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Shari Vaudo ⁽⁴⁵³⁾ United States

Shari Vaudo

I Am Thankful For...

Posted Saturday, November 21, 2009 (13 hours 38 minutes ago.) Viewed 9 times.

I love Thanksgiving. It's been my favorite holiday since our kids grew up. When the kids were little, Christmas was my favorite holiday. The excitement leading up to Christmas, shopping for the kids gifts, the music, the school festivities, the beautiful lights, the gaily colored paper and ribbons, taking them to see Santa, the joy on the kids faces on Christmas morning and the feeling of success, knowing we got them just what they were wishing for, but Thanksgivingaaahhhh at Thanksgiving there's no pressure, unless of course you count the menu planning, the shopping, the food prep, cleaning the house and the clean up after the meal, but this is the type of pressure I thrive on.

The best thing about Thanksgiving is my family. No matter how busy their lives are, they all take time out to come home for Thanksgiving.

I have so much to be thankful for. The Frontiersman, Dan, is a good husband and has always been a good provider. Our daughter, Roxanne (the apple of my eye), is an intelligent, beautiful, well educated, hard working adult who married the perfect man for her; he is also very intelligent, well educated and they are both very thoughtful, loving people. Unfortunately, Bill won't be with us this Thanksgiving. He's in a nursing home in Rochester for rehab after major surgery on his ankle. Our son, Jason, came later in life but he has always been the light of my life. He also is very intelligent, handsome, and will be graduating from college next spring. He is full of love and a good sense of humor.

We have the two best little dogs in the world, Mia and Gia. They're cute, loving and so funny. They each have their own personality and they think they're big dogs.

Although my preference would be to be living in a different city in another state, I have good friends here, a comfortable, warm little cottage, food to eat every day, clothes to keep me warm, a vehicle that (so far), will take me where I need to go and I'm with my family. What could be better than that?

I hope you are all as blessed as I am at Thanksgiving and throughout the year, every year.

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My Maxine Badge of Honor

Posted Saturday, November 14, 2009 (7 days 6 hours ago.) Viewed 17 times.

For years I've told friends, family and co-workers that she is my idol. I think everyone thought I was kidding though. Why would anyone want to have an attitude like hers? In the four months since I retired, I've had the time to sit and reflect on many things. I now realize I've finally succeeded. I am Maxine. I've worked my way up to it for many years and at my age, I've earned the right to emulate Maxine.

You do know who Maxine is, right? She's the crabby old lady with the wild hair and sunglasses. She's on calendars, cards and party supplies. She doesn't care what anyone thinks of her. She lives her life her way. I like her theory on life. She doesn't exercise because it will make her spill her coffee. I like that theory. I just substitute tea. She sees no need to dust; she uses her coffee table as a message board. Makes sense to me. I'M TAKING THE DAY OFF. Everyone will be sure to see that if I write it in the dust.

Things irritate the crap out of me just like they do Maxine. I put my glasses on top of my head and then can't find them. I walk into a room and don't know why I went there. Now, if that isn't enough to make a person crabby, I don't know what is. I have fibromyalgia, arthritis, I'm a "seasoned citizen" and I have less energy than I had when I was younger. I can't be wasting the little energy I have on crap like that.

I set an item down and then can't find it. I spend half the morning looking for it again and that cuts into my allotted dusting time. What's up with that?

I never was good at remembering people's names but now I can be introduced to someone, talk with them for ten minutes, walk away, see that same person twenty minutes later and I won't be able to recall their name to save my soul but you know what? I don't care.

I've really worked at being a good person all my life. I've been patient in the midst of chaos. I taught our daughter to drive until she put the car in reverse when we both thought we were going to go forward. I taught our son to drive until he went around a corner on two wheels and I work up the next morning with ten more gray hairs than I had the previous day. It could be the kids that drove me to be crabby.

I am brave and creative in the face of obstacles. The Frontiersman moved us to this regressive, arctic-style area. He definitely drove me to be crabby!

Oh, it could be any combination of people and situations but I've earned the right to be crabby and I plan to take full advantage of it. I wear my Maxine Badge of Honor proudly.

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Hidey Hole Hollow: A Tourist Hot Spot

Posted Saturday, November 07, 2009 (14 days 4 hours ago.) Viewed 23 times.

I'm always trying to come up with a few random ideas to promote Hidey Hole Hollow and to develop the area as a Mecca for tourism. I realize that some of these ideas need a little more work and we may have to completely discard some of them for various and sundry reasons but I don't have a problem with that as long as there is solid reasoning behind tossing them.

Hidey Hole Hollow doesn't really have a lot to attract tourism but we'll just have to work with what we have. I think the first hurdle is locating Hidey Hole Hollow. We are in the north east corner of Cistern County. (Note to self, work on getting the county name changed.) We're about 30 minutes south of Pinestump Junction in Pugwash County and about an hour north of Smelly Grove; we're sunk! But plodding forward...

My first idea is to have a tour of interesting homes and gardens twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. There could be a small admission charge and the home owners could donate a portion of the fee to the town 'beautification program'. (Need to start one.) Oh, wait. This idea goes into the discard pile. You have to be in a town with majestic homes and beautiful gardens for this idea to work. Ok. scratch this idea.

Maybe we should start more simply. I like the idea of having massive, low concrete decorative troughs to hold beautiful flowers in the spring, summer and fall; the flowers can be changed out according to the season and in the winter could hold beautiful displays of pine boughs, extra large Christmas tree balls and some miniature Christmas lights. That would work. Now I just have to find funding for this project. Although this is a start, it's only a start. Flowers alone will not be enough to attract tourists. Maybe we could erect some wind mills. Nope. No good. Already been done...The Netherlands.

The next item on my 'to do list' is to arrange a meeting with the various artisans and see if they would be interested in coming together to buy a recently vacated restaurant in town and remodeling it and cleaning it up and turning it into a welcoming spot where writers, artists and musicians could have non-alcoholic beverages, soup, sandwiches and desserts. They could talk, network and introduce their work to the non-artistic community. Yay! Two good ideas; I'm on a roll.

I also thought about arranging bus tours, but we only have three stores; the Ghetto Bodega, the Dollar Boutique and the once-was hardware store. Our entire downtown area is less than 1/4 mile, so that would be the quickest bus tour in history. We're even now; two good ideas, two in the trash.

I was thinking that since Hidey Hole Hollow is so insignificant, maybe we could promote it as a razzle-dazzle weekend get away spot. We do have a Bed and Breakfast after all. No. Wait a minute. That's all we have. They even roll up the sidewalks around here at eight o'clock.

This is bad. Now I have two good ideas and three in the trash. I just have one idea left but I'm keeping this one under wraps until I have the logistics worked out. I don't want some big city marketing firm stealing this one. I'll get back with you on this one.

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The Elite Social Class of Hidey Hole Hollow

Posted Tuesday, November 03, 2009 (18 days 9 hours ago.) Viewed 45 times.

After much research I've uncovered that Hidey Hole Hollow has several glitzy social circles. Oh yes, it's absolutely true. I've decided to give you a peek into the culture of Hidey Hole Hollow social groups, though not necessarily in their accepted order.

Old Family: Names appear in John S. Minard's History of Cistern County. Owned the first saw mills or saloons or were the first farmers in the area. Most are related and, as a newcomer, you must be careful who you poke fun at because some of those regal egos don't see the humor in it.

Big Money: Now this category is a stretch, but here goes. You would need an annual income of around $35,000 to be comfortable in this set. This circle is not glitzy in any way but I don't see how I could write an article of this type without including them. They want to appear as down-to-earth as the next person. They fit in other groups as comfortably as a $50.00 old shoe in a Wal-Mart shoe society.

Literary: This group is made up largely but not entirely of the Amish. People in this group usually read books other than best sellers (until they can get them at the library), usually romance or mystery novels. They will discuss a book with you but only after the gossip is finished.

Sorority: Somewhat different than what you might be thinking. This sorority is banded by wives with Greek letters that spell out h-o-u-s-e-w-o-r-k. The husbands meet every morning between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. at the local coffee shop. They take up the biggest table in the restaurant, make a mess and rarely leave a tip for the waitress.

Drinking: This group compares hangovers and they each brag that they can hold their booze better than the next guy (usually while drunk). This is usually the younger crowd because by age 40, the first doctor they go to tells them their liver is already shot.

Musical: Couldn't recognize a symphony even if you explained to them what a symphony is. They own fairly good sound systems for their vehicles but their collection is limited to country and western CDs. They actually go to flesh and blood concerts, but again only country and western and the elders of this group will drive anywhere in a three county radius to attend a square dance; couldn't do a fox trot or a tango if you drew out the steps on the dance floor.

Solid Citizen: Feel others (even Old Family) are a bit anti-American. Casual gait, wearing their Hush Puppies and Dockers. Will discuss politics at the drop of a hat. Can remember details of the war but can't remember what was on the shopping list their wife gave them that they promptly lost.

Sociable: More female than male. Feel forlorn unless they see 10-20 people every few evenings, or the same people several times a week. They welcome everyone within their crowd as if they were long lost family (most are family), but newbies are held at arms length.

Hunting Crowd: This is by far the largest group in the county. They overlap into several of the other afore mentioned groups. They are comprised of men, women and children. The adults have 50 recipes for venison in their heads, but it tastes the same every time they cook it.

Recognize these groups? Maybe the elite in your town mirror these groups.

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