THE MAGICIANS
Last weekend I had the pleasure of meeting a talented and handsome six year old boy. He is very enthusiastic about magic and was happy to tell me that he makes animals out of balloons. This kid has business cards and is ready to go on the road!

Talking to him reminded me of my husband whose hobby was magic. It all started when we were planning a birthday party for six year old Stephen. In those days you had the party at home, not like today where you take the kids out to a restaurant or engage an entertainer who comes with all kinds of bells and whistles.

"What are we going to do with the kids when they come to the party, ice cream and cake was not going to do it." Aaron had an idea, he would go to the library and get a book on magic. Ok, he did that, now he needed a costume, music and tricks.

The costume was easy, he went to a second hand shop and bought a top hat and black cape. Somewhere along the way he picked up a record with John Phillip Sousa's "Circus March". The tricks were pretty basic so they were no problem.

I can still see Aaron making his grand enterance, running down the hall, hearing the music and hearing the kids and family roaring with laughter.

There was one trick that he thought of himself, I thought it was THE BEST!

He called up little Stephen, gave him a glass of milk and said "now Stephen will make the milk disappear..."

Then Stephen drank the glass of milk until it was empty!

Those were the days my friend.

Millie

Bonus Video:
Click here to watch a video Steve made about his dad the magician.

posted by millie garfield @ 4:25 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 0 comments

 
IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Bat Mitzvah of a cousin who lives in Burlington, Vermont. Family and friends came from California, New York, New Jersey, Arizona and Massachusetts. It was a wonderful occasion and gave me the opportunity to visit with family members that I have not seen in a while.

During the cocktail hour I got to talking to a friend of the family who lives in New York. She in turn introduced me to her son who lives in FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA! What do you know, that is where I will be going in September with the Senior Summer School group!!

Her son is connected with the United States Observatory in Flagstaff and his wife works at the Lowell Observatory where our group is scheduled to tour. I will make it a point to say hi to her while there.

I have heard that Arizona is hot this time of year but Flagstaff is in the northern part of the state so the weather should be spring like. I also got a tip that the nights can be quite cool, (in the 50's), so I will be packing a few heavier tops then I had originally planned. Wasn't that lucky that our paths crossed!


I have always felt that we are all related somehow and if you talk to someone long enough you will find a connection.

"It's a small world after all!!"

Millie

posted by millie garfield @ 1:25 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 0 comments

 
Video: Thank you
A thank-you video from Millie to the internet.




Macromedia Flash player required to view this video. If you don't have it, click below to get it.


Get Flash player.

posted by Steve Garfield @ 5:09 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 1 comments

 
RONNIE
Do you remember Pearl Mesta, "The Hostess with the Mostest?" Well if you do, we have one in our Blogosphere! This lady sure knows how to organize a party. She had people from all over the world attend and that is no small feat. Sometimes you can not even get together with your next door neighbor!

She started planning this party in May and kept it a secret from the recipient until August 18th. The recipient was me and the party planner was Ronnie Bennett. As most of you know it was for my 80th birthday. Was I ever surprised! I got flowers, cakes, candles, singing cards, video blogs, special birthday posts and even a sketch.

I have never had a suprise party before and this one "takes the cake." Another great thing about this party was that I can continue to feast my eyes on the cake and not gain weight!

To all my friends who attended my party, thanks for celebrating with me.

And to Ronnie, loads of hugs and kisses for making me the most fabulous party one could ever have.

Millie

Additional note from Steve:
I got these two message from my mom, on her birthday, on my answering machine.

MP3 File
powered by Audioblog.com


posted by millie garfield @ 3:06 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 0 comments

 
Happy Birthday Mom!

While surfing the web this morning I saw that your friend Toby has a new design on her blog. It's by The Blog Studio.

The cool thing is that while designing her new look, they kept using your quote, "If you don't go out, nothing will happen" in all their mockups.

At this rate I'm expecting to see you in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.

Happy 80th!

posted by Steve Garfield @ 12:01 AM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 0 comments

 
Cathy Can't Open It Either

Peggy Hu sent this link along to a Cathy Comic from Auguest 7th.

Cathy has a hard time opening things too.

posted by Steve Garfield @ 8:02 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 0 comments

 
EIGHTY ON THE EIGHTEENTH
In a few days I am going to be eighty years old! I just typed that and I can not believe it, maybe I feel it sometimes but I sure don't think or act it.

One of the reasons I feel so good is that I have something that I am involved in, excited about and look forward to. You guessed it, it's blogging.



I started blogging about two years ago and the more I post, the more I enjoy it. Over time I have made many friends from the United States and countries from all over the world. I am amazed how blogging has opened my mind and enriched my life.

Those of you that read my blog on a steady basis know that I made a presentation at a marketing workshop not too long ago. That was the first time that I spoke before a large group of people, I loved it and they loved me.



When I was a little girl and even later in my growing up years I was a very quiet and shy girl. My parents were concerned because I was not talkative so they engaged an elocution teacher to come to the house to see what she could do for me. Nothing helped. As I matured I became more outgoing and really blossomed. I am what you could say "a late bloomer."



This late bloomer has done alright, has a wonderful son and daughter-in-law, great friends, lives in a beautiful condo and winters in Florida.



When you blow out the candles and make a wish you are not supposed to tell what you wish for, I am going to tell you anyway, I wish that all my friends and loved ones that are no longer here could know how my life has turned out.

"If they could see me now."

Millie

posted by millie garfield @ 8:20 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 0 comments

 
DON'T DO WHAT I DID
The other day I made a post about an explosion in my microwave oven. I learned a lesson and will not try to make an egg in there again!

Yesterday morning I was doing little things around the house, had my eyeglasses on and saw some things that I have neglected to do. I will say this, if you do not feel like getting too involved with housework, do not wear your eyeglasses!

I saw dust on my furniture, fingerprints on my kitchen cabinets and a mess on my beloved bedroom telephone. It was a beautiful day for the pool, summer is almost over so I didn't want to tackle all those jobs so I made a decision, "I'll just do the phone."

Remember in the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" they used Windex for everything, me too. I got my paper towels and a bottle of Windex and SPRAYED the phone and wiped it with the paper towel. The phone looked great!!

Late that afternoon, after a great day at the pool I wanted to make a phone call and what do you know, when I started to punch in the numbers, nothing happened!! I quickly went to my kitchen phone, called Radio Shack, explained that I had cleaned my phone with Windex and now the numbers weren't working. The salesperson told me that I should not have used that product on my phone, it caused interior corrosion and I would have to buy a new phone.

The next day I decided to try the phone again, optimist that I am, and what do you know, it worked! But I did learn a lesson, just a damp sponge will do the trick.

Live and Learn!

posted by millie garfield @ 10:16 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 0 comments

 
As seen in the Washington Post!

Jennifer L. Huget has an article in the Washington Post on blogs devoting to aging, Blogging Through The Ages.

She features my mom:

I had hoped to talk also with Millie Garfield, who at 79 bills herself as one of the Internet's oldest bloggers. Alas, she didn't reply in time for my deadline. Millie started her site, http://mymomsblog.blogspot.com/ , at the instigation of her son, video blogger Steve Garfield. Millie's site brings to mind David Letterman's mother's visits to his show: Somehow she makes her daily struggles seem funny.

Millie mixes it up: Her site includes her account of her love/hate relationship with the Boston Globe and of going to the movies in the olden days, but it literally comes to life with videos shot by her son, including the classic "I Can't Open It," in which she wrangles with a Tylenol bottle, a dental-floss dispenser and a shampoo container. I laughed; I cried.

Yay mom!

posted by Steve Garfield @ 4:24 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 0 comments