THE DINE-AROUND BOOK
Years ago organizations sold what was referred to as a "Dine-Around Book." It was a very successful way to raise funds. As a matter of fact I think they still might be putting those books out but they are not as popular as they were years ago.



This is how they worked. You paid $25.00 for a book that was good for one year. It was a huge book divided into sections, They contained coupons that allowed discounts for restaurants, bakeries, movies, cleaners, cash washs, ice cream shops and much more.

When the new books came out my husband and I would spend hours studying the book, putting in markers to alert us to the places and things we wanted to take advantage of. A year goes quickly, we wanted to use the book as much as possible.

In those days it didn't matter if we had to travel a distances, gas was cheap and my husband was good at finding out of the way places. And did we ever find them!! We used the restaurant coupons the most. Sometimes it was worth the trip, sometimes not.

When we first started using the coupons we would just take off and drive to the place until we started to find some of the restaurants were out of business.


Abandoned Chin Tiki Restaurant-Detroit ( featured in the movie 8 Mile ) by Derek Farr ( DetroitDerek ), on Flickr CC BY-NC

We smartend up and after a few of those experiences we called in advance.

One day we had a brilliant idea - "why don't we study the book and see how many coupons we can use the same day!"

Our friends were game, liked the idea and between the four of us we made a plan!!

There was a colorful town not to far from where we lived. On the main street there was a coupon for a men's clothing store, a bakery that solld wonderful bagel, a unique movie theater, a lovely boutique shop and a restaurant!! Perfect!!

We left early that day in order to take advantage of all the goodies we were going to get at half price. What a great time we had!! It was fun saving all that money and just getting a kick out of using so many coupons in one day!! Many people were buying the book but not getting the full benefit. We were beating the system!!

I still remember when we were walking back to the car we were all so happy, laughing and talking about the great day we had UNTIL we saw the car. We had parked the car on the street and the meter had run out. We had a $50.00 fine!!


Street parking meter by misplacedparadox, on Flickr CC By-NC-SA

The best laid plans don't always turn out the way you want them to BUT what stands out in my mind was the wonderful time we had that day.

posted by millie garfield @ 5:04 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 16 comments

 
A FLORIDA DAY - PART 2
For those of you who read, A Florida Day - Part 1 and thought that was a big day, "you ain't heard nothing yet."

The first part of the day started at 10:00 am, I didn't get home until 4:00 pm. That would have been enough of a day for me but sometimes things happen and you just have no choice but to go along with the situation.

Two of my Florida friends were visiting from down south and the only time we could get together was the same day that I was attending the Wellness Day.

The plan was that eight of us would meet for dinner at 6:00 pm and then go to one couple's home for dessert. That was a little tight for me but I really wanted to get together with this group. My thought was, ok, I'll spend a little time with them and leave after dessert.


Big 40 - S5isBday40 by Daniel Y. Go, on Flickr CC BY-NC-SA

The host and hostess were a very gracious couple. One couple was celebrating their anniversay and an other person was observing a birthday SO the hostess brought out a beautiful cake she had baked for these celebrations. She set a lovely table and had all kinds of goodies. I thought to myself, "I'm so glad I was able to be with these wonderful people and enjoy the evening."

Now, I'm thinking "it would be a good time to leave since I had an early morning appointment." (cataract surgery) The trouble was I did not have my own wheels!!


I Win by Kevin Labianco, on Flickr CC BY-NC-ND

Next thing I know someone says, "why don't we play 3 -14 (card game) like we do when we're in Florida!!!" What's a girl to do!!! The game ended at midnight, I didn't get home until 1:00 pm.

With all that said, I'm glad I shared that time with my friends and I was still able to make my appointment the next morning. If there's a will, there's a way.

posted by millie garfield @ 4:53 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 19 comments

 
A FLORIDA DAY - Part 1
Yes, I know, I know I'm not in Florida anymore but the other day I had the kind of day that only happens to me when I am down south.

I attended a Wellness Day that was sponsored by The Front Porch and the Jewish Community Center of the North Shore.

ZUMBA GOLD


The day started out with a session of Zumba Gold - I had never heard of this exercise program until that morning. It's an exercise program designed for the older adult not used to exercise. (that's me.) It involved slow dancing to a Latin beat and other simple line type dancing. The elders who participated enjoyed it very much and were not only moving, they were smiling to beat the band.

MASSAGES AND MEDITATION

Photo GreenA's Photo Blog.

A massagist gave each person a brief shoulder massage and then lead them in a meditation with the sound of the ocean in the background. Nice!!

MAKE YOUR OWN SMOOTHIES

Lemon Berry Smoothie Remix by terriseesthings

While this was going on we were invited to make our own Smoothies. The committe had three blenders going -whatever we wanted - Strawberries, blueberries, peaches, plums, bananas- you name it, they had it.

LUNCH

Photo At the front porch

For lunch we had a salad bar that had to be one of the largest that I have ever seen. Lots of vegies, dried fruits nuts, chick peas, kidney beans, tuna, hard boiled eggs, great breads and that's all that I can remember right now! Everything looked good, tasted good and was good for you.

DRUMMING SESSION


To top off the day we had a most unusual drumming session. Mamadou from Marblehead come with three drummers and several drums for those of us who wanted to join in the fun.

For those of you who want to learn more about the drumming session and more details about the day go to The Front Porch

That's just the first part of the day!!

A FLORIDA DAY PART 2 - to be continued

BONUS VIDEO:



Millie Garfield '08 for President!

posted by millie garfield @ 4:59 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 15 comments

 
THE SHOCKER
One of my favorite pastimes is going to the movies but in recent months there hasn't been anything that I wanted to see until yesterday.



"Kit Kittredge - An American Girl" is rated as a movie for kids 6 and older. Don't pay attention to that! It's a movie that boys and girls of any age can enjoy. The script deals with the time of the great depression when people were losing their homes and their jobs. Nothing much has changed.

The story is told through the eyes of a 10 year old, played by Abigail Breslin. What a charmer she is! I especially enjoyed Jane Cusack as an awkward librarian, Stanley Tucci as a magician and Wallace Shawn as the newspaper editor. Those were my favorites but every cast member did a fine job.

While we were waiting for the movie to start we saw parents coming with their children and grandparents coming with their grandchildren. I thought, "oh boy, what have I got myself into, it's going to be noisy."

Surprisingly, the childred were quiet, not a peep out of them. What I did hear was laughter from the adults. I was one of them.

One more thing about the audience - when the movie was over - They applauded!! How often does that happen?

Now for the shocker: As I mentioned earlier I haven't been to the movies in a while. The price of admission for a SENIOR is now $9:00!! If you are not a senior it's $10.00!!

I realize everything is going up but still I was wondering why it went up so much. Well, in today's Boston Globe, Parade Magazine there was the following article, Why Movie Prices Are Popping:

In the last year, the average ticket price has jumped from $6.88 to $7.08, and movie attendance was down more than 4% by mid-June, according to media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. In tough economic times, Americans traditionally have looked to the movies for an inexpensive escape. As prices rise, we may be forced to look elsewhere.

Guess I won't be going to the movies to often - there's nothing much worth seeing anyway. Netflix here I come!!

posted by millie garfield @ 5:41 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 15 comments

 
THANK YOU, THANK YOU
ABC WORLD NEWS APPEARANCE


As soon as my segment on World News with Charles Gibson was over the comments started coming in, one minute after the other, finally about 11 o'clock they started to slow down. Guess it was time for my viewers to get some shut-eye!



If you missed the full segment you can now watch it on the ABC News site. My behind the scenes post is here.

At 8:00 the next morning they started coming in again!! I tell you I didn't do much that day, between the comments on my blog, the e-mails, tweets, and phone calls I was receiving, I was a very happy camper!! For two days in a row I didn't get to finish the newspaper and that's saying a lot.

Thank you so much for the many enthusiastic, heartfelt and complimentry comments.

I even received one from "a lurker." She has been reading my blog for two years and was finally inspired to leave a comment.

I get a great deal of satisfaction making a post, it gets me THINKING and that's a good thing.

When I get feedback like I did this past week it inspires to continue doing what I love doing!!

Thanks again for all your kind words!

posted by millie garfield @ 5:36 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 10 comments

 
ABC - HERE I COME
In my last post, "Just Checking In" I said I was ok, just had to get my act together. Well, here's the whole story.

My ophthamoligist has been watching my cataract for a few years and the time came when he announced I was ready for surgery.

Last Thursday I had it taken care of. Everything went well. About 3:00 that afternoon my phone rang - it was ABC World NEWS.

They wanted to know if I would be interested in participating in a scheduled program on retirement living.

YES!!

"Could they come to my home on Monday for an interview and filiming?"

I told them that I had just come home after having cataract surgery, had a patch on my eye, drops to take, and various precautions to take like not getting my eye wet. I told them I would check with the doctor and get back to them.

The doctor said it would be ok to shampoo my hair and even said I could wear eye makeup!

So, it was a go!!

I've been written up in local newspapers, national newspapers, magazines, made a few presentations, and been on Retirement Living TV, but this was different! ABC TV!!

I must say I was anxious about how it would go and was glad when Monday finally came. Once the crew arrived at my home and introduced themselves I started to feel relaxed. They were a down to earth group and worked well together. That's a picture of me and ABC News producer Anne-Marie Dorning.

ABC's World News with Charles Gibson aired on July 2nd at 6:30 PM on the East and West coast and 5:30 PM Central Time - Retirees Move on Campus and Into Blogosphere.

As Charles Gibson would say, "Have a good day."

PS. My son Steve was here and showed the crew live streaming from his cell phone. Here's a video of that:



He also shot a behind the scenes video of the first part of my interview. Here's the full interview:



Alternate Formats: QuickTime (.mov), iPhone (.m4v)

Update:
Here's my portion of the segment...



If you missed the full segment you can now watch it on the ABC News site.

Mentioned around the web:

The Daily Buzz - Retired Bloggers Nap on Independence Day at Mobuzz.tv
Thoroughly Modern Millie! at sassholes
Talk About Being ‘Digitally Reborn!’ at Our American Shelf Life

posted by millie garfield @ 10:36 AM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 70 comments