A Childhood Memory

Today we have to talk about a childhood memory but honestly I have tons going on today.  I had my aluminum siding pressure washed yesterday and today it looks about 100 times worse then it did before I had it washed.  I have a call into the guy who did it and hopefully in my lifetime he will call me back.  NEVER, EVER A DULL MOMENT.

So I am just repeating a childhood memory that I have already blogged about.  Sorry for those who have already read it before.


 I was brought up in Queens, NY which is a stones throw away from New York City.   On special occasions, as a family, we would trek into the city.  Some of those special occasions for my sister and I were going into the city with my parents to attend live TV kids shows.  For whatever reason my mom must have thought my sister and I deserved to be seen on TV because she would get tickets for all the local NYC TV shows.  We were on Romper Room, Wonderama, Little Rascals with Officer Joe Bolton and my favorite appearance for my sister and I was Kartoon Klub.

Kartoon Klub was a local live TV show that was on everyday.  The host was Ted Steele who at one time was a very famous band leader.  For the hour preceding the Kartoon Klub, Ted hosted a live American Bandstand type show and when it was over it went right into him hosting Kartoon Klub, a kids show.  Now poor Ted must have done something very wrong in the universe because he was stuck with a bunch of teenagers for an hour and then he was thrust into a world of screaming kids for an additional hour.  I was so little but I remember how cranky he was.  The only time he smiled was when the camera was on him.

Just before the American Bandstand type show was over my sister and I and about fifteen other kids were led into a large studio with bleachers that faced a big screen.  I was so little and my mom that day had put my blond hair in a huge array of banana curls.  Very stylish at the time, I guess.  They sat me right in the middle of the bleachers telling me to make room for Mr.Steele.  From a distance I could see the teens dancing to the last song of the teen show.  Ted Steele came toward us as his first show ended looking none to happy to have to spend the next hour with us.  He climbed up into the bleacher and sat right next to me saying nothing to any of us kids.  I heard one of the guys yell, "we are on in 10 second,  10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 ,4, 3, 2, 1" and pointed to Ted.  Ted immediately went from grumpy to Mr Happy.    He started to explain who the shows sponsors were, one of which was a Baby Ruth candy bar.  He announces "every kid loves a Baby Ruth bar and all the kids here will get one to take home with them".   Now, little did poor Ted Steele know but I had some issues with eating nuts of any kind and was forbidden to eat them.  So as he was talking I tugged on his suit jacket, he did not respond, I tugged again and again.  He finally looked down at me not looking very happy and I said "excuse me but I can't eat  this candy bar".  He says "well little girl save it for later" and starts talking to the camera again.  That answer obviously was not good enough for me because I continued to tug away at his jacket.  He finally looks down at me again and with gritted teeth he says "yes little girl" and I quickly tell him that I can't even eat it when I get home because it has nuts in it and it will make me constipated.  Now remember this was live TV and none of this could be edited.  The entire staff was horrified, constipated was not a word that was said on TV back then.  My poor mother and father sat in the green room watching mortified as the other parents let out a collective gasp at my bold, bathroom, problem, confession.

Not sure if poor Ted was ever the same after that. My potty talk may have been the straw that broke Ted Steel's back because not long after that the show went off the air.

Mary Ann

Picture Day

OK so for today we are supposed to post our favorite picture of ourselves and why.  Well I have no favorite picture of me.  I hate to have my picture taken.  In the generations to come my great great grandchildren will have to wonder what I looked like because there will be so very little trace of my existence.

So I did find this one which was taken last year.  A friend and I went to see the Long Island Medium Theresa Caputo at a local venue.  We paid extra for a meet and greet which we thought would be a reading to hang with our dead relatives but instead it was stand and pose for a picture with her.   So this stinking picture cost about double the price of the actual tickets.  YIKES SUCKER!!!!!!!!!

My friend, Theresa not doing a reading, and me.

This picture of me on the right is about as rare as the Hope Diamond although I am a bit taller, but not by much.  The sad part of it, is that when I posted this picture on facebook, friends from long ago said that I had not changed a bit.  Wow I had not idea I looked this bad in high school.  No wonder I did't get any dates.

Can't wait to see what humiliation is in store for us tomorrow during this lousy blog everyday in May debacle :).

Mary Ann

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

Today I need to list ten things that make me happy.  Hmmmm well I know for sure that my kids and grandkids make me happy.  If I listed those individually that would be a quick eight but that seems way too easy.  So here goes.

Family - There are so many ups and downs along the way with families but when all is said and done the most happiness in my life comes from them.

Friends - Talking, laughing and visiting with friends.

Pets - I have had lots of pets in my life, dogs and cats and they never fail to give me unconditional love.

Home - My home to me is my haven and sanctuary.

Reality TV - OK this is showing my shallow side.  I love to watch competition  type reality shows like Survivor and Amazing Race among many others.  I love TV in general it totally makes me happy.

Sunny bright days with a warm breeze - Nothing like the sun to make me smile and breath easy.

Food - Love, love, love food.  So I sound a bit food addicted but I am.  I love food.  Give me a bowl of pasta and a cupcake and I happy.  Sad but true.

Mowed grass -Watching the guys I hire to mow my grass.  Its makes me happy that I don't have to do it.

Creating something new- When I think of a design and turns out just like I envisioned it. Celebration time.

A babies smile - Not much needs to be say about this.  A babies smile makes everyone happy.

Mary Ann

I'm Sorry, So Sorry Please Accept My Apology

Ok, so I am still plugging along on this challenge on day 13.  YIKES and I wanted to quit day one.  For today we need to issue a public apology.  So here goes.

To my daughter.
I am so sorry that I never got you a stinking Barbie Dream House.  It was just too big to fit into our apartment back then and it was lots of money that we did not have.

To my son
Sorry that I ever bought you that Bee Bee gun.  I know all the boys had one and I succumbed to the pressure but you used it irresponsibly and it goes down as one of the worst decisions that I have ever made as a parent.

To my dad
Sorry that I stole that .75 cents from your dresser when I was twelve.  Its all I needed to get into the movies with my friends that day and its kind of your fault because you told me that I could go if I could come up with the money.

To my mom
Sorry that I really hated everything that you ever sewed for me but you would always made the dresses way too long and in awful prints that I hated.  You got back at me though when you cut my bangs way too short and crooked .  Wow did it take a long time for me to look normal again.

To Reggie, Jake, Al, Ollie and Tanya, my cat and dog kids
Sorry that I had to put you down when it was your time  You all seemed to be suffering so I needed to make the really hard decision to say goodbye.  Still miss you all.

Lastly I am sorry for always saying I'm sorry when it wasn't even my fault.  Its my Catholic, Italian, guilt that kicks in. I can't help it, its in my DNA.

Mary Ann

Missing Growing Up In Queens

Today's May challenge task is to write about something that I miss.  It could be a person, a thing, a place or a time of your life.  Well what I miss is growing up in Queens, NY.   When I look back on that time it was full of fun, happiness and love.

I miss walking to school each day with mom holding my hand and my sister running up in front of us.  I miss coming home from school and smelling the aroma's of my mom's awesome cooking. I miss summers on 65th Street in Middle Village were my sister and I would leave the house after breakfast to play with friends, stop back for lunch and then be out again until dinner.  On really hot days we would sit on each others front stoops reading piles of comic books that we had already read over and over before.  Sometimes we would pool together our pennies and make our way down to the corner candy store where as a group we would pick out a new Archie comic book rush back home and take turns reading it. On not so hot days my sister and I would  roller skate up and down the hill having to quickly move to the side when a car came.   In the evening after dinner all the kids on the street boys and girls alike would congregate and play endless hours of Red Rover or Hide and Seek while the grown ups would sit outside and talk until it was time to call us all in for bed.

65th St looking down the hill my house was on the left.

I miss the huge snowstorms that we would sometimes get that closed schools and we could play in the street that was covered in feet of snow without worry of cars, before the plows came through.

Snowstorms in Queens, more fun for kids then adults.

I miss trick or treating when we could go without parents because there was no threat of people trying to harm us.  After we would all go to a Halloween party in the Stark family basement where we would bob for apples and the lights were turned off while scary stories were read.

I miss Christmas's when I still believed in Santa Claus and woke up to all the presents under the tree.  I miss the big holiday meal that followed, including my grandparents, aunts and cousins.

Mostly I miss my mother who has now been gone for many years.  Time moves on and now have raised my own children and I watch as they raise their children and hope that their memories of childhood were as happy as mine were.

Mary Ann

Ten Words Are Not Enough To Describe Me.

Today's challenge is to describe yourself in 10 words or less.  So here's the best that I can do.

I try everyday to be happy, witty, helpful and caring but most days I am usually miserable, cranky, and annoyed.  Wow I am really missing my daily goals by a long shot.  Oh well.

That's more then 10 words.

Mary Ann

Another Embarrassing Story

I have had many embarrassing moments over the years some of which I have blogged about before.  Baby Ruth,  Popcorn and Clowns  and Embarrassing High School Moment.  So for the purposes of this daily May challenge I will dredge up another embarrassing moment.  I will probably need some psychiatric intervention after spilling another of my moments that I would rather not remember.

OK so I am rather largely endowed in the breast area.  I know people are trying to go larger with implants  but if the Boop Fairy was passing through town my wish would be smaller.  Its always a struggle for me to buy bra's because they just do not fit right.  I was in a department store on a very busy Saturday, on a quest for the perfect bra to corral in my girls.  I tried on a number of them and finally settled for one that I thought would work OK.  I got on a long line to be checked out.  I was surrounded by small petite people holding bra's that would easily fit into one of my bra cups.  They were all sexy and lacy and in pretty colors.  Mine was stark white and almost a turtleneck.  So I clutched my bra tightly to me so no one would guess how big it was.  After feeling like an hour had gone by it was finally my turn to check out.  I placed my bra on the counter, standing in front of it to hide its size and before I knew it the cashier was holding it up high in the air for the world to see yelling at the top of her lungs PRICE CHECK!!!!!!!!  I just wanted to crawl into a hole but my boobs would probably not fit.  YIKES.  

Glad to pay and get the heck out of there.  The worst is that I hated the bra and never wore it.  It went to the bra cemetery where all my other big bra's that don't fit go to die.

Sad But True

Mary Ann