I Didn't Do It!

Today, I didn't do it!  You heard me, I didn't do it!  "It" is housework - and I didn't do it -because today was "No Housework Day."  And it felt wonderful!

I had the whole day off -- There was supposed to be a meeting at work from 4-6 this evening but it was cancelled.  So, my day consisted of re-arranging my livingroom (and no, that was NOT housework) after my new recliner and sofa were delivered, going to lunch with a friend, and reading. 

It was a great day off.  Even if it hadn't been declared "No Housework Day" I may well have avoided it because I've learned that every once in a while a woman's gotta just say no to housework and relax!  It took me alot of years to learn that lesson.  My home may not always be spotless.  The laundry may occasionally pile up.  And even though there is a place for everything, everything may not always be in its place...But I am much more content than when I believed that I needed to spend every "day off" being "Suzy-homemaker" or feel guilty if I wasn't "Suzy."

I vote for regular "No Housework Days"... Anyone else??

Advanced Notice!

Dear Blog Readers:

I am giving you advanced notice:  TOMORROW - APRIL 7th -  is NO HOUSEWORK DAY!
So, if your "To Do List" for tomorrow includes such things as running the vacuum, ironing, cleaning, etc...it's time to create a new/improved list for the day!

Consider this:  If you really didn't have to do any housework tomorrow, what would you do with your time? And, if you can't get away with absolutely no housework tomorrow, what about giving up at least one of the items on your list that would be considered housework?  What would it be - that one bit of housework that you get a pass on tomorrow - just for the day? 

As for me, I would definitely scratch out the word "Ironing" without a moment's hesitation!  I hate ironing - and yet, I can't wean myself away from it entirely.  Several of my friends wonder how that word even exists in my vocabulary anymore - given all of the permanent press garments these days.  But, let's face it, alot of items that are supposedly permanent press aren't!  No matter how hard I try, I can't bring myself to wear my work uniforms without ironing them - even when I promptly remove them from the dryer. 

Before I even realized that tomorrow was a day to shun housework, I had planned to get most of mine done this evening after work.  But, who was I kidding?!  When was the last time I ever came home from a twelve-hour shift and jumped right into vacuuming, ironing, cleaning the bathroom, etc?  Maybe when I was half my present age - but not recently!  As you can guess by the way this is going, I didn't succeed in doing all of that housework on  my list this evening.  So, the fact of the matter is that I will have to do some housework tomorrow.  But maybe I can spend the time I would have spent ironing indulging in something more enjoyable - something like reading... or writing... or knitting... or quilting!

Go ahead!  Give yourself permission to scratch at least one item of housework off of tomorrow's "To Do List."  You'll be glad you did!  And it will still be there on Friday - honest!

Remembering Bette Davis

Miss Bette Davis was born on April 5, 1908 in Lowell, Massachusetts.  After graduating from the private boarding school her mother sent her to, she enrolled in John Murray Anderson's Dramatic School.  In 1929, she made her Broadway debut in "Broken Dishes."  One year later, she moved to Hollywood for screen testing and to persue a career in film.  And what a career it was! Fifty-eight years in film!

Take a look at a few of her most memorable roles here  as Kim Carnes reminds us about those Bette Davis Eyes

"Acting should be bigger than life. Scripts should be bigger than life. It should all be bigger than life. "       ~   Bette Davis

No one could have said it better! Bette Davis' acting career was bigger than life.  And today, one hundred and three years after a baby girl named Bette Davis entered this world, many still marvel at her charisma, her bigger than life screen personna, and her amazing legacy.

How many of them can you identify?  How many of these have you seen?  Which one is your favorite Bette Davis film?  And, while you're at it, can you pinpoint which ones Bette Davis was either nominated for or won an Academy Award?

1989  The Wicked Stepmother 
1987  The Whales of August 
1986  As Summers Die
1981  The Watcher in the Woods 
1978  Return from Witch Mountain
          Death on the Nile 
1976  Burnt Offerings 
1972  Lo Scopone Scientifico
          Madame Sin
1971  Bunny O'Hare
         Connecting Rooms
1968  The Anniversary 
1965  Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte 
         The Nanny 
1964  La Noia
         Where Love Has Gone
         Dead Ringer 
1962  What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? 
1961  Pocketful of Miracles 
1959  John Paul Jones
1957  The Scapegoat
1956  Storm Center
         The Catered Affair
1955  The Virgin Queen 
         Crack-Up
1952  The Star 
         Another Man's Poison
         Phone Call from a Stranger 
1951  Payment on Demand 
1950  All About Eve
1949  Beyond the Forest
1948  Winter Meeting
          June Bride
1946  Deception 
         A Stolen Life 
1945  The Corn is Green
1944  Mr. Skeffington 
         Hollywood Canteen 
1943 Watch on the Rhine
        Thank Your Lucky Stars 
        Old Acquaintance
        Show Business at War
1942  Now, Voyager 
           In This Our Life
1941  The Man Who Came to Dinner 
         The Bride Came C.O.D. 
         Shining Victory
         The Little Foxes 
         The Great Lie 
1940 The Letter 
          All This and Heaven Too
1939  Juarez
         Elizabeth, the Queen
        The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
        The Old Maid 
        Dark Victory 
1938  Jezebel
        The Sisters
1937  It's Love I'm After 
          Marked Woman 
          Kid Galahad
          That Certain Woman 
1936  The Petrified Forest
           Satan Met a Lady
          The Golden Arrow 
1935  Special Agent
          Front Page Woman
         The Girl From Tenth Avenue
         Dangerous
         Bordertown 
1934  Fashions of 1934
        Of Human Bondage 
        Fog Over Frisco 
       Menace
       Jimmy the Gent 
       The Big Shakedown
       Housewife
1933  20,000 Years in Sing-Sing 
       The Working Man
        Ex-Lady
        Bureau of Missing Persons 
        Parachute Jumper
1932  The Man Who Played God
       Way Back Home
       The Menace
       Hell's Home
      The Cabin in the Cotton
      The Rich Are Always with Us
      So Big
      Three on a Match
      The Dark Horse
1931  Seed
       Bad Sister
      Waterloo Bridge

Best Actress Nomination for Whatever Happened to Baby Jane --- 1963
Best Actress Nomination for The Star --- 1953
Best Actress Nomination for All About Eve --- 1951
Best Actress Nomination for Mr. Skeffington --- 1945
Best Actress Nomination for Now, Voyager --- 1943
Best Actress Nomination for The Little Foxes --- 1942
Best Actress Nomination for The Letter --- 1941
Best Actress Nomination for Dark Victory --- 1940
Best Actress Won for Jezebel --- 1939
Best Actress Won for Dangerous --- 1936
Best Actress Nomination for Of Human Bondage --- 1935

National Poetry Month - Week 1

April is National Poetry Month.  In honor of that, I have decided to dedicate at least one post per week during the month of April to the poets and poetry that mean so much to me.  'Tis true - there are enough poems and poets that I could probably post every day for a whole year and not do them justice.  So, choosing just four will be tough. 

This week's post is my very favorite poem of all:  Mary Oliver's The Journey.  It came to me at a time when I needed to hear its message.  More importantly, it came to me at a time when I was ready to understand  its message.  I have carried a copy of it with me for the last six years.  That copy is tattered and worn but its message speaks just as profoundly today as it did then. 

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice --
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to save
the only life you could save.

~ Mary Oliver ~

(Dream Work)

Spitball Day????

Today is "Spitball Day"...
That's right... spitball day! Who thinks of these things anyway?

 Well... no matter.. I wouldn't even take time to mention that tidbit EXCEPT for the fact that the I found this really interesting little bit of trivia related to it: In 1959, The Coasters had a hit record titled "Charlie Brown." Because the lyrics included a reference to a "spitball" it was BANNED in England!

While I remember The Coasters - and the song "Charlie Brown" - I couldn't for the life of me remember the spitball reference. So.... off to trusty Youtube to verify the information. Yes indeedy! There it is! Plain as day! The dreaded spitball reference that banned "Charlie Brown" from being played on the air in England. See (hear) for yourself!  YouTube - The Coasters - Charlie Brown  

Nature's Jewels

photo by Lee Ambrose

Raindrops on the spider web
Like diamonds in a forest bed.

Sun sparkles at each turn I take
On this early Springtime morn.

Nature reveals her jewels to me
As birds announce "morning's come!"

Unmatched beauty abounds.
And I, again, am in awe -

Mother Nature's jewels:  a work of art.


copyright:   Lee Ambrose/ April 2011

April Fools Day!

The first of April, some do say
Is set apart for All Fool's Day;

But why the people call it so
Nor I, nor they themselves, do know,

But on this day are people sent
On purpose for pure merriment.

[--Poor Robin's Almanac (1790)--]