FEBRUARY

I arrived at the address and honked the horn.

after waiting a few minutes

I walked to the

door and knocked.. 'Just a minute', answered a

frail, elderly voice. I could hear something

being dragged across the floor.

After

a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in

her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a

print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned

on it, like somebody out of a 1940's

movie.

We know today that both men and women will be heading to the woods for another season of hunting.  It may be rifle or bow, pheasant or deer, but what I am talking about today is neither.  I find that hunting is one of the most satisfying hobbies there are.  In my case it’s not the bang...it’s the bling!  Yes , it’s a hunt!  I use to think I was the only person around that loved hunting for bling.

September is like mashed potatoes, it’s a comfort month. I don’t know about anyone else, but it sure feels good to have those last days of summer slowly moving down as fall creeps into its place. That same sensation (if you know what I mean)…that warm feeling of entering and the cool feeling once settled.

Then there is the change in the patterns of everything around us. I’ve always liked the “getting ready” part for those changes. School buses start to roll, people are shopping everywhere for everything, and the expectation that things are changing brings a sort of excitement to summers end.

We know we’re entering into another season, and Western New York is the best place to be during all of it. Where else can you drive less than an hour in any direction and have a choice to be in an historic district, on a waterfront, looking over the Niagara Falls, in a small village, at a winery, in a big city, in another country, finding every style of shopping, casino’s anyone?, nature paths, festivals (and boy do we have the festivals), music, entertainment, food….lot’s of food, ethnic and beyond…art, architecture, history, forts, bike paths, dance lessons, charity runs & walks, universities, museums………..Did I leave anything out?

OH, yes….and now we need your help to bring that nostalgic grace of skating to Western New York.

Presented to me by Newell Nussbaumer on Facebook, I think we need to pay close attention to what Buffalo Rising is all about! It’s one of best recent organizations of local people doing what they believe WILL make Buffalo everything it should and can be. That’s exciting, and comfort! Imagine topping off the works around us with a skate plaza in Buffalo, that’s the type of change only we can all benefit from.

So PLEASE take a moment to sign the petition and make your voice count!

as Newell Nussbaumer said "Can everyone please sign this petition to build a skate plaza in Buffalo?"

http://www.buffalorising.com/2011/09/petition-for-a-skate-plaza.html

Petition for a skate plaza. - Buffalo Rising

www.buffalorising.com

Buffalo Rising Online: our beat is New Buffalo and we cover it with original content written by fellow Buffalonians knowledgeable and passionate about their city.

As the years have passed hats have slowly lost favour, even for weddings and worship with only a proportion of the congregations donning them.  They have never been worn universally since the 1920s.  They were popular again in the 1980s for weddings and special occasions after the Princess of Wales, Diana used them to add a sense of sophistication to her persona in the early days of her marriage.  Once she found her confidence she abandoned hats for most occasions.

Hats when worn today are either worn for a special dressy occasion such as a wedding or conversely as casual statement attire in the way that caps might be worn the wrong way around.  Functional hats are still used by uniformed workers for corporate identity or protection as well as by many individuals in inclement weather.  Individuals wear fur hats or simple fleece beanie hats in very cold weather and use sunhats in very sunny weather.  Those who cannot bear a hat unwittingly adopt a hat form built into a garment, as in a hoodie casual zip top.

We have SUNSHINE !!  It looks like Western New York is heading into another one of it's beautiful summers.  The pools are opening, the beaches are starting to rock, and we are looking for ways to stay outdoors after the long eastern winter.  This month I would like to share with you information that is important to understand about sunscreen.  Please take the time to read the article below:

1. Quick tips for a good sunscreen.
Ingredients matter – learn if your brand leaves you overexposed to damaging UVA rays, if it breaks down in the sun, or if it contains potential hormone-disrupting compounds.

Avoid these: Look for these Ingredients:

May is here already!  Where did the first quarter of 2011 go?
I'm ready for the showers to go away, and plant more May flowers.

May is the season when spring flowers are at their best!  Frost and cold spring weather are fairly long past in the southern sections of the United States and are over in most of its northern parts and in Canada.  May brings weather that makes it possible to put outdoors the majority of tender plants.  In this month many of the characteristic flowers of spring attain the height of their glory; indeed, May sees the last of them, for in popular acceptance June flowers are summer flowers.  The spring rush of work subsides and the more steady pull of summer chores takes its place.  The rewards of earlier planning and planting become apparent and mistakes and errors of judgment are revealed.

Planting flowers....Annuals:  They Bloom Quickly From Seeds
Annuals are plants which complete their life cycle within one year, that is, they develop from seed, come into flower, ripen fresh seed and die in a single growing season.  They include many decorative plants that are suitable for the garden, such as Marigolds, Alyssum, Clarkias, and Sweet Peas.

When sowing seeds the majority of hardy annuals are good-tempered plants and do not require very rich soil.  They do respond, however, to good cultivation by giving a much better and longer display then if left to fend for themselves.  The ground should, therefore, be broken up well and have a dressing of well-rotted comport and a sprinkling of a general fertilizer mixed with it. Common faults are sowing the seeds too thickly, and not thinning the seedlings sufficiently to give them room for full development.  These faults must be avoided if good results are to be secured.

Among annuals are a number of "everlasting flowers".  These, when cut and dried, are used for indoor decoration.  To retain their natural colors they should be dried rapidly.  Some should be cut before the flowers are fully open; in other cases the fully open flowers should be cut.  Foliage is removed and bunches of flowers are hung in a warm but shady place with their heads down.*

* New Illustrated encyclopedia of gardening unabridged by T.H. Everett Assistant Director (Horticulture) and Curator of Education The New York Botanical Garden

I so enjoy gardening in my yard, and have made many errors of pulling out some plants, mistakenly thinking after growth that they were weeds, because I didn't recognize the plant.  It would be wise to keep a notebook, and look up the flower or plant you have seeded and keep with a photograph, so that you won't make that same mistake.  Gardening is one of the most rewarding hobbies ever!  Who doesn't enjoy bringing into their home the glory of color and scent to fill their spaces with such a beautiful gift from Mother Nature.

This Mother's Day, plant some seeds and reward yourself for a season...maybe more!

With the end of another year, I look back with thankfulness for what has been another adventure in this cycle of life.  I've always been known as a scraper, someone that fights for what I believe is right.  In today's time, it isn't easy watching the news any more, or any television for that matter.  Everything is so violent, unjust, and it seems like even the weather in our country is a sad subject half of the time.  Not too optimistic to say the least. The human soul can only take so much of this "news" on top of how much the economy today has taken it's affect on our individual lives, without wanting to do something about it...because giving up is not an option!

My personal trainer gave me a very special gift this holiday.......boxing gloves!  I've never been happier, who doesn't feel like boxing these days?  Especially when we seek to make a difference in our world, and our world seems to be boxing at us from every angle.  I think that punching the heck out of "Bob" (the name they gave the boxing model at the Woman's BAC) is more than just physical training....it's mental as well.  I say ........."Come on Woman, let's get it ON!"  Why not think of joining the Buffalo Athletic Club near you and put on some boxing gloves and let go....(be sure to get a personal trainer so that you don't hurt yourself.)  I'm SO EXCITED to be boxing my way into the New Year!  Thank YOU BAC........and for the rest of you....please look for me in the PT room boxing Bob..you can't miss me......I'll be wearing glasses!

I thought I had finished decorating my home for the holiday. It’s a chore, but at the same time it’s always a beautiful enjoyment that lasts for the short holiday period. It sets the stage for all the excitement and merriment to come, and so with anticipation of that “special day” we feel prepared as we celebrate in our traditions of decorating.

But, as I said…”I thought” I had finished, until I had lunch with my best friend today.

First of all… let me explain that I am one of those people that likes to decorate just about everything. Maybe it’s because I have my degree in Interior Design, or maybe I’m just one of those people that likes to dress things up. I have developed some very good taste in decorating for the holiday over the years. Long gone are the tinsel trees, and plastic window decals, the blow ups in the yard, and the fake Santa on the roof. But as I took out my boxed decorations for this years’ design, I came across a wreath made of silver bells that I have used now for several years. I tried to put it up on my front door, but it made it impossible to close the door with the storm door there. So as I wondered through the house trying to find a place to hang the wreath, I finally decided to take down a holy prayer that was mounted on a wall between my dining area and my kitchen and hang the wreath there.

With the prayer still in hand, I noticed a nice little spot in a corner over the sliding glass doors to my backyard where I could hang the prayer and still keep it in the dining area. I reached up into this corner and the skin on my arm became attached to “something” hanging near the corner. To my surprise, my wonderful husband had hung one of his all time favorite fly catchers from the window rod on the sliding doors. Here was my arm..attached like a dead bug (or should I say, with the dead bugs) on this yellow thing-a-ma-jig…….ewwwwwwwhhhhhhhh! I was horrified! As I pulled my arm from this THING..I had this sticky glue-like stuff (now I felt like I was becoming the creature from the movie The FLY) all over my arm.

Well, this is where this story is going…as I was explaining this decorating dilemma to my friend at lunch today… my dear friend begins to laugh in her usual hardy way….(sort of like Mrs. Claus might)..and suggests that maybe I should have decorated the fly trap!!

OMG…doesn’t she know me by now? Why hadn’t I thought of that?  Being the talented and tasteful designer that I am, I ran right home and dug up my plastic holly ornaments and stuck them to the fly trap! Now I have the perfect spot for the mistletoe this year!

The following is a circling e-mail that reminds me of life at times, I changed some of the language to protect the innocent:

Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting. Well, for example, the other day my wife and I went into town and went into a shop. We were only in there for about 5 minutes. When we came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket. We went up to him and said, "Come on man, how about giving a senior citizen a break?"

He ignored us and continued writing the ticket. I called him a poor sport. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tires. So my wife called him another name. He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes.. The more we abused him, the more tickets he wrote... Personally, we didn't care. We came into town by bus and saw the car had an "NYPD" sticker... We try to have a little fun each day now that we're retired.. It's important at our age!

We’ve all heard of the phrase “Poker Face” and usually what comes to mind is the ability to keep your facial expressions as neutral as possible, while trying to hide the real emotional expressions being felt inside yourself. Nobody should be able to read your thoughts or know your next hand.

Well , try putting on your game face when everything in you is about to explode in emotion! It’s an accomplishment for someone like me, but I’ve learned to do it…..over the phone anyway.

Sooooooooo, the other day (you know, not today, and not a day in the future, but one of the days from the past), I get this call from …..DUN.. DUN.. DUN….a COLLECTOR! It wasn’t for me (surely you knew that) but none the less, they were looking to collect from a “family member”.

The conversation went something like this:

Collector: “Is this (so & so)?”

JAG: “Who’s calling?”

Collector: This is (such & such) is this (so & so)?

JAG: (putting on my game face) “What can I do for you?”

Collector: “You have a debt that we are trying to collect , can you tell me how you intend to pay for this?”

JAG: “Sir, we are in the middle of a murder investigation here , and have to investigate everyone, where are you at this moment?”

Collector: “ I’m calling from Texas and I need your social security number?”

JAG: “Texas uh?” “And your trying to collect a debt?” How is that you have any knowledge of this debt?

Collector: “ I’m from (such & such) collection agency.”

JAG: “What is your name?”

Collector: “George”

JAG: “Well George, do you have a last name?”

Collector: “I’m not suppose to give that information to you.”

JAG: “Well George, you do realize that this is an attempt to collect information for a recent murder here, this is an investigation and I need for you to answer all of my questions thoroughly?”

Collector: “Ummmmmmmmm, I don’t know, what you want, I mean …I don’t understand.”

JAG: “What don’t you understand , I need your last name and social security number.”

Collector: “ I’m not giving that to someone …I don’t even know who I’m talking too.”

JAG: “My point exactly” and I hung up!

I'm getting ready for summer and making sure that I don't spend all these beautiful sunny days in Western New York in the air conditioned basement! So the plan is something like this:

• Check the WNYWOMEN.COM calendar for all the COOL events that take place in WNY.

• Make time to get outside and enjoy those events.

• Be sure to be prepared to have a safe and enjoyable summer.

That's not too much to ask of oneself now is it?  Read over the July articles and learn in our Health & Inspiration about keeping your skin safe in the sun.  What products are really safe and what sunscren has an SPF of 15 or higher  for protection against both UVA and UVB rays.

Each year there are more than one million new skin cancers in the U.S., more than all other cancers combined, and the incidence rate is increasing by about 5% per year.  One in five Americans and one in three Caucasians will develop skin cancer in their lifetime.  The good news is that skin cancers can be easily treated. According to Roswell Park Cancer Institute tip sheet over 90% can be cured and, if detected early, nearly 100% can be cured.

There are several different types of skin cancer: the three main types are basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma.  The most dangerous type is melanoma as it can spread throughout the body, making it more difficult to treat.  About 60,000 melanomas will be diagnosed this year, resulting in about 8,000 deaths.

Sooooooo, I'm headed on vacation this weekend for a hopefully wonderful 4th of July at my Uncle's farm. This is not just any farm, it is acres and acres of landscaped beauty with trails for four wheeling, and hayrides with a river running through the property. We usually play horseshoes and bocci ball, fish, play cards, and of coarse the pig roast, we eat and eat and eat all weekend long.

But it's the exercise and the outdoor air that makes it good for you. The company is the best! Anyway, as we celebrate this summer and it's holidays, we all need to pay attention to our skins safety in the burning sun's rays.  So that's why I took the time to get my tan in a bottle.  I have no problem buying my tan and/or paying for it to be sprayed on, and apparently this is the way many women are choosing to go about getting their tans this summer.

So, when you see me at the picnic this July 4th, don't be surprised when I show up beautifully golden and tell everyone...

"Oh thank you, I just returned from a month in the Caribbean"

October is my favorite month of the year.  I love the colors and the changing scent in the air. It’s warm enough to keep the windows open and refresh the rooms with the blowing coolness.

Speaking of cool, don’t you think it’s cool to come up with something to wear for Halloween?  The dictionary describes “Halloween as the evening of October 31 observed especially by children in merry- making  and masquerading.”    Sure the children love to get into their costumes and most just love the whole candy scene, picking through their treats discriminating over which ones they will keep.

Some of us never let that childhood holiday go, and today more adults enjoy Halloween and celebrate just as much (if not more) than the children.  I have to admit……If I can’t find a way to “stir things up” (like a witch, neither good nor bad), on Halloween, I would feel like I just lost out on the best time of the year to pull one of my stunts!

Yea, it “cool” to dress up for Halloween no matter what age you are.  The children even think so. Who doesn’t like to come to a home to yell “Trick or Treat” and find a costumed adult with a decorated spooky home waiting to give them a candy or two?  It adds to the whole theme of the night.

Then there are those of us… like myself, that are afraid of everything, and so even though I expect to see all the scary costumes and stuff, I’ve always stayed away from being a scary character.  I have been an ERTE’ figure, to Disney characters……….anything not to spook the little ones.  But then after my children where more or less adults themselves, I became brave, and started pulling scary stunts in costumes on my neighbors and friends.  Last year, I dressed up like a zombie and without speaking went trick or treating to people I knew.  After they handed me my candy, (often in disgust that someone so old would come begging  LOL) I handed them a black rose and limped away, laughing under my breath.  Only to receive a phone call minutes later from my neighbor about the “weird person” that just came to his door.  I would play along at first, but then I had to let them know it WAS ME!  Everyone would get a good TRICK from that, and I got the TREAT!!

Don’t ask me what I’m up to this year….being creative is the best part of Halloween.  I’m not sure who I’ll trick…but I do know that I’m TOO COOL FOR YOU!    LOL   I'll be dressing up!

It May be June, but I'm still reaping in May's sunshine! The Chamber of Commerce of the Tonawandas hosted their first Women's Expo & Boutique on Saturday May 22 at The Tonawanda Castle in Tonawanda, New York.  The event was attended by people from many cities around the Western New York region with major sponsorship of DeGraff Memorial Hospital.

WNYWOMEN.COM had a booth at this event, so I can personally attest to the enjoyment of the people that attended this show.  The elegance of The Tonawanda Castle lend itself to the atmosphere that Chamber Director Joyce Santiago and her Expo committee strived to achieve with great success!

There was shopping and public information, make-up, hair and nails being done. There was fresh coffee, fashion shows, and even Tops Friendly Markets Cooking Classes presented by Regional Cooking School Manager: Grace Hanusin. Something for everyone, booths were filled with conversations and exchange.

"This is exactly what we needed, something in this area for women!" commented one visitor to my booth, and the Town of Tonawanda Chamber delivered!

If you missed this years Women's Expo & Boutique, be sure not to miss the next. What a unique way to celebrate the end of Spring and return of Summer, with endless adventures!

JAG

"'Tis like the birthday of the world,

When earth was born in bloom;

The light is made of many dyes,

The air is all perfume:

There's crimson buds, and white and blue,

The very rainbow showers

Have turned to blossoms where they fell,

And sown the earth with flowers."

-   Thomas Hood

Okay..okay, it’s like this:  I just can’t seem to get that break.  Now that everybody knows that my office is in my home basement, I may as well let you in on where I’ve been in the last month.  Yes, I did try to convince you that it’s all well and good to work from home.  I confessed I work from “downstairs”.

Now I must tell you what happened several weeks back as I was working diligently at my desk, I had to go to the ……well you know…….the…….I had to go number 1.  Conveniently, I only have to walk around a few corners to…..well you know….the “powder room”.    So as luck would have it, I found water flowing like a happy river all over the place.

Yes, after the Plumber came and investigated, the problem moved to our front yard.  We had a broken sewer pipe about ten feet down!  If my son had still been three years old, I know I would have had to drag him away from the window as he would have wanted to watch the big trucks dig up one quarter of my front lawn.  But since he’s now 21 years old, he was outside next to the two men that dug a hole half way to Hell.  That was amusing in itself.

The purpose of my sharing this story is that I would like to demonstrate how I have learned to cope with the problems that seem to find me, even when I hide in my basement most of my days. There just doesn’t seem to be a way to escape or hide from the kind of luck I seem to have lately.

A month later, my carpets and floors have been replaced and the painting and moldings are almost done. The offices are very nearly put back together, maybe even more organized than before the flood, (A sign of the good that comes from bad.)  But most of all, I’ve learned that even when everything around you seems to be going wrong……….well you know………when ……well………

You just need to know how to relax and make the best of it. So I’m back!

Recently while working on the development of a new design with my Web Master “Evad” for wnywomen.com, he made a statement to me that set me off on another adventure.
First of all you really need to know how talented “Evad” is with teaching web content and design via telephone.  The experience has taught me more in the past couple months then I have understood in the past twelve years of ownership!  All thanks to Web Master “Evad”,( whom has displayed talents far beyond these abilities), as I will introduce you to in another article soon.
Getting back to this adventure....one day while speaking with “Evad” about my excitement with the knowledge I was gathering at our weekly afternoon telephone meetings, he commented; “All this from a girl in her basement.”   Those words sent me contemplating exactly what it is like to work from my basement.
From recent readings, many more people today are working from home.  Having worked many years in an Executive Suite, I moved the business into my home due to a family illness several years back.  The difference between having worked from an Executive Center to my basement has been a positive move.
Sure there isn’t as much sunshine, but nobody knows that I have the luxury of showing up to work in my PJ’s, ( sort of like that Michael Jackson syndrome ) and the extra exercise of running up and down the staircase day and (if I CHOOSE ) night to get to my office.  There are many other benefits to working at home and I don’t think I’ll be moving anytime soon back to an office suite, as I have become very comfortable with my daily naps that I get to sneak in on those days when I really need them.
So all things considering, I have decided to embrace “Evad’s” statement “All this from a girl in her basement” and start a column that I will sponsor for wnywomen.com.   The column will cover topics on anything and everything interesting to a woman.  But I needed a character to run this column… and that’s where “Evad’s” statement came in.  Even though I don’t consider myself a “girl”, I’m more or less at the age where I would be called a “woman”.  But a “woman in her basement.” just doesn’t hit the mark.
So, let me introduce my latest Key Panelist:   COMING SOON TO WNYWOMEN.COM…… JAG in her basement !

Yes! May is a wonderful time of year, the trees have leaves and the flowers are blooming. One of my favorite things to do is to go hunting for morel mushrooms.  These babies like to hide and the hunt is better than any antique hunt, because the challenge is much harder than looking through antique shops, garage or estate sales for that "something special".

Nothing is more special than finding morel mushrooms, except cooking them up in lots of butter and eating them, if you have the luck of finding them.  Morel mushroom hunters keep their hunting spots a secret. There are mushroom clubs out there in this USA, and these hunters- like myself, spend many hours walking the woodlands for those precious few.  It's truly a sport.

So where do I begin, usually on a trip to upper Michigan back in the woods.  You have to have some knowledge of when and where to look, and that's something you need to learn on your own, and it takes practice.

Secrets........lot's of secrets are involved in morel mushroom hunting.

I usually collect a few relatives and then the excitement begins. We get dressed for walking through rough areas of the woods and creeks. (small hint)  This year I headed up to Michigan a few weeks too early, even though there was talk that morels where already found after a couple rainy days. (another hint)

Well my hunt this year was a bit unusual.  I had waited until I returned to Western New York to head out since everyone in Michigan convinced me that it was too early in the season for my visit in April. So being it's just the beginning of May, and we are expected to get some rain this weekend, I just couldn't control the temptation to get out and HUNT......Hunt ...hunt.

Since I'm back home, I couldn't collect my relatives to go with me, they all reside in Michigan. So I actually attempted this years hunt alone.  Believe me when I tell you....don't ever leave me alone! (sung to the Beatles)

I ACTUALLY didn't find any morel's .......but my hunt lead me to finding a few "caps" and I just wanted to share them with all of you!  I hope you know I do have Morals!  I just couldn't help the thrill of the hunt.