Me and the Women Who Run With the Moose not only survived Black Friday, we had a heck of a good time to boot. Nothin’ new there. Though, to be honest, my right arm is still feelin’ a little wonky. Must’ve strained it carrying all those shoppin’ bags and my purse, of course, which my sister Irene calls “the overnight bag.” Even though I try to remember to switch off, I always tend to carry the heaviest stuff with my right arm. Gotta say, smart phones and textin’ have made things so much easier. For a casual shoppin’ trip, me and the girls tend to stick together. But all bets are off on Black Friday …

It sure has been busy down to the A&P, let me tell you, with folks stockin’ up on pumpkin pie filling, stuffin’ mix, jello, miniature marshmallows and what not. The smart ones are, anyways. Women who plan ahead, picking up the non-perishable items and dry goods, paper products and drinks, a week or two before the holiday. ‘Cause tryin’ to do it all in one big grocery shoppin’ is overwhelming. Just putting together the list is intiminatin’ enough. And you could get a hernia just pushin’ that shoppin’ cart to your car! Charlie and me go to my sister Irene’s for Thanksgiving. They got more room for all of us over there. I bring the …

There’s a couple here in Mahoosuc Mills who are so cheap, they squeak when they walk. They have everything budgeted right down to the penny. And, get this, they have to account to each other for every, single cent they spend. I’m mean, they buy a pack of Juicy Fruit gum, they get a receipt and fess up. I witnessed this very thing at Cumbies over the weekend. This guy asked for a receipt for his pack of gum! I’m all for havin’ a budget, but you know what? I’m too old for extreme anything. Even with the tightest of budgets, I believe you each need a little fun money to spend anyway you want …

You know, there are just some things you shouldn’t see up close. In fact, if you never had to ever see ‘em, you could die happy. Last week, I had the dubious pleasure of gazin’ upon one of these things: color photographs of my back teeth. Technology is part of this, of course. I mean, just ‘cause it is possible to see your back teeth up close, doesn’t mean you should. Like the photos of my colon the gastroenterologist sent me home with last year. What was I supposed to do with those? Make Christmas cards out of ‘em? Anyhoo, I bit the bullet and went to the dentist last week. I confess, it had …

My Grandmother, Dora Gilbert, used to freeze her garbage. This was in the days before garbage disposals, so there was a lot to freeze. But she didn’t let that intimidate her. For Dora, freezing garbage was more than just a way to keep it from stinking. It was an art form. I can see my grandmother now standing in her immaculate kitchen, a little Franco-American woman with permed gray hair, full make-up, a house dress, nylon stockings, sensible shoes and a bib apron, carefully wrapping her garbage in little foil packets. ‘Course there’s nothing really unusual about freezing garbage. Not in my family, anyway. We all freezes our garbage. Having a garbage disposal doesn’t really …