Marlene McKay » Life

Cross country skiing today

Marlene — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:01:08 +0000

Well, it is snowing today, but I’m going to go out cross country skiing in it anyway for a little while. I enjoy the exercise, and I enjoy the peace and quiet of skiing on a nice trail, the snow falling gently around me. The beauty of the countryside is something that brings a tranquility to my soul that is hard to describe. I really enjoy being outside when it is so very quiet that all I can hear is my own breath and the swish of my skis.

Slept through the celebration

Marlene — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:36:05 +0000

How did you celebrate the new year? I wanted to stay up, and my hubby and I even broke open a bottle of champagne! We each drank two glasses (we sipped) and turned on the Dick Clark celebratory television show. I’m sorry to say that we both fell asleep (me on the sofa, him in his recliner) around eleven pm and woke up about around one am. Oh well, we missed it! But you know what, the new year is here just the same. Hopefully this is not the LAST new year our civilization watches!

Landline or not?

Marlene — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 03:32:53 +0000

I’ve been hearing and reading more cases of families giving up their hard-wired landline in their homes in favor of simply using cell phones. I can understand the logic, the cell phones are small and they carry them with them at all times, the landline phone is usually larger and more cumbersome. Yet I question the wisdom of this strategy. I like having a landline phone, one that is completely hardwired, and corded. Yes, we have cordless phones, but if and when the electricity goes out (and it DOES go out!) and the cell phones are useless because our house is a dead zone, we depend on the hardwired, corded landline to call the electric company to report the power outage! And we use it to keep in touch with friends and family during the power outage! In 1998 we had a huge ice storm that knocked the electricity out for nineteen days, but we had the telephone service every minute! We could not have maintained cell phones in that case because we could not have kept them charged!

So, in OUR house, anyway, I expect the landline is here to stay. What about you?

Boy is it hard work

Marlene — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:26:39 +0000

My sister and I started taking clogging classes a few weeks ago, and let me tell you this; it is hard work! Yes, it is a lot of fun, too, but we certainly work up a sweat! And I do NOT like to sweat! So I have to come up with a plan of action for that one. I’ve been wearing long pants to class, and I think perhaps if I change into yoga shorts and a sleeveless shirt that I should be more comfortable. I am enjoying the comraderie with my sister in the class, and we’ve been inviting one of my sister-in-laws to join the class too. I hope she does; that would be such fun!

Christmas fruits

Marlene — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 01:31:01 +0000

The past couple of days we’ve been getting gift boxes in the mail from my hubby’s relatives. Seems as if they all decided to buy fruit from Harry & David this year! We love their pears, so we are glad to get the gifts. One of the boxes arrived with no message as to who the gift is from, it just said in the message part for my son to keep his hands off of the fruit! I am thinking it is from my sister-in-law, but I’m not sure of that.

Today we got another box, this time from my hubby’s aunt – it had pears and candies and nuts and smoked salmon and baklava and all kinds of great goodies in it! That box cost a bundle, I am sure! The last time I remember eating smoked salmon was right around 1999, and I really enjoyed it, so I’m sure I’ll enjoy that treat, assuming that my hubby doesn’t eat it all before I get any of it!

All in the family

Marlene — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 01:37:38 +0000

When I told my sister-in-law that my sister and I were taking clogging classes near where her house was, she said she had never heard of it before. I told her it was a form of dance, and it was a lot of fun. Since her hubby is reluctant to dance with her when they go out, I invited her to join us clogging. She said she would love to try it out. Well, she DID come to class and she enjoyed it a lot. Now it looks as if there will be the three sisters clogging together in class every week! What fun!

Clogging shoes from Ebay

Marlene — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 01:38:45 +0000

Since we went to clogging class we realized that we need to wear special clogging dance shoes. The new ones cost around $70, which is way above my budget. Especially since we’re new at clogging and don’t know how long we will be able to continue taking the classes. So I checked Ebay and found a pair of beat-up-used shoes that might be in my size for sale for only $5.00. I went ahead and bid on them, and to my surprise I won the auction! So I’m looking forward to getting my clogging shoes in a couple of days. It will be good to wear them to classes instead of dancing in my socks! I love Ebay!

Sorry shape

Marlene — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 19:58:34 +0000

Janice and I were walking through the mall yesterday, shopping for a birthday gift for my mother. I noticed a quarter rolling on its side down the walk-way, and I paused and watched with interest to see where it would go. Maybe by the time I got to it, it would have stopped rolling and I could pick it up! I’m not ashamed to admit that I pick up coins from the ground! Before I got to the coin, however, a teenager kicked it away! I asked the teenager why he didn’t pick it up, and kicked it away instead. Would you believe his response was “A lousy quarter isn’t worth bending over for!” Well, if THAT is the attitude of today’s youth, I think we are in sorry shape!

Played for a fool

Marlene — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:11:12 +0000

Last July I ordered several items of clothing from a merchant on Ebay. When they arrived, one was not the size advertised, and one was damaged. I noticed these flaws AFTER I left positive feedback. (Note to self, inspect everything carefully before leaving positive feedback!)

So I contacted the merchant, who told me that he did NOT want me to return them, but that he would replace them. So I waited a couple of weeks, and asked for a progress report and was told “so sorry, we’ll be shipping them tonight.” A couple more weeks, and still nothing. My inquiries to the merchant have now remained ignored, so I am assuming that the merchant has “stiffed” me at this point and has no itention of doing the honorable thing.

This looks like such fun!

Marlene — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 03:08:16 +0000

This looks like an Improv Everywhere stunt – but I don’t think it is. Apparently it’s a commercial for Volkswagon. But the fast lane slide sure looks like a lot of fun!

FAST LANE Volume 1 @ Yahoo! Video