Come to Buffalo! (and maybe meet Cordelia’s Mom)

Posted on January 7, 2019 by cordeliasmom2012

Teddy Rosalie needs to grow a little taller to be a proper photography model.

Here’s your chance of a lifetime!  Oxford Pennant in Buffalo, NY is running the Warmest Cold City Contest, in which you can win an all-expense-paid trip to my hometown.

(click on image for link and allow time to load)

I saw this contest on Facebook and then checked out the Oxford Pennant’s website.  It is a legitimate company and a legitimate contest.  Check it out (it takes a few seconds for the video to load, at least on my computer, just so you know).

So jump on in and enter!  If you win, Teddy Rosalie and I will make arrangements to meet with you during your stay.  That’s not noted in the contest information because apparently not everyone in the world (nor even everyone in Buffalo, darn it) has heard of Cordelia’s Mom.  Just consider it an extra perk if you win.

The Corridor at the Hotel Henry, Buffalo, NY

I can vouch for the Hotel Henry and its 100 Acres Restaurant, having dined there recently.  While I can’t attest to the quality of the guest rooms, I can state that the food in the restaurant was awesome and that the building’s architecture alone is worth a tour.  Heck, I may enter the contest just so I can go back for a nice staycation.

The Buffalo Zoo has bison!

There are so many places to see and things to do in Buffalo.  While Teddy Rosalie visited the History Museum and the Buffalo Zoo in summertime, they are open year ’round, and she and I would love to show them to you.

The only drawback to the contest, as I see it, is that the airfare is paid only from a city within the continental United States, which pretty much leaves out my international readers – unless, of course, you’re willing to pay your own way to the States.  I’m worth it, right?

Go for it, people!  When you win, let me know so we can start planning the party.

(Note the entry deadline is February 1, and that the trip must be taken between February 8 and March 10.  You all have a few vacation days available, right?)

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Contest logo by Oxford Pennant (click on image for link); other images by Cordelia’s Mom

 

 

Posted in Road Trips & Cars, Teddy Rosalie, That's Life | Tagged , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Musings of a Non-essential Federal Employee

Posted on January 7, 2019 by cordeliasmom2012

I feel I owe an apology to furloughed federal employees for being an insensitive jerk with my last post, in which I bragged about my job. President Trump says the unpaid workers “will adjust, they always adjust.” In Trumpville, I believe that means that Melania might have to settle for a $40,000 dress instead of the one she really wanted. As noted in this post from Nowhere Tribune, “adjust” means something a little different to the people actually affected by the furlough.

(Comments are closed here – leave comments over on Nowhere Tribune.)

Posted in Re-Blogs, That's Life | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

2019 Starts Off Clean

Posted on January 4, 2019 by cordeliasmom2012

I don’t know about anyone else, but I am glad the holidays are over.

Not that it wasn’t a great time for everyone, but it’s nice to get back to the daily humdrum.  It’s comforting to know I don’t have to go anywhere (except to work), buy anything (except for groceries), or do much of anything in my off-time (except for reading, playing videogames – and of course, playing with Puppy Cody).

2018 ended on a good note, and 2019 is starting off well.

First off, one of my daughters discovered a manufacturer who offers scented glycerine soaps at a reasonable cost, and for Christmas she gave me a whole case of assorted fragrances.  I love my glycerine soap but had stopped buying it when I could no longer find it locally at a price I could afford.  The last time I looked, our local Wegmans was selling one bar for nearly $8.  I had switched to Yardley, at $2 a bar, but then Wegmans stopped selling the lemon scent (my favorite) – and I’m really, really tired of lavender.  24 bars of assorted glycerines has gone a long way to starting off my New Year right.

I’m very easy to please.

On another note, it turns out my bank had, in fact, miscalculated my real estate tax burden and thus miscalculated my monthly mortgage payment.  That has been now been corrected, and my payment will be going back down to what it should have been all along.  Yay.

Finally, I made the last payment on all that furniture I bought a couple of years ago.  One less financial obligation each month.  Yay.

My boss gave out year-end bonuses, which I wasn’t expecting.  At the same time, he indicated that I will be getting a salary increase on my work anniversary in February!  It’s almost too much to absorb after so many years of working for skinflints who believed neither in raises nor bonuses.

I still have 3 vacation days that I must use up before my work anniversary.  I’ve decided to take 3 consecutive Thursdays in January, to go along with my normal Fridays off, thereby giving me extra long weekends for three entire weeks.  As it turns out, my office is closed on Martin Luther King Day, and so I will have a very nice 5-day weekend, followed by a 2-day work week, followed by a 4-day weekend.  I can live with that.

I’m becoming very spoiled very quickly.  February will be a bit of a rude awakening, but I’ll take what I can get while I can get it.

Which, apparently won’t include winning the lottery.  I had received a scratch-off at Christmas, which won $2.  So I turned it in on a new ticket – and because it was New Year’s Eve and I felt lucky, I bought 5 more of the same.  Those gave me $8 in winnings, so I turned around and got 4 more tickets, on which I won $6.  Turning that into 3 more new tickets, got me exactly nothing.  Each ticket cost $2, so had I stopped with the first one (a gift), I would have been ahead.  Instead my optimism cost me $10, but at least it was a fun run while it lasted.  These days it’s hard to find any fun in anything costing only $10.

I suppose I could have bought an $8 bar of glycerine soap at Wegmans and been ahead $2, but as much as I love my glycerine soap, once it’s gone it’s gone, unlike a lottery scratch-off which, theoretically, could turn into a much larger win.

But apparently not for me.

I did win the lottery, however, with my family.  My loved ones are wonderful people who actually listen occasionally when I say I want something. In addition to my glycerine soaps, they gave me wine, chocolates, and gift cards to my favorite restaurants and stores – and even though he was feeling a bit under the weather, Hubby took one of his New Year’s holiday days to paint the downstairs bedroom.

Look great, doesn’t it? Yes, it really is blue, but the white furniture and white trim (and gray/white rug) tones the blue down.  I just couldn’t get a really good photo as I still need to hang curtains and pictures, and didn’t want to show you the unfinished aspects of the room.

Two rooms done!  Only five more rooms and two hallways to go.  We’re moving right along.  I’ve decided I no longer want a yellow kitchen, so now I can enjoy looking at paint samples again.  Something to look forward to.

Hope your 2019 has also started off with a bang, and that it’s a good one for all of us.

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Images by Cordelia’s Mom

 

Posted in Holidays, Household Items, Relationships, That's Life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 34 Comments

Community

Posted on December 28, 2018 by cordeliasmom2012

Bloggers come and bloggers go.

Some bloggers have been around, it seems, since the very beginning of the blogosphere; others publish a few posts and then  disappear.  Many hang in for a few years and then, due to pressures of life, simply decide to fold up.  Some die or become too ill to blog.  Some let us know when they’ve decided to quit; others simply disappear without a trace.

Not to be forgotten, however, and always missed.

I’ve made many friends here on WordPress.  I’ve met  few in person and corresponded with others.  Some who have left blogging have kept in touch.

It’s my good luck that one of those former bloggers is Vic from Just Plain ‘Ol Vic.  Vic closed up shop a couple of years ago, but we’ve exchanged emails periodically since then.  Recently, Vic sent me this email, and with his permission I am publishing it here:

Just Some Random Randomness by Just Plain ‘Ol Vic

*****

It has now been going on a couple of years since I quit blogging on WordPress and this marks the first time I have put “words to paper” since that time.  It both feels weird and refreshing, reminding me of what I am missing and the people I have met (and lost) in that time.

Something to ponder and perhaps a return?  Too soon to tell…

Really this post is for a small few people that I still communicate with by email.  I will admit that I miss getting a peek into your lives, hearing your words and heeding your advice.  It was a comfort to me and something that I dearly miss.  Socialization comes in many forms and while I get enough daily contact with people at work, remain active with my family – my blogging was for me and how I felt comfortable reaching out and expressing myself.

As 2018 comes to a close I am pondering this year and wondering how it ranks in the decades I have already seen.  Certainly towards the end of the year, my car accident put perspective on many things and perhaps highlighted some things I am not ready to tackle, but at least it was a moment of clarity and brutal honesty with myself.  It was a year marked by “normalcy” with my wife’s mental health, my children growing and maturing, and rising to the challenges my career has demanded of me. 

By many factors I can call it a success but yet in many ways I felt I enjoyed it very much alone, which brings me back to my blogging family.  Perhaps this is my way, at the end of the year, to open up and share a bit of myself with all of you again.  I hope 2018 was a year marked with happiness and growth, realizing that there were some speed bumps along the way but yet you have persevered and here we are.  With all my heart, I wish everyone the best in 2019 and I hope it will be a year filled with wonders to behold, new beginnings to enjoy and love to be shared.

I miss you all but feel glad that I can once again remove the façade I have for most everyone and just truly be myself….if only for a brief moment….and once again be Just Plain ‘Ol Vic.  Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

*****

Please join me in assuring Vic that he is missed and has not been forgotten by his “blogging family”.  Perhaps with encouragement from all of us, he will consider returning.

Likewise, if any other former bloggers happen to be reading this and wish to re-enter the blogosphere without actually reopening their blogs, they are always welcome to come to me.  Even if they don’t wish to post, I would appreciate a simple email letting me know that all is well (cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com).

I worry about all my friends.  Don’t you?

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Top image by Cordelia’s Mom; photo image by Vic

 

Posted in Guest Posters, Relationships, That's Life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 24 Comments