Where Were You 25 Years Ago? The Challenger Disaster

I wasn't really keeping up with the shuttle launch that fateful day twenty-fives years ago. I was aware that it was scheduled to fly and a teacher was going to be onboard, but shuttle flights were common by that point and I had other things on my mind, such as my dead-end job and "why wouldn't my boyfriend pop the question and marry me?"

I was actually at work (as a cashier!) when someone came in and said the shuttle had exploded. At the time, everyone there had reasonable expectations that the astronauts had survived. We were talking about NASA, afterall. They would probably be out with lifeboats rescuing them from the water, since they had all most-likely ejected from the shuttle. There really wasn't a feeling that something catastrophic had occurred. Not at that point anyway.

By the time I got off work and got in the car to go home, the feeling had changed. The radio station had stopped playing music and the deejays were allowing callers to phone in. I was still living at home and I don't believe my mother had even heard about it (my father would still have been at work). I put the television on and stayed glued to the tv for the rest of the evening. Watching those final 73 seconds over and over again.

It didn't seem like one of those pivotal "forever" moments back then. I had no idea that 25 years later I would remember where I was when I heard the news, or that I would even remember the events from that day that followed. A few years later I would meet astronaut Ronald E McNair's father. He wore a button (pinback) with his son's picture on his shirt. I remember him as a somewhat frail man, beat down by grief and still in pain, but proud of his son and that he gave his life doing something that he loved.

It's amazing that 25 years later, that day is still crystal clear in my mind. Other events have happened; the death of JFK Jr and 9-11, but I was just hitting adulthood back then and this one stands out. A passing of time, a mark etched forever on a calendar. In the end it's called life and these are part of the memories we take from it.

Cabin Fever Sale

OBS Members have the winter blues and think a sale would be the perfect solution while stuck inside.
The sale starts now and runs to the end of the month. By then we should be able to get out of our cabins!

Shop with our trusted friends with an array of items. We sell books, sewing patterns, clothes, glassware, dishes, antiques, magazines, souvenirs, toys, sheet music, Valentines, postcards, home accessories, movies almost anything you can think of.

Here is a list of participating stores and their discounts -

My Moms Books 15% off store wide

Cozy Home Collectibles 15% off store wide

Birdhouse Books 10% - 20% off through January 31

Vintage children's books, collectible cookbooks, and ephemera (vintage Valentines, Christmas cards, dog cards, and more)

A Moment to Think...

I am so sad today as the news covers the tragedy which occurred last Saturday morning in Tucson, AZ. In case you haven't heard, a gunman opened fire on a crowd that was gathered to hear Representative Gabriel Giffords speak. 6 people were killed, including a 9 year old little girl.

Is this what politics has come to? Can the hatred be so strong? So senseless, and the irony is that Giffords, a Democrat, was the target yet a Republican woman and a little girl who probably didn't even know the difference between the parties, were both victims.

Giffords, although shot in the head, miraculously is going to survive the attack, she is stable yet critical as of this morning's press report... I wish I could say the same for politics. And I write this completely bi-partisan, I don't care who you support, or what you stand behind.. we all as a nation should find common ground agreeing that this is not the way to handle dissatisfaction with the government.

I just wanted to write this blog post as a tribute to those who died, especially a little girl named Christina Green, a little girl who had her whole life ahead of her. I'm having a hard time writing this as tears fill my eyes. You see I lived in Tucson, AZ until this past year, and only a few miles from the place where this occurred. My mother, brother and friends are still there, some close enough they heard the sirens on Saturday morning and experienced the chaos. This is too close to home, too close not to recognize how short life can be.

Hug your children, your grandchildren and your other family members. Make every day count. Make every moment count. For those that pray, I hope you will keep all the victims and their families in your prayers, as hard as this is hitting me I can only imagine the grief and distress those involved are feeling. For those that don't, please consider a moment of silence and sending of good thoughts.

THE WIZARD OF OZ AND OTHER BOOKS

THE WIZARD OF OZ

L. Frank Baum wanted to write modern fairy tales that didn’t frighten children. His fairy tales, he said, wouldn’t upset them like the Brothers Grimm did. Baum’s first book, “Mother Goose in Prose” was published in 1897. It was based on stories he made up and told his own sons. In the last chapter of his first book a farm-girl named Dorothy makes her entrance. Three years later the timeless tale, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” appeared. Over the next 19 years Baum wrote 62 books. Most of those books were children’s books.
After ‘Mother Goose in Prose” Baum teamed with friend and poster designer W.W. Denslow. Together the men published “Father Goose, His Book” in 1899. It was the best-selling children's book of 1899, selling an estimated 175,000 copies. Baum went on to produce five more books in 1900. The whimsical tale “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” was one of those five. Denslow also illustrated it. The book turned Baum into a celebrity. The 1939 film version of the book titled “The Wizard of Oz” evolved into a pop-culture phenomenon, indelibly stamped into the consciousness of a generation of grown-up children and their children.
“The Guinness Book of World Records” calls the “The Wizard of Oz” the most viewed movie of all time, with an audience over one billion people. To say the book and film struck a chord is an understatement.
“The Wizard of Oz” was made into a musical in 1902 and toured the United States for years. None of the other Oz books were as popular as the first. Early on Baum became interested in film. In 1909 he started a company that made hand-colored slides of his Oz characters. He showed the slides as he read the book and the orchestra played background music. Interesting but not a money-maker, Baum declared bankruptcy in 1911. Then Baum went into the film business in 1914 with The Oz Film Company. They produced six movies before they also went out of business. Distribution was the downfall. Baum wrote a total of 14 Oz books. The books ended up being so popular that after his death in 1919 the publishers continued the series with other writers. Forty more Oz books were created. Ultimately what immortalized “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” was the first silent screen version in 1925 and then the 1939 MGM classic, starring Judy Garland.
“The Wizard of Oz Waddle Book” (1934) with its six pop-out characters from the story and a yellow brick road ramp for them to walk down is one of the most desirable Oz items. The six die-cut, cardboard characters Dorothy, Toto, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion and the Wizard can be detached and assembled into three dimensional dolls. They were designed to walk, or waddle, down a slanted surface--the Yellow Brick Road. On Aug 5, PBA Galleries, San Francisco, featured a copy of the 211 page “The Wizard of Oz Waddle Book” in its Fine Literature Illustrated & Children’s Books auction. Published by Blue Ribbon Books the first edition, first state copy sold for $8,400.

Here are current values for other classics sold in the sale:

“The Catcher in the Rye,” J.D. Salinger; first edition, first issue jacket; pictorial jacket; Boston, 1951; $2,700.

“Where the Wild Things Are,” Maurice Sendak; rare first edition; in the jacket; New York; 1963; $6,600.

“The Wind in the Willows,” Kenneth Grahame; first Shepard edition; signed by author and illustrator; dust jacket; London; 1931; $8,400.

“When We Were Very Young;” A. A. Milne; first edition; rare limited edition, 86 of 100 copies; signed by author and illustrator; dust jacket; London; 1924; $12,000.

from Live Auction Talk 1/9/11

Another Birthday for Donald

Today is my Husband Donald`s Birthday.
And for Both of us it`s a Very Special Birthday for several reasons.

You see, not only is it his 65h Birthday, which officially marks retirement age, ( which he has NO intentions of doing yet he says ) it is a Birthday we weren`t sure if he`d Celebrate for several reasons.

You see I have teased my Husband and called him a Cat with 9 lives a few times.

About 5 years ago he woke up one morning with chest crushing pain. He went in to see his Regular Dr. who ran a EKG on him and then proceeded to Call 911 because of the very disturbing test results that showed he was having a Heart Attack.

So the ambulance shows up at the Drs. office and by this time he is in terrible pain and the EKG machine is going bonkers..
In the Emergency room they administered Nitro Glycerin to him several times with NO effect on him ???

Hmmmm , now what ?

They have him hooked up to several machines now and whisk him up to ICU and Cardio lab for more tests.

Well fast forward here 3 days now and one of the Nuclear Stress Tests they do on him shows he has Periocarditis. The swelling and inflamation of the Sac that surrounds the Heart

Not life threatening , but extremely painful and mimics a Heart Attack. Antibiotics and bed rest will take care of it.
OK so they send him home 4 days later and we are good right ??

WRONG..

Approximately 1 year later in April we were involved in a Very Bad Car accident out in Detroit MI which put him in the Hospital out there for 3 days because he hit the steering wheel with his chest so hard that it broke several Blood Vessels that were leaking Blood behind his sternum and could have serious complications if not monitored.

We came back home and 2 days later he has trouble breathing and X-rays show Double Pneumonia.

Back in the hospital on Oxygen and bed rest for 3 days again.. Everything good now ?

Not for long..

April each year is the time for his yearly check up and Colonoscopy which he had done just before we left on Mini Vacation which included Reno NV for my Bowling Tournament and then 3 days of FUN in VEGAS ( which we had never seen before )

Last day of Vacation we get a call from the Dr, telling us he wants to see him the next day as soon as we get back to CT.

Dr. tells us he has Colon Cancer !

Less than 2 weeks later he is having surgery to remove a large mass in his Colon which they assumed was the Tumor..

3 days later the Biopsy comes back to show THIS mass is NOT the tumor but a abcessed cyst of some sort.
So they need to go back in and Get the tumor before it spreads anymore.

5 weeks later, barely healed from the first surgery, he`s being operated on again to remove another section of the Colon where the Cancerous Tumor is.

GONE DONE OUT OF THERE !

He was quite lucky in the respect that the type of Cancer it was and how low in the Colon it was, that he did not require having Chemo or Radiation.
The surgery got it all out and it had NOT spread.. WHEW !

And so far 1 year later, his check up is clear and clean the Cancer has not come back.

So, as I said at the Beginning of this LONG (sorry alot has happened to him ) posting, WE have several reasons to Celebrate this Milestone Birthday for him !

Happy 65th Birthday My Love !

Happy New Year - 2011 Goal Setting

Way back (in the dark ages) when I was in college at Stone Age U, I read a magazine article that said, Goals put in writing were much more likely to be achieved. It actually said a percentage but that was so long ago who remembers?

I found that writing out my goals for the day, week, month and years (going as much as 5 years ahead) worked for me. Sometimes I got off track but having them in writing in front of me worked better than anything else.

So for 2 years now, the group that writes this blog has also had a "conversation" on our yahoo group about daily goals, and we "grew" enough to expand that to monthly goals. And we're doing pretty good (most of us...rolling eyes at how bad I've been lately) at hitting those daily goals. Some of us have even managed to do well with the monthly ones.

So now our challenge is to step up our level of commitment and make yearly, three year, life-long goals.  And we're doing that by using VISION BOARDS.  Elaine called hers a "life book" but it's the same idea.

1. If you put it in writing, that's a higher level of commitment on our part than just saying "yeah I'd like to do that some day".

2. If you put it in writing, or pictures, online/offline, wherever, it's less likely (in everyone's case but mine...since my brain is moth-eaten with age now) that you'll be so distracted by "LIFE" that you forget to work on your goals or even forget that there was a goal.

Now I'm an "out of sight, out of mind" kind of person.  I never put a project away until it's done cause if I do? It is not getting done. I'll open a desk drawer or a storage bin a year or 10 years from now and say "OH that's where I put that...".  Been there, done that, too many times.

With that in mind some of us are doing vision boards where we use pictures to remind us, and to help us attract the "cosmic energy" that will let us achieve those goals.

I'm going to verbalize some of mine here, and picture some of mine here and then the "Cosmos" can help remind me (ok the blog... LOL nothing so grand as a Cosmos) of what I'm trying to accomplish.

Forthwith (I love that expression):

1. I need to increase income either thru more sales on various ecommerce venues or another solution.  $5000 a month will do just fine. (now to figure out how) UH... so come buy something from me > here >
Antiquedaze (one of my many venues..and the best stocked too!

2. I want to blog more,write more, podcast more.  I'm working on a solution for the writing art...the blogging means I have to be more conscientious and just do it... (Ihave 5 blogs besides contributing to this one so it's not like I don't have somewhere to put all my drivel).  The podcasting is going to require some thought, planning and time so I'm putting that on the weekly teux-deux list.

3. I want to travel

Preferably not on that but I can't find an airplane picture at the moment.

Destinations of choice include:

NH or Cape Cod - husband's cousin lives in NH and her brother lives in Cape Cod, so we can visit either one and catch up with 2 of his cousins.

TN - My cousin and my friend Dar both live there - and I know KAT knows where TN is and can get there from where...so that would be fun too.

NC - My friend Pat lives there...and it's somewhere that I've always wanted to visit with the possibilty of retiring there....soooo

Next year - Chicago or Reno (friends in both places and some sci-fi book conventions DH wants to go to... soooo )

And the last major goal is to have a clean, roomier and peaceful home.  And for DH to be healthier (and me too).  More on that in the next installment...or maybe the end of the month...

That is as far as I've gotten with "goals" or visions for 2011 - what about you?!

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Thanks...see ya later this week...

Beth