Judge Roy Bean's

    Bruce and I are going to St. Louis for a few days to celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary on December 30. I have wanted to write about this again because it’s a very funny story worth repeating. Here is the very first installment.

   We got married in Eureka Springs, AR at Judge Roy Bean's Old Time Photos and Weddings. Eureka Springs is a quaint mountain town, filled with beautiful wedding chapels, kind of the Vegas of the Ozarks. We didn't plan, I was scared Bruce would back out, so we went to the first place we saw. We could have chosen a costume, but after looking around, decided against that as there were no telling who had had them on. We were taken into the "wedding parlor", a room decorated with silk flowers and old furniture. Bruce said it looked like a funeral parlor. There were some awful silk bouquets on a table for the bride to hold. Again, I said no thanks.
   We waited several minutes for the "preacher" to return. The preacher was the only person there; she also was the photographer & sales clerk. Anyway, she came back into the parlor with a black preachers robe on, but not zipped up and with a big camera dangling from her neck. (She looked like a hillbilly from the hills in a movie) She had on the dirtiest old pair of tennis shoes, which Bruce and I both stared at through the whole 5-minute ceremony. I suppose it was legal, I asked what church she was affiliated with... Now, get this, she was licensed by the State of Arkansas and ordained via mail order that her boss arranged for his employees.

   The part at the courthouse getting the license was even funnier, but long. This blog post will be continued.

Bah Humbug

 There I said it one more time and feel so much better. For everyone out there who loves Christmas, good for you, I am very happy for you. I always enjoy looking at all the lights and Christmas displays that light up people houses and makes the streets and stores so festive. Being a music lover, I hum Christmas carols and I watch all the old classic Christmas movies. Christmas is also an excuse for me to eat too much chocolate. I even believe in Santa Claus.

Someone asked me what my favorite Christmas memory is. Gee, can’t think of one, after all this was my 67th Christmas and that’s a lot to remember. The earliest Christmas I remember was also one of my few memories of my Grandmother Dickson, my mother’s mother. I think I was four and she gave me a toy broom. (Sorry, grandma I never liked to do housewife stuff) I also remember as a child being at my other grandparents and Santa Claus dropping in. (There was a church next door and they were having a Christmas program) Grandpa Hull always gave us kids silver dollars.

When my own five kids were little, there were many happy Christmases. I remember they always got up at 5-6 am, and I hadn’t gone to bed until 2am. When the kids got older, their dad started taking the boys to a movie and pizza on Christmas afternoon, which is the only tradition that has remained with my adult boys.

So why BAH HUMBUG? There have been too many sad Christmas stories and those always seem to come forth, just like Old Scrooge’s ghosts of Christmas past. For many years, I worked in the malls and was exhausted both physically and mentally by December 25. Maybe I am just getting older. Whatever, I am glad to put Christmas 2009 behind me, but watch out world…I am declaring the 2010 will be the BEST YEAR YET!

Giving and Volunteering

   This time of the year, there are numerous seasonal opportunities to volunteer from ringing bells for the Salvation Army to baking cookies for residents of nursing homes. Every charity is doing fund raising via emails, regular mail, ads, etc. We are reminded daily to count our blessings and give of our time and resources to others via worthy causes that we believe in.

   Bruce and I have several charities that we give to on a regular bases year around. I am sharing, not to brag but to endorse and promote these worthy causes. At Christmas time instead of giving individual gifts we give that money to good foundations that do excellent work. My personal favorite is Women for Women International, followed closely by the Clinton Foundation.

   Both of us follow the good work of Heifer.org. This year we gave to their WiLD project, as well as gave a Flock of Hope in honor of our grandkids. (Chicks, geese, and ducks) I thought the little goat in their gift catalog was so cute; we gave that in honor of our wedding anniversary. After all, we are two old goats enjoying retirement together.

   This brings me to Bruce's all year long favorite way to give back, volunteering at the CoxHealth Auxiliary. He started there in the fall of 2004, I think. At that time, it was something that got him out of the house and with others. He had retired for the third time in June after working since his teens, and frankly didn’t know what to do with himself. He was assigned to work in “the tunnel”, which is actually the receiving and storage area for the CoxHealth Gift Shop. He still works there 2-3 times per week unpacking, counting, and pricing new merchandise. He is proud to serve on the Auxiliary board as treasurer.

   Besides that, he helps decorate the shop for Christmas, take inventory, run errands, etc, etc. Recently his buddy John and he were asked to do an extra project, something that involved going through the whole hospital floor by floor checking on some equipment. Their extra effort and dedication was noted and appreciated by the director of the Bio-Med department, Brian Huff in the hospital's newsletter. It was nice to be mentioned and to know his hard work is appreciated.

   Volunteering is rewarding, it helps others of course, but mainly it is something everyone can do. Even a few minutes of anyone’s time can be a meaningful experience…especially to the one who is doing the volunteering.

How is Everything in Your World?

I often ask people that question; have been doing it for years. (Do you think I watched Mr. Rogers too much?) You know when I ask that in person people will actually pause a second before answering. I hope people online think about it too. This brings me to what I want to write about tonight.

MY WORLD
Bruce and I live an extremely quiet life in a very small world enjoying retirement. We like it that way. He has his volunteer work and I have the Internet to keep us active. We travel, eat out 2-3 times a week, watch old movies on TV, and sing along with Frank Sinatra. We visit with family and friends.

I have decided that my part of the Crim World is too quiet. I never do New Year’s Resolutions, and am not doing that now. I want to liven up my world. A friend started a new blog called “When I Grow Up, I Wanna…” (When you visit her blog, please tell her MissDazey sent you, thanks) Of course, I have no idea what I want to do when or if I grow up.

In my world, I am MissDazey. That describes me completely. Through my life, I have gone from Linda, to Daisy, to the final version of the real me, MissDazey. (AKA Dizzy Daisy, but that’s too long of a funny story to tell now) I keep thinking that since I am online so much that there must be a way to use MissDazey in a more productive, money making way.

I am having some serious health issues, but gee, I should not let that stop me from redefining what I want my world to be like. Meanwhile, I am looking around to see what fun and games can be added to “My World”

One more thing, I asked this question on Twitter, would like people answers, please use the comments. Question: How does everyone define the term “senior citizen”? Old? Baby Boomer? By the way, I am still looking for Twitters and Bloggers who are over sixty themselves.

This Week On Twitter

I spend too, too much time on Twitter. So much I am looking for a 12 step recovery program for Twitter addicts. But before I enter the treatment center for deranged twitters, let me tell about two of my favorite people on Twitter. (Have to make this blog short, will edit and add more later.)

Becky   http://twitter.com/BeckyMcCray

I like Becky for many reasons, her blogs and tweets are always sincere and kind. She has a great blog called "Small Biz Survival" 

Becky is featured in the December issue of the Entrepreneur Magazine. Part of the article is Becky's "The Netiquette of Twitter: Social Media Do's and Don'ts"  That is a must read.

My second Twitter hero is Glenda  http://twitter.com/GlendaWH

Glenda is remarkable!! Please more about her in her own words on her blog. Glenda has a new ebook with a collection of favorite 2009 blog posts. These were submitted by readers, including me. The profits from the ebook will go to the Union Gospel Mission to help with Christmas dinner. To learn more, please visit Glenda's blog.