First....

On the first day of Christmas, anonymous gave to me....

a Beagle in a Christmas tree!

Riddle: Easy or Hard...We'll Have to See!

In the dark I am found, without being fetched.
In the day I am lost, without being stolen.

What am I?

Quote of the Week

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone
who can do him absolutely no good.

-Ann Landers

Word of the Week

This week's word is:

BELIE

be·lie /bɪˈlaɪ/ [bi-lahy]

–verb (used with object), -lied, -ly·ing.

1. to show to be false; contradict: His trembling hands belied his calm voice.
2. to misrepresent: The newspaper belied the facts.
3. to act unworthily according to the standards of (a tradition, one's ancestry, one's faith, etc.).
4. Archaic. to lie about; slander.

[Origin: bef. 1000; ME belyen, OE beléogan. See be-, lie1]

—Related forms
be·li·er, noun

—Synonyms 1. refute, disprove, controvert, repudiate, confute, gainsay. 1, 2. See misrepresent.
—Antonyms 1. prove, verify, support.

Berwyn

My sister and I were at my parent's in Berwyn on Sunday and decided to do some shoe shopping. Where else but good old "Cermak Plaza". Before the North Riverside Mall opened, this was THE place to go. Sears used to be there as well as a "five & dime" store called Murphy's. Many new stores are now there (including the Shoe Carnival sans any Shoe Clowns).

When pulling into the lot, there it stood, the famous tower of cars, known as the Spindle. There has been controversy lately as to its demise, in order for the Walgreens to make its move into the middle of the lot to accommodate a drive through. We took a picture of the icon, forever taking it for granted since it's been around so long. But who knows, it may not be around for much longer.

In the picture's background you can see the big bank building that originally was a Clyde Bank. I can remember as a kid going to the grand opening and receiving a replica bank shaped like the building. The thing must have been made of iron because it was plenty heavy and if thrown at a sibling it caused mega damage. You can also spot the McDonalds that Morton West students would hang out at. I hear the girl's restroom is a good hiding spot in case you see somebody walking across the street that you want to avoid....you know who you are ! :)

Buyer BEWARE!!

Last weekend we celebrated my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. (Stay tuned for pictures of that event, they'll be posted soon.) For their wedding they had a heart shaped cake. I wanted to make them a similar one, so my project began. The cake part turned out fine and I made a purchase of a "new" icing from Pillsbury. Their Whipped Supreme, "the fluffiest and lightest" sounded like a winner to me, so I bought 4 cans. I was all set to do some awesome decorating with pink flowers and green leaf trimmings and lots of swirls and curls.



I made three layers of hearts and started to frost them using this new type of frosting/icing. And it was terrible. It would not solidify at all and kept dripping down. Even when I put it in my new fancy decorating tool with professional decorating tips, it all kept drooping and running down.



I knew that this was not working out, so I went to the Jewel to purchase a last minute replacement cake for that evening's festivities. I came home to find this:



The darn thing toppled over and the top layer looked like it came alive with an icing body and big old cake feet. It appeared to be making a beeline toward the front door to make its escape as the "Cake That Ate Glen Ellyn". I stopped it in its tracks (some via the mouth, alien icing and all, figured I'd take one for the team). Needless to say, DON'T BUY THIS TYPE OF ICING FOR A CAKE. Here is the store bought cake that we used, which turned out to be quite tasty, although it was not in the shape of a heart. The best laid plans....Oh well, lesson learned, I'll stick with the tried and true Betty Crocker next time.

Here's the Weekly Riddle

What has a head, a tail, is brown, and has no legs?