Okay, there is a reason I don't post. I don't write well and don't have intersting stories. My spelling is horrible and my editing is even worse. I want to post pictures with the story to help show what we are doing but.... I never can get them to be in the order I want. I don't know how to move them around on the page to make it look right. So .... here goes.

Christmas was realy great here at the Chatfield family home. The house was still a mess but liveable. Adam came from Staten Island on Christmas Day. He and his friend, Nicole drove here after spending Christmas eve with her family. Kira and Cj spent Christmas in Ohio with CJ's parents. But knowing Adam was in Rochester they came back from Ohio on Saturday the day after Christmas to see Adam.

Ray was supposed to work at ADT Security Services on Christmas Day but finally found out he was able to get the day off. We had a great time with everyone. Ray and I sang at the Christmas Eve service at church and came home. We were able to sleep in on Christmas morning. Adam and Nicole got here about 4 pm and we had dinner, Ham, Pineapple dressing, Applesauce and I can't even remember what else. Since my diverticuosus started acting up a couple of weeks before I was on a restricted diet and antibiotics. Nothing tastes good on when you take antibiocitics. blaaaaahh . After dinner we went to the movies to see" Sherlock Holmes" and saw Christine Difonzo's family as they walked in. "OOOOOHHHH HI!!! and this is Nicole!"

We went home after the movies and opened presents at 9:30 PM the latest I have ever opened presents. Oh yeah, we tried to go to the 5:15 movie but could not find 4 seats together so we returned our tickets and bought new ones for 6:30 and then went and sat and waited for the next movie to start.

SATURDAY(The Day after Christmas): After Ray and I went to Praise Band practice, Sandy & Steve Wall came over for lunch. We normally go out after practice but I knew Kira and CJ would be there soon. Kira and CJ got to our house directly from Cleveland, Ohio around noon. We all had dinner.....AGAIN.... Ham, Pineapple dressing etc. Kira & CJ opened and exchanged presents with Adam and Nicole ....we all sat around.... until we decided we need to DO SOMETHING! Since Nicole is allergic to dogs and Luna and King were both here she needed medicine. So....all six of us went to Wal-Mart. It was crazy. We all had a good time. Kira and CJ need to get home to their kitty cat because someone was taking care of her while they were gone. But before they left we all went to Henrietta Hots. Nicole had her first "garbage plate".

After we got back from Henrietta Hots, Adam, Nicole and I played cards - PLAY NINE. Later Adam started playing "LIGHTS OUT". He is really good at it.

Oh and I forgot to tell about MY Gift ..... I wanted a Cherry Limeade from Sonic. Since Kira would be near one in Ohio and Adam would pass one in Binghamton the race was on to bring me a Cherry Limeade. Adam went on Christmas day and Sonic was closed. Kira while in Ohio got one the Day before Christmas. She ordered it with No Ice. then put it in a soda bottle and decorated the bottle. So Kira won. I put it with some crushed ice when they got here. It was great.

Sunday, Adam and Nicole went to church and all of us sat together during the 11 am service. We went to Applebee's for lunch with Sandy and Steve Wall, Adam and Nicole, and Ray and me. We had a great time talking about all the things Adam has done around Henrietta. Nicole said kiddingly, if her parents had known this about him, she would not be able to date him. LOL!!

Sunday after lunch Adam and Nicole packed up their stuff and we all went to Lyndonville to visit Kira and CJ at their house. Everyone had a great time. We played the game "Things" and of course Adam and I always write the same answers. We took some family photos.

Adam and Nicole left to go to Rome to visit his cousin, "Little" Paul. The plan was to visit Gran'ma in the morning and go for breakfast with her before starting back.

But when they got up in the morning there was a foot of snow on the ground and still snowing so they decide to get started back to Staten Island. That trip took him 7 hours. No snow just bad traffic on the turnpike.

I loved having everyone here for Christmas. It is the BEST Christmas we have had in a long time. The only way it could have been better was if Gran'ma could have been here too with us.

Adam and Kira are such loving children and they realy love and miss eachother. Nicole is so sweet and seems to make Adam very happy. He really seemed contented with life. Even if life as given lemons...he is makeing lemonade with them. It was really great to see him.

I can't wait to go visit Mom in Rome on New Year's Day!

As my Kindergarten homework last night I had to make a scrapbook type of page "All About Me". I also had plans to go to the movies with Sandy Wall and friends to see a chic flick " All About Steve". Movie started at 5:10 pm. I got home late from school..due to buses being late the first day. So I had about 30-40 mins to do my project. I was working on PrintMaster and it crashed before I got to save it all. SOOO I left to go to the movie at 5:08 pm. Enjoyed the movie and afterwards went to Macaroni Grill for dinner with everyone. I knew I did not have enough time eat but ordered anyway a chicken ceasar salad. Enjoyed half and took half with me for lunch today. Went to church for 8:00 pm meeting to go over songs for Christmas play. Went home around 9:15 and started working again on my project....starting over, of course. So by one minute after midnight it was finished and I was tired after my first day of Kindergarten. I took the project to school today and shared it with the students. They learned very quickly my name it Mrs. CHAT-FIELD with the reference to Talking Meadow....the children called me constantly all day today. Yesterday they did not even talk to me...and today...Mrs. Chatfield, Mrs. Chatfield, Mrs. Chatfield, Mrs. Chatfield, Mrs. Chatfield, Mrs. Chatfield, Mrs. Chatfield.

Summer Vacation part II

Hummmmmmm, Where do I begin? The second half of our Summer vacation started on Tuesday of the second week. We went to Brockport to drop off a video of my last year student to her mom. Then we headed out...down Route 19 south to Route 20 east to Geneva. We then headed down Route 14 on the west side of Seneca Lake.

We thought we would go to the Finger Lakes, to the wineries. But Ray only likes grape juice and I don't know that much about wine. So after stopping at only one place, Fox Run and realizing we had no idea what we were doing we went down to Ithaca and back up Rt 414 and over to 96 and to Taughannock Falls State Park near Trumansburg, NY.

We spent the night and had a nice campfire and roasted marshmellows and ate hot dogs. In the morning we met a family from New Jersey with 3 children who loved King. So the mom went and got her cup of tea and came and sat down at our picnic table to talk with us. There was one family next to us who were Korean. The young boy kept telling us how his "father never trusted this kind of dog". The kid must have told us 10-20 times how his father did not trust Rottweilers. But the dad came over once just to be sure his son was not "bothering" us. So as I cleaned up the breakfast dishes Ray was out with the kids. They were yelling and making noise...but I recognized they were singing the Muppet theme song. Ray did not recognize it.

King had a great time ...he loves to ride and sleep.
He is happy as long as he is with us.


We got back on the road and headed to The Catskill Mountains because Ray had never been there before. I had been on a 8th grade field trip when I was in 9th grade. I went as a student teacher to Frost Valley to study earth science. So we went on route 79 to 38 and then followed route 17 through Binghamton to some little roads in the Catskill mtns to route 47. We found the Frost Valley YMCA camp on Route 47. We stopped and took a picture of the information board and a picture of the Castle there.

Ray thought the Catskill Mts were boring and we headed back up Route 28 to Delhi and Oneonta untill we got to Interstate Route 88 and went back toward Binghamton. We were looking for a place to stay the night and went to a State Park but when we got there it was "CLOSED ON TUESDAYS AND WEDENSDAYS" Who does that? What a crazy thing to do. So it was raining and cold and we needed a place to stay...we also needed new windshield wipers so we stopped at Walmart to get some. We then stopped at Long John Silver's for dinner.

By the time we got to the next campground, Pine Valley RV and campground was closed. They closed at 8 and it was 8:15 pm ..dark, cold, raining. The lady who ran the place saw us turning into the campground so she got in her car and came and opened up to regester us. and we went to our site and went to bed...no campfire that night. I was able to get on the intenet for a few minutes to post a status on Facebook and then go to bed. In the morning there were too many bugs outside with the damp air they just swarmed all around our heads. They were teeny tiny knats. yuck. So we decide to to to Cracker Barrel for Breakfast. yeah!! After leaving Cracker Barrel we decide to follow Rte 11 and guess what???? We saw a SONIC on Rte 11 in Binghamton. Too bad we had already eatten and were not hungry.

We followed Rt 12 up through Norwich, Sherburne and into New Hartford. We stopped at a garage sale just before New Hartford. Ray now knows how to ask me if I want to stop some place...If he asked, "Do you want me to turn around?" I would always say, "no". BUT if he asked me if I "wanted to stop there?" I would concider it and sometimes say "yes". I know, it's weird. We stopped at a fruit stand on 233 in Westmoreland and got apples, cheese and pears. Then we stopped at Mom's house in Rome, but she was not yet home from Alaska. So we decided to go to Whetstone Gulf up route 26. We got there around 5:30 pm. and...the Ranger station at the gate was...CLOSED. It said they were closed from 4:30 pm- 7:30 pm. Campers could go pick a spot to stay and come back at 7:30 to register and be prepared to move it the spot was taken or reserved for someone else. So we picked a spot and cooked HOT DOGs again but this time with buscuits wrapped around them. YUMMMM.

At 7:30 we had a great fire going and had to MOVE. We picked an "administrative spot" or Handicapped spot. In other words we were not good enough to have that spot and had to move. We moved and had to start another fire...with what we had left of wet wood. All it did was smoke the rest of the night.

In the morning Mom called ....she was home and we went to Rome to see her. We got there at 11 am and hung out with mom. Went to Teddy's for lunch and while we were there a person was interested in looking at our camper...that is FOR SALE. She said she was not ready right now to buy it, but in about 6 months, maybe.

We drove home in the rain and dark from Rome. We made home by 11 pm.
Took the truck to Randall in Victor to have tailgate fixed, it would not stay shut after removing the camper from the truck. We picked up my car at Saturn after the hood cable was replaced, then had Praise band practice on Sat at 10. Sunday had church. After church ate at Wendy's with Sandy Wall and went to the State Fair to see Jeff Dunham. GOOD TIMES.
Drove home in the DARK AND RAIN again.

What I did on my Summer Vacation. 2009 part I

Due to commitments on weekends and still haveing two weeks off, Ray and I have decided to take short trips. Tuesday 8/18 we drove to Rome, NY to stay the night at my Mom's house. Even though my Mom was on her own vacation with my brother, Rick, in Alaska we stayed at her house anyway. We ordered Pizza and had it delivered. We hung out and watched TV.


After spending the night, Wed morning we continued our drive up to Moose River for a picnic and some hanging out. We walked on the rocks and King went in swimming and we cooked out Hot Dogs and S'mOreos.










Then we went up to Old Forge Hardware and bought two childrens books.....(we have no children). I have always heard people say King is just like Carl...in the children's books. So we got Carl goes Shopping and Carl goes on Vacation. You must see them to appreciate them.

We stopped in Inlet to look at where the camp was. I retrieved my rubber hand and picked up some of our firewood that we had left there in the driveway a few years ago. 10 pieces of perfictly split logs for a camp fire. Ray looked forward to a nice swim in 7th Lake at the boat launch area. King went in too. I did not get all the way wet, but relaxed on a blanket and looked at a magazine until the Monster of 7th Lake came walking out of the Lagoon.

Not knowing where we were going to stay the night we drove up Rt 28 and then to Rt 30. We saw a sign for NYS Campground just past Long Lake called Forked Lake. We drove on a dirt road for about ten miles until we got to the campground. Lots of cars there but no campers except maybe one other pop up camper. It seems this camp ground caters to hikers. Most of the campsites are back in the woods. But they did have a couple of spaces for campers. So we spent the night around the camp fire. It got really cold that night. We had to use our sleeping bags. It must have been in the 50s or even high 40s. Nice weather to sleep.

In the morning we went back down Rt 30. We stopped at a nice gift shop and cafe called Mountain Memories on Rt 30 in Wells, NY.

We decided to go to Howe Caverns. So...on we went. When we got there we were trying to decide if we were going to leave the truck running for the dog to be in the Air Conditioning. The people at Howe Caverns said they had a Kennel for people to leave their dogs in while they were on the tour in the caverns. It was free...but they did ask for a donation of $5 for their Humane Society. At Howe Caverns they take you picture in the cavern and sell it to you for $8. Of course we bought it...we are on vacation.

There is a KOA Campground near Cooperstown so we pulled in there around 6:00 pm. Very nice couple, Mike and Gail just bought the place in May. Very well kept and extremely nice people. We went for the works, Water hook up, Electric Hook up and WiFi. There were Hot Showers..FREE and a pool which I never got to swim in. After some dinner around the campfire with my laptop on the picnic table we went to bed in the camper. Light breeze but not as cool as the Adirondacks. Got woke up by Rain on the roof in the morning. Just a few sprinkles here and there. We packed up and headed home on Rt 20 and decided to stop in Auburn at the Bass Pro Shop. We had lunch and bought New Balance sneakers for $29.99. We even had our picture taken in one of those fun Photo Booths just like the old days. We stopped to pick up my car at the dealership where we had dropped it off for an inspection and it needed a tie rod too. Great!. and I still need to get a cable for the hood release. Randall could not get one. Funny Ray called Saturn and they could get one. So...Saturn will get my car on Monday so they can work on it on Tuesday. We got home to our driveway around 7:30 pm last night and...Sandy and Steve were waiting for us in our yard to go for dinner at Bill Gray's. And then we went to Wall's house to watch Eureka. We came home from Wall's house at 10 pm. The camper is only half unpacked. I got up at 4:30 AM to go to church to unload the Angel Food Truck. Finished the truck early by 7:30. woooo hoooo. Trying to download pictures and think about what to do next week while on vacation. Sunday morning we have Praise Band, Interpreting, Lunch, Ladies Ministries-LUAU and Christmas Play practice.

I just bought tickets for the NY State Fair and to see Jeff Dunham in the Grandstand on Aug 30. Ray is very excited about that.

Photoshow of Little Boy on his Knees

http://www.photoshow.com/watch/xw8Bt5Ju

I have not blogged in a long time...mainly because I never really have anything to say. I just made this photoshow of pictures of Adam and used the Cheri Keagy song I sang at church the year Adam graduated from High School.
I am now going to go to visit my mom in Rome (NY) and hang out with her for a couple of days.

King goes to New York (Staten Island)

Well it all started a week ago Saturday night. We got a text from Adam in Staten Island that the Tech rider requested "if any one of the crew members has a dog to bring in to hang out for the day please do so". Adam texted that info to us thinking "How cool is that?"
I immediately thought...King and I will be right there. I never really thought I would be able to do it. Well, we were telling our friend Sandy about it. She said she would go...and she would drive her mini van so King will have lots of room for the ride to Staten Island from Rochester. So the plan was in place.

Friday afternoon after getting out of work Sandy picked up King and I.

We got to the Staten Island Hotel and spent the night. Of course King had to go out at 2:00 am. I could not convince him he really did not have to go out. So at 2:30 AM I had to get dressed without waking Sandy and take King out to...well....only pee. I really think he just wanted to go out and see where Ray was. I'm sure he was confused, why was he here without Ray and spending a night in a hotel room with Sandy and me.

In the morning I drove Sandy's van because I knew how to get around Staten Island. We grabbed breakfast at McDonald's on the corner of Forest Ave and Morningstar. I showed her Snug Harbor Cultural Center then went to meet Adam at St George Theatre on Hyatt. Once we got King settled in back stage, Sandy and I walked to the Staten Island Ferry.

We walked through the financial district to Ground Zero.

Then walked to Chinatown. We had a NYC pretzel. Then we went to lunch in Chinatown......at McDonald's.

We decided to take the Subway to Central Park. We were waiting for the "Q" train to 57th and 7th Ave and realized it was going to be loading on the "R" Upper platform. We just made it. Sandy had a great time.

Central park was beautiful. There were street performers, flowers, people having picnics and sunny!

After we left Central Park we stopped at PAX and got some goodies. MMMMmmmm Coffee and a Canolli.

Then we took the Subway back down to the South Ferry and went back to Staten Island. We hung out at the St George Theatre until the concert. King stayed in the van during the concert and then came in to say good bye to the crew. Everyone loved King. He was a big hit.

I helped Adam build the ramp to unload the concert equipment. We had a great time. The St George Theatre is a beautiful building on the inside. The outside is so plain.

We said good bye and went back to the hotel and came home Sunday after having breakfast at IHOP. Adam had to work in Brooklyn at the St Patrick's Day Parade. It was 60 degrees and sunny in Brooklyn and it snowed 40 miles south of Syracuse on our way home.

I had a wonderful time this weekend. I hope to

be able to do it again sometime.

More Pictures of the Golden Girls Article

Feb 17, 2009: Betty Mack Beckwith, Beverly Jenny Johnson, Betty Hoag Doherty

1996: Back left to right Betty Hoag Doherty, Betty Mack Beckwith, Ginny Foley Donahue, Betty Lascelles Reber, Jean Meyer Dunn. In front, Beverly Jenny Johnson

1989: A holiday get together, Left to right, standing, Beverly Jenny Johnson, Betty Mack Beckwith, Betty Hoag Doherty, Ginny Foley Donahue and Evelyn Traxel Lambert. seated, Betty Lascelles Reber and Jean Meyer Dunn

In the 70's: Left to right in back, Betty Mack Beckwith, Betty Lascelles Reber, Jean Meyer Dunn, Ann Jones Marwick. Left to right in front Beverly Jenny Johnson, Betty Hoag Doherty.

July 1945: Left to right, Merle Amman, Jean Meyer (Dunn), Anne Jones (Marwick) and Betty Lascelles (Reber)

Graduation Day 1943: Left to right Betty Lascelles (Reber), Jean Meyer (Dunn), Sally Miller (McAndrew), Anne Jones (Marwick), Betty Mack (Beckwith), Dot Mathis (Delaney) and Marilyn Seymour (Corr).

Tuesday Night Club - Rome's Golden Girls!

June 28, 1947- Left to Right, back: Betty Hoag Doherty, Betty Mack Beckwith, Ann Jones Marwick, Betty Lascelles Reber (the bride), Jean Meyer Dunn, Dorothy Mathis Delaney. Left to right, front: Merle Amman Johnson, Beverly Jenny Johnson and Sally Miller McAndrew.

Excerpts from March 24, 1996 Rome Observer article titled Rome's Golden Girls!
Back in the late 30's, maybe very early 40's, Rome Free Academy Professor Franklin Pelkey used the Tuesday Night Club as a way to illustrate the word "cabal". In his reference and according to several of the members who were in his class that day, he meant it only in its nicest sense--
"Cabal -- a more or less secret group of intriguing members"
Pretty close. They were then and still are "intriguing members."
One thing has changed. the name. But that was only because the original members who had come from various elementary schools )Jay Street, Fort Stanwix and Barringer) were only 8th graders at the old Rome Junior High School on North James Street at the time, and when somebody told them they "could go to jail maybe" for using Greek letters without permission and without a real legal Charter, they dropped Alpha Gamma Phi and became simply the Tuesday night Club. That's what they were in 1938-- and that's what they were on Tuesday night February 26th 1996 when the Tuesday Night Club met for dinner at the Colonial Inn.
The five original members in attendance that night a few weeks ago (members for 58 years) were (Alphabetically, by married last name--this group is very well organized)...
*Betty Mack Beckwith
*Betty Hoag Doherty
Jean Meyer Dunn
*Beverly Jenny Johnson
Betty Lascelles Reber (in a nursing home in Warsaw, NY)
... and 53 (66) year member Virginia Foley Donahue who joined in 1943 when she moved to Rome from Canastota and went to work at Rome Cable.
There were four other 1938 originals; Marilyn Seymour Corr and Dorothy Mathis Delaney who have left the area, but still return for meetings whenever they are able -- Ann Jones Marwick and Sally Miller McAndrew are original members who have passed away. Evelyn Traxell Lambert and Merle Amman Johnson are members who have moved, but were not among the "original" nine.
The original nine consisted of a fun loving , vivacious group of 8th graders who wanted to do some grown up things and have sort of a "secret society", which is probably why they selected Greek letters for their name, wore identical friendship rings and every Tuesday, on meeting day, all wore exactly the same style, blue cardigan sweater BACKWARDS - that is, buttoned up the back. Failure to wear that sweater and the felt cut-out Greek letters that they attached to the front of the sweater, was punishable by a stiff fine - a dime.
Now you know why "Prof" Pelky referred to the Tuesday Night Club as a "cabal" meaning (the ladies insist to this day) "intriguing." No doubt was correct.

......as I turn the page of the paper I realize there is a 3 page spread all about the Tuesday Night Club. 5 more pictures too.......

The war years were difficult and lonely times for us, but we had each other and that helped us form these long lasting friendships. We did things as a group. Always good things. We tried to be helpful especially to the war effort. As we all married, we brought our husbands into the picture. Al Johnson and Dick Beckwith, for instance, became best friends. Betty Mack remembers that "all of our kids practically grew up together". .....
One of the members provided a short profile on each of the current members, including herself, You will be able to easily figure out who did it.
Jean Dunn - Most active. Also first one with a card or a plate of cookies if anyone is ill.
Betty Reber - Also very active. Most lady like. Very efficient.
Bev Johnson - Lots of fun. Official chauffeur and photographer. Finds very interesting restaurants for us as far away as Barnes Corners.
Ginny Donahue - Our petite beauty. Friend to all
Betty Beckwith - Our official "keeper of the records" of the RFA Class of 1943. Keeps very up to day lists with correct addresses. Coordinates our reunions. Very well organized and always so pleasant.
Betty Doherty - Makes monthly meeting reservations. Reminds everyone of time and place. Need information? Ask me Sometimes I even know the answer."

We should all have such long lasting supportive friendships as this.

Home on Feb Break

We had a great time with my Mom and her friends on Monday and Tuesday. It is so nice to know Mom is still able to get around and enjoy herself. So many people in their 80s are shut in.
My mom was part of a group of girls in Jr High School. She always called them the "Tuesday Night Girls". I remember mom used to go out to meet with her Tuesday girls every tuesday night. Also I remember Dad used to Bowl on Tuesday nights. Hummmm how did that work.??? Anyway, when I was old enough to stay home with my brother we were left alone to watch....on Tuesday nights...MOD SQUAD. and I think Marcus Welby MD was on too (with James Brolin as Dr. Kielly).

Sometimes Mom would have Tuesday Night Club at her house. We got to have snacks and listen to the ladies laugh and talk all night.

It is hard to believe they have been meeting for over 70 years together. How many people can say they have had a best friend for over 70 years, let alone one but two. Betty Beckwith and Betty Dorghty have been my mom's friends for a long time. They have been through High School, weddings, births, and deaths and are still long lasting friends. I am so thankful for my mom and her friends.

Confessions of a lazy blogger

It has been six weeks since my last blog. I never know what to say. Not to mention no one reads it. So... January was a wonderful month to have a birthday. February is just rolling along. Valentines Day has come and gone. Went to see Confessions of a Shopaholic on Valentines Day with my friend Sandy. Ray was at a wedding at Victory. I am not a good writer at all and should never attempt to try to blog. so....I am still enjoying my laptop from Christmas and I am addicted to Facebook. I watch movies with friends while on Facebook and IM them throughout the movie. What fun. Now Kira & I are trying to help my mother understand more about her new computer. The End