Hopefully this registration helps the clubs to generate more interest in their membership and activities!

My sons, now adults, loved Sesame Street when they were very young. One of their favorite characters was Cookie Monster. My youngest son has even gone to a Halloween costume party within the past few years dressed as his version of “Cookie Monster.”

Today, when I was reading some posts from friends on another social media outlet, I saw a post where someone was sharing this really funny video, featuring Cookie Monster. I thought it was a riot, and wanted to post it here, in honor of my sons’ fondness of Sesame Street. I hope you enjoy it!

Hand painted backsplash tile – strawberries

I was rummaging around the basement, looking for a few things to take to the craft and lawn sale happening next month at the Community Center. I came across a box with a few kitchen backsplash tiles in it, and it brought back some memories from when I had the leisure time to paint. I haven’t painted since the school bus accident a few years ago, it hurts to hold a paint brush, so these memories of better days when I could do my One Stroke decorative painting whenever I wanted to paint are bitter-sweet.

A few years ago my mother-in-law decided to buy some new tiles from a local home improvement store to use as a back-splash all around her kitchen. She asked me to paint strawberries on them, to coordinate with her wallpaper.

That was my very first time painting on tiles! When I gave the finished tiles to my mother-in-law, she was thrilled! It would be very easy to glue some felt and ribbons to something like that to make a pretty gift! Or to glue cork to the back of it, put a couple of coats of extra-heat resistant finish on it and use it for a coaster or trivet.

I recently heard that my mother-in-law has re-done her entire kitchen. I wonder if the tiles are still there, or if they have been replaced with something else.

Do you remember the old days when a young child wanted to sit at the table to eat, the parents (or grandparents) would put a big, fat, telephone directory on the seat of one of the adult’s dining room chairs so the child could sit there? Growing up in an urban area, I was used to seeing really fat telephone directories. I had a strange kind of fascination with them. I have no idea why, really. I just can remember whenever we would travel to a different city, when we would check into a motel I would go look for the local telephone directory and flip through the yellow pages. I always felt that was the best way to get a really good idea of what the area was like.

Now small business marketing involves much more than a listing in the White Pages and an advertisement in the Yellow Pages of the telephone directory. The Internet has done its part to revolutionize local listings. I still use the telephone directory for a lot of things, but usually it is only when I don’t have access to the Internet. I am always sure to keep a current telephone directory near the hard-wired phone at home, and usually last year’s copy of the telephone directory in my car.

Whenever possible, however, I will generate a local search on my computer. Doing that is often faster than using the paper version of the telephone directory. It is definitely time to stop using the telephone directory as a booster seat – I think it is an endangered species. Besides, the town that I live in, the telephone directory is so small it wouldn’t do a lot of boosting!

Beryl Jacobs Dill Little (My Grandma Bobbie) Christmas
1985

Today, on April 1, 2013, I find myself thinking about April Fool’s Day. My Grandma Bobbie, (rest in peace) was born on April 1, 1914. If she were alive today she would be 99 years old. She loved to boast that her birthday was April Fool’s Day, and she was a fun-loving person. She would love to play little jokes on her grandchildren, and when we caught on to what was going on she would get a mischievous smile on her face, her eyes would twinkle, and she would say “Ain’t I a stinker” right before breaking out into an infectious laughter that drew everyone within hearing distance into the merriment of the moment. She passed away on my birthday in 1987, and every year on my birthday since then I can imagine her speaking to me from where-ever her spirit is now, saying “Ain’t I a stinker!”

Not long ago I was looking for dessert recipes that use fresh fruit. I found that there is a traditional British dessert recipe that uses whipped cream and mashed up fresh fruit that is called a “Fool.”

Fruit Fool (free clip art)

I think that I will try to remember at every Easter dinner that I hold at my house from now on I will provide a “Fool” dessert and serve it as a fond remembrance of the birthday of my favorite April fool, Grandma Bobbie. I think she would like that very much!

Although my parents were always suspicious of my integrity, I was not about to break any rules. The consequences of getting caught doing something wrong was to be grounded for several months and believe me, for a teenage girl, being grounded for several months was a fate worse than death!

When I finally DID go to Conrad’s hot dog stand, it was in the late fall, on a weekend, on a date. Conrad’s was an older looking building, there were no tables inside to sit down and eat. Instead, it was one of those types of establishments where you walked up to a sliding window and placed your order, paid for the food and then you stood aside for a few minutes while your food was cooked, and then you went to the pick-up window. Much like many ice cream stands. You could eat at one of the picnic tables outside, or you sat in your car.

Now when I travel down the Main Street of Vienna, I wonder whatever happened to Conrad’s. Is it still there? If not, when did it cease to exist? What is there now? If I was not the passenger of the car, and not in a hurry, I think I’d like to drive past where it used to be and take a look-see. But you know what? I probably would drive right past the place and not even know it. The place was on a side street and it was over forty years ago. It’s probably a 7-Eleven now.

cheesecake (free clip art)

And I dutifully ignored it. After all, if I had bought that cheesecake and someone else had eaten it, I would not be happy at all! So I ignored it. For three agonizing, torturous days!

Well after all that deprivation and sacrifice, I found out last night that the cheesecake was bought for me! And somehow nobody ever got around to mentioning it! Well, let me tell you something – that cheesecake is not tempting me anymore! It was delicious!

We explained that the Elks would need a letter, and gave her the mailing address for the letter. She did write the letter, and mailed it to the Elks. The Elks approved the purchase, went to Home Depot and bought the ceiling fan. Now it seems that the Community Center has changed their minds about wanting the fan. Remembering how unbearably hot it got in the kitchen last summer I sure hope that they can come up with an alternative – I am heat intolerant and am not going to want to be in that kitchen for anything if it is always going to be that hot! I am the first one out of a hot kitchen!

Bar Harbor town (free clip art)

Even better, when the hosts served breakfast in the mornings, we had the chance to eat some great food! The last time I stayed at a Bed & Breakfast we were served french toast with honey and apple pie. I’d never had apple pie for breakfast before! I liked that a LOT!

apple pie (free clip art)

My favorite part of staying in a Bed & Breakfast, though, was the opportunity to visit with the other guests, and the hosts. If we had stayed in a regular chain hotel, we would not have even considered striking up a conversation with other guest there. I enjoyed asking the hosts about daily life there in Bar Harbor, and where they would eat supper if they were going to eat out. Finding out where the best “non-tourist” places to eat are; where you could actually get the feeling of the “real” town were a good way to make us feel less like intrusive gawkers, and more like welcome guests. And those local restaurants usually have the best food, at decent prices too. You’re not stuck with the rubber or frozen meals from a national franchise, or the hugely overpriced lobster dinners served down on the pier.