Kissing Some Grits - Technorati and Bee's Style!

Empress Bee has a post up today about Technorati, authority and rankings. I know, over the past 3-4 weeks, we've seen a few things that are all ways to increase our authority and rankings but hey, this is something everyone does strive to keep growing - not decreasing -and as such it's important that we try to follow through here.

I promised Bee that I would insert her post into mine for today. The more blogs that are added to this post, the more it works to help keep ratings, rankings, authority growing a little more -sometimes a LOT more, really. So, in conjunction with that theory in mind, how's about everyone here just adding your blog's url to the list and posting the whole thing for the world to see.

It's easy to do - first, just go and copy this message below from Bee over to a new post of your very own. Then add a few introductory lines at the top - or if you want - just copy over what I have written right along with Bee's text and listing of blogger's names/urls. Then, simply hit "Publish." And, presto-magic, you've added to a way that will help build authority and rankings, etc., for yourself along with all of us. The more this gets posted, the more names that get added, the higher the rankings will rise. So, let's all do this little thing and each of us give ourselves and lots and lots of others a little boost upward in those old rankings. OKAY now? While you're at it, stop by Bee's place and say a little "howdy" to her too!

Here's Bee's post:

Technorati can kiss my grits!

View blog authority

What is UP with this stuff anyway? I mean a little over a month and a half ago i was almost to 500 and now I am at nearly 200? I understand the links fall off after they are six months old. I really do, but dang! That's a big drop. I am not the only one seeing this either. I know a few that are rising, but most are plummeting. Let's do this again, okay?

Down River Drivel
Bee's New Blog
"And miles to go before we sleep..."
Tor Aa Mirror
In My Mother's Name
A Links Blog
A Little Piece of Me
Another Day In Paradise
Autofocused
Beautiful British Columbia
Chicken's Life
Comedy Plus
Critique My Blog
Dis' Book Blog
Eleanorblog
Empress Bee (of the high sea)
fairyelora
I should be cleaning
I Was Born 2 Cree8
It's a Blog eat Blog World - Manic Monday
Just Me...
MAX
Meloncutter
My # 2 Blog
Nuttin' But Pimp
scribbit
Small and Big
The Buzz Queen
The Mis-Adventures Of Captain Poopy
The Seaside Stitcher
The Sneeze
Thermal
Tinkerbell
Tricia's Musings (Do Follow Blogroll)
Untwisted Vortex
Us Danes And Our Family
DoshDosh
Garry Conn .com - Successful Blogging
John Chow Dot Com
Making Money Free Online with Courtney
One Man's Goal
Write To Right
ZacJohnson.com
Contest Blogger
An Island Review
callieannbrat
asara
the curmudgeon
echoes of grace
lala
linda
lois grabowski
mags
mo mo
the goat rodeo
claire
sarge charlie
crazy working mom
alelamalu
manx mnews
captain picard's journal
mimi writes
mimi's dating profile
fathairybastard
frannycakes
http://www.latitude49.blogspot.com

Once again, if you want to be added, leave me a comment and I will add your link. Please consider doing this yourself too.

Thanks... bee

Now go in on your post and add y our name, your url to the list and watch it all grow! Easy as pie and lots and lots of fun without bunches of hard work, don't 'cha know?

Help Wanted NOW

Remember the post I made the other day about the blogger - Sunshine13 - who is having a contest at her place and I asked everyone to go visit her blog, make sure you tell her that I sent you there, etc., etc.

Well so far, I've seen lots of folks who have visited her site but none who said that "JENI SENT ME HERE!"

I need you to click you little finger along and pop in to Sonia Sunshine's blog and tell her that - JENI SENT ME!

Here's the rest of the instructions - like where to go to do this for me! Okay? Come on guys, I wanna win a prize! And as Sonia says - this is it, last chance!

Last Chance!

Tonight at midnight Central is the last chance to get all the pimpin, whorin, blog lovin done on the previous post. You have today to come out on top in the contest, there are definitely some front runners and you should be one of them!!

Send those readers TO THE POST TO COMMENT!

A winner will be declared tomorrow!

FYI: this post has also been added to Sk*rt! Go vote you love it here, because you're clicking finger is so bored and all...

Celebration Central

First, thank you, thank you to all of you who sent me special greeting on the occasion of my big, fat old birthday today. Yep - as of 6:00 a.m. this morning, it was official that I am now a big, fat old 63 years on the face of this planet.

It's been a great weekend and "holiday" today too for me (Columbus Day weekend for those of you who evidently don't get the day off).

This evening, my daughter Mandy had to work but her brother, her older sister, my 10-year-old grandson - Prince Alex -my ex-husband and I all went over to the restaurant where Mandy works - Daniel's in Clearfield, PA - and had some really excellent meals! Each of us had something different - Mandy recommended the Beef Wellington to her dad but he isn't all that adventurous when it comes to food so he passed on that but I took her up on the idea and it was really delicious. It was served on a bed of rice, surrounded by a vegetable mix of peas, corn and little bits of cauliflower florets which made for a very nice presentation along with some great taste too. I also had a cup of their French Onion soup - one of my all-time favorites - and it was excellent. Clate had orange roughy with the rice/vegetable mix; Dad ordered the filet mignon; Prince Alex had baked salmon and Carrie had pasta alfredo with mushroom. For dessert, Carrie and I had fried ice cream, Dad had lemon creme pie as did Alex. Clate had to leave a little earlier than us, skipped the dessert, as he had to get ready to go back to work tonight - has to be in Harrisburg by 2:30 a.m. to start his weekly runs, back and forth from Hagerstown, MD to someplace in Tennessee.

One thing I have to say here - and this is something I mentioned to Carrie tonight while her Dad and Clate slipped outside for a smoke - that I am so glad that I really didn't try to sow a lot of seeds of bitterness in her and her siblings pertaining to Dad and our divorce and all that junk. Oh, there were times over the years when I would get angry at Dad for some things he did but I tried to explain to the kids when those things happened that it was something between their Dad and me and not something for them to think it warranted their developing a bad attitude overall, towards him. There were times though that he did do things that hurt the kids very much - for sure - but I had to explain to them over and over it was because he was sick, had an addiction that often affected his actions towards not just me, but them and his mother, his brothers and sisters too -and for them to try to understand that aspect about him. Even though at times, I know it was a difficult pill for them to swallow - me trying to tell them his actions may not have been the nicest, but that still didn't mean that he didn't deserve their love, their respect because underneath the veneer he had with the drinking, he still did love them very much.

And thankfully, 14 years ago this past September, he finally managed to get help at a de-tox center and this time - after four earlier attempts at sobriety, it took! The change in him towards the kids was evident within two months after he stopped drinking and it has improved greatly over the years too. This weekend, watching him interact with little Miss Maya -seeing the love and adoration shining in his eyes as he would play with her, talk to her and her response to him too was really overwhelming. So if you think miracles don't or can't happen, let me tell you, they can!

One more full day of Dad's visit here left to go and I know, come Wednesday morning when we take him over to the airport, it's going to be difficult for Mandy to say goodbye to him. We haven't quite decided as yet if we're going to have one more get-together tomorrow evening before he leaves or if it will just be a quieter supper here with Mandy and Bill, the kids and me. Carrie wants us to come down to her place but the timing for that would be difficult with Maya and her pre-school hours and such so looks for now like we will just be playing it all by ear I guess.

I even kind of hate to see him leave - mainly because his presence here with Miss Maya and also little Kurtis -seeing it so evident how much he loves these little ones and also, Prince Alex - I wish he did live closer and could be more a part of their lives. He's changed enough that he and I can be in the same room, joke with each other, even poke fun at the other's quirks too and not feel offended by them.

I know way too many instances of divorce where the kids turn completely on one parent, where the husband and wife can't abide the other at all, even for five minutes of civility and I find that to be a really sad situation for all concerned. He's far from being perfect, neither am I but we both recognize many of the things we did back then and the anger, pain and hurt they caused at that time but we also know there is no need for that type of dialogue and action-reaction to continue now too.

It was something that didn't come about overnight though - took a lot of work on the part of both of us to come to this stage in our lives, with respect to a relationship we once had.

For me, the high point was last year when he was here for a full week and on his last day, he had come down to the house to do up his laundry before returning to Nevada and he told me he wanted to talk to me. He said it in his gruffest voice too and all I could think of then was "Oh Lord. What the heck have I done now."

But when he told me he wanted to thank me for the job I'd done raising our children - alone - and he realized it hadn't been easy at all for me or for the kids, but he was so proud of how each of them has turned out, so happy and excited over the three grandchildren we share, he just felt he owed it to me to say thank you, job well done.

And I thought about that, long and hard, at the time and it's true he wasn't around to help when times were really tough with the kids - discipline, trying to keep them in line, in school, all those type of things - and I often very hard on the kids, not the "cookies, cream, sweetness" type parent they probably would have wanted -and although they didn't want to admit it then, but they'll freely state now that it was the best thing for them then that I was that way. They aren't perfect but they're the closest thing to that where I could possible get them under the circumstances.

Not only is he very proud of each one of them today - but so am I. And a short visit from him back into their lives gives both of us a chance to reinforce the love we both have for them - then and now and always.

I know I feel this way about them, about the relationship I have with our children and I think I can safely say that he feels exactly the same way about them too.

So, to Carrie, Clate and Mandy - the best three kids two slightly skewed individuals could possibly have produced - love always and know how proud both of us are of you three.

And to Prince Alex, Princess Maya and the Duke - Kurtis - for sure, Poppy and Grammy J think you are just the very best grandkids ever - beats sliced bread by a mile, ya know!

There's nothing, absolutely nothing, better than having grandchildren to begin with and when they are as beautiful, sweet, smart, loveable and just plain great as you three are, you are, absolutely, without a doubt, the very best!

Grammy J said that so you know it has to be the truth and nothing but the truth too!

Sunday Night Special

Just taking a couple of minutes tonight to finish up a few things I didn't have time to do yesterday and keep folks abreast of the rest of the weekend stuff.

Yesterday, I mentioned in my hurried post that my friend, Maddie, at Whitterer-Autism.blogspot.com had given me the Schmoozer Award but I was in my normal frenzied state when trying to get ready to go someplace (running late, ya know) and I didn't have time then to put it on my sidebar.

Well, tonight I got that job done, taken care of, all set up!

For anyone who isn't aware of this prestigious award, you've evidently been hiding under a rock someplace because you can see exactly what schmoozing is simply by watching the political debates, seeing each candidate try to sell him/herself to the voters. Well, that's one definition of schmozzing anyway.

In the blogging arena, here's what is involved in schmoozing -slightly like the actions of our dearly esteemed politicians, but well, not quite the same at the same time.

“Good schmoozers effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship.”

And you all know too that one of the standard rules of blogging involve paying things forward too - don't 'cha? I get to pass this award on to five other deserving bloggers now - folks who have really nifty, friendly blogs, tell a good story here and there (or a joke) or make some worthwhile statements or comments to help create a friendly, smooth atmosphere here in blogger land for all the rest of us.

So, would the following bloggers now please come forward and accept your well-deserved award for schmoozing excellence:

Debo Blue - at A Blue State of Mind - because Debo always tries her level best to provide some deep insights into various things - talking about friends and family and her religious convictions in such a manner that you just KNOW, here's a lady from the get-go, who walks the walk as well as she talks the talk.

David McMahon at Authorblog - This writer-renowned photographer is a blogger extra-ordinaire! Really and truly he is! He visits what has to seem like a kazillion blogs every day, takes the time to help budding writers and/or bloggers, comments with words of wisdom as well as humor -a big lover of puns, he is too -and really goes out of his way to be a friend to everyone. If you don't believe me, just go check out his blog and you'll see for yourself. Great photos, really interesting short takes on topics of everything from soup to nuts.

Pat and her Random Thoughts at MinnesotaBlue Here's a lady who found me! And she found me through her granddaughter's blog and some comments I had left there. She looked up my e-mail address and wrote to me about having appreciated some things I had said but also to tell me she was having difficulty leaving comments on my blog. Well, as you know, I'm not very techno-savvy so I have no clue as to what causes the issues I have, that others have leaving comments but I just made a deal with her - anytime she wanted to comment and blogger or my blog (whatever) wouldn't allow her to do so, just send me an e-mail and I'd be sure to insert her comments here, myself. She's pretty new to the blog scene but she's learning and she posts some pretty provocative things too here and there - straight-shooter, that's Pat in her posts for sure.

Magnetbabe at Fieldlines - This is the young lady who through her blog and my comments there, brought her grandmother - Minnesota Blue - and I together in blogging! She's a rocket scientist! No, not quite that - she's actually a physicist but when you hear someone has a job like that, don't you automatically tend to think that person has to be a "rocket scientist" in the sense of having extraordinary learning abilities? Well, I do anyway! But aside from that, she -like her grandmother - is also a straighter shooter, right from the hip, and not only has some really interesting posts on her blog, she's a true cat lover from the get-go -rescues feral cats! But the bottom line is she's just a very nice young lady not afraid to step forward and state her opinions.

Stine at Mother's Home - Rounding out my list and doing a little more international diplomacy maybe, I think this working mother (You'll have to go read her blog to learn just how many children she has) really knocks herself out to be a good and friendly blogging representative! She currently on a mission to earn some big bucks through sponsored postings but when you read her posts, even the pay-per-posts, you'll see her wisdom and wit coming through loud and clear! She's also a blogger willing to try to do things that increase not only her own authority and rankings in the blog community, but to do things that will help all the rest of us to do likewise.

So there you have 'em folks - my nominations to get the lovely Schmoozer Award.

And, if any one is wondering why the two awards I have -shown together on my side bar - are of two different sizes - I'd like to know why that is too! Haven't figured out how things like that happen much less how to correct them as yet. Maybe another day I'll learn what procedure would correct those little things to make them all correctly sized for proper appearance on my sidebar.

Now, since it was a big day here at this house - I cooked a big dinner for the whole family - well, almost the whole family that is - the stepgranddaughter has been absent this weekend, spending it with her mother and the older grandson, Alexander, was with his dad after his pee-wee football game today (which his team won - woo-woo, Alex) because today is his Dad's birthday. And my kids, the ex-husband, the other grandkids and I had a very nice dinner after which the ex even thanked me for a "really good meal" (Actually he said something to the effect of my having fed him some really good "grease" but knowing his mannerisms, I took that as a supreme compliment, coming from him!) The older daughter also brought something along too for dessert - an ice cream cake roll for someone's birthday. Gee, wonder who that could be?

Yep - for an older me now. As of now, as I write this, I am now officially another year older! Technically not quite yet as I didn't enter into the world until about 6 a.m. but who's gonna quibble over a couple of hours anyway? I'm still stuffed from dinner and all that good, really yummy ice cream cake and the laughs, the fun the kids, grandkids and the ex had today picking on each other and especially, listening to Maya sing "Happy Birthday" after the rest of the family had sung it over the ice cream cake! One of those events where we really should have had the video camera out and running ya know, to catch her musical abilities all on tape and for posterity!

Now, since I'm so much older -suddenly -I feel really tired, in need of some good restful sleep. Gotta do whatever is necessary at my senior status to keep up the energy levels ya see!

Nite now.

And Now, Straight From the Oval Office - More Bushism!

Ready for the week ahead? You may think you are but really, you're not until you read the Bushisms for the coming week. As usual, unedited, unadulterated, raw quotes from the one and only, DUBYA.

Monday, October 8, 2007

"One year ago today, the time for excuse-making has come to an end."
---Washington, D.C>; January 8, 2003

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

"You're free. And freedom is beautiful. And, you know, it'll take time to restore chaos and order--order out of chaos. But we will."
---Washington, D.C.; April 13, 2003

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

"I was going to say he's a piece of work, but that might not translate too well. Is that all right, if I call you a piece of work?"
---To Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg; Washington, D.C.; June 20, 2005

Thursday, October 11, 2007

"God loves you, and I love you. And you can count on both of us as a powerful message that people who wonder about their future can hear."
---Los Angeles, California; March 3, 2004

Friday, October 12, 2007

"The budget caps were busted, mightily so. And we are reviewing with people like Judd Gregg from New Hampshire and others some budgetary reform measures that will reinstate--you know, possibly reinstate budgetary discipline. But the caps no longer--the caps, I guess they're there. But they didn't mean much."
---Washington, D.C.; February 5, 2001

Saturday and Sunday, October 13/14, 2007

"I think we are welcomed. But it was not a peaceful welcome."
---On the reception of American forces in Iraq; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; December 12, 2005

Wow! Some really powerful stuff in there folks. I had no idea that DUBYA loves me! Did you know that? Man, is that incredible news -now, what do I do with it?

High and Dry

Ah, Happy Sunday to everyone! And, a beautiful day it is indeed -at least here in a very bright and sunny central Pennsylvania. Also, a very warm day too, I have to say.

It's been a really delightful weekend thus far. My visit yesterday at my cousin's home down in Indiana was terrific. Her mother and my grandfather were brother and sister. He was next to the oldest in a family of 12 children and as such, was born in Sweden. He came here when he was 7 years old along with his older brother, two younger brothers and a sister. The youngest of the children was just a baby at the time my great-grandmother and the five children came over here. My great-grandfather had come to America the year before, found work in the coal mines and saved up enough to send for his family. That was in 1881.

My cousin Arline's mother was the baby of those 12 children, born in 1895 in the little coal town of Peale -which is the subject of the website listed in my sidebar -"Peale - a Ghost Coal Mining Town." About a year or two after she was born, the family migrated about 1 1/2 miles up the road from Peale to the little village where I live today - also where I was born too. The house my great-grandparents built sits on the side of the hill just up and across the street from my home which my grandparents built in 1903.

Out of the 39 grandchildren my great-grandparents had, only six are still living today. There is one cousin who lives in Michigan with her daughter -her father was the baby of the five who came over from Sweden - and then there is Arline and her four brothers. Three of her brothers were able to be at her house yesterday - the "missing" brother lives out in Las Vegas and just didn't feel up to the trip back east for this get-together. But yesterday was Arline's one brother's birthday - his 79th - and on the 24th, it will be her youngest brother's 70th birthday. The middle brother present -his oldest son drove him and his wife over from the Cleveland area - and it was his son's 49th birthday yesterday. So it was a bit of a mini-reunion as well as a nice little celebration of three birthday too.

I have to tell you this - Arline's mother, my great aunt Elin - was a gem! Short, heavy-set and always seemed to have a big, wide smile on her face as soon as she saw any family member heading her way. I remember when I was a kid, my Mom, grandparents and I would often go down to Monroeville, PA to visit at my oldest uncle's home and Indiana was about 30-35 miles from Monroeville - right on our route. So, we always stopped at Aunt Elin's house when we went to my uncle's place. Anytime we popped in on Aunt Elin and her husband, within five minutes of our arrival, she was out in the kitchen and had a pot of coffee started on the stove. Then began the raiding of the refrigerator from which she would pull container after container of foods out, begin heating them, slicing meats, you name it and within a half-hour's time, she would have the table set, calling us to come and eat and the amount of food on the table was like a feast! Always lots of home-baked Swedish breads, coffee cake, regular cake or pie too. I still marvel today at how much storage space she had in her refrigerator to be able to pull together the meals she did and in such a short period of time too. And all the while, she was back and forth from the kitchen to the living room, keeping up with the ongoing conversation there. Truly, she was one very amazing lady!

Her daughter Arline and Arline's daughter Sandy, are like replicas of Aunt Elin. Both are excellent cooks. Yesterday, she had a buffet set up on two large tables in her two-car garage with breaded baked chicken tenders done to absolute golden perfection, a very large serving platter of roast beef that was so juicy, tender and flavorful, I could have just camped at that plate and polished of nothing but roast beef! There were boiled potatoes served with butter and parsley, stuffed cabbage rolls, baked limas and northern beans, a casserole of carrots in a cheesy sauce that was excellent, pasta salad, jello salad (three layers of jello in between layers of whipped cream), a scrumptious pasta salad too. Then she also had homemade Swedish rye bread, rolls of several varieties, three platters of several types of cookies (including some bar cookies with various fruit filling, four different kinds of pies. I had made a Swedish family favorite called Panakaka and took some blackberries my son had picked that I'd frozen to serve with the panakaka and Arline had also made a pan of this baked custard too. She laughed when she saw I'd brought that along as she could tell on looking at it that we both use the same recipe for that dish! Needless to say, I was stuffed to the gills - so much so that this morning I was still feeling full from the meal of the day yesterday! Such good food, you just can't imagine unless you'd be there to see and taste it yourself.

Listening to Arline's brothers joke and tease back and forth though was really a treat. I told my kids it was like giving me a view into the future when my kids -hopefully -reach the ages of Arline and her brothers and start picking on each other, much the same way that they do today. Such a great way to spend a beautiful day, ya know!

Yesterday, my ex-husband arrived in town for a five day visit with the kids and grandkids. His flight was due in to State College at 4:38 but unfortunately, there had been a three-hour delay in takeoff from Las Vegas -which of course Mandy didn't know about until she got to the airport to pick him up. So there she was with the two little ones and needed to do something that might prove somewhat entertaining to herself and the kids while she waited. She decided to take them and go to the Target store nearby. She said later Maya about drove her bonkers wanting to see this, that, some other thing, etc., that she was spying as they moved through the store. When they finally went back to the airport to pick her dad up, she said as soon as Maya saw Grandpa coming through the airport to them, she took one look at him and called out "Poppy!" She hasn't seen him since his last visit here a year ago this past June!

Because of Poppy's late arriving flight, when I got back from Indiana, Mandy, the kids and her dad has just arrived home about a half hour ahead of me. Needless to say, Grandpa -or "Poppy" as Maya calls him - was quite excited, very happy, watching his baby girl showing off all the things she's learned since he last saw her -and believe me, there's a lot there for her to show off to him now!

This morning, Mandy decided to give Maya another shot at the potty training thing. She decided to put "big girl unnywears" on her. Ok, fine and dandy. That is until Maya decided to take a seat in my computer chair and Mandy realized she was sitting there with a somewhat confused and dazed look on her face, very quiet too. "Maya!" she called to her, "Did you pee-pee on Gram's chair?" Of course, she answers "All done, all done." to most any question so it was no surprise to hear her say that. Mandy went to check on her and sure enough - she'd been really nice, kind, sweet and very generous and there the entire seat of the chair was soaking wet.

That was about 10:30 this morning. We wiped off the chair cushion, then tried to scrub it down a bit too and it's now 4:30 in the afternoon, I have a towel folded up to sit on her and still, my behind is not quite completely "high and dry" from the event!

Kids, little kids especially - gotta love 'em don't 'cha now?

Hope you all are having a wonderful day, enjoying the weekend, football games, family, fall sunshine and also, that you're also higher and dryer than I am at the moment anyway.

And, here's a "do yay" for ya too! Penn State finally was victorious yesterday! Oh, yes! That is most certainly, in Maya's words, a very big "DO YAY!" WE ARE! PENN STATE! GO STATE!

Tight Schedule

Back in the early 80's, I worked as a waitress at a local truckstop. There was one particular trucker who came in at least twice a week on his runs from his home in Indiana to New York and every time he came in our place, when you took his order, he would always tell us to tell the cook to hurry it up cause he was on a "tight schedule." However, once he got his food and ate, he would inevitably sit for several hours, drinking coffee, talking and visiting with other drivers as well as some locals he'd come to know. Thus, one of the other waitresses and I gave him the nickname of "Tight schedule."

However, this morning - actually all day today - I really am on a somewhat tight schedule.

I've got to get myself ready to drive to Indiana, PA this morning for a smallish family get-together at the home of one of my Mom's cousins. This lady hit the big 80 back in May and trust me when I tell you this, the things she does, the way she operates, you'd sure as heck never know she has that many years under her belt. Three of her brothers will also be there, as well as her four children and their families and another cousin of ours from up in Jamestown, NY is coming down for the occasion too. So it should be a very nice mini-family reunion for all of us. I made a traditional Swedish dish - well it is for our extended family that type of food anyway -to take down there with me. Had me up till 2:30 this morning till it finished baking. It's just a form of a baked custard called "Panakaka" and usually is served with Swedish lingonberries. However, I don't have any of them but I do have some blackberries in the freezer my son-in-law picked this summer that I can take with me to serve with this dish. Just a little reminder of the type of food we all grew up on ya see!

Then, this afternoon - while I am away - Mandy, Bill and the two little ones have to venture over to State College to the airport there and pick up Mandy's dad who is flying in today from Las Vegas for a five day visit. He's really excited about his visit this year as the last time he was here, Kurtis was only about 6 weeks old and he's not very good with tiny babies. At that time too, Maya's vocabulary only consisted of about 30 words and now she often forms sentences, questions, responds to our questions now with full sentences from time to time as well. So he's really going to be seeing a whole lot of changes in both those kids, for sure. Tomorrow, we're supposed to be going to the older daughter's place so we can all attend the older grandson's pee-wee league football game too. All in all, should be a very interesting time for everyone concerned. Yes, this is my ex-husband and believe it or not, there are no ill-feelings between us now. We can actually sit and converse for maybe 10 to 15 minutes at a clip now without wanting to rip the other a new one, if ya know what I mean there.

So, since I'm really pressed for time this morning in visiting blogs and commenting, I do want to pass something on to all of you - my news and recommendations too for the day.

First off, my blogger buddy, Maddie -out in sunny California -has given me another award. She says she thinks I deserve to receive the Schmoozer Award and I really do appreciate her vote of confidence in my abilities with respect to that particular talent. I don't have time this morning to add it to my sidebar and to pass this on to other well-deserving bloggers but when I get home this evening, I should put that up on my priority "to do" list. Be sure to stop by Maddie's blog and read her most recent post on events in her household with her two very challenging and entertaining young sons and life in the fast lane of autism.

And, the other thing I saw first off this morning as I tried to make some rounds to visit favorite blogs is a post - first one in a long, long time - from Mike Cook, a blogger from up in northeastern Canada way. If you've never read any of his previous posts on his sight -"A Twist of Humor" that's a good thing to put on your to do list sometime in the near future. But today, make sure to stop by and read his writing for today - an excellent article about how quickly children grow up. It's a really sweet, very sentimental tribute to his son with now and again, just a twist of humor to the piece too. Try it, you'll like it. Trust me on that one!

And now, if I'm going to get myself showered, dressed, the van fueled up, etc., and down to my cousin's place in time for our get-together, I'd best kick things into high gear here.

Ya'll be good to each other; enjoy the beautiful day that's coming our way.

Don't forget to root, root, root for the home team today too all you Nittany Lions out there! Go Penn State! WE ARE! Beat Iowa! YAY, YAY. (Yes, I'm hoping to do lots and lots of the "do yays" today (as Miss Maya would call them.

Catch you all later this evening, I hope!

"Do Yay, Do Yay"

I don't know about you, but for my money, taking a small child to see a doctor has to rank up there on the most undesirable things list. Agreed? And if that child who needs to see the doctor happens to be a four-year-old who is prone to meltdowns upon seeing the nurse or the physician's assistant or the doctor, it just makes it for a much more wearing time, ya know.

Guess who had just such a visit on the agenda today? Yep, me!

Maya initially brought this cold or infection or whatever the heck it is that has infested everyone in the house (except for her Dad) home two days after she started school. Typical, right? Send a kid to school and what do they do? Bring home a cold or some other infection first doggone thing!

Ok, that was a month ago and she promptly passed it off to her brother. Then they ganged up on me, also gave it to their mother and older sister Kate too. So all of us have been either grabbing kleenex constantly to contain the runny nose, wiping watery eyes or, as in my case initially, coughing -very deep, annoying barking coughs too. Well, last week, when Kurtis had a doctor's appointment it was determined he had a sinus infection. When I happened to have a doctor visit last week too, that's pretty much what they said I had as well -and Mandy too. Maya had, or so it appeared, just left the bug lightly pass through her on its way to bigger and better targets.

That apparently backfired this week though as on Monday she started whining, her voice sounding very scratchy, then coughing. By Tuesday night-Wednesday morning, she had Mandy up in the middle of the night with her coughing, barking, sobbing too. Mandy called the doctor that morning and they told her to get a specific brand of children's cough medicine to give her.

Now there's a fight and a half too if you want to see one! It's absolutely amazing how strong a certain four-year-old can get when you approach her with a little eye-dropper thing filled with cough medicine! Generally it takes two very strong -and agile - adults to catch her and then, hold her down in order to get the meds into her and that night/morning was certainly no exception to that rule.

Thursday afternoon, I noticed that Maya looked very flushed -her cheeks were really a very bright pink. I touched her cheek and forehead and to the touch, you could tell she had a fever. So, out came the thermometer -one that you put in her ear -and it registered 102.4 so Grammy here called the doctor. The orders of the day were then to give her children's tylnol along with the cough medicine and see if the fever came down over night. If not, we were to call the doctor this morning and get an appointment to bring her in.

Last night, in the middle of the night, Maya awoke, coughing very hard, gagging - really sounded like she was about to choke. She had Mandy up for over an hour, trying to get meds into her and getting her calmed down again. This morning, although the fever had come down, she sounded really, really scratchy when she tried to talk and the cough was still there, very persistent so Mandy called the doctor and they said to bring her in at 11 a.m.

Now, since Mandy had to work this morning, it was going to be either I would take her to the doctor or her dad would have to do that. Since she usually reacts calmer with me than with her dad in situations like that, I got the nomination.

When we left the house this morning, we reminded Maya to take her own little doctor's kit with her so she could show it to Dr. Mary - who is really the physician's assistant but, well we refer to her as Dr. Mary anyway.

One nice thing now is that Maya has at least calmed enough about a doctor visit that she doesn't start wailing, kicking and screaming as soon as you pull in the parking lot. Nor does she howl in the waiting room now either. She busies herself gathering books or toys in the waiting room till her name is called. That right there is progress for her - big time!

Ok, Kathy the LPN, comes out and calls us to come back. Maya goes willingly until we get to Kathie's station and she spies the thermometer -one of those "insert in the ear" types. We have one like that at home now too and the past couple of days, she's done very well, fairly calmly, about allowing us to take her temperature so I'm thinking maybe, just maybe, she will surprise Kathie and remain calm when she takes her temperature today.

Yeah, it was a nice thought! Although she wasn't near as bad in her behavior as she has been known to be in the past - no one needed ear plugs while Kathie managed to check for a fever.

On back to the examining room we went. Although she started to whimper slightly when we walked in there, I got her to open her doctor kit and show Kathie what she had in there - a stethoscope and a toy blood pressure cuff and ball. Kathie made a big fuss over her having that and they compared notes on Maya's to Kathie's -which of course is the real thing.

Then, after a very short wait, in comes Doctor Mary. She's dealt with Maya for over two years now and has seen her probably at her worst too so she's prepared for what could be quite the confrontation.

Mary wants to start by checking Maya's ears and at first Maya was objecting -not really loud though -but just saying her normal response when she doesn't want to do something, "All done, all done!" But then she pointed to two instruments sitting on the table beside the chair where I was seated and made it clear to Mary that she wanted her to use one of them to check her ears. Fortunately, that's exactly what one of them was meant for so she quietly allowed Mary to look to see if there was any infection there. All clear, was Mary's report to me.

Then she even opened her mouth to let her look back at her throat -even said "Aaaahhh" without being asked too. I was impressed. Wow! Things are very much looking up I foolishly thought to myself. We're gonna be done here and out in record time.

Not quite.

Next on the examination came checking her chest with, of all things, the stethoscope. And at the mere move in her direction by Mary with the stethoscope in hand, she began protesting, loud, louder, then very loudly. Mary and I both tried to get her attention away from that, talking to her, cajoling her and she was still determined no way! Finally, Mary said to look, she was going to check Grammy's chest, then her back too - to listen to make sure everything was ok. Maya watched, listened then right back to the protests again.

She got down on the floor on all fours and crawled around behind the examining table, thinking she could escape only to find her way blocked there by my chair and me. Ok, she turned back around and headed back to the foot of the examining table and stood up, watching as Mary and I chatted back and forth a bit.

Finally, Maya looked up at us and said "Do yay? Do Yay?" I glanced and Mary, shrugging my shoulders and told her I had narry a clue as to what she was trying to tell us. Finally, a bit exasperated with us both, Maya repeated these two words again, clapping her hands together as she said that and it dawned on me what she was trying to get across to us.

If she allowed Mary to check her chest, were we then going to applaud her and say "Yay, Yay!" What she was actually saying to us was "Will you DO YAY, YAY?" Oh my yes, baby, lots and lots of "do yays" for sure.

Mary hurried and got the stethoscope in position, did her thing and we were done.

As we were leaving the examining room, Mary was standing just outside the door, finishing up marking Maya's chart and telling Kathie that we'd discovered a new word today - "Doyay!" And of course, we both explained the whole thing to Kathie and had a good chuckle.

As we were leaving, Mary began to sing "Oh do yay, do ya, do remember me." And I leaned over to her, whispering "I think the correct words are really "Do Lord, Oh Do Lord, oh do remember me" but she laughed and said she much preferred Maya's version.

And you know what? So do I!

Oh yes, lots and lots of "Do yay" going on!

Passion for Fashion?

My little granddaughter is quite the fashion queen. Not yet four years old and she's pretty adept at determining what apparel she wants to wear to school or for special occasions -like church -or just lazing and lolling around the house. She's already heavy duty into playing with Barbie and Bratz dolls, also watching videos of the Bratz girls. She can name each one of her dolls too -knows which character is which. Thanks to a couple who are friends of her Dad's and whose daughter had a fairly extensive collection of Barbie and Bratz dolls, along with lots and lots of items of clothing for those dolls - like three drawers full -that they passed on to Maya, she will play for hours on end, taking clothes off the dolls, selecting another outfit and then, she brings the doll and the outfit to whichever of us happens to be nearby, holding them out to us with instructions to help her dress the doll. She knows what accessories go with each outfit too but she just hasn't quite got the hang of actually putting them on the doll.

I used to have a relatively decent wardrobe - back in the day when I could find things that fit me without too much problem. Translated that simply means when I weighed a lot less than I do today. Back then, when I worked in an office, I had to have dresses, skirts, sweaters, blouses, nice shoes to go with them too. Had to dress the part of a "professional" ya know.

For relaxation though, I always leaned towards jeans and nice knit shirts -or shorts in the summer and tank tops. In the early-to-mid-eighties, I started to take an interest in tee shirts though -particularly ones with some type of message on them. Sure I had a couple that just had the name of a place I'd visited - like Atlantic City or Conneaut Lake Park, or that indicated my preference in certain teams too -most definitely these included some Washington Redskins stuff and no self-respecting resident of central Pennsylvania would ever think of going with out some kind of nice tee shirt that mentioned Penn State University!

Back then though, I found two particular tee shirts that I really liked for the message on them -such as they were. One had a cartoon of a little old lady with her leg lifted up over a hand blow dryer and said simply "Save Electricity!" while the other had no picture, just a saying -"Live long enough to be a problem to your kids!" My real favorite of those two by far and away was the one with instructions to become a problem to one's kids. Yep, in my opinion, turn-about certainly was fair play.

Over the years, my wardrobe requirements have changed. No longer working where I need the "dress-up" type clothes, no longer even going many places for that matter where there is a need to wear good clothes, since the bulk of my time is now spent at home, my attire is almost exclusively shorts, jeans, sweatpants and either a tee shirt or sweatshirt top -depending on the temperature and weather conditions.

I have a few solid color tees and or tank tops but not that many of those. Nowadays, I gravitate almost exclusively towards tees with a decal motif or some astute text on the top. Oh, I still have a couple staple Penn State tees and sweatshirts, sure. That tradition holds true for me.
I also now have a royal blue tee and a bright red one as well with wording on commemorating family reunions I have attended on my Dad's side of the family. Miss Maya also has a red tee that matches mine as well as the one her mother has so we can go out all dressed to advertise, as it were, The Hill Family lineage, don't 'cha know.

I still have one tee left that isn't all holes and rags from my last visit to Conneaut Lake Park too - a place my kids and I always managed to go visit for at least two weekends each summer - time spent with wonderful old truck driver friend of mine whose CB handle was "Old Granddad." And that was really what he seemed to be to my kids as he treated them the same as he did his own grandchildren.

Last year, I treated myself to a new tee shirt -one with "Grumpy" from the seven dwarfs on it that said "Don't annoy me, I'm already Grumpy" simply because I knew my kids would agree that it was really ME!

Now my kids -especially my son -like tee shirts with a message too but generally theirs indicate a preference for a type of music or a specific band or artist. However, back in August while shopping for something for my son for his birthday, I found three tee shirts that I thought he might appreciate primarily because he really does have a good, but a bit goofy at times, sense of humor. One said "I smile constantly because then people think I know what I'm doing" and one of the other two had a drawing of a guy by a gasoline pump that said just "Got gas" -a very appropriate message for him to sport, if you know what I mean.

The third shirt I bought and debated if I should give it to him or not. Eventually, I decided not to pass it on to him because I feared he might actually take the darned thing seriously. Instead, I thought I'd keep it for myself.

The slogan on it? "You are in the presence of GENIUS."

And judging by the reaction I got when I wore it today while on an errand to the grocery store, apparently several others thought it was better suited for me too!

And your thoughts are? Oh come on, feel free to take your best shots at me. I can handle it, no problem.

No comments would have to be construed as a vote that you agree with me, ya see!

Deep Roots!

Several of my regular readers - those familiar with the offer I had about two months ago now to right a monthly column for a local weekly publication - have asked me to share the piece I wrote and submitted to the editor for what should have been my first piece with that paper.

I hesitated to publish it here on my blog because I don't know if by doing this here if it makes this piece then "published" material and if I were to try to submit it elsewhere, if it would affect its "marketability." Kind of sounds a bit high-faluting or arrogant to me to say it that way - like I just KNOW some other market is going to spy it here on my blog and say well we certainly can't use it now cause you blew your opportunity away. But I decided oh, what the heck, let's put it up here anyway. Just for posterity, ya know -okay?

DEEP ROOTS!

Jennifer Hill Ertmer

Autumn’s in the air; just around the corner. It’s a season I love for cool, crisp air, football, and bonfires but especially for the rainbow of colors Mother Nature gives them.

It reminds me of a big old pine tree that used to grow in my side yard. That tree gave great shade, lots of cool breezes and a sturdy trunk with branches shooting off in many directions but spaced just nice for a child to climb.

That tree was cut down probably in the late 1950’s mainly because of its roots –roots that rambled all over the yard; roots that twined around pipes from the house to the septic tank, clogging them up, usually every fall too.

I’m a lot like that tree. I have roots that run hither, thither and yon. Mine –as yours probably do too – run under a great body of water –the Atlantic Ocean. They reach to Scotland and further north, to Sweden. The roots that veer off to Scotland track back 200 years to the early 1800;s but those that go up to the land of the Vikings, are really old – dating back to the early 1600’s.

My roots are firmly placed right here in my house, built by my grandparents in 1903 and where I was born four decades later, raised and have lived most of my life, but they also travel across the road to the big white house on the side of the hill built in the late 1890’s by my great-grandparents.

The tentacles or roots of my tree –like the ones that once grew here in my yard – also extend about two miles down the road from my home to a place now deserted but which once was a very bustling and robust coal mining town – Peale.

And Peale, like me, came into existence in the month of October, in 1884, sixty years before me. It came about when the coal company operating in Lycoming County in a place called McIntyre, like Peale, now a ghost town, moved their employees, lock, stock and barrel up to Peale. My Great-grandparents along with their six young children, were among those folks who got shipped to Peale that weekend 123 years ago this coming October.

Although I’m in the autumn of my life now and this season is a reminder that marks the passing of both my parents, it also still has evidence of my entry into the world on an October morning, with my branch expanding, knotting, and getting gnarled, brittle too. When I look at my granddaughter, who will be four in October, I see a new limb just starting to get a foothold and become a strong branch some day.

We go through all the seasons of the year with spring –regardless of what month you were born as the new beginning; summer –bright, sunny, some thunderstorms here and there but a growing season, like childhood, our teenage years, a young adult and autumn is the waning years of life –but so full of color, joy and beauty again from the paintbrush of our minds as we picture family, friends- a time gone by, like the leaves falling from the trees.

Winter’s coming – sooner or later – but in the autumn, it’s a great time to sit and think about how wide a span and how deep our roots may run.

The editor rejected this piece as he said he really didn't want anything "personal." I suppose we just got our wires crossed and I apparently misunderstood his meaning when he had originally told me to write about whatever just sort of "hits" me in my day-to-day life.

And, this is what happened to just sort of hit me when I was trying to do a little basic introduction of myself to his readers. I have no clue though as to why I can't get the same color on the font the whole way through this doggone piece now though. Go figure, huh?

Ah - The Lovely MEME!

I've been tagged with my pants down

I've been tagged with my pants down byVic Grace at Cariboo Ponderer who was tagged by The Insane Writer. Not too sure why it is called that but a great way to promote other blogs

The Rules of this tag:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. List ten (10) random facts about yourself.
3. Tag eleven people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. These 11 persons would have to tag 12 people
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving them a comment on their blogs.

The Random Facts About Little Ol' Me:

1. I was born in this very house I live in today -63 years ago this month. If you guess the correct date -and time - of my entry into the world, you might just qualify for a wonderful surprise (to be chosen by me and determined at a later date.)

2. I guess you could say I am the epitomy of a "Coal miner's daughter" being the descendant of coal miners back through my mother's paternal grandfather and documented through both my great-grandfather's on my Dad's side and probably a couple generations before that in Scotland too. Not sure -did they have coal miners in Sweden? (ALthough I think my Swedish great-grandfather was in the Army there and before that, a farmer.)

3. I was the only child my second grade teacher ever had in her 40 some years of teaching who brought the Reader's Digest to school and was able to read it too! Yes, I did that! Loved it and National Geographic too from the time I was able to hold a magazine in my hot little hands (and not for the pictures of the naked natives in the National Geographic either. So there!)

4. I was a tomboy when I was a kid -but one who also loved to play with dolls until I was probably 11 or 12 years old.

5. I read the book "Not as a Stranger" when I was 9 years old -read it again when I was about 12-13 and the third time, when I was 17 years old. Amazing how much more I understood of the dialogue by the time I read it at 17. LOL

6. I am the only kid to grow up on this street who hit a car while sled riding on the hill across the road from our house. I am also the only kid who was sled riding that day whose mother didn't come out to make sure it wasn't her child who hit that car too. As I staggered across the road, dragging my mangled sled behind me, down to the front door, my Mom greeted me at the door saying "Oh, was that you that hit that car with the sled?" Gee Ma, thanks for the concern there!

7. I drove my Mom's car up the road past our house -roughly 1/2 mile -turned it around and brought it back and parked it when I was 11 years old. If my grandparents hadn't both still been alive when I did that, I may not have lived to be here to talk about that event - that's how angry my Mom was that I'd done that!

8. In high school, my nick name was "Iron Jaw." Gee, how the heck did my classmates come up with that one for me?

9. I have been divorced for 27 years; raised three children (2 girls and a boy) alone; have 3 biological grandchildren (2 boys and 1 girl) and 3 stepgrandchildren (2 girls and 1 boy). My granddaughter who will be 4 this month is autistic; we think her baby brother who will soon be 18 months may also be autistic. It makes life with two small children very "interesting" -also often very frustrating too - to say the least.

10. According to an article I read online tonight -which my blogger Buddy Bruce had referred to in his blog (go read it here) about people who are introverts, I often appear to people to be very extroverted when in fact I am actually much more of an introvert - my daughter says I am pretty much both. I think any more I am really just an old recluse hunched over the computer, surfing the night and most of the day away on the internet. Which do you think I am?

Now - the rules of this say I am supposed to tag 11 people and each of them is to tag 12 people and on and on, upward bound in the tagged bloggers count. However, I am not a very big fan of MEMES - generally I only do the really easy and silly ones cause I usually can't think of enough weirdness about myself simply because the questions always make more brain cells of mine -which are already in a very limited supply - to whither up and die. So I am not going to tag anyone specifically but if you like this particular MEME and are interested in "stealing" it to use it, please do, with my blessings too! Just remember to say where you stole it and who sent it to me and so on, so forth. Ya'll know what I mean!

Enjoy!

Let The Sunshine In!

Ok, I want some answers and I want 'em now - the truth and nothing but, if you will.

Anyone here ever get "the blues?" (And I don't mean do you really dig Blues music there either.) Anyone here ever get anxious or slightly depressed -or perhaps the BIG D - reeaallly Depressed?

And, if so, what do you do then to counter them?

I get these "lovely" little moods sometimes - and yes, sometimes they are just moods - but at other times, my stomach starts to feel like it's a cross between telling me I'm really hungry and just churning and ready to get highly upset. Sometimes, regardless of what great things are happening around me, I just get that gut churning feeling along with a severe urge to go sit in a corner, drink beer, pull my hair out, one strand at a time, and cry. Sometimes these issues happen and I may have a clue as to what transpired to bring my mood change on. Other times, I have no clue whatsoever.

I do have some meds to be taken when I get really edgy, anxious, shaky and they do help considerably. I have over the past so many years also had prescriptions for various anti-depressants -some worked pretty well; others worked but I didn't like some of the feelings they brought while supposedly helping me to cope.

Now, I'm not advocating this as a replacement for meds that have been prescribed by anyone's physician for a specific problem. Far be it from that. But what I am going to tell you is something I discovered over the past several months that often helps me to redirect my thought patterns at times, gives me comfort in various ways. And that my friends is to do this: BLOG!

I've been playing around with this blog thing for just a little over a year now. I started doing this mainly as a means to play with writing as well as to record memories of my very distant past and record some of the little things that happen here now on a day-to-day basis for not just myself to remember but also, for posterity for my kids and especially perhaps someday for my little Princess, Maya, to read and comprehend then what life was like with her over the time span of my recordings.

In the process though, I started to discover other bloggers and the messages many of them had about their lives, their joys, their pains too. And with that, I started my lovely little "sidebar" of favorite bloggers I like to visit. I also have bookmarks on what appears to be a kazillion other blogsites too that I am still reading periodically but who I have not yet added to my "faves" listing. I really do need to learn how to put up a blogroll so I can conveniently do that and I'm not quite that advanced as yet in my knowledge of how to do lots of stuff on a blog.

But tonight, I'm going to point out things about my faves here -to let you in on WHY I really like to read what they have to say.

If I'm really in a mood where I think I definitely need a dose of humor, here's the blogs I'd head to for that: from a produce guy down in Georgia with a strong penchant for music -both the real kind and some involving some bodily functions to a very funny guy up in Calgary, Alberta,
Canada who has two other blogs -this one for his newsletter and this one, which is his old blog and is all the Letters He Wishes He'd Sent. Granted these two guys do occasionally write about something a bit serious too, just as many of my more serious minded fellow bloggers from time to time write things that area quite funny, even downright silly.

Here's some of my faves who mix and mingle, serious and silly - Debo Blue, Smalltown RN , The Empress Bee and here's her other place too, along with these folks The Lime Family, Janey in Westcliffe, or maybe this zany Norwegian mother of six. Or check out Theresa out in California, or this stay-at-home-mom who sometimes posts bits and pieces of things she's writing or written or her latest Haiku poetry. Want the inside scoop on the life and times of a young American now living in Italy -and a great cook too or would you rather hear about a 911 operator and her daughter? How about learning the ins and outs of a hotel desk clerk in Quebec,
maybe learn a little about cats and boats and such too here, or perhaps the zany antics of my British blogger buddy, Claire, who's almost always got some iron in a fire somewhere.

There's some families operating on my faves list too -here's one -a young woman physicist with a penchant for feral cats, or her grandmother up in Minnesota who I just "met" via blogging last week, or one of the biggest and most popular bloggers around in terms of a "following" or here's what her husband, Mike, has to say too. And then, there's this couple too -Bruce and his lovely spouse who desperately wants to win the big lottery.

Now, if you want some input on etiquette, but not necessarily table manners, James Burnett's got what you wanna read. Need some updating on politics in general or perhaps bit and pieces about life in Atlanta, I recommend these two places highly. Or, since you'd heard me mention my sweet little granddaughter is autistic and maybe you'd like to learn a bit more of what it's like to learn right along with children with this disorder, then I very much recommend you read about Maddie and her two boys, or this Kentucky mother and her son. Need some information perhaps about psychology and especially Bipolar issues, check out Danielle's site. Or, if you really want to learn more about the scriptures and life as an Assembly of God pastor, I've even got that covered right here. Here's a place too with beautiful photos and some really great writing to accompany it if you visit this lovely lady here.

Want some good old-fashioned, down home talk about rock'n'roll and the 60's and 70's, check out Dr. Sardonicus, learn ways to turn your life around in some really good ways, check out Keith's place here. You say you're thinking about going to graduate school or how about law school, check out my Alabama friend here. Want to see some great photos of British Columbia and have the opportunity to learn lots and lots of really neat things about all kinds of topics, then my buddy Vic Grace has you covered. Check out some gorgeous photos of Oregon and learn about an "etsy shoppe" from Paula. Suppose you're interested too in writing a book, well gee whilikers, I've even got some bona fide writers on my blog too - friend Sandy has a brand new book just released "Choices Meant for Gods" available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and just about every other book store imaginable too and a young lady out in Oklahoma, also named Jen, is in the process of writing not one, but two books as you read this. Or from down in Texas, check out Marilyn Celeste Morris and her book, "Once a Brat" too. And here's yet another author too -down under in Australia who not only has a published book "Vegemite Vindaloo" but he is also an absolutely awesome photographer, very willing to take budding bloggers (or writers) under his wing to help develop your blog all the while providing some really gorgeous photos too!

Want to learn more about what other areas look like -then check out the little blog event being planned for October 20th by Gene Bach. You can get the directions to sign up for that in the post just below this one - about Getting to Know You, or you can go read Gene's blog too!

Phew! I don't know about you, but man, that's hard work there trying to show you almost all the places that I visit almost daily. And if you'd like to know what set me off on this tangent, then you absolutely have to go here because this place is a top spot in the pursuit of happiness and Sunshine13 is the blogger who is totally responsible for this post of mine! Read her post for today (Wednesday, Oct. 3) and become part of the "de-lurk" event by commenting at every blog you visit! And please, please, please, when you go to her place here, make sure you tell her that crazy old lady in Pennsylvania, Jeni, sent you there!

And, a side benefit to all this stuff and merry madness, you'll help everyone's technorati ratings and authority, up our blog stats too plus, learn lots and lots of interesting things in doing that too.

Try it, you'll love it! Trust me! Go check out Sunshine13 though and she'll give you the rules on how to play this game and even get prizes for participating too!

Now who doesn't love an opportunity like that? (And no, you don't have to post like this with all these sites and such unless you really want to!)

Getting To Know You...

I've really been remiss about something that I meant to mention to all of you for at least a week now. One of my "blogger buddies" -Gene Bach - a fireman from out in northern California has set up this little "get acquainted" theme thing as a means for all of us to get a little more familiar with each other and our surroundings too.

Read the instructions posted below here and if you think you'd like to participate, sign up below too. I sure as heck am no great shakes as a photographer, but I do figure I can find some pictures from where I live that I can post here. After all, if I think it's so pretty here, I darned sure better be able to back up my claims somehow, don't 'cha think? Besides, it'll be fun to see what others post about their home turf too! Look at the beautiful scenery we'll all get to see and it won't cost a penny for gasoline. Now, how's that for some incentive?!!!

Let's Get To Know Each Other

I would like to take a minute and build upon the warming the world through friendship idea that many bloggers recently participated in. We post on our blogs, get replies and post on other people's blogs, and over the course of time start to get to know each other a bit. We can guage the personality of another blogger through the words they type but wouldn't it be nice to get a little insight into what they really see when they look out their wondows? I was thinking we need to try and do something about that, so I decided to try and do something visual that we could all participate in. Here's how it'll work:
1) On Saturday, October 20th, let's all make a post featuring pictures of where we live.
2) Try and take at least 10 photographs of your surrounding area and postem on your blog.
3) Make SURE you include a description of what each picture is. Give us as much detail as you can.
4) Sign up for the link here, and place the links to the other participants on your page.
5) Comment on this post sayng you'll participate and I will include those links in the body of this post so that all you'll have to do is copy them and paste them onto your blog.
Sound simple enough? I would love to see some pictures of whereever you live and I'm sure there are others who are of the same mindset. I'll leave this post up as a stick until then so make sure and sign up and start taking pictures!

1. Gene Bach 2. katherine. 3. Jeni at Down River Drivel 4. Claire Rachael Pitt 5. david mcmahon 6. Vic Grace 7. Ron Simpson

8. SargeCharlie 9. Amazing Gracie 10. Jessie 11. Acire 12. Nikita 13. Scott F 14. SargeCharlie

15. julia 16. Patsy 17. Aditi Srivastava 18. Aman 19. You're next!

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Retaliation? And its Worthiness.

A good friend -neighbor, actually -sent this to me this morning. I'm not advocating anything here, just thought it was funny. (And, I don't really think any air traffic controllers would do this either - although I suppose there are times in their jobs that the thought might just cross their minds, ya know!)

Southerners can be so polite!
Atlanta Airport

ATC: "Tower to Saudi Air 911 -- You are cleared to land eastbound

Saudi Air: "Thank you Atlanta ATC. Acknowledge cleared to land on infidel's runway 9R - Allah be Praised.

Atlanta ATC: "Tower to Iran Air 711 --You are cleared to land westbound on runway 9R."

Iran Air: "Thank you ATC. We are cleared to land on infidel's runway 9R. - Allah is Great.

Pause:

Static..

Saudi Air: " ATLANTA ATC ATLANTA ATC"

ATC: "Go ahead Saudi Air 911?"

Saudi Air: "YOU HAVE CLEARED BOTH OUR AIRCRAFT FOR THE SAME RUNWAY - GOING IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS. WE ARE ON A COLLISION COURSE. INSTRUCTIONS, PLEASE.

ATC: Well bless your hearts. And praise Jesus. Be careful now and tell Allah "hey" for us -- y'all hear?

All of the above though does bring to mind a situation encountered in the household lately. Seems another young female -same age as the teen here -has been acting quite obnoxiously on the school bus and at school and other places as well to the teen.

Yesterday, when Kate came home she informed me that she had just cause to get into a fight with the other girl -should she become really confrontational and what did I think about that. My first response to her was "Do you really WANT to know how I feel about things like that?" Her reply -"Well, just wait a minute till I tell you what happened and then you'll see I'm cleared, justified to swing back."

Okay - tell me all about it.

Seems this girl (Let's call her Girl #1) was sitting with yet another girl (henceforth, Girl #2) with whom the teen has had a goodly number of run-ins over the past several months and

#1 was ranting that she knew the teen had been saying all kinds of nasty things about her, gossiping, as it were. I'm not going to say that is an impossibility -we all know how teens do like to do stuff like that - but considering who #1 has been frequently associating with of late, I'd be willing -without fully researching this stuff -to venture a guess that #2 has probably been filling her head with all kinds of things that she thinks she can attribute to the Teen here. Are you following my thought progression here?

Apparently some of the things #1 says have been stated about her have been to the effect that she is somewhat promiscuous and her comment to the teen was to imply that she is saying these things about her because she is jealous because she can get a guy and CAN do such and such things for or with him, etc.

The Teen says she denied having said anything at all about #1 and the girl continued her rant, in the same line of thought.

Until that is a much younger boy - 7th grader I believe (whereas #1 and the teen are in 10th grade and I think #2 is in 9th grade) spoke up with a comment to the effect that no one needs to spread rumors about #1 because she broadcasts the fact she is a slut all over the place to start with!

That is not exactly what the lad said - but to that effect - and I had to laugh upon hearing it at any rate and the teen said the whole bus, including the driver, cracked up too!

However, as the kids were getting off the bus, the driver then told Teen and Girl #1 that she really didn't care if they decided to duke it out but just to please make sure they didn't do it on her bus.

Now that ticked my daughter off! She was angry that the driver allowed #1 to make all these loud and perhaps ridiculous accusations, even threats against the Teen on the bus to the point where the Teen does tend to feel quite threatened by all of this. The teen did ask me again what did I think she should do should #1 come after her, start a fly-around and my response to her was to walk away from it; do not strike back. Go to the administration at the school and report what was happening but DO NOT allow herself to be in a retaliatory situation at all.

She thinks if she walks away others will brand her as a coward, a wuss, a wimp ya know and I told her again, it's quite possible because she would be choosing the high road, opting to not get her fanny in any kind of trouble at school that she would be setting a better example in the long run that way for others who perhaps are very ill-prepared for any physical confrontations to start with, to be able to do that too, holding the head up high and just walking away. To respond in kind there to #1 would be giving her satisfaction whereas to walk away and give no response would actually fluster her more, probably make her more angry in the process too but at least the Teen would come away the better for her actions -i.e. not be in any hot water with the school anyway.

I am not now, nor have I ever been, one who tends to resort to revenge. Occasionally, I may rant about something but I do not advocate for any type of retaliation in things like this. To me, that just lowers you to the other person's standards -which from all reports #1 evidently has very few standards. (Actually, I've seen her (#1) in action and from what I observed, I'd say the accusations she says have been leveled against her are most likely true.)

This morning, Mandy did contact the school and complained to the administration that this stuff is happening on the bus and the teen feels quite threatened by it. She also called the manager/owner of the bus company too and let him know her opinion about all of this - telling him if the woman who had driven the bus when she was in school had been driving, the bus would have been pulled off to the side of the road, the driver would have confronted #1 and told her in no uncertain terms that she would not tolerate her actions then or later or again on her bus! And, Mandy wanted to know why the driver did absolutely nothing to stop this from escalating. The manager did say that this morning, the driver had filed a complaint against #1 -adding to the manager that she could file a complaint after each and every run against #1 girl too! The manager also informed Mandy that they have video cameras running on the buses at all times and have #1 making her threats against the teen all on tape as well.

All this type mess just makes me think back in time to my own school days and riding the bus - which I had to do from 7th grade through 12th. Back then, the driver had ultimate control over the students on the bus and I can only ever remember one instance in which he stopped the bus, grabbed on kid by the collar and very strongly forced him into a seat with orders that he'd best stay there and be quiet. Actually, in comparison to my school years and what the teen tells us about the school today, there was very little fighting that took place back then; also no accusations at all about others and their behavior whether warranted or not.

I doubt very seriously that the kids of my generation would even have know or understood what a "slut" was then - what someone who was considered to be a slut maybe doing ya know.

Yeah, we were a very sheltered generation back then, for sure!

Monday, Monday...Meanderings.

Ah, Monday - start of a new week, new beginnings, new options, new friends -who knows, maybe a few new enemies too. Let's hope the latter doesn't take place cause Lord knows I've already got more than my fair share of them!

Just a few thoughts circulating in my mind -so beware. You never know what direction they might take me. My "musings" tend to be more than a bit "hit and miss" but you already know that.

In another week, I'll add another year to those already accrued - hard to believe sometimes that I've seen more than six decades on the planet -somedays that is. Other days, I think it feels more like what 600 years might be like. But, as someone else commented on one of the blogs I read today if we tell ourselves "I have a good life" we can make the mind believe that. My theory there is that it's kind of the learned behavior you read about in psychology classes or in the children's book about the little red train - "I think I can, I think I can." So, if someone asks you how you're doing, just answer "Life is good!" I generally take a tact similar to that when I see folks I know out in public and they ask how things are going. My pretty much standard answer is that "I'm walking" - and for me, that means things are going at least fair to middling if not pretty doggone good!

But on the other hand, think of the circumstances so others who are, as the expression goes, "long in the tooth" or as having "long beards" - those who are well advanced in years and no longer able to live independently. I have two aunts still living - one just turned 90 this past April, the other will be 98 this month. The younger aunt and her only daughter have been relegated to residence in a local nursing home - both are wheel-chair bound. My cousin has a combination of issues -cerebral palsy, as well as mental retardation -and has been confined to a wheel chair for the bulk of her entire life -all 50 years of it. My aunt, until last August, cared for her daughter at their home, pretty much alone. OH she had some aides who came in and did a few things for my cousin but the overwhelming majority of her daughter's care - feeding, changing, bathing, personal needs, were all left to my aunt. Now, she's no longer even able to care for herself, much less her daughter and their lives are now spent in a room with two single beds, two wheel chairs, a small dresser, night stand and a tv set.

My older aunt, although she has been much more fortunate in that her health and mental status has until just fairly recently been pretty good - for a lady of that many years - has now also been relegated to a room with a dresser, night stand, tv and in addition to her bed, a favorite chair as well. A few pictures -favorites of her family, remembrances of what her life once was, hung on the walls of that room to give small comfort to her, perhaps spur her memory to function a little better from time to time too. But both of these women - independent, hard-working, strong in mind, spirit, health too for so long - now spend their days in small quarters such as these. And to me, it's just sad, very sad to see a life once so vibrant now being spent in such small quarters, with little left to give pleasure and enjoyment.

I once told a counselor I was seeing a few years back that I have no desire to live to a grand old age and he asked me why. Well, my reasons are that senility (or perhaps it is Altzheimer's - dementia, anyway) tends to run in my Mom's family and I really don't want to be around if I am not aware of my circumstances, if I can no longer do or think for myself. My counselor's response to that was "Well Jen, look at it this way. If that were to happen to you, you wouldn't be aware of it anyway, so you could be content then." Maybe so, I say, but I still wouldn't want to be spending my final days cooped up in one little room with only a few pieces of clothing and a couple mementos, would you?

Tomorrow - actually tonight -about 2 a.m., my daughter and a very close friend of hers have to leave to drive to Pittsburgh so they can be present and accounted for at 5:30 a.m. for her friend to have some outpatient procedures performed at Allegheny General Hospital there. They were antsy, waiting all day for the hospital to call and give Mandy's friend the check-in time. They were both hoping that perhaps she wouldn't have to be there until maybe 9, even 10 a.m. so they'd have a chance to get a little sleep before setting out from here.

This is a situation I really don't understand why, when hospitals schedule these type of procedures, they don't actually look at where the patient lives -the doctor who has seen the patient before or his/her nurse surely would be able to get the information in the initial visit as to the distance the patient lives from Pittsburgh and make a note of that to the scheduling department to try to work this patient in at a little bit more reasonable hour. But they don't do that. And (having been through this same type issue in the past two years with hospitals in that region, I know the only advice the person calling with your check-in time will give is to tell you that you could get a motel room near the hospital you know. Fine, except not everyone has the funds just laying around the house to cover that added expense - along with the gasoline costs that are exhorbitant too, plus perhaps having to make added arrangements for someone to stay with minor children and the like as well. I do wish someone could give me an answer to why they never take things like that into consideration. Anyone in the medical community reading this got any answers to those questions? I sure would love to know why things have to be this way.

And finally - save the best for last you know -a little Maya story for the day. Before I go into this one though, I best warn you in advance -as it involves potty training (that lovely thing all parents (and grandparents too) have to deal with when they have children - and maybe some won't like this as it could be considered perhaps a bit graphic to some.

In conjunction with the training the pre-school program Maya attends, we are supposed to try to work with her as much as possible too on getting her to adjust to using the commode. Yeah, well good luck with that! Maya generally refuses to sit on it and also, although she will come to us and say she needs "dry pants" this is all an "after the fact" type event. And so it was today when she started to say she wanted dry pants and I tried my level best to get her at least to try sitting on the potty while she was in the bathroom, regardless of whether there was any chance of there being any output while there. So, up on the changing table she went and I removed the very odorific pull-up. As I turned to empty the contents into the commode, Maya looked up at me and clear as a bell says, "It's a big one, Gram!"

And yes indeed it was! It was of such diameter that one would wonder how a little kid her size could squeeze that much out to begin with. Did she have anything at all left in those intestines?

But the real test came after I emptied the diaper into the commode and went to flush it and it refused to budge away from the white porcelain bowl! Just like it was made of crazy glue and had adhered to the edges, it seemed to have found a home and wanted to stay there.

I left it there -made no attempt to move it along because when her mother came home from work this afternoon, I wanted her to see this spectacle too cause I'm quite sure if I'd merely told her about this, she never would have believed me.

It took her four attempts to get it to move along its merry way!

I kid you not.

Now, there's my musings, my mental meanderings for this lovely first day of October - such an interesting and amazing life I lead. Right?