Kim's Thoughts
Just a few thoughts I feel worthy of jotting down!
Scratch Offs and Pull Cards
Herald Reporter, Jonathan Owens, has started a series of posts on his blog (http://jonbowens.wordpress.com/) to track his luck (or lack there of, whatever the case may be) at the NC Lottery scratch off games. I got all excited when I saw his first post announcing his intentions! It will be fun to watch his progress and see how it all turns out after he has spent $100 over a 10 day stretch! Will he hit it big or lose it all?
Reading his blog has renewed my interest in the scratch offs — I really enjoy them — you know instantly if you won anything – even if it is just the price of the card back so you can buy another one!!! I never really got into buying the Lottery tickets – I don’t like having to wait to watch the news to find out if I won and the odds are way out there! But, I have bought a couple on occasion.
I like the $1 cards – I get more for my money, but I know they don’t bring the chance for the big winnings. But, it’s not the big winning potential that drives me. Not that I wouldn’t LOVE to find one that makes me rich, don’t get me wrong – I buy to win!!! But, knowing the chance of getting rich off them is about as remote as me becoming Miss America, my driver for these types of things is more the fun of scratching each section off to see if there is a match! I like to get several at a time, take them home, sit at the table with a penny and my stack, and slowly scratch off each one. I place the losers in the “trash” pile and any winners are celebrated with a little “woo hoo” and placed in the “take them back to get more” pile. I take back the winners to buy more and keep the “streak” going until I get down to the last losing card and don’t have any more to get new ones without adding money – I play with my winnings as long as the cards will let me! ha-ha It has been a long time since I’ve done that, but Jonathan’s blog has got me wanting to test my luck again……….maybe I’ll be a big winner in 2008!!!! If I do, I guess I’ll owe Jonathan a lunch for prompting my return to gambling!
When they first came out and I started to get them now and then, I tried to keep a log of my spending to keep myself in check. It is hard when you win now and then to see what your real loss rate is. So, I kept track of it for a while – at the end of a couple of months of buying them 2-3 times a month, I was ahead by $2.00!!!! Obviously not something that was going to fund my retirement, but it was fun and it wasn’t costing me a fortune! Soon, though, I got out of the habit of tracking it and then got out of the habit of buying them! I still do, occasionally, though.
Scratch offs aren’t the only instant gratification gambling that I have had fun with – although, I believe they are the only ones available here in NC! When I lived in Western NY, I used to enjoy going to the Indian Reservation near my home and play the pull cards — they were much like the scratch offs – inexpensive, quick, easy – you pull strips off the cards to reveal the results. They were fun, too!
Well – think I just might pop into a convenience store next time I’m out tooling around and see if I can’t scratch off enough cards to build a nice little nest egg for myself………………….or not!
Just Visitiing….
I haven’t had much time to post my thoughts — I’ve been busy relaxing and visiting with my Mom!!!! It has been so great having her here — I think I’ll keep her!!! ha-ha-ha
Christmas Day and Movie Review….
Christmas was really special this year – my Mom was here to share it with me!!! Of course I loved all my gifts – my friends and family know me and my taste and put a lot of thought into that special something that they know will make me smile the most! But the best gift of all was Mom’s visit! And it’s really just beginning – she will be here until the 6th!
Some dear friends came over on Christmas Eve in the afternoon and we had tea & cookies and exchanged gifts. Then, Mom and I opened our gifts later on Christmas Eve.
Today, we made French Toast for breakfast and then went to the movies. After the movies, we made dinner together and enjoyed an evening of old movies on TV……
The movie we saw was “Charlie Wilson’s War”. We plan to see more than one while she’s here, but really wanted to see this one first. Our second choice for later in the visit is “P.S. I Love You” – we both wish we had skipped the first choice and gone right to choice # 2…….This was the one we both wanted to see most and were disappointed! We already saw all the best parts of the movie in the trailers, so as it turns out, we didn’t have to spend our gift card to see the best of the movie!!! There were some funny parts and it was an interesting story, but it was put together poorly, which resulted in a boring movie. We weren’t the only ones who thought so – the couple in front of us as we left the theater had this to say: The gentleman: “Well, that’s that…”; The lady: “Yeah, I fell asleep…”. We found the dialog to be way too technical and would have preferred to have them include more about the characters. There were hints of their private lives and hints about how he lobbied the other members of Congress, but I thought they grazed over the surface of those parts without details and background info. I thought they rushed through it and missed a lot of good opportunities for making the movie more entertaining – the story sounded like it could have been made quite entertaining if they had focused more on making a movie and less on making a political statement. The acting was good — Tom Hanks did an excellent job — Philip Seymour Hoffman was awesome — Amy Adams was adorable! I didn’t care for Julia Roberts in her role — they could have done more to bring that character out and delve into her more, but they didn’t – it was kind of an obscure role! All in all, it wasn’t “BAD”, but it wasn’t “GOOD”, either — I rate it a C…………………..and we’re looking forward to “P.S. I Love You”!
So – we had a lovely day and a really great Christmas!!!!
HO HO HO!
Count Down To Christmas
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve — I love Christmas Eve!!! When we were little, we would typically go to Grandma’s for Christmas, so our Christmas at home happened on Christmas Eve. Mom would make a buffet type meal and we would open our gifts (except, of course, those that Santa brought after we all went to bed – those we would open in the morning before we went to Grandma’s house!)…there was always a package with a brand new pair of cozy jammies that we would immediately put on so that we could be wearing them when we woke up Christmas morning……Christmas Eve and new cozy jammies are still my favorite part of Christmas!
Mom’s Here!
Mom got in last night – her plane was about a 1/2 hour late arriving, but she’s here! We stopped at Bob Evans at Cross Roads in Cary on the way home and had a delicious dinner and sat there and talked and talked! It was very nice and gave Mom a chance to relax after her flight (she isn’t a fan of flying…..)
When we got home, Katie was beside herself with excitement about seeing Grammy again – she was here the last two times Mom visited and she traveled to Mom’s in NY, so she remembered her and was happy to see her! Then, I introduced Mom to Megan and Amy! They were a little timid, but very curious about this new person they didn’t know – but soon found that she was a willing participant in the “Pet me, love me” game!!! They were friends in no time!
I’m just thrilled to have her here and am really excited about having a whole TWO WEEKS to spend with her!!!! The fun starts today!!!
Today is the day….
Fond Memories of Santa!
Yes, I have fond memories of Santa — not those that come out during the Christmas season on local street corners or those that listen to your Christmas wish list in almost every department store — no, my fond memories are of the “real” Santa Claus — the one who made sure that the men who worked as Santa impersonators to help Santa across the country and throughout the world were worthy of wearing the suit!!!
His name was Charlie Howard (Charles W. Howard) and he lived in my home town! He was such a special person — belonged to our church and always had time to make a child’s day! He looked like Santa (even in a business suit) and his wife looked like Mrs. Claus — both were jolly and full of the Christmas spirit year round and always had big smiles and rosy cheeks!!!
He opened and operated the very first official Santa Claus School in Albion, NY in 1937. His “barn” was a magical place for all of us as we grew up. We could visit the school, meet Santa himself, and pet real live reindeer (yes – real LIVE reindeer) – Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Donner, Blitzen, Cupid and Comet. There were trains and games and gifts and tons of fun things to do at the barn. We had no trouble at all believing there really was a Santa Claus and magical reindeer — we had proof — they lived in our town and were wonderful!!! We could see them whenever we wanted to, too – Christmas Park was open year round and children were always welcomed with open arms! An article I read to be sure I had my dates correct said that there was an estimated 40,000 visitors to the school each fall — people came from all over to see our special Santa and his school. I remember visiting the school as a wide-eyed child and finding something wonderful, exciting, and new each and every time — it never got old and was always so very special…… It is sad that the children of Albion can not enjoy that wondrous gift today!
Charlie Howard was an incredible man. He felt that many Santa impersonators performed and looked poorly. He wanted to do something about it. The Santa Claus School he founded became world famous and men came from the world over to go through the rigorous lessons to become a certified Santa Claus and even receive a Bachelor of Santa Claus degree, if they met the additional requirements! None of the big department stores or organizations would hire anyone who didn’t graduate from the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School.
During his career, he worked at Macy’s as Santa-in-chief, appeared as Santa in the very first nationally televised Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and continued for the next 17 years. He was also a consultant for the 1947 film “Miracle on 34th Street“! He opened the Santa Claus School in 1937 and Christmas Park in 1953. He was a source of so many wonderful memories until he retired in 1965.
In 1966, Charlie’s successors, Nate and Mary Ida Doan, took over the school. They kept the school in Albion, NY and commuted from their home in Bay City, Michigan until 1970 and then moved the school to Bay City. The current Dean of Santas is Thomas Valent – he took over in 1987 and moved the school to the current location in Midland, Michigan. I’m sure Mr. Valent is an excellent Santa teacher – the school is still going strong and people from around the world still view it as “the” place to become the perfect “Santa”. But I will always consider Charlie Howard as the one and only “real” Santa!!! Charlie has since left us, but he lives on in our hearts and in that sleigh pulled by those incredible reindeer. Together, they deliver gifts to children all over the world in just one magical night!!! I believe that……….do you???
Quotes attributed to Charles W. Howard:
“He errors who thinks Santa enters through the chimney. Santa enters through the heart.”
“To be Santa is a privilege, not a job.”
This is me with Santa at Christmas Park (although, I’m not 100% sure it is actually Charlie under that beard – there were others who worked as Santa at the park) – I look like I was about 2, so this photo was likely taken in 1958.
I can totally see Megan doing this…..
I swear – I can totally see Megan doing this — if I had rolling chairs in the kitchen, I would not be at all surprised to see her think of this and pull it off — this is just the type of thing she would do – she is VERY resourceful!!!!! LOL
(click on this link to see the video I found – it is NOT Megan)
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=24169778
This is the “real” Megan when she was a little younger – right from the start, this was never the face of innocence! ha-ha
Kim's Thoughts 
Recent Comments