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Germany, Customs & Arnold Schwarzenegger, BIG fines over Luxury watch…

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Have you seen this in the news? I still don’t understand it completely. Why did Schwarzenegger have to declare the luxury watch. I travel to Europe quite often and I’m never asked to declare anything. Only when I am coming back to America. I don’t think Germany allows for dual citizenship unless that law changed.

Maybe this is because he was going to Auction off the watch in Austria, so then it goes from being a “personal watch” for himself to “selling goods” for profit? So, he had to declare it at the first point of entry into the EU? Someone must have alerted Customs to this.

He had to pay hefty fines: $38,000, including $4,000 tax value and approximately $5,000 penalty. The comedy in this, is that Custom’s credit card machine was not working. So, they brought Schwarzenegger to a bank, which was closed and he could not withdraw enough money due to withdrawal limits.

Curious, the value of the watch was $30,000, so he was paying more than the watch was worth? But then he was going to Auction it starting at 50,000 euros.

Luckily, Schwarzenegger had good humor. His mind immediately went to — GREAT COP MOVIE!

It would be funny to see a movie made out of this situation, with him as the main actor!! Did you know he is 76 years old now. Wow, getting close to 80.

Here is the YouTube video from the Today show.

Great movie idea. I’d go see it!  

Winter has arrived… Time for knitting!

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What do you do when your weather hits -1 degrees? The weatherman says if we are out for more than 10 minutes, we can get frost bitten. We don’t believe him/her. So, we bundle up (just in case, they’re right) and head outside. We don’t last more than five minutes and we are back in the house.

As I was house bound, I wondered what to do. Ok, read a book, watch TV, call a friend, clean the house, writer extra blog posts (LOL)… you get the idea. I needed something different. The light bulb went off.

Where was all my extra yarn? 

I found it after a good search. I decided I’d make a lap blanket. So, I’ve been happily knitting in the evenings. Inside a knitter’s mind.

Knit, knit, knit…REPEAT.                                         Next row.                                                  Knit, knit, knit… REPEAT. 

It’s like we are in a trance. I’m using an Alpaca yarn, it’s very lush and warm. Perfect for cold weather.

While I’ve been knitting, I started listening to The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown. The movie is out now, but usually the book is better. Isn’t the recommendation to always read the book first? 

Has anyone seen the movie yet? Would love to hear your review.

Start here…

IPhone – Photo Memories… 2023 New Year’s Eve already?

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If you have an IPhone, you probably have the feature where Apple shares a daily “memory” from your photos. Sometimes the photos are endearing, other times, I think, “WHAT, why haven’t I deleted that!”

Today, the memory was of New Year’s Eve. I’ve moved on from 2023, so why did Apple choose THAT memory. At the same time, I felt I needed to be respectful, as it was the Virgin Mary or my Guardian Angel who might have wanted me to have this nice memory.

On New Year’s Eve, I was visiting a friend. We needed exercise, went walking. At a long stop light, I happened to look up and I saw this gold dome with the Virgin Mary. Of course, I had to walk over.

I thought I would have a view of the golden dome in front of the church. Instead, I saw this Manger scene on the top of the building. This church had no grassy area, so they got creative.

I walked to the side of the building, again, I could not get a clear look of the Virgin Mary on the dome. Even on the back side, NOPE. Interesting design for this building. The Virgin Mary looks down into the church.

So, I’ll admit, I am smiling. Signs from Heaven come when we least expect them. Like today.

I have a 94 year old friend who is not doing well. I take this as a sign, a reminder, check in with her.

Have a wonderful day! I’m off to make that phone call! 💕

2024 STARTS… Make things happen!

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It’s a NEW YEAR, I’m excited. Time to Make Things Happen!

This photo is how my brain works. A vision board full of sticky notes, depicting all the exciting, creative and crazy ideas going on in my brain. What I like about sticky notes is that I can move my ideas/goals around. If a goal is not going to meet a particular date/time, no problem, move it to bottom of the board. Focus on what I will accomplish by deadline, then circle back to the goal I moved to the bottom of board.

Years ago, I worked for a man who thought like I did. He was big on white boards. Every office had huge white boards. Whenever we had a meeting, everything went on the white board. Discussing root cause analysis on a product failure was great. One person wrote on the board, everyone chimed in, it was easy to erase, move text over, etc. When we filled up board, someone took a photo. THEN we erased and continued. Later someone wrote up the notes and sent to all the attendees. My type of meeting!

So here’s to MAKING THINGS HAPPEN in 2024!

From Bavaria, Christmas decorations…

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Walking in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, they had so many beautiful Xmas scenes in the windows. Look at this one of the Angel orchestra, how clever.

Another nice touch, they decorate with small Christmas trees outside their homes. They have electric candles on the trees. In the old days, they actually used real lit candles.

Here you have stuffed bears in the windows. This was a Teddy Bear shop.

This was such a simple tree. I’ve always liked hearts, what a great idea! The red felt hearts stand out because of the light wood. I would do this.

This was interesting, so earthy the way they decorated their window with wood, etc. The cakes, I didn’t touch them, but they look like hardened sand, clay or concrete? 

I fell in love with their door stops. I haven’t seen these in America, but I don’t think we have as heavy doors as they have. Where we stayed, in a charming old home, they had different door stops on each door. This HOME was on ours, but there was a cat that I liked.

As I walked the neighborhood, I came across a sewing store. She had patterns of a reindeer door stop. Of course, I had to buy it and a pattern for a cute bear, I bought that too.

So, there you have it. Another quick visit around Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

I have to say, it did get me in the mood to decorate, make Christmas fun in a NEW way!

Have a great weekend!

Merry Christmas! 

A Bavarian puzzle leads to Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Germany

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Last year, I found a Bavarian puzzle. I fell in love with this Bavarian city, but the puzzle box did not mention where this city was. I sent the photo to different people asking and asking, “Does this city exist?”

Finally, someone told me, it’s a medieval town in Germany called, “Rothenburg ob der Tauber” north of Munich. So, I started to formulate a plan to visit Bavaria. First Munich, then Rothenburg ob der Tauber for the Christmas Markets. Then fulfill another dream of seeing Andre Rieu in concert.

My daughters were on board and we started our pre-Christmas journey to Germany a week ago. Munich was lovely, so fun and festive to be there this time of year. We had plenty of sausages!

In Munich, we saw the Haribo store. Of course, we stopped in.

Then we headed to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. They had a Teddy Bear store, you can see in the photo that there was a Teddy Bear blowing bubbles from the window. What a great idea! It did catch our attention.

This was a lovely Advent Calendar. Each door we opened would play music and surprisingly there was enough space behind each door to put a chocolate or a small ornament as a surprise.

In Rothenburg, this was the main market where they had a lot of shops. It was wonderful to see the people out with their families enjoying the Christmas Markets, the food, the wine, etc.

Finally, after our visit in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, we headed to Maastricht in The Netherlands to attend the Andre Rieu concert. I’ve watched Andre Rieu on PBS for over 20 years. Always with a goal to see him in person. Realizing that he is now around 74 years old, it was time to go. Perfect for Christmas.

The music and his orchestra were fabulous. We had good seats, row 7 to the left of the stage. He had dancers on two ice rinks on either side of the stage and dancers also came in between the isles where we sat. So, it was extremely festive.

I wish all my Blogging friends a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! If don’t celebrate Christmas, I wish you a very HAPPY HOLIDAY!

On to 2024 soon!

The SECRET: What you focus your mind on, you attract!

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Years ago, I read The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. The book has been around since 2006, so most of you must have heard of it. Basically, the premise of the book is that you can have ANYTHING you want by just focusing your attention on it. I wish that was true for “everything,” but it is true for “some things.”

A few weeks ago, I wrote about wanting a pair of slippers. I really had slippers on my mind. I didn’t know what I wanted, but I knew I wanted a pair. I admit, I was FEELING that I would have a pair of slippers.

Now, The Secret does state that you have to passionately believe in what you want, so the vibrations go out to the Universe. If you wish for something, but in your heart, do not believe you will receive it — YOU WON’T! So, your wishes have to be strong and clear.

DEAR READERS – I have to THANK YOU for this favorable outcome. Your interesting comments, kept my slipper thoughts on HIGH – UNIVERSE – FREQUENCY!

GUESS WHAT, a miracle – A friend, who I rarely talk to, sent me a pair of slippers for Christmas!

An unexpected surprise gift! Kudos to Amazon for the nice gift wrap! Cozy, warm, fuzzy slippers that are machine washable! Laughing! Oh, and another miracle, the slippers were the right size.

I am so very grateful! I could not decide on what I wanted, the decision was made for me. PERFECT!

So, now I’m wondering if I can manifest something even bigger?

A boyfriend, a car, a trip… stay tuned! The Secret says there is nothing that is off limits! Dream BIG!

Any Jimmy Buffet fans out there?

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I received the latest issue of Garden & Gun magazine, December 2023 / January 2024 issue. This is a lovely national magazine focused on the South, ie food, music, sporting events, shopping, vacationing and more. As I am from the North, I enjoy learning about the South.

This particular issue had a focus on Florida travel. Makes sense, temperatures are dropping, it’s getting cold and many of us are dreaming of warm beach weather vacations during or after the holidays.

As I was perusing the magazine, my eye caught the title of a particular article. I pondered this… A chance career opportunity, a friendship changing a surfer and journalist’s life. WHO could this be about? SURFER, could this be about Jimmy Buffet? The cartoony picture had a man with blond hair and flip flops… maybe??

Yes, indeed!! Chris Dixon, the journalist, shares his chance meeting with Buffet and how the friendship evolved. Always under the radar, of course. Dixon pays tribute to Buffet, the friend v.s. the celebrity.

If you were a fan of Jimmy Buffet, you’ll enjoy reading this article and feel a bit of sadness too. Two guys surfing together! And Jimmy was 71, still going at it, no fear of the huge waves! Buffet was ill; but he was still trying to make the most of every moment until the end. A friendship that changed Dixon’s life.

In memory of Jimmy Buffet, we’re toasting you with a margarita this holiday season!

What is your favorite Holiday food?

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It’s that time of year again. Il Pandoro is out and I must have one. In fact, for Thanksgiving, I brought one to my Italian mother. She was so happy, hands clapping, ready to make coffee or tea and have a slice. I warned her though, for some reason, this year, the texture was “different.”

It’s an Italian tradition to have this. Usually, people buy the Panettone, which has the fruit inside. It’s not my favorite, by the time I pull out all that fruit, there isn’t much cake left.

My daughter and I bought Il Pandoro at Jewel (our grocery store). Sorry, I should have taken a picture. It was the Bauducco brand. The texture was strange. It was like a soft dinner roll, instead of bread like.

Every year, I buy one or more. I vow to remember the brand that is the BEST. Of course, every year, I forget and start this process again. This Balocco brand is pretty good.

Next stop, Trader Joe’s for a box of Baci candies. They sell out FAST!

What is your favorite holiday food?

Photography, when a better camera was needed!

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I was in Indiana enjoying the fury of Lake Michigan. The temperatures dropped; it was cold and windy there. I realized I could see the Chicago skyline. I took this picture with my IPhone, but I couldn’t capture what I was seeing “in person,” a crisper and more distinct looking skyline.

Distance photos should be taken with a high powered camera.

Today is BLACK Friday. It’s the official start of the Christmas season. If you are shopping, I hope you find some GREAT deals out there.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!