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Barbara Early: Old Lang Syne & Giveaway

1/1/2012

 

This week we welcome Barbara Early to Author Memories.

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Barbara Early grew up buried in the snowy suburbs of Buffalo, NY, where she developed a love for all things sedentary: reading, writing, classic movies, and Facebook Scrabble. She holds a degree in Electrical Engineering, but her penchant for the creative caused her to run away screaming from the pocket-protector set. She taught for several years in a Christian school before home schooling her daughter successfully through high school. Barbara cooks up cozy mysteries with a healthy dose of comedy and sometimes a splash of romance, and was a double finalist in the 2010 ACFW Genesis competition.
 

Old Lang Syne
by Barbara Early

For a child, a new year was anticlimactic following the excitement of Christmas. Oh, sure, I’d get to stay up late on New Year’s Eve, but living with my mother and grandparents meant much of it was spent with adults. I remember sitting in my flannel jammies in front of  our “TV trays,” eating crackers with spray cheese and watching Guy Lombardo.
Then the kissing--yuck!--my grandparents being the worst offenders. When “Auld Lang Syne” started, everybody in the house had to kiss everybody else--unless you were so lucky to sneak off and pretend to be asleep.
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Grandpa Arbeiter and Barb
The new year also marked the transformation of those Christmas toys. Toys that squawked, beeped, and buzzed grew mute. Broken? That’s what I was led to believe, until years later when the conspiracy was uncovered. All the noisemaking parts were removed by my handy, but quiet-loving grandfather.

Grandpa, named Rudolph by his German-Hungarian immigrant parents, married Beatrice (Grandma) when he was eighteen, just before he shipped off to join the Navy during WWII. 

Following the war, he worked at the Wurlitzer factory, assembling jukeboxes and theater organs, like the one that still resides in the local historic theater.

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Wurlitzer organ
But theater organs didn’t survive the move to multiplexes, and jukeboxes likewise waned, leading to plant closure.  My grandparents scurried to find work. Grandma found a job at an electronics plant, where they hired women because of their small, nimble fingers and willingness to work for lower salaries. Grandpa never found a job, perhaps because his snowy hair made him look older than he was. Eventually, he settled into the majority of the household chores. He began to leave the house less often, then not at all. Decades later, I’d learn the meaning of the word “agoraphobia.”

Grandpa was a crusty fellow with a soft heart. He was the go-to disciplinarian. The oft-repeated threat for misbehavior was, “If you don’t stop, Grandpa will take a brush to your behind.” Or “He’ll ship you off to Father Baker’s,” which I learned much later was a home for wayward boys. Of course, the threats were enough.
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Grandpa, Mom and Barb
I thought Grandpa was one of a kind, from his mixture of kindness and sarcasm, care for his family and a bigotry common to the time, to his authoritarian dominance of the home. Until I saw All in the Family. My grandfather could have inspired Archie Bunker, right down to his armchair no one was permitted to sit in.

Grandpa’s inability to leave the house eventually took his life, as he neglected seeing a doctor until the pain became unbearable. By then, the cancer which began in his intestines had spread to his liver. He passed away in 1983, just weeks before my high school graduation.

But hardly a new year passes when I don’t think of Guy Lombardo, spray cheese, and my grandfather.
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?
Who do you think of when they play 'Old Lang Syne'?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY!
Leave a comment with a valid email address by midnight, January 8th
to be entered to win a free electronic copy of Barb's holiday novella giveaway, 
Gold, Frankincense, and Murder in your choice of Kindle, ePub, or PDF versions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gold, Frankincense and Murder, White Rose Publishing, available now.

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High school geometry teacher, Donna Russell likes her life well-ordered and logical, even if it is a tad solitary at times. But when a charming co-worker at the local food bank disappears just before Christmas, Donna is left with more questions than solutions.

After the missing man's neighbor, muscle-bound EMT Sam Holton, volunteers as Donna's crime-fighting sidekick, sparks fly between them. Donna wonders if Sam can be trusted, or if he's trying to throw an unknown into her calculations—and her life.

And when police recover a body from the icy Niagara River, Donna is faced with the most frustrating equation of all: can murder plus mayhem ever equal romance?

You can find Barbara Early online at the following sites:

www.BarbaraEarly.com


www.barbearly.blogspot.com

www.inkwellinspirations.com


Debra
1/1/2012 06:37:58 am

I loved this Barb. Right down to the tv trays which were a permanent fixture in our home. My gosh. So I'm here to share a secret. In our house we used to make our own dip to have with chips. Of course this will shock some of you. But food used to be pretty basic. You made everything from scratch and when processed foods came along they were a big deal. Like spray cheese.

So homemade dip was sour cream with ketchup and pickle relish. I was probably in middle school when French onion dip became so cool to buy.

All this to say you really got me thinking. I was surrounded by adults growing up and Guy Lombardo was always on. I remember when Dick Clark was TOO Young to be on. So there.

Even our crazy dysfunctional auld Lang synes should not be forgotten!!

Barbara Early
1/1/2012 07:12:00 am

Debra--spray cheese was such a corny food trend. You have to be of a certain age to even know what it is.

I still make a lot of my food, including dips, from scratch--but due to a food intolerance to onion and garlic. (They're in everything, it seems!) I miss being able to buy the French Onion dip ready made. It was quite good. But yeah, I definitely don't recall it from childhood. Especially since the milkman would have brought it. And yes, we had a milkman.

Anita Mae
1/3/2012 02:09:18 am

When I lived at home, we never stayed up for New Year's Eve, nor were we exposed to spray cheese or TV trays.

Upon marriage, tv trays were quite handy and we attended many New Year's Eve parties in the mess. I even crashed one once when I showed up a few mins before midnight in my jeans as I'd brought them to work on my evening shift and stopped at the mess as soon as shift exchange was over. Talk about people in gowns turning their noses up at me! But I was in time for Auld Lang Syne and the kissing. :D

In the early years of our marriage, the French Onion dip was our weapon of choice. As the kids came along, we chose to use the money for bigger gifts for them and stopped buying things like chips and dip. I bought a container of the French Onion dip a couple years ago, but it wasn't as we remembered. It seems so watery compared to the creamy, thick glob of yesteryear. So now we make our own. It's so simple:

1/2 cup whipped dressing (Miracle Whip)
1/2 cup sour cream

Actually, it's equal amounts of both so you can make whatever size of container you want.

For taste, 2-3 tsps of dried, chopped garlic, onions, etc, or a commercial seasoning like:
Johnny's Garlic Spread & Seasoning found in Costco stores.

If you mix it a couple hours ahead of time and let it sit in a covered container in the fridge, the flavours meld together in a spread reminiscent of the French Onion dip we used to enjoy years ago.

Jenna Victoria link
1/2/2012 12:36:50 am

What great memories of your grand-dad. My Dad's father died when he was young, so I never knew him. My Mom's Dad died when I was very small, so I barely recall him either but I do remember that he was instrumental in the creation of Hostess Twinkies :-) and Snowballs --and the cupcakes with the thick chocolate icing and white wavy stripe of frosting. He was a 100% company man, though, and allowed others to get full credit. My parents would often talk about the trays of baked goods he would bring home for them to "test". That's where I must have gotten my love of sweets from!

Barbara Early
1/2/2012 02:01:23 am

While I'm sorry you didn't get to know your grandfathers, that's quite a heritage, Jenna! Everyone knows what a Twinkie is. (I loved the chocolate cupcakes with the icing. They were a childhood favorite of mine.)

Anita Mae
1/3/2012 02:12:31 am

I'm trying to figure out if he really did work for the company or it's just your way of explaining him. It could go either way - and both ways are giving me a sweet craving. Ha!

debH
1/2/2012 09:30:22 am

well, i'm too young to remember Guy Lombardo, old enough to remember the spray cheese. New Year's Eve lost it's luster the year i was able to stay up past midnight whenever i chose to do so. (sometime in my teens). the first few years of New Years had me fast asleep in front of the TV by the time the stroke of midnight occurred though... i think i was first awake for the ball drop around age eight *heh*
thanks for such a neat peek into your family history. it seems many of our Grandpas were cut of the same cloth. a reflection of our collective communities i suppose.

pdf version should i be so blessed to win a copy.

Barbara Early
1/2/2012 02:49:01 pm

I remember being excited to stay up late. Now I'm more excited when I get to sleep in late. Pity, isn't it.

Thanks for stopping by, Deb.

Anita Mae.
1/3/2012 02:16:49 am

I always thought you were a rebel, Deb... "New Year's Eve lost it's luster the year i was able to stay up past midnight whenever i chose to do so." LOL

Because I'd been to NYC and Times Square in June, this was the first year I knew which building the ball drop occurred. Still, there were so many lights, I had to look at my photos and compare them to the TV to get my bearings. I felt so... involved this year. :)

Barbara Early
1/4/2012 12:10:44 pm

I'm on the other side of the state from the ball drop. When I was younger, I often thought about taking the train in for it--and then I read about the conditions the people in Times Square face. Mainly lack of rest rooms. People literally dehydrate themselves so they can spend hours there--and if they do have to leave, they're not allowed back in. Watching it on television is fine, thank you. And this year, I didn't even stay up to do that.

karenk
1/4/2012 01:52:16 am

this sounds like a great read...thanks for the opportunity to do just that :)

Barbara Early
1/4/2012 12:01:06 pm

Thanks, Karen. It seems a tad odd to talk about a Christmas novella in January, but maybe since many celebrate the arrival of the wise men in January, maybe it's not so strange...

Anita Mae
1/8/2012 10:25:03 am

Actually, we still haven't had our Christmas yet. The gifts are still beneath the tree. The turkey still in the freezer. We didn't intend it to be this way, but our 20 yr old daughter volunteered to work in an orphanage in Vietnam over the Christmas season as a relief worker and asked us not to open the gifts until she got home.

We picked her up at the airport on Jan 1st and had a surprise for her... since we waited for her, we may as well wait for her 32 yr old daughter coming on the 10th. She said, "What? No way." Uh huh. We don't pick no favourites here.

16 yr old Nick says it doesn't feel like Christmas anymore because he's back in school. I'm sure once he gets off that bus and gets into the action, he'll forget all about school. LOL

misskallie2000
1/4/2012 11:29:07 am

My Mom's dad died when she was 16 and my Dad's when I was 9 but don't remember New Year's eve with grandparents. I do remember New Year's Eve at home where we had popcorn and ate Grannie Smith apples and candy canes which were so good. We played games and stayed up till 1200 but don't remember who was on TV. lol Guess my memory isn't what it used to be.

I love Cozy Mysteries and can't wait to read yours Barbara.

Barbara Early
1/4/2012 12:04:41 pm

Miss Kallie--Those sound like much healthier treats than we celebrated with this year. I made Oreo truffles for New Years. They were good, but the ones that didn't get consumed before I started counting calories again on the first have to go.

Nice to meet a fellow cozy lover!

Karen link
1/4/2012 02:54:33 pm

would LOVE to read your book

Barbara Early
1/7/2012 01:07:58 am

Thanks, Karen. I'm sure when Anita puts the names in her handy-dandy automatic randomizer, she may just let you blow on the top for luck. ;)

Is that allowed, Anita?

Anita Mae
1/8/2012 10:29:41 am

First off, Barb... I give each name a number and put the numbers in the 'handy-dandy automatic randomizer'. It doesn't like letters. LOL

You're asking me if you're allowed to blow on the top for luck? Not sure it'll do any good, but blow away. :D

Kendra LaLonde
1/5/2012 03:09:34 am

I am a 27-year-old lover of books. I've been reading since the age of 3 or 4, and I have found solice in books. Good, CHRISTIAN ficition is hard to come by - particularl in ENGLISH - where I presently live. If I win this book - and that's a big IF - then I would, of course, share it with my mom. We both like suspenseful christian fiction, and - although it's hard to come by ENGLISH, CHRISTIAN fiction in Quebec, we love reading them. We're forever reading the same books over and over again because of a lack.

Anyway........

Barbara Early
1/7/2012 01:16:31 am

I started to reply to this one, and then the reply disappeared. So if it reappears, we'll know why.

But I was just thinking, Kendra, how nice it must be to have the shared interest of reading with your mom. Not only do you have the memories of what you've read, but the memories of a pleasant chat about the books you read with someone you care about. Cherish that--that's a great thing.

Anita Mae
1/8/2012 10:43:13 am

Hey Kendra, welcome to the site. I used to live in Casselman, halfway between Ottawa and Montreal. I also spent time in Cantley, PQ (thru Hull) visiting my cousin. I can really understand what you mean about finding English Christian books in Quebec. We even had problems asking directions in English at a gas station. But that's another story.

I know several people who share books in their family. We are big Harlequin Love Inspired readers in our family and the books are shared between me, my hubby, and daughter.

There are many free books online, too. Several companies like Amazon and Nook have apps that work with your computer, eReaders and iphone/ iTouches, etc. Watch facebook or twitter or go to the websites that list free books and just download. I have over 40 free books on my phone waiting to read.
There are so many, that I've started selecting on the genres I really, really like. :)

I'm so glad you found us. :)

Rebecca
1/6/2012 05:08:42 am

I loved your descriptions of New Years and your grandfather. I remember many of the same things - from the special seat and the distain for doctors. So many memories!
I'd love to read your holiday novella too. It sounds wonderful!
Thanks for the opportunity!

Barbara Early
1/7/2012 01:26:00 am

Rebecca--

It seems like so many of us have memories of such a grandfather. I often wondered how he would have managed the political correctness of the 90s. But my grandmother is still with us, outliving him by almost 30 years.

And thanks for your kind comments about my holiday novella.


Anita Mae
1/9/2012 09:29:28 am

Thanks for sharing your New Year's Eve memories with us, Barb. I'm sure glad there are people out there who don't go bonkers for the occasion. :)

With the help of random.org, I've chosen a winner of Barb's Gold, Frankincense and Murder novella.

And the winner is... Jenna Victoria!

Congrats, Jenna. Barb will be in contact with you concerning your postal information.

Thanks to everyone for dropping by. We have another giveaway started already. Cara C. Putman is talking about her grandpa's hand crafted furniture and giving away a copy of Cherry Blossom Capers.


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