Christmas is here!

 

   I can't believe it's already here. I blinked, and there went another year. A year that wasn't the best.... but by far not the worst. But it's time for joy, and holly, decorating the tree and doing everything that I feel...can be a little...overwhelming

 

  Having the tree up and decorating it and soon seeing presents underneath it. It feels as you were a kid again. Knowing Santa putting them under there...without realizing the dark truth until you were older.

   I learned when I was ten. How did I know? My brother showed me where they hid my birthday presents as well as Christmas presents. I tattled on him, and he got in trouble.  I knew after that the truth. My brother didn't learn for a few more years.

    Like a lot of people, many have to work before Christmas. I am one of those people. Working as a cashier for many years. I know the hardest days are Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. Other times would be Superbowl or even Easter, but not as overwhelming as Christmas and Thanksgiving. Thankfully...we are closed on Christmas.

    I'm still working Christmas Eve; thankfully not till closing.

   Christmas is the day where baby Jesus Christ was born. Although, they never stated he was born on December 25th. Unlike a few people like the late Jimmy Buffett or even Sissy Spasick. Jesus might have been born in the Spring for all we know.

    But it seems associate December for the birth of Christ. My birthday is in December...isn't that enough?

  Christmas is starting to become stressful. Not just because some of us have to work, but everyone shops around this time of year. 

   To get food or gifts, hell even gift cards are mostly bought in December. For people who don't know what to get for their families. Some people feel the Christmas specials are becoming more commercial and have no meaning.

  Just a cash grab for a streaming site to make a Christmas movie about love or a jewelry heist...even saving a loved one from a building under attack.

 

  Christmas is also becoming expensive when it comes to gifts. Not many people want to shop at a mall since Amazon came around, and shopping online was the new thing. Some people believe that with the new tariffs put in place, everything is becoming expensive from buying a present to even buying our own groceries.

  Some people think it is best to either ditch the gift giving or give them one thing. This year, I am getting one thing for my family, and I bet they will love it.

  So... with Christmas finally here, does it mean we have to rush every moment of it? No....time already does that for us. What I think is the true meaning of Christmas isn't the gifts we give to the food we bring; those are just.... bonus points.

   It is the loving that is shared within the family. Why we need to be together and for the important moments that come with it. Celebrating the true meaning of a baby Jesus and why this holiday is considered special... to everyone.

The death of the Penny

    Money is not as used as much as a card. These days, people that use money can only use it at place it where they accept it. 

    Not every place will carry money. And that's why...we say goodbye...to the penny.

 

  The Penny lived over 232 years. It's amazing that a penny was used so long ago. Then again, by the 1990's the Penny was starting to become something of change that was considered worthless.

    In later years, you didn't see many pennies slot machines or gum dispensers, you wonder...is the Penny still worth using?

   The official death date of the Penny was in mid-November of 2025. By 2026 there will not be one penny to be found, unless you saved them back at home. We have a few and we might keep them, although...will anyone take them?

  No one knows. But it seems the companies that mint coins from dimes to quarters and nickels.... are no longer making the penny. 

 Pennies were used to be made of 100% copper back in the 1800's. In later years, due to wars and other reasonings, copper was less used as it was later made of bronze and then zinc. Near the end, it was made copper-based zinc. 

   So.... why is the penny gone? Was it because it wasn't getting any use? Or is it because some people are less relying on cash and more on digital banks the help with storing money?

   Pennies were useful years ago. Even when my grandparents were lucky enough just to get a penny for a hard day's work. Now a days, it's a five-to-ten-dollar bill if anybody wanted to do any actual work. They even had shoes called Penny loafers. A shoe which you would stick a penny in between.

   But the shoe caught on without having to stick a penny in it. It was later changed to loafers.

  When my mom was young, she and her sister had a grandmother, sadly I never knew her, that owned a store that sold penny candy. With candy being not that expensive to buy, and it was considered a small little candy like gum or a Mary Jane bar or anything that was miniature size at the time.

   Necco wafers, Tootsie Rolls, Blow pops...things that you would find in a bowl at the dentist's office was considered...penny candy.

   

    It is sad to say goodbye to a penny. I know money isn't what it used to be. Now a days, people aren't relying on cash as much as they used to. The same way with attending a movie theater.... going out to dinner and much more that's going to vanish before 2030 arrives.

    I even fear... the nickel is the next coin to die. Maybe not next year but before the end of 2027 hits. Expect a change when it comes to money. Digital banks are considered the future and the first death...is the Penny. Rest in Peace, Penny

Dick Van Dyke turns 100

       Not many people live to see 100. I know I won't. Amazed I'm going to be 41 soon, but today...we celebrate a birthday of a great actor who didn't believe he would make it to see 100. Dick Van Dyke's birthday is today.

    Today, he is 100 years old. What an amazing life of an amazing actor.

    

   Born on December 13th in 1925, Dick Van Dyke, real name Richard Wayne Van Dyke, grew up around Dansville, Illinois. He learned that his family had ancestors tracing back to the Mayflower. Very interesting.

   He participated in Drama classes when he was a teenager. Did amazing with dancing and singing.

  Before getting into TV and movies, Dick started on Broadway. He later made appearances on TV as cameos in Chance of a Lifetime and even The Phil Silvers Show. Eventually, he would be noticed by a man named Carl Reiner. He was known for making tv shows happen.

    He wanted to have a show based on himself but saw the talent Dick had and thought.... maybe it was best for him to star in his own show.

    Mary Tyler Moore portrayed his wife and was known for starting a trend for women ok to wear pants in a time where it seemed taboo.

    What he was known for in the show is his slap stick comedy. Tripping on the ottoman when he came into the home. He was known for stuff like that. 

    Soon, he would star in a movie that would make him well known to everyone young and old.

   Dick Van Dyke starred at Bert the Chimney sweep in a movie based on a book called Mary Poppins. It wouldn't be the first one he would star in. 

   He helped Miss Mary Poppins, portrayed by Julie Andrews, who is taking care of two kids that would soon learn why she was needed for a family to show the way on what is important in life.

   

     It wasn't a bad movie, but the next one he would star in....I would remember more. Chitty, Chitty, Bang-Bang. Another movie based on a book where a widowed father, played by Dick Van Dyke, ties to create inventions to make his children love him, or be rich.

    His two children find an old car and their father fixes it up as new. He meets a girl he likes; they tell a story involving the car and well...it was very good from beginning to end.

  Around the late eighties/early nineties, he decided to branch out into TV. With the help of his son Barry, who directed a few episodes, Dick Van Dyke portrayed a doctor named Mark Slone, who is not only a doctor, but is also solving crime on the side.

    I never saw one episode, but it stayed on for a few seasons, and some people did like it. It had a 'Murder she Wrote' kind of vibe.

 

    After Diagnosis Murder, he took a break but came back to portray a retired security guard for a museum that comes to life at night. He, the late Bill Cobbs and the late Mickey Rooney had a plan to steal a tablet and keep them for themselves.

     Seeing Dick Van Dyke become a villain...that is so cool. He came back for the third adaptation, but it seemed the scene was cut. It was fine...I didn't see that one.

   Dick Van Dyke had been married more than once. He even had to deal with alcohol issues. He was also a heavy smoker and had been chewing Nicotine gum to conquer his smoking habit. His house was also burned in the California Wildfires as well.

   He has four children: Barry, Stacey, Carrie Beth and Christian. A lot of grandchildren and a few great-grandchildren. And he is blessed for all of them.

  

  In 2023, he made history as being the oldest contestant at 97 to be on the Masked Singer. He was the first eliminated, but he surprised everyone (even me) when it was revealed to be him. Some people found out it was him, but many were in tears.

   He even did a small rendition of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" He made everyone cry happy tears. Tears of joy mostly and well.... he was one of the biggest surprises to happen, although he was beaten out by Kermit.

   Today, he is 100 and happily married to a woman in her late sixties. He was married before his first wife passed away. 

    He thinks of his new wife as his soul mate, and she is always by his side. He isn't doing much anymore but staying alive and appreciating every day he gets. Like we all are. For that, I am happy that he made it to 100. We wanted that for Betty White... and it didn't happen. Thank God Dick Van Dyke is here. Happy Birthday, Dick Van Dyke/

Birthday Blues- POEM

 

Another year

getting older

and it feels

bleak,

I'm happy,

but scared

I should be happy,

I am,

but another year,

coming,

and going,

in a blink of an eye

A cake for me,

yet,

I feel down,

maybe being another year older,

gets to me,

but it's my day

a day to celebrate,

and do what I want

Christmas is coming,

as well as my birthday,

a day,

I should be happy,

and yet,

I still feel down

Maybe with it,

having Christmas coming close,

is another reason,

I'm overshadowed,

by a holiday,

not a bad thing,

but at youth,

I hated my birthday

My birthday,

then Christmas,

all wrapped up in a bow,

that's my birthday blues,

with my birthday,

close to Christmas,

good,

or bad

This Birthday,

won't make me feel blue,

close to a holiday,

every year,

no shock,

the holidays,

makes us happy and sad,

but with a birthday close,

double whammy,

Happy Birthday to me

Tupperware throughout the year

 

   Ever made a casserole dish or something you made...and you need to store it in? Well...we used containers, sometimes aluminum foil or cling wrap...but then there are dishes that are needed to be frozen, heated up and even.... stored. Tupperware was the brand name of one such thing. But....nobody talks about Tupperware anymore. Where did it come from? Who created them....and ever heard of 'Tupperware parties?'

    

    Earl Tupper gave us something for many housewives to brag about for years to come. He created a casserole dish you could use to store stroganoff, lasagna and many more. 

    He came up with the idea when he discovered polyethylene while working and decided to make cups and bowls and much more. Suddenly, he struck up an idea when they wanted to store food that people would store for later.

 Around the sixties is when Tupperware started to make a stride. Women that were considered housewives would show off their Tupperware at get togethers. Show off the type of Tupperware they would have and talk about it all.

    Some people even showed off the latest stiles. They would have get togethers just for something that you find in a kitchen. They were called.... "Tupperware Parties"

   I guess around the 60s and 70s, a lot of stuff was going on. But it seems...before women would start going to into the work force, some women would host parties and brag about who has the best this or that when it came to something you use daily.

     Tupperware Parties were just a party used for women to gather around and explain how certain containers holding food worked.

 You don't see many of those parties happening anymore, but Tupperware is still around. People would buy them to store food or cook with or even try to see what could be used for the kitchen.

   Back in the sixties, people were amazed on how overwhelming a kitchen could be. Having refrigerators that matched kitchen drapes, toasters and much more electronic devices were starting to appear. Tupperware was part of that mix.

    Tupperware is brand name; and it is still around today. We just call them containers mostly now. Tupperware has their own containers that people will still use.

   Tupperware parties are kind of passe as people now don't get what's so popular about an ordinary container. All we know is that one man decided to create something that made housewives (and husbands) even today.