The “Januhairy” Debate

Recently, there has been a gal on social media, (I forgot her name), who declared January to be “Januhairy”. She felt we should glory in our naturalness, and females should grow out their body hair. I’m wondering how many of you adhered to this idea?? It is widely known that I hate to shave my legs. Sounded like a good idea to me! But after my six year-old grandson was walking by me, and did a double take, looking down at my leg, I decided it was time to do the nasty. (That IS what they mean by “do the nasty”, isn’t it?..Shaving your legs???)

So today I’d like to revive one of my popular blog posts, about how I hate to shave my legs. Yes, I know that some of you have read it before. Maybe you’ll want to share this with friends

A GOOD CASE FOR NOT SHAVING MY LEGS!

When I was in about 7th or 8th grade, I begged my mom to buy me some hose.  Now, these were not pantyhose, which are practically a disappearing act by now.  Nope, these were hose that required a rubbery garter belt.  I felt so proud to finally wear my hose, even though the garter belt would start rolling down my stomach.  I’m not sure who ever thought garter belts were sexy, but these sure weren’t!   And…I constantly got runs in my hose.  People started identifying me as “the girl who has runs in her hose.”   Someone who thought up pantyhose must have made millions of dollars!   OK..yes..I still got runs in them.  But they felt so much better.

Shortly after being allowed to wear hose, I told my mom I needed to learn how to shave my legs.  She told me how to do that.  We did not have an indoor bathroom until I was in 8th grade.  We did have running water, and had a sink in the mudroom.  So I propped my leg on a chair, used daddy’s shaving brush in the little soap cup, and soaped it down.  I think I used mom’s razor.  It took me forever.  But I was so proud that I went into the living room and showed the family.  My brother thought it was rather dumb.  Then I proceeded to shave the other leg.  I kind of wanted to get a little nick around my ankle, because my brother was dating a girl that had recently visited us.  She had a tiny bandaid on her ankle bone, where she had cut herself shaving.  I was in awe.

After I finished shaving both legs, I put on some of Daddy’s aftershave.  It stung like crazy, and I smelled like my Daddy.  When I later mentioned to my friends that I used Daddy’s aftershave, they howled with laughter.  Hmmph!

The fun soon wore off, and I grew to hate shaving my legs.  I used to joke with friends that “I’ll shave my legs when the braids get in between the pedals of the piano.”  Once, when my hubby and I were on vacation, we had been camping for a week.  On our way home, I developed kidney stones.  When we went to the emergency room, I refused to be examined because I hadn’t shaved my legs.

This morning, I sat on the edge of my bathtub and finally did the dreaded deed.  This time, I put some nice lotion on my legs afterwards.  Unfortunately, when I stood up to swing my legs over the tub and dry them off, I slipped in the tub and fell backwards.  I’m really surprised I didn’t break anything.  I think I’m going to have some big bruises.  Grrrr.

I think I’m ready for the button you push and say “Help!  I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”    Wearing long pants all year round is looking better and better!

What are your thoughts on shaving legs?  Do you shave your legs every day?  Or for special occasions?  Or do you never shave your legs?   I’m interested in your thoughts.  Comment below, and give this a LIKE if you liked this article.

Grandma

Where In The World Have I Been?

Wow! It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything on here! I’m so sorry. I’ve been very busy with Christmas and Grandkids. Life has begun again, and we are on a normal routine. Let me fill you in on a few things we’ve been doing.

Christmas was wonderful, even though things were delayed because of sick grandkids. Doesn’t someone ALWAYS get sick during the holidays??? They sure do in our family.

Earlier in December, my brother, wife and my sister came down to visit us for the weekend. It’s hard for us to get together any more, because of jobs and living far apart. So this was really a fun time. I made candy and cookies and fixed goody boxes…my mom used to do that for all of us, every year. Of course, she also put a $50 bill in each one. I didn’t do that, but I did include my sister’s favorite candy…we call them Peanut Butter Crunchies. Some people call them Haystacks.

My sister, Toni, and I

We had the kids here for Christmas, but because of sickness, we barely had any time for all three grandkids to play together. We kept the two Oklahoma kids for a few days, so their parents could have a much-needed time together without children. A funny thing happened to me. I had entered a contest, and I won a matching sweater set for me and my dog! LOL Pretty ugly.

Now, we’re into January. Our highlights include getting my hair cut and colored….oh, the joy!…and taking Isaac to the new Happy Lark. He used to go to the old place, but they just moved and updated everything. He loves going there. We started out with nice weather, and now it’s really cold. Dick and I went to Main Event, and had some junk food and played pool. That was a fun way to spend the evening.

So…what do you do in January???? I am trying to eat healthily and lose weight. Tomorrow, I’m going to go to the gym to get some exercise. So far, I’ve lost three lbs…..count ’em..3!!!! We’ll see how long I can do this. I’m famous for starting and not following through. But I need to get my A1C down to a better number.

Also, I’ve been influenced by all of the January magazines and Netflix’ show, with Marie Kondo. My goal this year, is to create clean, clutter-free spaces. So far, I’ve moved the huge coffee maker, that Dick got for Christmas, into the Butler’s Pantry. I made a coffee bar, and freed up some of my kitchen counter space. (Of course, I have some crowded corners of the counter that you can’t see.) Yes, yes, yes….the new set-up sparks joy. LOL I’ll be giving you an update soon, on all of my projects. I think I’m a little too ADD…I have too many projects to do, and I keep flitting back and forth.

I’ve resumed giving piano lessons, and am delighted to see all of my students . They are so fun! I have two new students starting soon. Dick is about to start a new job, and Jessica, our daughter, is also about to start a new job. Life is good!

What’s happening in your life? Are you in the Snowpocalypse? Leave me a comment below, and press “like” on here, if you liked this article. Be sure and subscribe, if you haven’t before.

Grandma Ruddell

Feeling Fancy and Pampered!!

We’re back home!!!   I have returned home from a 10 day vacation, and am just now getting back into the swing of things.  We went to Florida, to spend a few days in our time share.  We didn’t drive past the places that had houses demolished, but along Highway 10, there was so much devastation of trees.  It was amazing.  You wonder how much force can pull trees up by the roots!

We decided to drive from Texas to Florida, and see things along the way.  Ha, ha, ha.  We spent so much time driving, that we didn’t stop to see a lot.  We did stop at  Fort Parker, in Texas.  That was quite interesting.

Another fun thing to see was the US Alabama.   There were a lot of planes there also.  My husband was in Vietnam, and he pointed out some of the things he remembered.

We stopped in Cocoa, Florida to see my friend, Cindy Griswold and husband.  They just recently moved to Florida.  They have a great house and look so refreshed and good.  Retirement and a new grandchild seems to agree with them.

Ft. Lauderdale was our final destination, and it was beautiful weather while we were there.  The thing about time shares is that while you’re there, they’ll try to get you to upgrade.  We spent about 2 1/2 hrs. listening and repeatedly saying no thanks.  But we also did some sight-seeing.  While on a famous street, by the river, we sat down for ice cream.  Up above us, were two helicopters in stationary position.  Someone mentioned that wasn’t a very good sign.  As we sat, eating our ice cream, a bomb squad, three police cars, and a fire truck went speeding by.  It turned out that there was a suspicious package not far from us.  Wow!  Another day we went to a nice Italian restaurant in Weston, and our waiter was so cool.  He was Italian, but had lived in the US for a number of years.  Think charming and lots of talking with his hands.

That was also on election day….what Florida THOUGHT was their election day.  We thought maybe it was an unhappy voter.  Florida’s election was so close that they are still counting votes.

We have come back home and are back in the swing of things.  Our church has a big Veteran’s Day celebration every year.  Dick participated in that , wearing his Vietnam army uniform that he still fits into.  Now…we’re preparing for Thanksgiving.  We’ll go to Tulsa for the weekend following T-Day, to see all of the Ruddell nieces, nephews and greats.  I’m hoping to get all of my Christmas shopping for them done by then, so I can take the gifts with me.  We won’t be seeing them for Christmas.    Any occasion with them involves lots of wild card playing, and eating lots of food.

Today, I’m feeling pampered and spoiled.  Linda is here, cleaning my house.  Oooh la la!!!  She’s doing such a good job, and it looks and smells so much better.  I haven’t had anyone clean my house in 30 years…and then it was just a time or two.  What luxury! Of course, I had to go around and pick up a lot of stuff before she came.  She’s going to come once a month.

What are you doing for Thanksgiving?  Are you joining your family for a big dinner?   Is a turkey in the works?  Or are you missing a loved one and having a hard time this year?  I hope you have a nice holiday.

If you enjoyed this, hit the like button below.  And remember to subscribe to my site.  Leave a comment!

Grandma Ruddell

Odds and Ends

I’m sorry, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted.  We have had cold weather , rain, rain, and more rain, and now it’s finally feeling like fall.  Crazy weather!!!

I thought I’d just put some odds and ends here, of things we’ve been doing.   We have a vacation to Florida coming up next week.  I’m a little iffy about going through Florida.  Wasn’t the devastation awful???   And now we may be in for lots of rain, from the next Hurricane coming in through Mexico.

We are getting ready for Pledge Sunday,  at our church.  That will be next week.  It will be the culmination of a month long campaign.  Dick and I have been co-chairs, along with another couple, in manning the “Freely We Give, Freely We Receive” campaign.  (Notice we’ve never said the actual word, PLEDGE.)

Our job, as co-chairs, was to stand up in the service, and talk about the different things, and rev up the people.  The first Sunday, Dick talked about the Devotional Booklet.  I was “Vanna White” and showed the booklet around.  The next Sunday, Dick did the talking, and I was “The Opera Lady”, with my mink stole…Isn’t it GORGEOUS!!!…and I had a few quality items that I put in individual packages to hand out to the congregation for “Freely I Give”.   This past Sunday, I talked about the Giving Card that they would be getting in the mail, and we also did a Stair step of giving units.  Dick came out as “Ross Perot”, and brought out a huge chart to fill in.  It was the first time he’d ever had hair gel in his hair, and we tried to make his ears stand out a bit.   We haven’t figured out what we’ll do next week, but I’m sure it’ll be more serious, since it’s the culmination week.

It’s been fun having my two-year old grandson discovering Halloween.  He’s kind of scared of some of the things, but he was really getting into getting some candy.  We’ll go to a pumpkin place tomorrow.   Yesterday, I joined him and his mother to go to Grapevine. We met my nephew and his girlfriend, and had lunch and wandered around.  If you’ve never been to Grapevine, TX, you need to go!!!  It’s a very happening place.  They have the cutest little shops.

The weather was nice for a day.  I found a beautiful butterfly in my garden.  Then it was cold enough for a fire.  Seemed like a good time to make chili.

What do you do, when it’s cooler and you’re feeling like it’s FALL??  I like to cook.  Today I made a pumpkin pie.  Nice to have the house smelling like fall, with pumpkin things, baked breads and cookies.  Yummo.  Because, truthfully, Texas doesn’t have a lot of cold weather.

I’m considering having a lady come and clean my house, once a month.  She’s coming tomorrow to give me a price, or tell me it’s too gross and she won’t do it.  I have lots of recommendations for her.

 

Bill, our 75 lb. black lab, has suddenly decided he’s a lap dog.  It’s pretty funny.  He barely fits, but he needs some lovin’ and scratchin’.

And finally, I want to show you my corn maze.  Do you think you could make it through?   LOL

How is your fall going?   Do you celebrate Halloween?   Will you dress up?  Do you have a child or grandchild, or neighbor child to enjoy the holiday through their eyes?   I firmly believe it’s a fun celebration to have fun dressing up and getting candy.

Press the Like button, below, and leave a comment below.  I hope you will become a subscriber!

 

Grandma Sherry

 

Grandma Sherry’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am sharing with you my famous Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe.  The recipe I used today, is of my own design, and it is loaded.  They are delicious!  I always get compliments on these cookies.   I was also trying out my new Mega Cookie Sheet.  I was interested to see how many cookies would fit on this huge cookie sheet…..it barely fit in the oven!!!   I was able to get 20 cookies on this cookie sheet.  Yes!!  I love it.

                                           Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cream together:

1 1/2 c. shortening or softened butter

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. white sugar

Add and stir well:

3 eggs

1 1/2 t. vanilla

 

Add and mix well:

3 c. flour

1 1/2 t. salt

1 1/2 t. baking soda

 

Add and stir well:

1 c.  of chocolate chips

3/4 c. toffee chips

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

1 1/2 c. oatmeal

Preheat oven to 375*.   Drop cookie dough by large teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake 8 – 10 minutes until done. { I like to take mine out when they are just beginning to turn golden, and let them finish baking on the pan.}  Remove from pan, and let cool on rack.  Enjoy!!!

 

Let me know if you like this recipe.  What is YOUR favorite cookie recipe?  Press LIKE, below, if you liked this post.

Grandma