Happy Birthday to Jean

Yesterday, Jean thought it was her birthday. She had to look at the date on the newspaper before she believed me that her birthday was actually today! We had planned an 8 am birthday celebration at Sam's for Saturday morning, and Sarah did a great job of not spoiling the surprise. Jean said she was celebrating the 26th anniversary of her 50th birthday. Jean in her favorite pose (hidden from view)
Turns out that at 8 am, I take incredibly poor photos. It isn't easy to make everyone look this bad in a photo, but I managed. Think this was could be in a "Write that caption" contest.
Captions, anyone? Please submit by clicking on "comment" below.

Bill wore his birthday hat and accepted many well wishes. Patty does her best to ignore a comment about Mr. Microphone, which made her cry and Gladys blush.

Luckily Gwen was in town from Florida to celebrate with us!

Harold, birthday girl Jean, and Sue

So many people we needed two tables.

Harold and Doug

Doug, John and Gwen are big Maryland fans

Gladys and Jack

Bill thought Don looked like baby Sweet Pea from the Popeye cartoon

Jim and Dorothy

Jean was working out a deal with Jim to get help with the new TV and FIOS.

Catonsville Haunted House

Honk if you see Bill's truck around town

Don't forget that everyone is invited to stop by Bill Tucker's on Halloween night at 116 Sanford Avenue. This year, he is teaming up with son Jack and friend (who did the Haunted Pool last year) to create a very spooky walk-through haunted event. See you there if you dare anytime after dark. Don't forget to say "Hi" to Bill if Leatherface attacks you!

In Memory of Gram

Harold's grandmother, Blanche Abramson Silverstein, passed away over the weekend after a long illness. She would have been 95 years old in a few days. She was a very hard-working, kind, practical lady well-known for dispensing cookies, advice and chicken soup with love. One of her mottos was "Fight on!" and she did that with dignity. She will truly be missed.

Gram was buried yesterday in Philadelphia. Due to an accident on Interstate 95, poor Gram was literally late to her own funeral! The service was very simple and moving as Arnold, Harold, Beth, and Neil shared their recollections of Gram. Katelyn read a psalm. But what got to me was the sight of my tall 18-year old son in a new suit, solemnly acting as pallbearer.

Friends and family may call at the home of Harold's parents, Arnold and Ann Cohen, on Wednesday (10/22) and Thursday (10/23) evenings. Their address is 2528 Willow Glen Road, Pikesville, MD 21209.

Forgive Me, Dimitri, For I Have Sinned

• The other night I had to pick some work materials up in Columbia. It was around 6:30 pm, and I couldn't help but notice the beautiful sunset. I pulled off Snowden River into a parking lot and took the above photos of the sunset and the rising full moon. A gentleman said to me, "Wow, you timed it right. A sunset and they're coming off the line now." "What are?" I asked. "The Krispy Kreme donuts". I looked up and I was parked in front of a Krispy Kreme Store. Now, I have had a cold Krispy Kreme from a convenience store in the past and had not been impressed. But I went in and watched the donuts on their little conveyor belt getting fried and glazed. They smelled great. People were rushing in to buy the fresh donuts. I bought a dozen and ate two on the way home. Don't know if it was because I hadn't eaten in over 6 hours, but they were DELICIOUS and hot! They were crispy like the beignets in New Orleans with a sweet sugar glaze instead of powdered sugar. Anyway, I am glad I don't live nearby, because I fear I could easily become addicted. I feel better now that I have confessed. (But do try them hot if you get the chance!)



• Bill W. had an infected leg but is on antibiotics now and feeling a bit better. He had some terrific jokes which I have sadly forgotten.



• I missed noting that the blog was a year old on September 22. Just like the Seinfeld show, it is truly something based on nothing. But I hope that it has given the few faithful readers some smiles over the past 12 months!



• We have a Wii at home and recently got the Wii Fit game. You stand on a Wii board (which also measures your weight and balance) and attempt to do various exercises with your virtual trainer. It's a lot of fun. Yesterday my "trainer" told me my balance was off and asked me if I tripped frequently. How could he know my long family history of klutziness? Anyway, I tripped UP the curb yesterday at work and skinned my knee and hand. It was my first experience of having something in my virtual world foreshadow an event in my real world. Wonder if he could give me virtual lottery numbers.



• I am doing my patriotic duty and attempting to stay awake for the final presidential debate. Will anyone else be glad when this election process is over? The process seems to take 2 years now, a waste of time and travel and money. I would vote for a shorter campaign season in the future.

Columbus Day 2008

• We celebrated Paul's 79th birthday yesterday. Bill T. asked him if he had made a birthday wish, and Paul replied, " Yes, but it's none of your business". Jean blushed. Well, hope you have many more good wishes!


• Gladys reported that Gwen had called from Florida, and she will be visiting this week. Look for her at Sam's on Friday morning.


• Alicia was looking forward to a week's sailing trip. She sailed from Philadelphia on Sunday.


• Harold will be off to the state of Washington for a long teaching weekend.


• It was Wall Street's best day in years, going up many points instead if down for a change. Maybe 13 is not an unlucky number. Let's see what happens the rest of the week.


• Enjoy the warm "Indian summer" weather while it's here. Hope Mike and Glenn continue to recuperate at home. We are thinking of you.
  

Foster Family Bingo!

The Foster Family had over 200 participants last night at their Bingo to fight breast cancer. This is the 9th year they have held the event since Pat Foster defeated breast cancer in 1999. They had gone to so much trouble to have beautiful filled baskets, door prizes, raffles and food. We had fun being together, but the luck of the Irish wasn't with us. Patty, Pat and Marty look happy at the start of the evening

before they realize they were seated at the loser's table!

Since I had so much extra time (what with NOT dabbing any numbers on my card), I took a photo of this cool "Dab Out Breast Cancer" ink bottle. You can see that only my "free spaces" had any ink on them.

Even this guy came over to point out that ours

was the only table not winning anything.

Kelly Foster finally delivers a basket to our table.

The lady in yellow sat at our table after intermission and won TWO baskets.

(We hate her.)
Kim calls out her winning numbers.

Pat consoles Patty and Pat on our table's Bingo performance.

We still had fun, and there's always next year!

My friend, Mary Lou, who joined us last night has invited all of us to another Longaberger Basket Bingo at Resurrection Church in Ellicott City on Friday, November 7th at 6 pm. Proceeds benefit the youth group and food will be available. Let me know if you want a ticket.....our luck can't always be this bad!

Post-op day 3

It's POD #3, as they say in the biz. Swelling after trauma generally starts to go down after the third day, so I'm hoping for rapid improvement in this horrible pain. Today is my first full day at home, and my parents reluctantly concede I am self-sufficient enough not to need someone monitoring my home 24-7. It's like they want to make up for neglecting me as a child or something.

My sis wants to visit this weekend from Boston. "I know you're not up for company, " she says, "but I'll stay out of the way and take the kids around to their activities. We know we're being an annoying family, but most families are, you know." She makes me laugh out loud, so I say OK.

I just awakened from this really hard, deep afternoon nap. You know the kind. I dreamed I was visiting my sister, and walking around her neighborhood was something like Dr. Seuss Land. The people walked exotic, flamboyant, colorful, one of a kind dogs that resembled themselves. The trees were groomed in the form of intricate long, slender show dogs or birds, complete with soft fur, floppy ears, or feathers, and big eyes. The sidewalks were icy, but perfect for shimmying down like a surfer or a skateboarder on the soles of my sneakers.

My kids have Columbus Day off, so I'll have them for the long weekend? They're excited about the meal menus they planned, "I call dinner", "I call breakfast."

I'm excited about having my blankets arranged well. When the weather turns chilly and I'm alone in bed, I like lots of downy, plushy-soft blankets. When my children were little, I used to remove all the blankets from their beds before they got in. Then they would lie down. Then one by one, I would grab each sheet or blanket by two corners, and when they said "Go!", I'd fling it high up to the ceiling and let it float down on a billowy cushion of air to meet them. When this was done for all five or so blankets, we knew they were tucked in snuggly for the night.

Can Halloween Be Far Behind?

• Haven't hear from Dr. Mike yet. We are thinking of you and hoping that your surgery was successful.
• Scott has returned from a successful fishing trip. Doug took Scott and his daughter Courtney out on the bay. Scott said he finally caught some fish after he removed the plastic covers on his fishing hooks.
• Bingo tomorrow night at The Lodge to benefit cancer research. The Bingo event is being sponsored by the Foster family. Doors open at 6 pm.What could Gene be looking at on Sam's parking lot?
  

Why, it's Bill T's creepy passenger! That must mean that he is gearing up for his famous haunted house at 116 Sanford Avenue on Halloween night. All welcome.

Katelyn was home for a visit and had breakfast with her PopPop Paul.

For just $3, you can purchase a "Glenn's Friend" spirit bracelet at Sam's. All of the proceeds go to Glenn's family. I see a lot of the Bagel Bunch already sporting them. We are thinking of you, Glenn.

Expedition Everest Challenge Race Photos

We wore these snazzy wrist bands all weekend

that allowed us into the post-race party.

We spent some time at Animal Kingdom on Saturday. Jim took this photo of Everest. We enjoyed many of the nature trails throughout the park.

We had plenty of time to wait before our wave, so we took advantage of the staged photo opportunities. The polar bear's sign says "Good luck! I'll be right behind you!"

Here we are posing in the Butterfly parking lot by the expedition plane. You can see the obstacle course in the distance. Others walked over to check it out, but we were conserving our energy.

They had several costumed characters doing the countdown and playing music while we waited. This guy shook our hands before the race. Jim joked that we were on our way over to the medical tent to introduce ourselves to the staff (to save time in case of any race injuries).

Our bunch of runners started grouping together around 6 pm. Little did we know we would wait nearly 2 more hours to run. We chatted with many nice people while we waited. Team Highlanders was also in a race for the first time.

We were the last wave of runners to start at 7:50, and it was already dark. Many of the first runners had already run past us and gone off to the Scavenger Hunt while we waited. Jim, who had stated several times that we would be walking the course, ran like he was shot out of a cannon after the final countdown.

The fever was upon us!
Jim completed all of the obstacles (cargo net, hurdles, balance beam and crawling) in lightning speed. Here he is flying over the balance beam. I was a wuss and ran around them, which luckily was allowed.

Ahhh, the end is in sight.

Crossing the finish line, our goal for our first race! I had the timing chip attached to my shoe for our team time. We finished 127 out of 175 in our coed division with 3/4 scavenger hunt items correct. We had found the correct location for the clue, but in our hurry we "pulled out" the wrong answer. Drat!

Got our medals, bananas, sports drinks, and, of course,

BAGELS at the finish line.

Time to celebrate...... ain't the beer cold!

Here's my blurry photo while riding Expedition Everest in the dark.

VERY exciting!

Animal Kingdom was beautiful at night with lots of dramatic lighting. Since we were in the last wave of runners, we pretty much had the park to ourselves. We loved riding Kali River Rapids and Everest as many times as we wanted in the dark without any waiting. We had a blast. Kungaloosh!

Equal Opportunity Laughs

Saturday Night Live VP Debate

Just Another Monday Morning

I was thinking about Dr. Mike's hip surgery, which he feels was needed due to 30 years of jogging. I figured that I timed the start of my running "career" perfectly. Thirty years from now, I may be due for a hip replacement anyway, so I may as well run into my 80's. Also figure that the competition in my age group will be decreasing over time!

Dr. Mike rode off into the fog yesterday.

Hope his hip surgery went well this morning at Sinai Hospital. He promised to let us know about his progress within the week.

Chuck DiPaolo sent this nice photo from Florida

with his 15 year-old grandson, Ty.

Special Weekend Outings

On Sunday morning, our group of friends, "Rubes on the Loose", went to brunch at Toby's to see "The Producers". We were celebrating Jim's birthday and had a lot of fun. Thanks to Cindy for reserving tickets for us. The production was excellent (it is playing through November so you still have time to catch it). I spilled some food on my white blouse, and luckily Mary Lou had a detergent wipe to give me. When I went in the Ladies' Room to clean up, it became necessary to remove the blouse and scrub it in the sink. Thank goodness I was also wearing a jacket that I could zip up and wear without a blouse. We joked that I had to return for the spin cycle after intermission, multitasking laundry with musical theater. I saved my program for Tom, a great Toby's fan and blog reader, who now resides in Las Vegas.

Toby's Dinner Theater in Columbia

Sue and Jim

Cindy and Mary Lou

On Friday night, some of the Bagel Bunch ventured out in the evening for a special Japanese dinner in Columbia. It was a beautiful fall evening by the lake. We decided that we all cleaned up pretty good! We enjoyed the delicious food and company, and as always had many laughs. Thanks to Patty for making the reservations for us. And apologies to the poor young couple who was seated next to our boisterous group!

Softcrab sushi roll for Bill

Pat with saki and Don with a BIG beer

Janice and Bill

Gladys and Jack

Patty and Sue