Charlie and me had a nice, quiet Christmas, just the two of us. (As a cashier down to the A&P, I’m on the front lines, so no socializing with loved ones inside for me.) Yes, it was kind of lonesome, but we zoomed with my sister Irene and her family and my dad down to Mahoosuc Green. That helped. We took a long walk with Scamp on the 24th. I cooked us a nice roast pork dinner with homemade applesauce, twice baked potatoes with sour cream and bacon, a green bean bake and a pineapple upside down cake for dessert. Yum! It poured on Christmas day, just like on Thanksgiving. So, 2020, right? But hey, …

Well, I just had my last performance of 2020, and what a year it’s been. Thanks for sticking with my on this journey! I had a big day yesterday, and am too pooped to write much, so I thought I’d share some video clips from “A Very Ida Christmas!” We filmed ’em a few years back. Enjoy! Ho, ho, ho, and all that jazz! That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!  

The other day I says to Charlie, “We gotta put the grill in the shed for the winter.” Now, I have no intention of doing this myself. It’s the kind of chore Charlie usually does (after I remind him). We both know that by “we,” I mean “him.” It’s the same “we” that comes into play when I say, “Boy, that recycling’s sure piling up. About time we made a trip down to the transfer station.” Or, “We oughta sure up that bottom step on the deck, don’t you think? Maybe put up a new railing?” It’s the royal “we.” I got to thinking about it, asking myself if this is a two way street …

When is a bargain a bargain, and when is it a waste of time and money? Case in point:  What a Deal On my way home from the dump I stopped at someone’s sale I smelled a bargain lurking, and This nose, it doesn’t fail I zoomed in on some rubber boots They just jumped out at me The kind you’d wear for hunting ducks, That come up to your knee LaCrosse 800’s what they were And just as good as new They looked about my size, and fully Insulated, too “Are you a ten?” the woman asked Ten is what I wear “Then they should fit you good and snug And keep you dry …

Charlie went Home Depot last week, and wrote a poem about it.  Cute Cashier Cute cashier in the check-out line Perky as heck at the start of her shift Perky’s contagious, you catch my drift? A good day, I’d say she’s begun it If she’d asked me to stand on my head, I’d have done it Or tried, anyway It wouldn’t be pretty I might have more luck If I sung her a ditty But people behind me Don’t need a song They need me to pay her And just move along Cute cashier in the check-out line Perky and cute, that’s a real gift Gives an ol’ bugger like this one a lift A …

Yes, you read that right. I’m referring to Patsy down to Hair Affair. Was I ever singing hosannas the day she finally opened back up, let me tell you! Getting my hair cut and styled made me feel like myself again. Let’s just say, for me anyways, Patsy had some damage control to do. See, I’d attempted cutting my own hair while watching a tutorial on YouTube, but it wasn’t near as easy as the gal made it out to be. Or maybe I was just distracted by her lips. It looked like she’d been stung by a bee, but I think it was the kind of thing she paid money for. Yikes! I’d touched …

Bud’s the first of our little group to retire. Worked for Gagne’s & Sons Heating and Cooling for what? Thirty plus years, I guess. That’s dirty work, repairing furnaces and the like. Plus, you get called out at all hours, day and night. Weekends, too, don’t matter the weather. And unless you’re doing an annual cleaning, the people you’re dealing with are usually real upset. Once he hit sixty-five, Bud was outta there. Celeste could have retired with him. She was a school secretary. Worked her way up from elementary school to the superintendent’s office, and she had enough time in. But she worked an extra year instead. She explained it this way, “If I …

Couple weeks ago, Charlie nicely volunteered to go down to the A&P on Tuesday morning and pick up some basics, meaning toilet paper. They let the employees (and their families) shop before the store opens on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I just happen to know that on Monday nights a certain much in demand paper product just might be delivered. It’s been stressful for us cashiers on the front lines of this thing, day in and day out, and I just couldn’t wrap my head around going to the A&P when I’m not working. So Charlie stepped up to the plate, like he does. Marriage is all about team work, right? It was the day …

The other day, I was chatting with Charlie at supper, like you do. We’re catching up on our day, what happened at work, all that. I was telling him about running into Claudia Peavey down to the A&P. I’ve told you about Claudia and her husband Kurt before. Charlie and me refer to them as the “Yeah, but’s.” Meaning, don’t matter what you say to them, they’ll “yeah, but” you. For example, I say, “Hi, Claudia. Beautiful day out there, isn’t it?” And Claudia replies, “Yeah, but, it’s supposed to rain tomorrow.” You know the drill. So Charlie says to me, “What’s up with Claudia’s eyebrows?” Charlie asks me questions like this all the time. …

Big day on Wednesday: Charlie’s birthday. Me, I always try to take my birthday off from work, but Charlie doesn’t. “Ida,” he says, “after a certain age, it’s just another day. I don’t want to think about it.” My feeling is, a birthday is cause for celebration, especially after a certain age. I’m on the back nine, as my golfer friend Betty says. Meaning, I’ve lived more of my life than I have left. So I say make the most of it. Heck, why confine yourself to just one day? Celebrate the whole month! Anyhoo, Charlie doesn’t make a big deal of his birthday. Still, I like to make it special. We get up earlier …