Happy Turkey Day

rainy days and tuesdays

We don't have enough rainy days and Tuesdays are not as bad as Mondays to get me down. As a matter of fact, I'm jubilous that it's raining today!  I'm thankful that's it's raining a rain that soaks you but doesn't drown you and destroy. I don't mind that I keep having to check the intensity of it to see if perhaps my dog , the little madame, might go out long enough to do what she has to. If I could, I'd send some of this rain to the places that need it.Yes, I feel lucky to have this rain.

I've just been over to Deb's place (Kentucky Deb's) and she had found an article about taking some time out of our busy day on Thanksgiving to start writing a list about all the things we are thankful for. Thanksgiving isn't a holiday (yet) in Spain and we don't have time to prepare a special meal (you know it takes a lot of planning and preparation) during the week. My friends and I do celebrate Thanksgiving, along with my birthday, though we've given up trying to find a place that does a Thanksgiving meal as we know it. So I know everybody is, and will, be busy the next couple of days, and if you're not on multiply too much, just want you to know I'm thankful that you're here other times and wish all my friends and family a very happy holiday.

See I've started my list early. Tomorrow is one of my busiest days and Thursday I have to make brownies. Well, I don't have to make them. I can make them and I want to. Hugs to all.

the world is a hankerchief

No, this saying doesn't mean the world is a rubbish bin (trashcan in American English, but my nephew, Aaron, prefers rubbish bin) though it might seem that way. Remember the children's song 'It's a Small World'? To the Spanish, the small dimensions of the hankerchief are comparable to each individual's tiny universe. Besides, everyone thought the Earth was flat before it was proven otherwise. We've all experienced this smallness of our planet, and I'm going to tell you about some of mine.

Years ago a couple of friends and I went to Rome at Easter where we saw the Pope (John Paul II) up close and personal - this, of course, before the attempt on his life. Just thought I'd throw this in  even if it has no relationship whatsoever to my experience. We were in the Coliseum  and my camera had just run out of film, which didn't make me too happy when  suddenly  I  hear  'Mama, Mama! There's my English  teacher!'  Sure enough it was one of my little pupils from the institute. I don't know how they had got to Rome, but they hadn't travelled with us. However, all roads lead to Rome, don't they?

I had a similar experience years later in which I was walking down the street that I'd lived in for a long time when I was stopped by a young lady who said: 'Hey, I know you. You were on my flight from New York.' Well, I do go to the bathroom a lot on flights so, in this case, we had travelled together but to Madrid.

Lastly, (I've had others but don't want to bore you with all of them) when I made the move from 360 to here, the very first video I put on my page was a Tangerine Dream one. The person who added his photos to the music did an excellent job. It's almost as if the photos were taken with the music in mind and vice versa. Then I joined a few groups, and do you know what? The author of the 'Tangerine Dream' video posted a response in one of these groups!

How about you? I know you've had your encounters and maybe some of them I know about. I'm off to visit Post Secret and, although this isn't an unexpected encounter, sometimes I read unexpected secrets. Have a good week and Happy Thanksgiving. I don't envy you your turkey and all the trimmings too much.

Cleaning Out My Closet

Eminem did it and now so have I. He cleaned out his closet and I've cleaned all the graphics and long messages out of my guestbook. So I thank everybody who has sent me a lovely graphic message, but that's apparently one of the culprits which is slowing slowing things down on here. They also wreck your page by widening the message box and making everything off-centre. Don't know about anybody else but pictures that are not hung straight really get on my nerves. Have you ever been in someone else's home and found yourself wanting to straighten their pictures, or maybe you've actually done it while their out of the room? I have. As much as I like the cute graphics that I get, I've put a note on my message box asking that you don't post them. Just send me a hiya - that's sufficient. Have a good evening all. 

Happy 19th

Can you believe this young man is 19 today? This photo was taken at our Christmas meal last year. My culinary contributions were homemade rolls and a green bean casserole, which Jesse loves. They always request the green bean casserole (and the rolls too). June, Jesse's mom makes the best mashed potatoes in the world. I've sent Jesse an SMS wishing him a very happy day. Hope it reaches it's correct destination this year.

I'm going to visit some special friends' pages now. They're both vets so I want to wish them a happy day. One is BJ who was recently in hospital and the other is Bill, or olbill as he calls himself on here. I'm not sure if Bill is still in hospital or isn't up to posting anything. I'm constantly checking on 360 in case he's posted there. Remember these two men and the countless others who have fought for our freedom. I hope Post Secret has. Have a happy day all.

Juan Carlos I, King of Spain

This is a post that has come about spontaneously. Many of my friends here know that I've lived most of my adult life in Spain. As a matter of fact, I've lived in Spain longer than I did in the US. I came to Madrid (thanks to my Spanish professor at university) at the time when Spain was making the transition from a dictatorship to a democratic country. It was an exciting and frightening time to be in Spain, not just for foreigners but for everyone.

One of the defenders of democracy was and is the King of Spain. Because of him, Spain averted a coup d'état or military takeover in 1981. There are some who are against the Monarchy,and there have been demonstrations in which photos of the Royal Family have been burned. But thanks to how don Juan Carlos reacted in 1981, they have the right to demonstrate and express their opinions freely.

Kudos to the King of Spain for telling Chavez to shut up, because in doing so he was again defending the freedom that we enjoy in Spain and which under Chavez's rule is denied to the people of his country. Don Juan Carlos is always very polite, very friendly and is very funny in English. This is absolutely the first time I have seen him angry and I applaud him for it. Bravo!

Rainbow Hair

My hair has literally been all the colours of the rainbow.  I remember one summer using this spray from Avon that was meant to lighten your hair. At the time my hair was naturally dark brown. With this Avon spray I was supposed to sit out in the sun, which I did religiously until I'd used the whole bottle. I remember thinking 'This stuff isn't working'.  Imagine my surprise, when one morning I woke up a very platinum blonde. I don't remember how long it took to grow it all out, but it finally disappeared and I was back to normal.

My next colour experience was when I had quite a bit of grey and my hairdresser kept nagging me to cover it up. I finally gave in and bought one of those 'washes out in 7 or 8 shampoos'. I should have known not to believe everything I read. These wash-outs don't take into consideration the porosity of one's hair. So the beginning of colouring my hair. I went from a lovely walnut-colour, which did suit me, to a indigo-like colour to orange when I finally decided to  get back my natural colour to blonde again because my hair was orange and finally all the colours of the rainbow my natural colour - white. Finally, the colour that's me. My hair is a shiny silver and  even earned me a reduced-price ticket at the cinema this summer. Lots of  women, and some men too, cover up their grey until they die. Good for them, but I'll take a reduced-price ticket any day to all that mess and, in no time at all, those horrible roots.
A not so profound thought: a creature of habit is just that. I'm one and I'm going to see what's new on Post Secrets like I always do on a Sunday. Have a good week all.