Have you heard about Christmas in July? I had, but I thought it was a Hallmark thing to promote their movies, Christmas ornaments, and other products. It turns out Christmas in July goes FAR beyond Hallmark. Here are two sources I dug into, to learn more.
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1 - What is Christmas in July? How to Celebrate Properly - Open for Christmas
2 - Christmas in July: What It Is, How It Started, and Why You Should Celebrate This Year | Real Simple

I was surprised that both sources said Christmas in July started at the same place . . .  Keystone Summer Camp for Girls in Brevard, North Carolina. They also had the same dates for that first Christmas – July 24th and 25th of 1933. Would you believe it’s still going strong? I wonder if Keystone Camp inspired the writers at Hallmark. One of this year’s featured movies was Campfire Christmas. Who knows?!

Christmas in July has spread all over the globe. Today it’s celebrated in the US, UK, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. If you lived in the southern hemisphere, you could celebrate a July Christmas with snow and cocoa. December ones probably look more like a Florida Christmas.
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Christmas in July is all about Hallmark Christmas movies for me. My husband thinks it’s crazy, but I love escaping into stories with a little Christmas spirit. It always brings out the best in people. I need that when July makes us all hot and sticky!


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​ My All-Time Favorite Hallmark Chrismas Movie:  This is it! Why do I love it so much? First, the script is so well done. It’s a lovely blend of sarcasm and wit that it’s pure fun to watch.
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Second, the writers used bits of A Christmas Carol in it. You know the Christmas story with Ebenezer Scrooge? He’s visited by the ghosts of Christmas present, past, and future.

Third, the cast! Candace Cameron Bure and Jean Smart are a dynamic duo. They work well together, and they play off of each other. I can’t believe they don’t list Jean Smart on this cover. She was Charlene on Designing Women, and she’s just as funny in this role as she was back then.

Fourth, I love the Christian connection in this one. Jean Smart’s character is an angel who’s sent to get Candace’s character back on track. Candace doesn’t understand until Jean tells a story of how God sent a sleigh to save a man who’s buried in the snow. He got three chances but didn’t take any of them. When he dies, he asks St. Peter why God didn’t save him. Peter answers that God sent the sleigh to him three times, but he never took it. It’s a small reference, but I appreciate Hallmark keeping Christ in Christmas.

Finally, and most of all, it’s the shoes! Candace gets to wear some great ones that are full of possibilities. Guys like my husband don’t get it, but I do. When you put on the right outfit, it can change your day, maybe even your life. One of my favorite scenes in the movie shows a Christmas tree made out of shoes.

PS - Would you believe I had a 2nd grade boy ask how many shoes I had? I said I didn’t know, but one can never have too many shoes! He nodded like he understood. I hope he did!
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Amazon’s Description:
As Christmas approaches, Noelle (Candace Cameron Bure) is at a crossroads in her life when it seems that love, a connection with her father, and her dream career are out of reach. When she stays late at her job in a department store on a snowy Christmas Eve, she accidentally gets locked in after closing. She isn't too concerned about the prospect of spending the night in the store… until a quirky woman (Jean Smart) appears out of nowhere in the shoe department and tells Noelle that she's her guardian angel. Soon, Noelle finds herself revisiting Christmases past, present, and future as she must work with her new neighbor, a handsome, Christmas-loving firefighter, to plan the annual Christmas Charity Gala. Will visiting the holidays of yesterday and tomorrow help Noelle take new chances and discover the true spirit of Christmas? And in realizing that the only thing standing in her way of leading a fulfilling life is herself, will the love she has longed for all her life be the best surprise gift of all?

​Food comes from all over the world. I picked three classic dishes for this post. Can you guess where they came from?

Part 1 – Swedish Meatballs
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Where did they come from?
Sweden looks like the logical answer, but is it?

Italy       Sweden       Turkey     Norway

Take a look at the map. Then choose the right answer.

                                                                              And the answer is . . .  Turkey!

I know! I missed it too. In 2018 Sweden’s official Twitter account said that “Swedish meatballs are actually based on a recipe King Charles XII brought home from Turkey in the early 18th century.” That always confuses me. Early 18th century – that really means the early 1700’s, when America was still a British colony.

The meatballs came from Turkish ‘kofte.’ You start with ground beef, lamb, chicken or pork. Mix in some onions and a few spices, and you have kofte. But the Swedes needed a little more flavor – so they added gravy! Everything’s better with gravy!
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King Charles didn’t stop with those meatballs. He brought home Turkish stuffed cabbages and coffee too. Now coffee’s so popular that Sweden is one of the top coffee-drinking countries in the world. 

This is how the Swedes eat their meatballs – with mashed potatoes, brown sauce, lingonberry jam, and pickled cucumbers, AKA pickles.
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​​Coleslaw
Where did it come from?
Italy     Holland      Turkey    Germany
Take a look at the map. Then choose the right answer.

​                                                                                And the answer is . . .  Holland!

Coleslaw came from Holland, AKA the Netherlands. It’s two Dutch words, combined. Kool is cabbage, and sla is their abbreviation for salade.

Dutch settlers brought cabbage to New Amsterdam in the 1600’s. It didn’t exist in the New World so the Dutch started growing cabbages along the Hudson River. When they made coleslaw, they drenched it in melted butter and vinegar. Later the British took over the city. They renamed it New York, but they kept the Dutch coleslaw.
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Coleslaw was on the table in Ancient Rome. They soaked it in vinegar before they ate it. As their Empire spread, so did their cabbage salad, to places like Germany, where they decided to add sour cream to some of their cabbage recipes. 
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​Coleslaw is part of restaurant platters from sea to shining sea, but with a small change in the recipe that came from Richard Hellman. He owned a deli in New York, and he bottled mayonnaise.  Would you believe his company is still making it for you today?        
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This question came from one of my trivia sites, but I forgot to copy the address. They got the idea for this question from . . . www.wikipedia.org   

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​Sponge cake is dry, but you soak this one in Kirschwasser or kirsch. That’s a special kind of brandy bottled only in the Black Forest. Don’t put any other kind in your cake if you’re in Germany or the European Union. It’s been against the law since 2013. Use cherry juice if you want it without alcohol, but whatever you do, don’t call it Black Forest Cake in Europe.

PS – if you want to make Black Forest cake, go to the link for Britannica. It has a video and text with the directions included.
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Sources:  Britannica                                                     Black Forest gateau - Wikipedia                                                 
https://www.traveltrivia.com/answer/where-did-black-forest-cake-originate/YZKS6XCprcEU2Kxs

​The 4 R’s, they’re for the Environment too? I knew schools had 3 – Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, but I’d forgotten the ones for the environment . . . Reduce, Recycle, Reuse, and Renew.

Dear Earth is a story told in letters, with back matter that’s all about those 4 R’s. They inspired this post. I decided to review the book, and then write about those R’s in my blog.

My Review: http://www.rindabeach.com/my-reads/review-of-dear-earth-from-your-friends-in-room-5

Part 1 – REDUCE – That’s when you use less of something whenever you can, whether it’s plastic or energy. If you’re a kid, what could you do to make a difference?

Energy is tricky. You’re not driving a car, yet. But, you could turn off the lights whenever you leave a room. You could turn off the TV when you’re done watching. Both things reduce the amount of electricity your family’s using, and best of all, YOU’RE helping the planet! You go, kiddo!

Where do you use plastic? It’s in almost everything from toys to packaging. You could buy fewer toys by picking only the ones you really, really want. I love clothes. Here’s how I buy less. First I ask myself if I really want it (I don’t need any clothes. Ask my husband). Then I make myself wait a week or two after I see it. If I remember it, and I still really want it, I might go back and buy it. If I don’t, I just saved money to buy something else, and that’s a great thing!
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Whenever you buy something, look for a way to buy it with less packaging. Did you know you’re paying for each box, plastic container, or cords that it’s in? Here are a couple of things you might see at your house. Which one has the least packaging?

1. The Juice Box has at least 3 pieces of packaging – the box, the straw, and its wrapper. If the box came in a six-pack, that’s 18 pieces, plus the box. That’s 19 pieces of packaging total.
2. The Egg Carton has only one – the box. That’s it!
3. The Valentine Candy has at least 4 – the top and bottom of the box, the divider to separate the candy, and the seal around the box. There could be more, but 4’s my final answer!
4. The Juice Cans have at least one – for each can. They probably came in a six-pack, in a box or with plastic rings to hold them together. That’s 6 cans, plus the box/plastic piece. That’s 7 total.
5. And finally the Milk Carton probably has 3 – the carton, the cap, and the seal to keep the milk safe.

                                                              Surprise! The egg carton has the least packaging!
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​Part 2 – Recycle – That’s when you save things like paper, plastic, glass, and metal. They’re picked up, taken away, and made into something new.

Recycling looks different in different places. It depends on where you live. Some towns pick everything up once a week. Mine does. Every Thursday I put out a tub for paper, and a tub for everything else. Other places have a recycling calendar. You put out different tubs on different days.

1. It depends! I’ve never recycled a Juice Box because the cardboard’s coated with plastic. Check with your parents. Some communities will take the box and the straws. Some won’t!
2. Recycle the Egg Carton! If it’s all cardboard, it’s perfect.
3. Take off the bow. Then you can recycle the Valentine Box. It’s cardboard. You might be able to recycle the plastic divider, if it’s a 1 or 2. Ask your parents about the other numbers. A lot of places won’t recycle them.
4. Juice Cans – yes please! They’re metal and perfect to recycle!
5. It depends, again! The Milk Carton is just like a juice box, coated with plastic, so you’ll have to check. BTW plastic milk jugs use #2 plastic – recycle them.

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​Part 3 – Reuse – That’s when you use something again and again until it finally wears out. You could return, reuse, or recycle this coffee cup, but if you’re a kid, what could you reuse?
 
Think juice box. You can’t reuse them, but you could pick out a cup that you could use over and over again. Think paper – if you used the front, you could draw or write something on the back. I do that with every video script I write.

1. Juice Boxes can be reused like milk cartons at school. Rinse them out, and you can plant seeds in them. Once you have little plants, pull them out and replant them. Another idea – use those clean boxes to make blocks, or to build a miniature city.
2. Reuse Egg Cartons to store small things like earrings, or matchbox cars. You could also cut the cartons apart, then use the little cups for craft projects, like painting. Art teachers love them! One of my favorite teachers sent home a list of supplies she needed, like egg cartons.
3. The Valentine Box could be reused for storage. Use the whole box for something dear to your heart, like valentine cards or pictures of your family and friends. If you keep the dividers, think what might fit inside those spots, and you’ve got more storage for your stuff. That’s a really good thing!
4. Did you know if you save Juice Cans, turn them in the right place, that you can make money? MONEY! Who doesn’t love that?! Plus, do you see the pull tabs on top? Save those too, then turn them into your local McDonalds. Those tiny tabs fund the Ronald McDonald House. That’s where families of sick kids can stay, FREE!
5. I’d use the Milk Cartons as blocks or to build a miniature town with buildings of different sizes. They look too big to grow plants.

​Kids are creative! I bet you can think of more ideas to reuse trash. My suggestion, before you throw something away, think of how you can use it again!
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​ Part 4 – Renew – That’s when you can make something new again, or you use resources that will never run out. They’re always available, like the wind and the sun. They’re both considered clean energy, but they have problems too. Did you know bats are endanger because of windmills? The blades hit them when they’re out hunting for bugs to eat.
 
You can’t build windmills or solar panels, but can kids help to renew our planet? Think about cleaning up someplace where people litter. It could be a playground, a beach, or a street in your neighborhood. Think planting a tree. They breathe in the carbon dioxide we give off, and they give us oxygen. We’d die without it. 

​Think composting! That’s what you can do with leftover food, leaves, yard clippings, even newspaper. You put them in a box, or in a corner of your yard. Then you let nature take over. Decomposers like worms and bacteria will break down that waste and turn it into fertilized soil that you can use in your garden.  Maybe, that compost heap is already there!
 
One of these packages can’t be renewed, but the other 4 can. Can you find the nonrenewable package?

​The Juice Cans are the only nonrenewable, but you can recycle them. The other 4 – Juice Box, Egg Cartons, Valentine Box, and Milk Carton are made of cardboard. You can plant more trees to replace the ones cut down.
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​My conclusions . . . I was born in 1959, before the 4R’s. Back then people were beginning to think about pollution and the environment. No one recycled when I was a kid.
 
Fast forward 60 years, and people are using the 4R’s. Imagine where we’ll be in another 60? Green energy is new, but so was the automobile in the early 1900’s. Look how far they’ve come! I think the same will be true for green energy. It takes time and innovation to build new technology.
 
For now, I’ll keep doing those small things I’m doing, but I’m not alone. Lots of people all over the world are doing them too, and that gives me hope that things will improve. Here’s to tomorrow!

Part 1 - A Little Family History: Do you recognize these characters? The Addams Family? I thought this post would be about two commercials, but whenever I start researching something, I find cool facts and images.  ​

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​This story started with Charles Addams. He created the original cartoon back in 1938 for the New Yorker Magazine. Charles drew another 58 cartoons in this series, and almost all of them were published in the 1940’s and 50’s, long before I was born.

​ The Addams family has come back in a few different incarnations since 1938. These photos are from two different TV shows from 1964. I was 5 back then.

 The 1st one is The Addams Family. I didn’t watch them, but this is their cast photo. Clockwise from the back left – Gomez (John Astin), Lurch (Ted Cassidy) Pugsley (Ken Weatherwax), Morticia (Carolyn Jones), and Wednesday (Lisa Loring).

​ ​ Photo Source:
- Cartoon By Charles Addams, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15992920
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- Cast: By ABC Television - eBay itemphoto frontphoto back, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19464844

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​The real theme came from the 1964 TV series. It was written and arranged by Vic Mizzy, a famous TV and movie composer. I knew Vic used finger snaps for the percussion section, but I didn’t realize he used harpsichord for the rest. Amazing!

​​If you’d like to hear it again, search out Addams Family Theme song, and you should see these two images. Click one, and listen. Don’t forget to check out the harpsichord!
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BTW - This is a harpsichord! I think it looks a lot like a piano. What do you think?

Information Sources:
​The Addams Family - Wikipedia 
​The Munsters - Wikipedia
​The Addams Family Theme - Wikipedia


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​​If you watch TV, you probably saw both commercials. I did, repeatedly! They got a lot of air time during October, when the movie, The Addams Family 2, came out.  

​I found the Progressive Addams Family commercial first. It used the original music, but changed the lyrics to add in the Progressive characters. They’re as funny and quirky as the Addams Family, and the contrast between them is clever!

My favorite moment – when Morticia asks Flo how long they’re staying. Morticia looks positively horrified when Flo says forever. If you love clever, search out this commercial and watch it one more time! Enjoy!

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​Information Source:   Go RVing Uses Real RVers To Create RV Orchestra Commercial To Promote Addams Family 2 Movie | RVIA

​ Summer is almost over, but there’s a little time left for one last road trip. Here are 3 sets of trivia questions for you to answer. Maybe, there’s still time for that last summer get-away!

​Part 1 – Trivia Question #1 – Which state is home to the world’s largest convenience store?
   California       Texas       New Jersey       Colorado  
 
Trivia Question #2 – How many gas pumps can you find at its biggest service station?
        80               100               120               140

Answer #1 – Everything is bigger in Texas. Look for TX, its abbreviation, on the map.
Answer #2 – It has 120 pumps.
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​ My Texas kids made sure I went inside Buc-ees the first time I visited. They’re HUGE! Think grocery store size! They’re that big! Buc-ee’s opened in 1982, and it owns 36 stores across Texas, Alabama, and Florida.

Photo Sources:
1. Buc-ee’s in Terrell, TX - By Jameywiki - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47876613

​2. Inside Buc-ee’s - By JamesRuddy93 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=82979699

​3.         Buc-ee's - Wikipedia

Information Sources:
Source: The Balance | Date Updated: April 23, 2021
Which state is home to the world's largest convenience store?: Texas | Travel Trivia

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 Part 2 – Trivia Question #3 – What is a Dark Sky Park?
 
Trivia Question #4 – What state has the most internationally identified parks?
          Nebraska          Utah           Maine          Colorado
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​The International Dark-Sky Association was born in 2001. Its first action – an initiative to preserve and protect the sky. To keep it dark enough that people can still look ​up and see the stars, generations from now.

​When I drive at night, I see the lights of each town I approach. It’s getting harder and harder to see the stars. I’m glad the darkest nights have IDSA protection now! That’s the International Dark-Sky Association in initialism (not an acronym).

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​​ Thanks to the Association there are now 90 International Dark Sky Parks. This is Joshua Tree National Park, and it’s one of the 21 International Dark Parks in Utah. That’s impressive – there are 90 around the world, and 21 are in Utah. Would you believe Utah added three new parks this year?

​Don’t worry if you live hours away from Utah! There are 66 Dark Sky Parks in the US. Geauga Observatory Park is in Ohio, and there’s a Dark Park in Michigan to the North, Indiana to the West, Tennessee to the South, and Pennsylvania to the east. To think that I’d never heard of Dark Sky Parks, and now I found five in and around Ohio! Take a look on the map at the top, and see which states you can find!

​Information Sources:
-  Source: The Salt Lake Tribune | Date Updated: April 30, 2021
-  What U.S. state has the most International Dark Sky Parks?: Utah | Travel Trivia
-  Dark Sky Parks in the United States - WorldAtlas

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Answer # 5 – If you live in South Dakota (SD), you get the most.
Answer # 6 – Hawaiians (HI) get the least.  

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The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) recommends seven hours of sleep a night, but only about half of Americans manage that. If you’d like to find out how your state’s sleeping, click on the CDC link below. It’s under Information Sources.

Five states are real sleepers! They had 69 – 70% of their people averaging seven hours of sleep each night. South Dakota came out on top, followed by Colorado, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Idaho. If you need sleep, you know where to go! Can you find SD, CO, MN, NE, and ID on the map at the top?

Six states don’t sleep as much as they should! They had 56 – 61% of their people getting their nightly seven. Hawaii scraped the bottom with Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan and Georgia creeping in above them.​HI, KY, MD, AL, MI, and GA on the map at the top?

Information Sources:
-   Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | Date Updated: May 10, 2021
-   Which state's residents get the most sleep?: South Dakota | Travel Trivia=

​Can you match a word with its picture? I picked unusual words that I didn’t know. I wanted to learn something new. I hope you do too! The only one I can pronounce – Fipple! Good Luck!

Your Words:                     Cachinnate                     Schadenfreude                     Synecdoche                    Fipple

​Any idea which word matches which picture?
 Cachinnate?   Schadenfreude?   Synecdoche?   Fipple?
 No idea? Here are their definitions . . .

Synecdoche – a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part, the special for the general or the general for the special, as in Texas won by six runs (meaning “Texas's baseball team”).

​​​Cachinnate - to laugh loudly or immoderately.

​Fipple - a plug stopping the upper end of a pipe, as a recorder or a whistle, and having a narrow slit through which the player blows

​​Schadenfreude – satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune

And the answers are . . .

How did you do? My guess is that cachinnate and schadenfreude were tricky. They’re kind of alike, but misfortune in the definition helped me find the right picture. I hoped it helped you too!
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Synecdoche [ si-nek-duh-kee ]
 
how do you pronounce synecdoche - Bing

​Schadenfreude [ shahd-n-froi-duh ]     
 
how do you pronounce schadenfreude - Bing
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​                                             Part 3 – Where in the World Did These Words Come From?
 
Each word came from a different spot on the globe. Find each one. Then guess which word originated there.

1. Icelandic from Iceland – Pink country. It’s farthest to the Northwest, at the top of the map.                       

 

1. German from Germany – Green country in Northern Europe.

 

1. Latin from Italy (Rome) – Orange country that’s south of Germany. It’s shaped like a boot. Really!

 

1. Greek from Greece – Pink country east of Italy.

 
Your Words –                 Cachinnate                Schadenfreude                Synecdoche               Fipple 

       Latin from Italy           Greek from Greece         German from Germany        Icelandic from Iceland

​Schadenfreude (schoolofwordplay.com)
 
Fipple (schoolofwordplay.com)
 
Synecdoche (schoolofwordplay.com)
 
Cachinnate (schoolofwordplay.com)
 

This is a really cool map! It shows how the US came to be bit by bit, territory by territory. The brown area is the original 13 colonies and the territories that originally belonged to England. The white area – the Louisiana Purchase.

​          Part 1 - Trivia Question #1  – How much did the Louisiana Purchase cost the United States?
                                                                   $2                 $5              $10               $15 million
 
                                                  Trivia Question #2 – Which country did we buy it from?
                                                  Spain                   Portugal                    France                  England

​Answer #1 – It cost $15 million.                                                                   Answer #2 – We bought it from France.
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​​And the story? Remember Thomas Jefferson from the Declaration of Independence? He was now president, from 1801 – 1809. In April of 1802, he wrote the following prediction to Pierre Samuel du Pont – that France taking Louisiana from Spain “… is the embryo of a tornado which will burst on the countries on both shores of the Atlantic and involve in its effects their highest destinies.” Huh? What did he say?

​​In other words – it would cause huge problems for our new-born country to have France controlling the Mississippi and the port of New Orleans. President Jefferson took action. He sent James Monroe (another founding father and future president) off to Paris. Monroe was to negotiate the real estate deal of the century! Florida and New Orleans for a cool $10 million.

​But lucky for us, Napoleon Bonaparte came to power in 1799. He was short on cash so he decided to abandon the French colonies in the New World to shore up the finances at home. Napoleon asked for a cool $15 million, and in one real estate transaction, Monroe and Jefferson doubled the size of the US west of the Mississippi, for an additional $5 million.  Thanks to the dynamic duo, our new country now owned 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi.

Like anything else, if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Those lands actually belonged to the Native Americans, and it has been estimated the true cost for the Louisiana Purchase is closer to $2.6 billion. But in the long run, it was a real bargain for our new-born country.

 
Sources of Information
1. Source: Monticello.org | Date Updated: July 22, 20192.  

​2.  https://www.traveltrivia.com/answer-how-much-did-the-louisiana-purchase-cost-the-united-states/ 

​3.   Louisiana Purchase - Wikipedia 

Answer #1 – Trumpet                                                                                                  Answer #2 – All of these, and more!
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​So how did Louis get started playing the trumpet? He was born and raised in New Orleans in a neighborhood called ‘The Battlefield,’ and yes, it was a pretty rough place. But it was the sounds of New Orleans that brought Louis to music.
 
Louis met the Karnoffsky family when he started school at age 6. He did odd jobs for them. They took Louis in, fed and nurtured him. They treated him like family. The Karnoffsky’s had a junk wagon, and Louis played a tin horn to bring in customers. Morris advanced Louis the money to buy his 1st trumpet from a pawn shop. I didn’t know that Louis always wore a Star of David pendant because of the Karnoffskys, and the treatment they received as Jews. 

​Louis learned music – by playing it. He’s in this photo from 1918. He was playing in Fate Marable’s band onboard the S.S. Sidney, traveling up and down the Mississippi. Fate’s on the piano, and Louis is to his left. He was 17.
 
Louis played everything – blues, big band, Latin American folksongs, classical symphonies, opera, Broadway showtunes, and rock. You name it, and he could play it! When I think of Louis, I think of these two songs . . . 

​This is a shot of Louis on the set of Hello Dolly with Barbara Streisand. If you want to listen in, google Hello Dolly, and scroll down until you see my screenshot. Then – enjoy!
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​To find What a Wonderful World, google the title. Then scroll down until you see this screenshot. I think it’s incredible to see how far music took Louis – from ‘The Battlefield in New Orleans to Hollywood movie sets. 

  
Sources of Information:
1.    More Info: en.wikipedia.org 
2. https://quizzclub.com/games/bonus/what-instrument-was-played-by-famous-jazz-musician-louis-armstrong/answer/374952/

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​Sorry, no map – yet! It would give away one of the answers. But don’t worry – it’s right after them!
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Part 3 – Trivia Question #5 – What is a muffuletta?
bread                     salad                    sandwich               pizza
 
Trivia Question #6 – Where did it come from?
New York           New Orleans           Indianapolis        San Francisco
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​ Here’s the map, and its title gave away where muffulettas came from. It’s written in French because it shows the French Quarter, the tourist part of New Orleans. Scroll down to the bottom to read its story.

This is the Central Grocery of New Orleans. The building is older than the sandwich. To find it on the map, start with the Mississippi River. Go straight up, and you’ll see the Moonwalk. Keep going, and you’ll find the Café Du Monde. It’s a BIG tourist destination! (We’ll stop back later.)
​
Now go up to the first street. Look left to find its name. It’s Decatur, but turn the other way, and travel down the street until you see the French Market. That’s where you’ll find the Central Grocery. Sorry! It’s not marked on the map so I’m not sure which side of the street it’s on, but it’s definitely on Decatur!

​​Go inside, and you’ll find everything in the photo.  Start on the top left . . . that’s a muffuletta!  It’s open so you can see its ingredients.

​Go clockwise, and you can pick up sandwiches for takeout. Continue around, and there’s a jar of olives, the kind in the sandwich. Last but not least – there’s a round muffuletta bun.
​
Salvatore Lupo invented the 1st muffuletta in 1906. The area around his grocery was the Italian Sector, and muffuletta was Sicilian bread. His customers wanted Italian food so they’d buy the bread, plus the fixings. It was hard to eat in pieces, so Salvatore put the deli meat, olives, and cheese together in a sandwich. Its name – The Muffuletta, and it’s still going strong a century later!

​Looking for sweets? Go back to Café Du Monde, and pick up a Beignet. It’s pastry - think doughnuts without the hole, but with lots of powdered sugar on top. LOTS! They’re served hot, and they’re the perfect New Orleans treat.

​Sources of Information:
1. Source: New Orleans Historical | Date Updated: April 2, 2021 

1. Where was the muffaletta sandwich invented?: New Orleans | Travel Trivia
2.   Muffuletta - Wikipedia 

4.  Central Grocery - Wikipedia
5.  Beignet - Wikipedia
​

Photo Sources: 
1. Central grocery –  By No machine-readable author provided. Jan Kronsell assumed (based on copyright claims). - CC BY-SA 3.0,  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=127539
2. Muffuletta –  By Perlow, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3191684
3.  Begnet –  By Flickr photographer hamron / harmon - https://www.flickr.com/photos/mookies/2452009929/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4142967
4. Café Du Monde – By Jeremykemp - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14881345
​
​                                    Tomorrow – I have a great book for My Reads . . .  about muffuletta!

                                                                                         The 1st try

I started my journey on January 13th by emailing my web guru, Lisa, to ask for a PayPal button. I had no idea what I was getting into. The emails bounced back and forth between us for the next couple days while I tried to find the code she needed. Here’s a sample from the first couple 

In March Brooke asked about my presales. I didn’t have any. The problem – I didn’t know I was supposed to post the link to my PayPal button on social media. People can’t buy something they don’t know about. Duh!

When I started my launch countdown, I added my buy link to the post. That was March 1st, and that’s when I found my first problem. My daughter messaged me that she couldn’t buy my book. I checked it out!
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​My whole website was down! I couldn’t even get in – at all! That’s never happened before, and my site has been live since 2016. The only change – my buy link. By the time I went to bed, I was back online, back in business. At least I thought so.

                                                                                                                                             The 2nd Try

​The PayPal button came up again on March 8th, the night before Zoe’s debut. That’s the night I posted the #1 thing to do at the lake – read ZOE!

I called PayPal Support and got Neysa. She was wonderful. She walked me through getting that darn button. By the end of our session, I thought I was good to go. Neysa even sent me 2 notes, one about the button. The other about API Credentials. (I still have no idea what they are, except that it’s a number unique to me, and that if someone gets that number, they can hack into my account.)

I emailed the new number to Lisa that night. Guess what – It didn’t work! I don’t know why. Lisa is great at tech issues. Everything you see on my website is due to the foundation she set up. I copied and sent Neysa’s note to Lisa. Nothing changed.
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I tried to work with the API Credentials, even though I didn’t know what I was doing. Lisa and I tried two different ways to use them. We failed both times.

At 10PM on launch day I gave up and filed a case with Technical Support. After 24 hours in crisis mode, I turned it over to the tech team. It was the BEST decision I made all day.

Lesson #1 – Know when to give up. I had tried everything Brooke, Lisa, Paypal, and Neysa suggested. I wasn’t making any progress. I kept making the same mistake, over and over again. I’m so GLAD I quit!

                                                                                                                                                The Third and Final Try

​I got my first email from Tech Support on March 10th. Adithya wanted me to generate another button, but I said NO! I sent him the one Neysa and I created. I hoped Adithya would find the error and help me fix it.

He DID say there was an important client ID missing from the button code on the 11th. He didn’t think I generated the code with PayPal, and he asked me to try again. I did, but it felt like I was repeating the same old directions. When you do that, you get the same old results.

I heard back on the 15th and 16th. Adithya sent directions both days, but I couldn’t understand them.  I felt like someone threw me in the deep end of the pool, and I didn’t know how to swim. If someone has ever given you a project that’s above and beyond your skills, you know how I felt.
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Here’s one of his answers. I looked at my code for 30 minutes, trying to find what he wanted me to find, and change. I couldn’t.  ​

Lesson #2 – When something’s not working – change strategies! The emails didn’t work. I couldn’t see or understand what Adithya was asking me to do so I asked for a conference call. I thought if we zoomed, he could guide me into doing what he asked.
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PS – this section was SUPER hard to write. I thought I’d finish the post tonight, but I couldn’t. This was as far as I could write. The more words I used, the more tangled my thoughts became. I hope I let you feel a little of my frustration . . .  without the knots.
 
                                              A Happy Ending – A Conference Call to the Other Side of the Earth

​When I couldn’t make heads or tails of the code, I asked for a conference call. That was March 16th. By the 17th Adithya said he could meet anytime from 9AM – 9PM IST. I had to look up IST – India Standard Time. Then I found a conversion chart for EST – Eastern Standard Time in the US. I don’t even want to think how many time zones are between India and the US. 

Can you find the US and India on this World Map? ​

There were two sets of times that worked. First, 9-10:30AM in India. That’s almost midnight in Ohio! The second, 8-9PM in India. That’s when I wake up, about 10:30 in the morning in Ohio. I’m not a morning person so I asked for the first time.
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Adithya immediately set up a time to meet the next morning. Unfortunately, I read his email after I had breakfast, when Adithya was done for the day. We finally got a call set up for after midnight on the 19th. Within 30 minutes I had my code. You’d think it would have been easy. He could see my computer screen as we talked, but it was still tricky.

The tough parts – 1. We both thought our PayPal computer screens looked the same. I knew computer keyboards look different. The keys are in different places, but I thought the screens would be the same, just in different languages. No wonder I couldn’t follow directions from Adithya’s emails. The commands weren’t in the same places.
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2. There was also a language difference. Thank goodness Adithya spoke English, but he spoke with an Indian accent, which was hard occasionally for me to understand. Sometimes my American English was hard for him.
​
It sounds funny to have trouble communicating in the same language, but it happens. I was in England, and the hotel guide sent my husband and I to ‘Mer Mickey.’ We couldn’t find it on the map, but we did find ‘Mermaid Quay.’ Our hotel guide didn’t get the joke – but my husband and I did. FYI – the faster you speak, the harder it is to be understood in international situations. SLOW DOWN! ​

During the conversation, Adithya had me generate that code again. This time he asked me to paste it onto an email and send it to him. Then he did his magic (he put the right code in the right place – I still couldn’t do it.) He sent the corrected code back to me. I was almost done!

When I got up on the 19th, I sent the code to my developer, Lisa (I thought she was my tech person, but her real title is web developer. Live – And Learn!). Lisa put it up, and at 6:41PM on the 19th, I thought the journey was over.
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NOT! Brooke, my publisher went in on the 22nd, and found it didn’t work again. URGH! I sent out 12 emails from 4 - 6PM. Sometime during that period Brooke sent me a Capture image (it looked like Greek to me, again), but I sent it off to Lisa. She worked on it, but we needed someone to test-drive the button. Brooke did, and I was finally in business. I closed the case on PayPal, and my daughter finally bought her book. Life is good!

​​​Janet Campbell from Elderspark.com reached out to write another post. I said sure. Here’s what she wrote . . .

When it comes to types of retirement, there are few that offer as much self-sufficiency and personal satisfaction as homesteading. This is a style of retirement built around hard work, cost-saving, and the pride of a day well spent. However, it’s not for everyone. Here’s a quick look at some of the pros and cons of homesteading, as well as some tips that I’m happy to share with Teacher, Speaker, and Author Rinda Beach. I hope they help you find your perfect place. 
​

​                                                                                 Part 1 - What Is Homesteading?
“Homesteading” is a broad term, but in general, it’s a lifestyle in which people try to live more sustainably by “living off the land,” so to speak. Homesteaders may grow their own fruits or vegetables, raise meat, grow crops to make fabric for clothing, or a combination of these practices. In addition to benefiting from their own hard work, many also sell their homegrown fare in their local community via farmers markets or mom-and-pop shops.

​People of all ages can homestead. Seniors can certainly pursue this lifestyle post-retirement, but as we discuss below, those with physical disabilities or mobility issues are wise to be selective about homesteading hobbies that accommodate their needs. For example, rather than growing potatoes in the ground (which are heavy and require a lot of physical labor to tend to), planting lightweight lettuce, peppers, and tomatoes in raised containers might be a better option for older adults.

​
Part 2 - Benefits of Homesteading
There are a ton of wonderful pros to homesteading for retirees. The first is that, when you’re homesteading, you can make a fixed income stretch a lot further. The food you produce on your land substantially cuts down your grocery bill, meaning you have more money to go toward other costs. 

Moreover, if you really get a knack for it, you can look into selling goods you’ve grown or made. If you go this route, however, be sure to check out whether or not you need to register as an LLC. This designation offers some legal protections that make good sense for anyone running a business out of their home. Turning your homestead into an income source can put you in an even better financial position.

Another great benefit of homesteading is that it’s a very physically active form of retirement. It’s easy to grow sedentary when you’re done working, but it’s terrible for your body and your mind. Staying active keeps you strong and sharp, helping you stay healthier for longer. Since homesteading is, by its very nature, a physically demanding lifestyle, you’ll be certain to get plenty of healthy exercise and fresh air. 

​
​ Part 3 – Cons of Homesteading
Despite its myriad benefits, homesteading still isn’t for everyone. Take the physical activity element mentioned above. Although it’s great to have the opportunity to stay physically active, it can be unsustainable. If you already have mobility loss, for example, a homesteading situation can be impossible to maintain. Now, you can often mitigate this by planning a smaller garden or limiting your planned production, but it’s important to recognize the physical commitment from the start. 

​It’s also a big commitment and can preclude some other retirement aspirations. It’s difficult to travel while homesteading since you must find someone to care for your crops (and animals, if you have them) while you’re away. Many hobbies are also difficult to juggle along with the demanding schedule homesteading often requires. This isn’t to say homesteading will occupy all of your time, but recognizing the demands before you get started can help you figure out if it’s a good fit.  

​ Part 4 – Finding a Homesteading Property
When it comes to finding your perfect property, keep an open mind. Many people assume homesteading can only happen in rural areas, but it’s far from the truth. There’s a ton of technology out there that makes homesteading accessible for people in suburban and even urban areas. That said, you should always check zoning laws before you commit to make sure the features you’d like to have are allowed at that address. 

You should also take time to think about your overall ideal lifestyle and the kind of spaces you’ll need to achieve it. For example, if you think you’d like to make (and perhaps, sell) your own jam, you’ll want a spacious kitchen with plenty of room for canning, as well as a pantry you can use to store your products. Consider any workshops, guest rooms, and other features you’d need and like to have to be able to achieve the homestead retirement that’s right for you.

Though it’s not for everyone, homesteading is a wonderful form of retirement. Do the research to figure out if it’s right for you and, if so, invest in the perfect property to achieve the golden years you’re dreaming of.

I live in Wapakoneta, Ohio. We didn’t get to go to Texas for Thanksgiving – that’s where two of my kids live. My son-in-law was exposed to Covid before Thanksgiving. His test came back negative two days later, but his insurance didn’t allow for any more tests  – so we really didn’t know if he had it, or not.

I’m 61 and a diabetic so I should be in one of the early groups to get the vaccine.  I didn’t want to risk getting covid. My son-in-law wouldn’t know, unless he had symptoms, that he was covid-free until December 5th. THAT was a WEEK after Thanksgiving.
​
I made the decision after we traveled 1/3 of the way to Texas – NOT to go BEFORE Thanksgiving. It was the first one that I’ve ever had with just  my husband. In 35 years of marriage, we’ve always seen both of our families, plus our kids after they were born.
​

​A​fter Thanksgiving I also decided not to go to Texas for Christmas.  Why? The nightly news was scary. Covid was everywhere! I told my daughter we weren’t coming. She reacted the way I do – she cried. Guess what? It worked! My husband caved so we were on the road December 16th, for a Texas Christmas! 

​

​​Look at the map of the US. Can you guess how we got to Texas?

I bet it’s not the route we took – we went to the lake in northeastern TN first, and then we drove to TX.
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That was 3 days of driving, and I loved it! Why? I can sleep and read in the car because my husband drives. I’m lucky!

Part 2 – A Road Trip to Texas
​My husband and I broke our trip into 3 parts. It’s a long way to Texas! The 1st day took 5 to 6 hours to get from Wapakoneta, Ohio to Lafollette, Tennessee. We followed I75 south all the way to the lake exit. That’s the map on the left for the GPS route. (Global Positioning System). Don’t forget to look for Kentucky! Here’s the link: LaFollette, Tennessee to Wapakoneta, Ohio 45895 - Google Maps

On the 2nd day we spent about 8 hours in the car driving south-west from Lafollette to Vicksburgh, Mississippi. That’s where we stopped for the night. The next day it took about 7 hours to reach Temple, Texas. Don’t forget to look for Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana along the way. That’s 7 states in 1 trip!

We took lots of roads on the 2nd and 3rd day. Click the link, then enlarge the map, and you can see the roads we took. GPS is wonderful! It warns you about tricky places before you hit them.
LaFollette, Tennessee to Temple, Texas - Google Maps

​

Part 3 – Beach Family Christmas Customs, Texas Style
We arrived on the 20th. We stayed with my daughter and her husband. Ashley’s all about family traditions. We made Chex Mix one day. Next up were Christmas cookies. They’re both family recipes.

Christmas shopping is something my daughter and I do together.  With Covid we were in and out. Our masks were on the whole time.  

We got to open presents twice, first with my daughter, and a few days later with my son. He lives a couple hours away, so we made another road trip. Because of Covid, we did a porch visit with him, his wife, and their toddler. Christmas is a double holiday, so we brought both Christmas and birthday presents for the baby. We spent an afternoon together. It ended too soon, but it was lovely!

Part 4 – The Road Home
​It was a lovely Christmas vacation, but too short. We started the long drive back on the 29th, This time we took the northern route, the shortest drive. The link may look the same, but we drove all the way to Memphis Tennessee before we stopped for the night.

​We returned to Lafollette the day before New Year’s Eve. I’m glad I had a chance to rest before New Year’s Day. No Rose Parade, but the video they made was wonderful.
​
My Buckeyes played Clemson in the College Football Playoff on New Year’s Day. I’m glad I rested! I shopped the whole game.  That’s my superstition. It helps me get through the rollar coaster of emotions.
​
It worked! OSU beat Clemson 49 – 28.

We made it back to Ohio a day before the National Championship. I didn’t have a day to rest. I was busy catching up on our mail, and my mother’s. Maybe that’s what went wrong!

On Monday January 11th the Buckeyes played Alabama. It wasn’t to be. I shopped my heart out, but it didn’t work. The Buckeyes lost 52 – 24.

It was a horrible loss, but if 3 plays had gone differently the score would have been 38-31. Alabama scored with two 4th down plays in the 1st half. OSU had a 4th down red zone play. They didn’t make it, but they’re winners in my eyes. They almost didn’t have a season, yet they wound up in the National Championship.
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Guess when I’ll be making my next road trip to Texas? Probably May. That’s when my new grandboy is coming. Here’s to May, a covid shot, and cuddling 2 grandkids!