Focused at Fifty

In the summer of 2000, John and I were hiking for two weeks across various parts of Washington state. We had hiked the Northern Cascades and Olympic Peninsula and now were headed for Vancouver Island for the next week. We decided to take an auto ferry from Port Angeles, Washington to Victoria, British Columbia. It takes about 1 ½ hours. We settled back into relaxing aboard in the lounge as we churned across Puget Sound. Hiking for two weeks leave you pretty grimy and smelly. We both had with full beards, dressing in a combination of camping, hunting, and camouflage gear making us look like Rambo Boy Scouts. I had become immune to the smell of myself. People though, seemed to part like the Red Sea while I walked through the lounge. John and I decided to wash up in the ferry’s restrooms and try and remove the apparent hiker/camp fire stench that covered us and everything we were wearing. I was done first and told John I would meet him in the lounge.  After abo...

On two separate incidents, I was considered to be a ‘suspect’ during traveling. It may cause you to think twice if you are planning on traveling with me in the near future. At least make sure you are three or four people back from me in line so we aren’t associated together. This is more for your benefit than mine. You see, I tend to get frazzled under certain circumstances. Flying is one of them. Worrying is another issue. Worrying and frazzled, for me, go hand in hand. About ten years ago, I was meeting John out in Columbus, Ohio, where he was finishing up a collegiate lacrosse training camp. I had never been to Columbus and John needed help driving back. I figured, why not? A little trip to the Midwest might be nice for a long weekend. I would fly out and then drive back with him. Sounds simple right? I was at the Philly International Airport for my one way flight out to Columbus. It was very soon after the 9/11 tragedy and airport security was on high alert. I was nervous becau...

 (1 Quart French Oven) I just love Le Creuset enameled cast iron cookware. Le Creuset is a French cookware company which was founded in 1925. It is well known through out the world for it's enameled cast iron pots and pans which come in a variety of different colors such as kiwi, caribbean, cherry, flame, dune, and others. I am partial to the bright orange, or flame as they call it. My first piece was flame and I have stuck with that color ever since. These days, Le Creuset has ventured into stoneware, stock pots, tea kettles, stainless steel cookware, utensils, and accessories. Pieces are available in every color of the rainbow to match your kitchen. They aren't cheap, but they are of excellent quality and last forever.  Let me tell you how I have started my collection:  resale and consignment shops! I will sometimes come across pieces for sale at rock bottom prices and I grab 'em!  My first piece was a 5 1/2 quart French Oven, which normally retails ...

Here are some party tips that I have learned or figured out over the years through trial and error! Follow these tips and you will be sure to be invited to my next gathering!* • Evite.com is a great way to send out your invitations and keep track of who is coming. You can easily personalize the invite as well as send out reminders for those fun people that fail to RSVP like they should! Hint hint hint people! • Most of the time you can’t invite everyone, but make sure you try and have a good mix of family and friends. Or just have one party for family and one party for friends! Maybe that exconvict friend should not be invited to the party with the mother-in-law. Also, keep the alcoholics away from the Amish. Dangerous mix! • Have good lighting outside if your party is in the evening. No one needs to make a wrong turn into the prickly holly bush by the front door. The neighborhood cat that Uncle Harry bends down to pet may be that rabid raccoon on the loose. Gee, that would be a...

Last night I went to a viewing in Pottstown, PA, for a former coworker’s husband. She lost him to a particularly aggressive cancer. He was diagnosed in October and passed away February 6th, 2012. He was only 43 years old. Just too young to be taken by such a vicious disease. I came down to pay my respects at the viewing. I am always momentarily taken aback by an open casket viewing as I have not been to too many. The person who has passed away may look ‘good’,  at least as far as how well the funeral home helps him to look ‘good’. My friend’s husband looked ‘good’ considering what he apparently went through. I have been to others where the person who passed on was completely unrecognizable. Most people know that I am of the Jewish faith. In traditional Judaism, there is no viewing of the body and no open casket.  I remember seeing my Nana’s coffin was back in the late 70's: a beautiful simple polished maple coffin with the Star of David on it. In Judaism, caskets...

Back in the early 90's, I began my illustrious hotel/restaurant career as a young 23 year old waiter with a large restaurant chain. It was one of those restaurants where dusty antiques are hanging everywhere on the walls and ceilings, ready to fall into your booth if they weren't thankfully bolted down securely. I know, there were a couple items I tried to take for my apartment but couldn't seem to pry loose. The money sucked, but my coworkers were my best friends. I am still close with many of them almost twenty years later. Lots of fun memories were made. We worked together, were roommates, and partied our asses off until sunrise. We would get up at 9:50 am, be at work by 10 am, and do it all over again!  It also helped that my apartment was 1/2 a block away. I literally rolled out of bed into my dirty green server's shirt and khaki pants and ran down the street. Some of the funniest incidents were people misreading our menu or just not being able to speak. I w...

I have often "lovingly terrorized" my mother.  I was a devious kid but I swear it was always in good fun. I continued doing this well into adulthood just to get her riled up. I loved it and eventually, when she calmed down, we would laugh about it. Think of this blog post as a companion piece to my original post that I published back on January 19, 2011, titled the same: http://frazzledatforty.blogspot.com/2011/01/lovingly-terrorizing-my-mother.html Mom used to work for a government social service agency which helped connect people with transportation. In fact, her official title was Transportation Coordinator. I would be at work at the Ritz, kind of bored after completing my daily duties as purchaser and would wonder what Mom was up to. The nice child would call up their mom and say "Hey what's up?"  I, on the other hand, would crank call my Mom a couple times each month.  She fell for it every time! Nothi...