvis on the porch at 13 and 1/2 Uncle Rolf Road on a starry summer night.

I am so lucky to have so many supportive and loving friends and family members in my life. And I know that when Doug and Bill walk me down that aisle on Saturday morning, although most of you won't be there with me in person, you will be there in spirit. What you all have given me over the years has sustained me and in large part brought me to where I am today: happy and excited about the next chapter in my life. Thanks for getting me here. I can't wait to see what happens next! And please believe me when I tell you, no matter where in the world I end up, you will always be in my life. Always.

Please pray for sunshine in Chattanooga on Saturday, and that my shoes don't hurt too much, and that when we dance our first dance to Elvis I won't start to cry. (Or more likely that Ed won't start to cry!) And sunshine for the honeymoon in Florida would be nice, too, but not essential. wink wink.

See you when we get back with lots of pics, I hope!

Love,
Suz



PS. No action in the Hav-a-hart trap. I wonder if Chip has left the building? I am going to assume he has and leave in the morning anyway!

Morning Folks 05 15 06 - Update

"When Worlds Collide, the Hudson Experience"
will be continued to a time uncertain.

(For those of you who didn't check out yesterday's posting, just go to archives for 05 14 06 and see what is going on now!)

Empty Hav-a-hart trap this morning. I just hope I catch it before I leave on my honeymoon! Oh boy. What timing.

Have a great day!
Love,
Suz

Morning Folks 05 14 06 Oh My Gawd!

Although I had planned to write a Mother's Day blog, I decided that I would write about the latest episode in the National Geographic comes to Hudson. I should preface this by saying that yesterday Bill asked me to leave the garage door unlocked so if he and Kim needed to stay over here after her sister's wedding nearby, they would be able to get in. Bill jokingly said something about not leaving it open so no squirrels would get in again. As you might recall, I had a rather unsettling incident in January with a squirrel in my bedroom. (You can click on Archives at the right of this screen and choose somewhere around January 28th, if you have forgotten that saga.)This is what we call "foreshadowing".

As some of you know, I am leaving for Chattanooga on Wednesday and I am very excited but also a little distracted, nervous and stressed, you might say. I had started to get things ready for my trip and this afternoon went downstairs to the lower level family room to bring my suitcases upstairs in order to start packing. As I turned to go back upstairs, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.

There in the middle of the room was a chipmunk. Cute you think? Not when it is in my family room, it isn't! I really don't use the family room, since I have given most of the furniture to the kids. But I do have to pass through it on my way to the laundry room or as I go in or out of the house as it is adjacent to the garage. However, there is no door at the foot of the stairs preventing varmints from ascending upstairs into my living area.


I remained calm and tried not to shriek but broke out in a sweat. I watched him very closely as he scurried across the floor and into the closet. I moved quickly and deliberately, moving a folded card table against the doorway. I ran upstairs and on my way noticed a little black chipmunk dropping on the landing by the front door and I started to freak. He had been upstairs! I probably scared it back downstairs. Or were there more than one????

Somehow I gathered the courage I needed and went on-line and googled "chipmunks in house". I knew what to do, now. I went for my jacket and my car keys. Trying to be as brave as possible, I walked down the stairs. Slid the card table away and stepped into the family room. Sliding the card table back in place behind me, I made my way cautiously to the garage door and out to the safety of my car.

Muttering my mantra "All Shall be Well", I ventured out into the rainy Sunday afternoon making my way to Home Depot where I purchased Hav-a-hart trap for small rodents. Still trying to remain calm, I read the directions on the box and made my way to Stop and Shop for apples and peanut butter...not that I was hungry, but I had read on-line that this is the bait to use for chipmunks. I was focused but just a little jumpy and as I accelerated, the moving parts on the trap, still in its box on my front seat, made a sharp clanking sound and it scared me so much I almost went off the road. "All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well"...

So I got the trap home, read the directions more thoroughly. I set and sprang the trap over and over like an OCD patient until I finally decided I was ready. I baited it with a slice of golden delicious apple and Skippy and brought it downstairs.

And there it sits. I am about to go out to meet Doug for a Mother's Day dinner. I am not sure what I will find when I get back. I haven't checked the trap yet and it has been an hour. But I didn't hear anything.

I will keep you posted.
Love,
Suz

Morning Folks 05 09 06

You all know how I love history, or maybe you don't. But I do! So when I read this history lesson today sent to me by my friend Melinda,

(remember her husband George is the Minuteman I wrote about a couple of weeks ago?) I really thought it would be perfect to share with you. Some of you may already know this bit of historical trivia, but I had never heard it before. I thought it was really interesting and I hope you do, too.

Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England.

In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jarsof the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York.
This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost.

The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss.

Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day. The National Day of Mourning occurs each year onMay 5th and is known, of course, as

Sinko de Mayo



Ba Dump Bump!

Have a great day!
Love,
Suz

Morning Folks 05 08 06

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another. ~Anatole France


The man who looks for security, even in the mind, is like a man who would chop off his limbs in order to have artificial ones which will give him no pain or trouble. ~Henry Miller


Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine. ~Robert C. Gallagher


They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom. ~Confucius


If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies. ~Author Unknown

Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights. ~Pauline R. Kezer


God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it's me. ~Author Unknown



It is this belief in a power larger than myself and other than myself, which allows me to venture into the unknown and even the unknowable. Maya Angelou

I have been thinking a lot lately about the changes that we go through in our lives and how, in retro-spect, choosing to make these big changes defines our lives. In my youth I longed for and went to great lengths to preserve the status quo. That was my security, my safety, or so I thought. But that was before I made changes in my life, some chosen, some just appeared. And today in my life I am looking forward to the changes I choose and sometimes I am almost open to those that just appear. Scary, yes, but exciting and new and shining.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote: "Only in growth, reform, and change, paradoxically enough, is true security to be found."

So my wish for us all is growth, transformation and change. Have a great day!

Love, Suz

Morning Folks 05 04 06 The Next Idol...I hope!

Okay, I know I am too old and too busy to be thinking about this, but I just can't help it. I am smitten by a guy on American Idol. I even called in and voted for him the first week!

His name is Taylor Hicks and I am using today's blog to campaign for him.




I know I am not the only one watching this show. Cindy and Angie are Idol fans from season one. I think Becky watches it, too. Ed has watched for the last couple of weeks, mostly because I made him watch it. He likes Catherine, though.

The problem is that the top 3 men are all so good that I feel a little bad declaring my loyalty to Taylor, but not really. I really love his style, his voice and he is so CUTE!


Elliot and Chris are the other really talented men still left in the competition. Elliot has a great voice and Chris is a really professional performer, but more of a rocker.

They are really good, too, but not like Taylor. He has soul!

Here is a link to his fan website. You can even hear him sing a little bit if you go there.
http://www.taylorhicksfansite.com/

I think the finale will be shown when we are on our honeymoon. But Ed already knows that we have to be watching that night. He's so understanding!


http://www.americanidol.com/

Thanks for letting me share my guilty pleasure of watching this silliness. And if you've been watching, let's hear your opinions. And watch next Tuesday and vote for Taylor!!!!
Love,
Suz

Morning Folks 05 03 06

I was writing to my friend Kitty this morning and the word Shivaree came to mind, considering Ed and I are being married in 17 days. Did you ever see the musical Oklahoma? That's where I first heard that there was such a thing.

So, of course being a frustrated etymologist, I had to look the word up.

Shivaree is the most common American regional form of charivari, a French word meaning “a noisy mock serenade for newlyweds” and probably deriving in turn from a Late Latin word meaning “headache.” The term, most likely borrowed from French traders and settlers along the Mississippi River, was well established in the United States by 1805; an account dating from that year describes a shivaree in New Orleans: “The house is mobbed by thousands of the people of the town, vociferating and shouting with loud acclaim…. [M]any [are] in disguises and masks; and all have some kind of discordant and noisy music, such as old kettles, and shovels, and tongs…. All civil authority and rule seems laid aside” (John F. Watson).

The word shivaree is especially common along and west of the Mississippi River. Some regional equivalents are belling, used in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan; horning, from upstate New York, northern Pennsylvania, and western New England; and serenade, a term used chiefly in the South Atlantic states.

I thought it was funny to learn the root of the word Shivaree comes from the word headache! What a strange thing to do, yet I remember hearing the weirder traditions brides and grooms had to endure like hanging out bedsheets after the marriage is consumated for proof of the bride's virginity. Really!

I kind of liked the idea from Belize tradition where at the end of the reception, the wedding guests lie face down on the floor and the bride and groom exit the celebration by walking over this human carpet. That could be kind of funny, don't you think? Although my wedding shoes do have rather sharp heels.

In ancient Rome, the bride wore a girdle fastened with many tiny knots. The groom had the pleasure of untying all those knots before he could bed his new wife. Thus the expression "Tie the Knot".

And did you know why the bride stands to the left of the groom? In the old days, sometimes a jealous suitor would try to take the bride away from the groom. The groom would hold the bride off to the side with his left hand, leaving his right hand free to grip his sword and fight. To this day, the bride stands to the groom's left while marrying. (Note to self: get a sword for Ed)

Why bad luck for the groom to see the bride on the wedding day before the wedding? In the old days, frequently the marriage of an unattractive woman was often arranged with a prospective groom from another town without either of them having ever seen their prospective spouse. In more than one instance, when the groom saw his future wife, usually dressed in white, for the first time on the day of the wedding, he changed his mind and left the bride at the altar. To prevent this from happening, it became "bad luck" for the groom to see the bride on the day of the wedding prior to the ceremony.

June weddings are popular probably because during the 1400-1500s May was the month in which the "annual bath" occured. As such, the over-all population was smelling relatively fresh in June, making it a good time to hold a special event like a wedding!

Further, the month of June is named after the goddess Juno, who was the Roman counterpart to Hera, the goddess of the hearth and home, and patron of wives.

Ancient tradition thought it was unlucky to marry in the month of May because in Romans times the Feast of the Dead and the Festival of the Goddess of Chastity both occurred in May. Hmmm....

Have a great day!
Love,
Suz