Every now and again, things happen around here -between me and my kids -and Mom sometimes just happens to have things that one of my kids has a need for from time to time.
Usually, these are things that I don't even know that they exist, much less that I have something here either, but when stuff comes up and it turns out Mom has something they need, they're really happy to locate it here because -well, of course -because it's free then!
Take my son, for a good example! (Sometimes, some of the things he needs or gets himself involved in, I almost wish someone would take him somewhere...no, not really, I still love him and would want to keep him around as long as possible. So don't take that comment seriously there.)
Anyway, he has a fixation -big time -for cars, old cars and also, old pickup trucks too. Car-wise, his affections generally are for old -very old volkswagons -and he (as well as my younger daughter, Mandy too) can spy an old junked Volkswagon, parked a half mile away from the main highway, in a field of high, very overgrown weeds! Yes, I swear they both are that good at seeing old vehicles that interest them. It's gotta be a genetic trait because their Dad could always spot things like that from a great distance too!
So Sonny boy, in his work travels -he drives a tractor-trailer for a living, ya know -spied this old Volkswagon sitting along the highway someplace out in eastern Pennsylvania a few weeks back and eventually managed to locate the owner of said VW too. Lo and behold the car was for sale. Not only that, but the guy selling it was looking for a decent older pickup truck -body wise, decent, that is -not necessarily ace running condition but one that he would be able to get it fixed up and runable, you see.
So this guy and my son talked things over a bit and reached an agreement whereby they would swap vehicles -Clate would trade a pickup he purchased last fall which was supposed to be his "winter work vehicle" as soon as he did some work to get it runable but, of course, he never had the time or the money to get that job accomplished. But this VW in exchange for that pickup truck -well that was a deal made in heaven as far as Sonny Boy was concerned!
So he and the other guy made arrangements to trade up with Clate getting the VW and the other guy getting Clate's semi-operational pickup truck.
Seemed like a match made in heaven that is until Clate realized he had to figure out a way to take the pickup truck over to eastern Pennsylvania and then, transport the VW back home here.
To do that, he needed a trailer type apparatus that he could load the truck onto and then tow that there, drop of the truck and load the VW on to the trailer and bring it back. But what was he going to use to tow this with?
That's where Mom and her old Jeep came in handy as it just so happened that Clate's old jeep doesn't have one thing my Jeep has!
And what exactly would that be? Well, it's a curt trailer hitch that's what it would be!
Seems whoever had been the previous owner of my old jeep had used it for towing things and lo and behold, there at the back bumper was this handy-dandy little old trailer hitch!
So, the day that was pre-arranged for the big car-truck swap was now scheduled and Sonny Boy borrowed Mom's jeep to go make his little pea-pickin' heart very happy as he then became the owner of a lovely orange Volkswagon beetle. Which of course needs a bit of work done to it but that's okay!
Now all he needs to do is find the money to do the repairs and then, the time needed to make them too!
Yeah, it will be awhile, for sure, before this gem becomes road worthy!
Monday, August 13, 2012
Kurbits!
Ever heard of "Kurbits?"
I've been doing some searching online for information about this topic -mainly for a lady from our church who is in the process of renovating an old coal company's office near here and she's planning to turn it into a neat little Swedish pastry/coffee shoppe/cafe type place.
And Kurbits are something that pertains to Swedish art forms and such so I've been trying to find sites that she can check out and that might be useful to her in her decorating her new shop.
In case you are wondering now though about what Kurbits are, here's the explanation about them from Wikipedia.
The kurbits is an invented, fantastical symbol of vegetal fertility based on a gourd or pumpkin of biblical legend, principally used for ornamentation in Swedish folk art and on painted furniture and domestic objects. Very popular between 1720 and 1870, particularly in Dalarna and southern Norrland, the paintings and murals have mostly biblical motifs, such as "The Triumphant Entrance of The Queens of Sheba to Jerusalem", and the people and buildings depicted are as locally fashionable at the time of painting. They were done by itinerant painters, mainly from Dalarna, who specialized in the style and whose signatures are to be found in many localities.
A Dalecarlian horse, from 1950, painted in the kurbits style
Today it is still used for decorating tourist memorabilia from Dalarna.
The picture shown is of course a Dala Horse, also another Swedish traditional form of decoration but the designs painted on the horse are "Kurbits."
I have a plate (dessert plate size) plus two coffee mugs and a small warmer type coffee pot too -all with the Swedish Kurbit designs on them and my daughters and I all love these little things that point back to our Swedish ancestry.
I've been doing some searching online for information about this topic -mainly for a lady from our church who is in the process of renovating an old coal company's office near here and she's planning to turn it into a neat little Swedish pastry/coffee shoppe/cafe type place.
And Kurbits are something that pertains to Swedish art forms and such so I've been trying to find sites that she can check out and that might be useful to her in her decorating her new shop.
In case you are wondering now though about what Kurbits are, here's the explanation about them from Wikipedia.
The kurbits is an invented, fantastical symbol of vegetal fertility based on a gourd or pumpkin of biblical legend, principally used for ornamentation in Swedish folk art and on painted furniture and domestic objects. Very popular between 1720 and 1870, particularly in Dalarna and southern Norrland, the paintings and murals have mostly biblical motifs, such as "The Triumphant Entrance of The Queens of Sheba to Jerusalem", and the people and buildings depicted are as locally fashionable at the time of painting. They were done by itinerant painters, mainly from Dalarna, who specialized in the style and whose signatures are to be found in many localities.
The picture shown is of course a Dala Horse, also another Swedish traditional form of decoration but the designs painted on the horse are "Kurbits."
I have a plate (dessert plate size) plus two coffee mugs and a small warmer type coffee pot too -all with the Swedish Kurbit designs on them and my daughters and I all love these little things that point back to our Swedish ancestry.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Take This Room
Remember that old song quite a few years back now -"Take this job and shove it?" Right now, I'm thinking I'd like to take that song and make a few revisions to it to make it "Take this room and shove it!"
My bedroom, as this divided area of what used to be for many years here a "sunporch", is -just for starters, very, very small. Too small, really is the problem but it is what it is and not much can be done about that for me.
Unless of course, I should happen to hit the lottery and then I'd have my own private little "Idaho" as it were, built on to the house complete with a small bathroom of my own and a bedroom big enough to allow me the luxury I need in that room.
That luxury would entail enough space to fit in there my most prized possessions along with, of course, the standard prerequisite of my bed.
It would have a big -really, really big as in humungous -closet where I could actually hang all my clothes that should be on hangers -including my jackets and winter coats there too!
It would have enough space for me to have my sewing machine, computer AND my late aunt's Hammond Organ there too. And, be sound proof so that if I wanted and could play the organ, I could do that without disrupting the entire household!
Yeah, that's all a lot of wishful thinking too I know because the odds of my winning the lottery are slim to none -mainly because I do understand the principle there that to win, one needs to invest and play. Right?
So in the meantime, I'm stuck -probably forever I guess -with this really small room and it is filled to the gills with various shelving units, a dresser, two not too large chests and several plastic storage bins containing things of value to me, like lots and lots of pieces of fabric, waiting for me to find a pattern to use to make things from that stuff along with a bin that has nothing but yarn in it, a few that also contain many of the embroidery kits I have too that are waiting, patiently, for me to find the time to work on them and get some tabletoppers or table cloths or pillowcases or whatever else you can think of that involves embroidery work done up!
Actually, I'm thinking my room really has the makings of being featured at some time in the future as the room of a mini-hoarding type residing here!
As long as I keep the stuff fairly well contained in this one little room though and it doesn't spill out too much into the rest of the house, I think I'm safe and won't be on a tv show for a long, long time then!
My bedroom, as this divided area of what used to be for many years here a "sunporch", is -just for starters, very, very small. Too small, really is the problem but it is what it is and not much can be done about that for me.
Unless of course, I should happen to hit the lottery and then I'd have my own private little "Idaho" as it were, built on to the house complete with a small bathroom of my own and a bedroom big enough to allow me the luxury I need in that room.
That luxury would entail enough space to fit in there my most prized possessions along with, of course, the standard prerequisite of my bed.
It would have a big -really, really big as in humungous -closet where I could actually hang all my clothes that should be on hangers -including my jackets and winter coats there too!
It would have enough space for me to have my sewing machine, computer AND my late aunt's Hammond Organ there too. And, be sound proof so that if I wanted and could play the organ, I could do that without disrupting the entire household!
Yeah, that's all a lot of wishful thinking too I know because the odds of my winning the lottery are slim to none -mainly because I do understand the principle there that to win, one needs to invest and play. Right?
So in the meantime, I'm stuck -probably forever I guess -with this really small room and it is filled to the gills with various shelving units, a dresser, two not too large chests and several plastic storage bins containing things of value to me, like lots and lots of pieces of fabric, waiting for me to find a pattern to use to make things from that stuff along with a bin that has nothing but yarn in it, a few that also contain many of the embroidery kits I have too that are waiting, patiently, for me to find the time to work on them and get some tabletoppers or table cloths or pillowcases or whatever else you can think of that involves embroidery work done up!
Actually, I'm thinking my room really has the makings of being featured at some time in the future as the room of a mini-hoarding type residing here!
As long as I keep the stuff fairly well contained in this one little room though and it doesn't spill out too much into the rest of the house, I think I'm safe and won't be on a tv show for a long, long time then!
Wishful Thinking...
During the past two weeks, I discovered a program that was broadcast on the PBS network and which ran from 9 p.m. til around 11 or 11:30 p.m. almost every night. The program was titled simply "The War" and it was a documentary put together about World War II, the fighting in both the Pacific and European theaters. A very compelling piece of television journalism, for sure.
Just wondering -after the fact now though-if anyone else of my readers might also have seen this and what their opinions were of this program too.
I'm not sure exactly how to word this because of the nature of this program. To say I really liked it, or enjoyed it immensely, considering it is a program that uses actual video footage from various sources, and shows the reality of war -the pain, misery, anguish that it entails -so I'm kind of confused and words escape me now to tell about this program.
It is first and foremost, I think, shocking to watch and learn the horrors of war!
Sure, by now, as adults (I'm assuming those reading this post are all adults) we should already have some awareness of war and what transpires then and there. But until you see it, as it is shown in this documentary, I don't think it really does fully hit home as to how truly sickening war is to those who are involved and on the front lines.
Many of us, no doubt, have seen various movies that depict (some more accurately than others -i.e. Saving Private Ryan, or Pearl Harbor, or Platoon and a plethora of other movies about various wars) but watching a movie where you know it is not really happening, even though it may be a story about an event that did happen, you still know it is a fictionalized account in most of these cases.
To watch this documentary though and see what the soldiers actually endured, as well as many scenes about the people affected by the battles too, at least for my part, made me think in terms of "What can be done by the general public to avoid the possibility, the probability, of anything like this continuing to happen again?"
This program also has interviews with men mainly, but a few women, who saw this event unfold before their own eyes, who participated in this or that battle, who trained specifically for certain landings and attacks, and those people all provided even more insight into the necessity then for not just our country, but for all countries, world-wide, to strive for peaceful coexistence.
How anyone can watch something like this, particularly the parts were the soldiers reached the concentration camps and those people imprisoned there who managed to survive were finally freed, if there are still folks who can watch those portions and then turn around and declare that the holocaust never happened, I personally think those individuals must be in severe need of psychiatric care!
The events of World War II are not something I recall because I was born near the end of the war and only learned bits and pieces about it via history books in my educational process. Why it is that I especially do like to read both true accounts of the events of this war and any others too for that matter, or fictionalized stories too about various wars, I really can't say how that happens to be the case for me. I'm far from being a war monger but yet, reading about historical events under either of these circumstances (factual or fictional) has always been a type of reading that was high on my list of "likes."
One would hope that by learning as much as possible about something as terrible and atrocious as war is, would create a longing then to try to work, even in the smallest way, as one person, towards seeing that society stays away from actions that cause millions of people to die.
Probably a bit too simplistic a theory there but as I am only one person who sees things this way, if any others feel the same as I do, perhaps we can make ourselves heard, one voice at a time, if that is what it takes, and if it would help, in any way, to stop the destruction from happening, over and over, again and again.
Peace now. Peace today. Peace tomorrow.
Would that someday it no longer is just wishful thinking is what I pray.
Just wondering -after the fact now though-if anyone else of my readers might also have seen this and what their opinions were of this program too.
I'm not sure exactly how to word this because of the nature of this program. To say I really liked it, or enjoyed it immensely, considering it is a program that uses actual video footage from various sources, and shows the reality of war -the pain, misery, anguish that it entails -so I'm kind of confused and words escape me now to tell about this program.
It is first and foremost, I think, shocking to watch and learn the horrors of war!
Sure, by now, as adults (I'm assuming those reading this post are all adults) we should already have some awareness of war and what transpires then and there. But until you see it, as it is shown in this documentary, I don't think it really does fully hit home as to how truly sickening war is to those who are involved and on the front lines.
Many of us, no doubt, have seen various movies that depict (some more accurately than others -i.e. Saving Private Ryan, or Pearl Harbor, or Platoon and a plethora of other movies about various wars) but watching a movie where you know it is not really happening, even though it may be a story about an event that did happen, you still know it is a fictionalized account in most of these cases.
To watch this documentary though and see what the soldiers actually endured, as well as many scenes about the people affected by the battles too, at least for my part, made me think in terms of "What can be done by the general public to avoid the possibility, the probability, of anything like this continuing to happen again?"
This program also has interviews with men mainly, but a few women, who saw this event unfold before their own eyes, who participated in this or that battle, who trained specifically for certain landings and attacks, and those people all provided even more insight into the necessity then for not just our country, but for all countries, world-wide, to strive for peaceful coexistence.
How anyone can watch something like this, particularly the parts were the soldiers reached the concentration camps and those people imprisoned there who managed to survive were finally freed, if there are still folks who can watch those portions and then turn around and declare that the holocaust never happened, I personally think those individuals must be in severe need of psychiatric care!
The events of World War II are not something I recall because I was born near the end of the war and only learned bits and pieces about it via history books in my educational process. Why it is that I especially do like to read both true accounts of the events of this war and any others too for that matter, or fictionalized stories too about various wars, I really can't say how that happens to be the case for me. I'm far from being a war monger but yet, reading about historical events under either of these circumstances (factual or fictional) has always been a type of reading that was high on my list of "likes."
One would hope that by learning as much as possible about something as terrible and atrocious as war is, would create a longing then to try to work, even in the smallest way, as one person, towards seeing that society stays away from actions that cause millions of people to die.
Probably a bit too simplistic a theory there but as I am only one person who sees things this way, if any others feel the same as I do, perhaps we can make ourselves heard, one voice at a time, if that is what it takes, and if it would help, in any way, to stop the destruction from happening, over and over, again and again.
Peace now. Peace today. Peace tomorrow.
Would that someday it no longer is just wishful thinking is what I pray.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Disappearing Acts
Way back -a long, long time ago -in what now seems almost like it was another dimension- and it was that because this story had its beginnings 49 years ago this summer, I was working in a really delightful place -the old General Cigar Factory that used to be one of the bigger, albeit probably one of the cheapest, employers in this region.
I was what as called a "packer" and in that job, I was supposed to sort cigars, by color, and place them in trunks for packaging.
Did you know cigars have colors to them?I didn't either until I was hired on at that place but it wasn't all that great a match as jobs go for me because I could never gain very much speed since I really couldn't see the color differences.
But that's not really what this is about.
Rather it is about a traveling salesman who happened to stop at my home and showed my Mom and I this wonderful set of cutlery that could cut rope and the edge off a penny (or any other coin too, although you aren't supposed to deface coins made by the U.S. Government, but this sales rep used that as a ploy to show how great this set of knives really were.)
I liked the knives well enough but the salesman wouldn't have had any real problem selling them to me. But my Mom now? That was a horse of a different color!
But this guy put on such a great demonstration of the wonderful qualities of these knives that my Mom was even convinced that although $188 was a lot of money to shell out for a set of knives -plus a set of 12 beautiful steak knives too, that came packaged in a lovely wooden chest-type container-that she actually backed the idea of my buying these wonderful items!
And, so I began building my "hope chest" then with those knives. (You all do know what a "hope chest is, I assume, don't you? It's often a big old expensive cedar chest in which you place various items you purchase with the intent they will all be attractive and of course, very useful, once you get the opportunity to set up housekeeping.)
It was several years that went by before I actually began using the items that I had purchased for my hope chest -which in my case was not a big old cedar chest at all, but rather an imaginary entity as my items in my hope chest were stashed in various storage places at my Mom's house, just waiting, patiently, for the day I would get marred and begin housekeeping in my own place.
Those knives were nice and yes, did work very much the way the sales rep had promised they would do and they were guaranteed too -for a lifetime. I don't know whose lifetime they were guaranteed to last through but that was part of the great sales pitch anyway.
Over time though some of the knives in this wonderful set of implements began to disappear. Over several years time, the set of 12 steak knives gradually diminished, one by one, until finally there were none of them to be found anyplace in my house!
I'm pretty sure they all went out the door, in the hands of my son, during his youth and were used for all kinds of digging and construction of things in my yard. They are probably very well buried there to this day, come to think of it.
I have often thought that perhaps it would be worthwhile if I were to one of the best metal detectors online to use in my yard and see how many of those once beautiful steak knives, along with the two trimmer knives and paring knife too that all went missing from my set! That surely would put that item to the supreme test, wouldn't it, if it would show me where even some of those good knives are today!
Oh and remember the sales rep also had said about the lifetime guarantee and that any knife that didn't hold up, I could send it back to the company and they would replace it, free of charge. Well, the knife that is supposed to be a large carving knife, beautifully made with serrated blade and all sure doesn't look like it is supposed to look and I wonder though, if I were to send this item back to the manufacturer, if they would send me a brand new replacement or not.
One look at it though and I'm pretty sure they would say that the guarantee on that knife is null and voice especially if I were to explain how it got to the shape it's in today.
I'm pretty sure it wasn't intended to be used to trim the base off a lovely hemlock tree intended to be our Christmas Tree one year but which needed a bit of "shaving" (shall we say?) to make it level in the stand -which is what my son used that poor little knife for instead of looking for a much more appropriate tool.
Ah, boys and what they think of as being appropriate toys for openers and what they also will use to improvise and implement in place of proper tools too sometimes.
I was what as called a "packer" and in that job, I was supposed to sort cigars, by color, and place them in trunks for packaging.
Did you know cigars have colors to them?I didn't either until I was hired on at that place but it wasn't all that great a match as jobs go for me because I could never gain very much speed since I really couldn't see the color differences.
But that's not really what this is about.
Rather it is about a traveling salesman who happened to stop at my home and showed my Mom and I this wonderful set of cutlery that could cut rope and the edge off a penny (or any other coin too, although you aren't supposed to deface coins made by the U.S. Government, but this sales rep used that as a ploy to show how great this set of knives really were.)
I liked the knives well enough but the salesman wouldn't have had any real problem selling them to me. But my Mom now? That was a horse of a different color!
But this guy put on such a great demonstration of the wonderful qualities of these knives that my Mom was even convinced that although $188 was a lot of money to shell out for a set of knives -plus a set of 12 beautiful steak knives too, that came packaged in a lovely wooden chest-type container-that she actually backed the idea of my buying these wonderful items!
And, so I began building my "hope chest" then with those knives. (You all do know what a "hope chest is, I assume, don't you? It's often a big old expensive cedar chest in which you place various items you purchase with the intent they will all be attractive and of course, very useful, once you get the opportunity to set up housekeeping.)
It was several years that went by before I actually began using the items that I had purchased for my hope chest -which in my case was not a big old cedar chest at all, but rather an imaginary entity as my items in my hope chest were stashed in various storage places at my Mom's house, just waiting, patiently, for the day I would get marred and begin housekeeping in my own place.
Those knives were nice and yes, did work very much the way the sales rep had promised they would do and they were guaranteed too -for a lifetime. I don't know whose lifetime they were guaranteed to last through but that was part of the great sales pitch anyway.
Over time though some of the knives in this wonderful set of implements began to disappear. Over several years time, the set of 12 steak knives gradually diminished, one by one, until finally there were none of them to be found anyplace in my house!
I'm pretty sure they all went out the door, in the hands of my son, during his youth and were used for all kinds of digging and construction of things in my yard. They are probably very well buried there to this day, come to think of it.
I have often thought that perhaps it would be worthwhile if I were to one of the best metal detectors online to use in my yard and see how many of those once beautiful steak knives, along with the two trimmer knives and paring knife too that all went missing from my set! That surely would put that item to the supreme test, wouldn't it, if it would show me where even some of those good knives are today!
Oh and remember the sales rep also had said about the lifetime guarantee and that any knife that didn't hold up, I could send it back to the company and they would replace it, free of charge. Well, the knife that is supposed to be a large carving knife, beautifully made with serrated blade and all sure doesn't look like it is supposed to look and I wonder though, if I were to send this item back to the manufacturer, if they would send me a brand new replacement or not.
One look at it though and I'm pretty sure they would say that the guarantee on that knife is null and voice especially if I were to explain how it got to the shape it's in today.
I'm pretty sure it wasn't intended to be used to trim the base off a lovely hemlock tree intended to be our Christmas Tree one year but which needed a bit of "shaving" (shall we say?) to make it level in the stand -which is what my son used that poor little knife for instead of looking for a much more appropriate tool.
Ah, boys and what they think of as being appropriate toys for openers and what they also will use to improvise and implement in place of proper tools too sometimes.
Sunday, August 05, 2012
Family Gathering
It's an interesting time here since this past Thursday and will continue to be so too until early this coming zTuesday morning when things will revert back to the normal life for Mandy, the kids and for me.
What's making this a special time -at least definitely for the grandkids -is that their Grandpa -or Poppy as they call him arrived here Thursday evening for a brief visit with the grandkids and of course, also with our three adult children too!
He hasn't been here since Kurtis was about 2 years old as he lives in Nevada so visits are far and few between.
We weren't sure how the grandkids would react or respond to him but Mandy said at the airport, when he walked into the waiting area there, Maya actually gave him a big, big hug -which is quite the move coming from her!
Friday morning, Dad took Mandy to work and then picked her up at 2 p.m. when she was finished for the day and away they went! They had to make a stop over in State College to pick up Alex, the older grandson, but once they got him, they were off to driving down by Harrisburg, to Carlisle, PA and to attend the National Car Show there this weekend! My son, Clate, his girlfriend and her three little boys also were going to go down for this event too so it made for a nice getaway for everyone concerned!
So far, both the younger ones have very much been enjoying getting to know their grandfather at least a little bit and for that, I am very thankful.
People -well some people anyway -around us here who remember back when he and I were still married and not exactly on the best of terms most of the time then -are often shocked when they learn that when he does come to visit for a couple of days -to get re-acquainted with our children and now, our grandkids -that I actually welcome him into our home and even cook things that I remember he always enjoyed eating too -like the big crockpot of pork and sauerkraut that is cooking now as I write this!
I don't know if folks think I harbor all kinds of animosity towards him and that maybe I'd be as likely to greet him at the door with a big old dowel pin or a cast iron frying pan or some other blunt instrument and bring it down on his head or something like that because they generally are very surprised when I do mention his infrequent visits and the preparations, the anticipation, of having him around for a few days now and then. Okay -I confess that fora while after we separated, then divorced, things were not usually very pleasant between us but thankfully, that has changed, drastically and especially over the past almost 19 years now as he changed his mode of operation which then in turn, changed very much, the dealings I do have now with him.
And, it's all for the best too!
The kids went through a rough time of being estranged from him -mostly due to his actions towards them for several years but today, all three of our children keep in touch with him by phone frequently and they very much enjoy and appreciate his visits east to spend some time with them now.
And for the grandkids -who will not normally speak to him on the phone -it's been so great to see how they made up to him and are enjoying his presence very much too!
Matter of fact, early this evening after he left to go to the motel where he is staying, Kurtis became upset as his departure, saying he wanted Poppy to stay with him longer. I had to cajole Kurtis and tell him that Poppy left because he was tired from having driven from the car show and all the playing they'd done tonight too so he needed to go get some rest. To which Kurtis still couldn't grasp the need for that and I reminded him that he knows how Grammy sometimes needs to take "catnaps" and sleep and that Poppy needed that too because he's an "old fart." I know, I shouldn't say things like that to the kids but gee whiz, the temptation there is just to strong for me to avoid that. But anyway, when I said that to Kurtis, he looked up at me, with the most sincere look ever on his face and said to me, "Like you, huh Grammy?"
Yes, baby -Poppy is like Grammy -and we're both just a couple of old farts now you see!
What's making this a special time -at least definitely for the grandkids -is that their Grandpa -or Poppy as they call him arrived here Thursday evening for a brief visit with the grandkids and of course, also with our three adult children too!
He hasn't been here since Kurtis was about 2 years old as he lives in Nevada so visits are far and few between.
We weren't sure how the grandkids would react or respond to him but Mandy said at the airport, when he walked into the waiting area there, Maya actually gave him a big, big hug -which is quite the move coming from her!
Friday morning, Dad took Mandy to work and then picked her up at 2 p.m. when she was finished for the day and away they went! They had to make a stop over in State College to pick up Alex, the older grandson, but once they got him, they were off to driving down by Harrisburg, to Carlisle, PA and to attend the National Car Show there this weekend! My son, Clate, his girlfriend and her three little boys also were going to go down for this event too so it made for a nice getaway for everyone concerned!
So far, both the younger ones have very much been enjoying getting to know their grandfather at least a little bit and for that, I am very thankful.
People -well some people anyway -around us here who remember back when he and I were still married and not exactly on the best of terms most of the time then -are often shocked when they learn that when he does come to visit for a couple of days -to get re-acquainted with our children and now, our grandkids -that I actually welcome him into our home and even cook things that I remember he always enjoyed eating too -like the big crockpot of pork and sauerkraut that is cooking now as I write this!
I don't know if folks think I harbor all kinds of animosity towards him and that maybe I'd be as likely to greet him at the door with a big old dowel pin or a cast iron frying pan or some other blunt instrument and bring it down on his head or something like that because they generally are very surprised when I do mention his infrequent visits and the preparations, the anticipation, of having him around for a few days now and then. Okay -I confess that fora while after we separated, then divorced, things were not usually very pleasant between us but thankfully, that has changed, drastically and especially over the past almost 19 years now as he changed his mode of operation which then in turn, changed very much, the dealings I do have now with him.
And, it's all for the best too!
The kids went through a rough time of being estranged from him -mostly due to his actions towards them for several years but today, all three of our children keep in touch with him by phone frequently and they very much enjoy and appreciate his visits east to spend some time with them now.
And for the grandkids -who will not normally speak to him on the phone -it's been so great to see how they made up to him and are enjoying his presence very much too!
Matter of fact, early this evening after he left to go to the motel where he is staying, Kurtis became upset as his departure, saying he wanted Poppy to stay with him longer. I had to cajole Kurtis and tell him that Poppy left because he was tired from having driven from the car show and all the playing they'd done tonight too so he needed to go get some rest. To which Kurtis still couldn't grasp the need for that and I reminded him that he knows how Grammy sometimes needs to take "catnaps" and sleep and that Poppy needed that too because he's an "old fart." I know, I shouldn't say things like that to the kids but gee whiz, the temptation there is just to strong for me to avoid that. But anyway, when I said that to Kurtis, he looked up at me, with the most sincere look ever on his face and said to me, "Like you, huh Grammy?"
Yes, baby -Poppy is like Grammy -and we're both just a couple of old farts now you see!
Familiar Fragrances
Here it is -3 a.m. and I'm still up and awake! I should be sleeping, that's for sure but I sort of dozed off earlier this evening in the comfort of the recliner and now, I'm not yet sleepy again!
But, there's something else too that is keeping me awake -besides that unscheduled little naptime I had this evening.
I'm cooking something -in the crockpot -for our Sunday dinner and the aroma is wafting over me, making me hungry for one thing and to my olfactory nerve, the smell emanating from the kitchen is one I really love too!
So what it is that's cooking here?
A great big crockpot full of pork and sauerkraut!
Yes indeedy folks, the fragrance of sauerkraut cooking is one that I really relish! I know a lot of folks don't like the taste or the smell of this substance, but not me! I love it!
Actually, when it comes to foods and the aromas put out by many things as they cook or bake, is something I really do enjoy. Nothing better either than the scent of bread baking in the oven, is there?
When I was a kid, my Grandmother always baked homemade breads -several different kinds as a matter of fact and my nose was very well-trained back then too in that as soon as I would walk in the door I could tell if she was in the process of baking bread on any given day simply by the scent of the bread dough rising! Not just in the oven baking, but rather still in the bowl, still rising up till it was ready then for her to put it into pans and then into the oven to get the rest of the smells of fresh bread going then.
As a matter of fact you see, I loved to swipe a blob of that fresh bread dough and pop it into my mouth -something that would send my Grandma into minor hissy fits as she would grumble that she wouldn't have any dough left to bake if I didn't leave it alone! Another line she often used on me too -in a misguided effort to keep me out of the bread dough was to tell me that if I kept eating raw bread dough like that, it was going to cause my stomach to get all clogged up with that stuff in it! Well, 60 years later, I'm living proof I guess, that eating raw bread dough doesn't harm one's digestive system!
As I think about foods, the flavors,the fragrances and such though, there is one dish that comes to mind that I really didn't care for the smell although I did very much like the finished product and that was the traditional dish of Lutfisk that my Grandma always fixed for our Christmas Eve Supper!
Now that stuff does stink -for sure -and big time too! Phew! It's dried,salted codfish and to fix it, one has to soak the fish for a period of time in a pan of water containing, of all things, lye! Can you imagine cooking something that has been soaked in a liquid that is poisonous? Well, to cook Lutfisk, that's exactly what one has to do! And it would make the whole house -not just the back porch where Grandma would put the fish to soak but yes, the entire house would stink to the high heavens from this preparation. And that smell, I wasn't keen on except that I knew as soon as I got the first whiff of it permeating the place that come Christmas Eve when Grandma would cook the fish up -boiling it -fixing plain boiled potatoes and a side dish of creamed peas to serve with that -the objective being that for Christmas Eve supper, one was to have a very bland meal -at least in appearance and lutfisk in a white cream gravy, boiled potatoes and creamed peas sure was very bland, very uncolorful, in appearance but to my tastebuds, it was far from being bland in flavor as I loved that meal too!
Isn't it funny though how certain foods do have quite the distinctive smells and just talking about those things can trip a trigger in your mind, remembering how they taste then too?
Just a little memory jogging about foods tonight and all because I'm smelling the house up with the makings for what will be a big meal for us here for our Sunday Dinner!
Wishing it were time to dig in and eat it already now!
But, there's something else too that is keeping me awake -besides that unscheduled little naptime I had this evening.
I'm cooking something -in the crockpot -for our Sunday dinner and the aroma is wafting over me, making me hungry for one thing and to my olfactory nerve, the smell emanating from the kitchen is one I really love too!
So what it is that's cooking here?
A great big crockpot full of pork and sauerkraut!
Yes indeedy folks, the fragrance of sauerkraut cooking is one that I really relish! I know a lot of folks don't like the taste or the smell of this substance, but not me! I love it!
Actually, when it comes to foods and the aromas put out by many things as they cook or bake, is something I really do enjoy. Nothing better either than the scent of bread baking in the oven, is there?
When I was a kid, my Grandmother always baked homemade breads -several different kinds as a matter of fact and my nose was very well-trained back then too in that as soon as I would walk in the door I could tell if she was in the process of baking bread on any given day simply by the scent of the bread dough rising! Not just in the oven baking, but rather still in the bowl, still rising up till it was ready then for her to put it into pans and then into the oven to get the rest of the smells of fresh bread going then.
As a matter of fact you see, I loved to swipe a blob of that fresh bread dough and pop it into my mouth -something that would send my Grandma into minor hissy fits as she would grumble that she wouldn't have any dough left to bake if I didn't leave it alone! Another line she often used on me too -in a misguided effort to keep me out of the bread dough was to tell me that if I kept eating raw bread dough like that, it was going to cause my stomach to get all clogged up with that stuff in it! Well, 60 years later, I'm living proof I guess, that eating raw bread dough doesn't harm one's digestive system!
As I think about foods, the flavors,the fragrances and such though, there is one dish that comes to mind that I really didn't care for the smell although I did very much like the finished product and that was the traditional dish of Lutfisk that my Grandma always fixed for our Christmas Eve Supper!
Now that stuff does stink -for sure -and big time too! Phew! It's dried,salted codfish and to fix it, one has to soak the fish for a period of time in a pan of water containing, of all things, lye! Can you imagine cooking something that has been soaked in a liquid that is poisonous? Well, to cook Lutfisk, that's exactly what one has to do! And it would make the whole house -not just the back porch where Grandma would put the fish to soak but yes, the entire house would stink to the high heavens from this preparation. And that smell, I wasn't keen on except that I knew as soon as I got the first whiff of it permeating the place that come Christmas Eve when Grandma would cook the fish up -boiling it -fixing plain boiled potatoes and a side dish of creamed peas to serve with that -the objective being that for Christmas Eve supper, one was to have a very bland meal -at least in appearance and lutfisk in a white cream gravy, boiled potatoes and creamed peas sure was very bland, very uncolorful, in appearance but to my tastebuds, it was far from being bland in flavor as I loved that meal too!
Isn't it funny though how certain foods do have quite the distinctive smells and just talking about those things can trip a trigger in your mind, remembering how they taste then too?
Just a little memory jogging about foods tonight and all because I'm smelling the house up with the makings for what will be a big meal for us here for our Sunday Dinner!
Wishing it were time to dig in and eat it already now!
Rings and Things
There's going to be some excitement in the family a few months down the road, it seems. A new addition on the way that will change a lot of things for Maya and Kurtis as they are going to be getting new designations with their names!
Maya will be come "Aunt Maya" and Kurtis, hard to believe, will be "Uncle Kurtis!"
And Mandy will be a young Grandma while I will be an honorary Great-Grandma then too!
Mandy's stepdaughter is going to have a baby so the excitement is already running high with Mandy and yes, I confess I am looking forward to this event too. Maya and Kurtis are happy about this but they don't -neither of them -fully understand what all this entails either though.
No, there's been no wedding and for that matter, there's not even been talk of one as yet.
Heck, there's not even been a ring discussed nor even a little peeking around, window shopping if you will, to look at some kind of rings!
But no matter there as we all know things -and young people -today operate considerably differently from the ways of days long gone by, don't they?
When I was growing up, the old saying then was "All babies take nine months, except the first one and it can come anytime!" Having a baby back then and not being married was still pretty much frowned upon.
Today though -and I am not advocating for this - but I do believe if that is the worst thing that a woman does, then she's not done bad after all!
Let's face it, generally speaking, children are usually better off being born into a two-parent family! Usually, but not always, that is the way that is supposed to work.
And, I'm not looking at this from the stance that whether or not Mandy's stepdaughter marries the father or not, that life will be a piece of cake because raising a child is work and darned difficult much of the time too, especially if one has to go it alone!
But the nice thing -regardless of the marital outcome -is that Mandy and I both like the young man who is the father-to-be as he seems to be a nice guy and treats Kate with care and respect. Just so things stay that way but that too isn't something that is a guaranteed thing either, ya know!
So, for now, I'm gonna start checking out some baby patterns for knitted sweaters and maybe even some booties and probably some crochet patterns to make a baby blanket -or maybe even two or more of those things! Who knows? I like to make things like that and this will afford me a big opportunity as I see that for being in my future too!
So, ring or no ring, she knows that Mandy and I will both help her any way we can and the kids will look forward then to having a niece or nephew around thereafter then too!
Maya will be come "Aunt Maya" and Kurtis, hard to believe, will be "Uncle Kurtis!"
And Mandy will be a young Grandma while I will be an honorary Great-Grandma then too!
Mandy's stepdaughter is going to have a baby so the excitement is already running high with Mandy and yes, I confess I am looking forward to this event too. Maya and Kurtis are happy about this but they don't -neither of them -fully understand what all this entails either though.
No, there's been no wedding and for that matter, there's not even been talk of one as yet.
Heck, there's not even been a ring discussed nor even a little peeking around, window shopping if you will, to look at some kind of rings!
But no matter there as we all know things -and young people -today operate considerably differently from the ways of days long gone by, don't they?
When I was growing up, the old saying then was "All babies take nine months, except the first one and it can come anytime!" Having a baby back then and not being married was still pretty much frowned upon.
Today though -and I am not advocating for this - but I do believe if that is the worst thing that a woman does, then she's not done bad after all!
Let's face it, generally speaking, children are usually better off being born into a two-parent family! Usually, but not always, that is the way that is supposed to work.
And, I'm not looking at this from the stance that whether or not Mandy's stepdaughter marries the father or not, that life will be a piece of cake because raising a child is work and darned difficult much of the time too, especially if one has to go it alone!
But the nice thing -regardless of the marital outcome -is that Mandy and I both like the young man who is the father-to-be as he seems to be a nice guy and treats Kate with care and respect. Just so things stay that way but that too isn't something that is a guaranteed thing either, ya know!
So, for now, I'm gonna start checking out some baby patterns for knitted sweaters and maybe even some booties and probably some crochet patterns to make a baby blanket -or maybe even two or more of those things! Who knows? I like to make things like that and this will afford me a big opportunity as I see that for being in my future too!
So, ring or no ring, she knows that Mandy and I will both help her any way we can and the kids will look forward then to having a niece or nephew around thereafter then too!
A Fun Week!
The past week was a lot of fun -especially for Maya and Kurtis.
For me, it was a challenge to get up early every day from Monday through Friday, get myself ready, the kids dressed and out the door to arrive at church by 9:30 a.m.
Why?
Well, so Maya and Kurtis could attend Vacation Bible School at our church! And they did very much enjoy the time spent there from 9:30 a.m. until noon.
For the most part, I enjoyed it too although my presence there during that time period was to manage something I haven't done for a long time now -get a light lunch prepared to give to the kids attending the program ready to be served by 11:30 a.m.
I've worked the VBS program in the past but not as being the person in charge in the kitchen so I was more than a bit nervous about this undertaking. However, the ladies who had designed the lunch program and the menus had done a very good job of planning the menus so that each day, the items to be prepared were quite simple plus, I did have several other women from our parish who showed up each day to help serve the meals too and for that -for their help -I am very, very thankful and grateful to them!
The first day though looked like this program was not going to amount to much as the attendance the first day consisted of my two grandkids, the three grandsons of another lady from our church and the instructor's little two-year-old son! Yeah, we started out with only 6 children attending but the next day, we doubled that number and the rest of the week we fluctuated between 11 or 12 children there then.
Each day, as I said, I had a different menu to follow and each menu was such that the actual preparation wasn't anything complicated. Monday, we served the kids hot dogs, fresh veggies and Ranch dip, with the veggies consisting of broccoli and cauliflower florets, carrot sticks and celery sticks and for dessert, they got rice krispie squares. Tuesday, it was ham and cheese sandwiches with the veggies and brownies. Wednesday, I cooked up two large batches of macaroni and cheese -one was made from "scratch" and the other, using the box mixes as some kids (my granddaughter included in this number) don't like homemade mac'n'cheese. (Yeah, Miss Maya recently decided she no longer wants the homemade mac'n'cheese I've been serving her and Kurtis since they each began to eat table foods and now, out of the blue, she no longer wants that but will only eat it if it is made from a box mix. Go figure that one out, huh?
Thursday's meal was tacos -and again, the same accompaniments with brownies or rice krispy squares for dessert. But Friday's meal was probably the most popular one as the lady with the three grandsons attending the program purchased 4 big pizzas -two with pepperoni and two that were just plain cheese pizzas and she also got 4 dozen cupcakes from the bakery at a local store for their dessert.
Friday was also a special day for the kids too as they got a big treat that the weather was quite cooperative and therefore they could wear their swimsuits and play on the front lawn with a hose, a big beach-ball type apparatus that you hooked the hose up to it and it sprayed water in various directions plus, they also got to play with water-filled balloons too -tossing them at each other and every getting soaked.
Here's a couple videos I managed to get of some of the activities at Vacation Bible School this year.
First off -the opening exercise that the teacher (Danielle) let the class to sing and dance and get all fired up to learn the teachings of this program -titled Operation Overboard.
And then there were the fun-filled water activities -simplistic, yes, but those kids really had a great time with them all the same!
The little boy in the green trunks is my grandson, Kurtis -and trust me, he had an absolute blast getting sprayed by that big old beach ball sprayer contraptions!
While the younger kids seemed to enjoy the water balloons mainly as something to throw onto the sidewalk and watch them break, the older kids -especially the teens who were there to help with the classes -were the ones who really had a blast chasing each other all around and trying to hit one another with those very full balloons!
And, now -after having survived managing the kitchen duties for Vacation Bible School and even getting a lot of compliments too (some came from the kids, no less) if I end up being in charge of the kitchen again next year, I won't be near as nervous about being able to handle that bit of stress!
It's really a great program and gives the kids a little bit of instruction in our faith as well as a chance to do little craft-type items that they can then bring home at the end of the week.
And, I'm really thankful that even though the attendance is not very large these days -unlike when I was a kid and all the protestant churches in our township joined forces and we held Bible School then for two weeks in the high school building and generally had at least 100 kids in attendance there then -that this program is still being presented for the children of our church.
Definitely worth the effort!!!
For me, it was a challenge to get up early every day from Monday through Friday, get myself ready, the kids dressed and out the door to arrive at church by 9:30 a.m.
Why?
Well, so Maya and Kurtis could attend Vacation Bible School at our church! And they did very much enjoy the time spent there from 9:30 a.m. until noon.
For the most part, I enjoyed it too although my presence there during that time period was to manage something I haven't done for a long time now -get a light lunch prepared to give to the kids attending the program ready to be served by 11:30 a.m.
I've worked the VBS program in the past but not as being the person in charge in the kitchen so I was more than a bit nervous about this undertaking. However, the ladies who had designed the lunch program and the menus had done a very good job of planning the menus so that each day, the items to be prepared were quite simple plus, I did have several other women from our parish who showed up each day to help serve the meals too and for that -for their help -I am very, very thankful and grateful to them!
The first day though looked like this program was not going to amount to much as the attendance the first day consisted of my two grandkids, the three grandsons of another lady from our church and the instructor's little two-year-old son! Yeah, we started out with only 6 children attending but the next day, we doubled that number and the rest of the week we fluctuated between 11 or 12 children there then.
Each day, as I said, I had a different menu to follow and each menu was such that the actual preparation wasn't anything complicated. Monday, we served the kids hot dogs, fresh veggies and Ranch dip, with the veggies consisting of broccoli and cauliflower florets, carrot sticks and celery sticks and for dessert, they got rice krispie squares. Tuesday, it was ham and cheese sandwiches with the veggies and brownies. Wednesday, I cooked up two large batches of macaroni and cheese -one was made from "scratch" and the other, using the box mixes as some kids (my granddaughter included in this number) don't like homemade mac'n'cheese. (Yeah, Miss Maya recently decided she no longer wants the homemade mac'n'cheese I've been serving her and Kurtis since they each began to eat table foods and now, out of the blue, she no longer wants that but will only eat it if it is made from a box mix. Go figure that one out, huh?
Thursday's meal was tacos -and again, the same accompaniments with brownies or rice krispy squares for dessert. But Friday's meal was probably the most popular one as the lady with the three grandsons attending the program purchased 4 big pizzas -two with pepperoni and two that were just plain cheese pizzas and she also got 4 dozen cupcakes from the bakery at a local store for their dessert.
Friday was also a special day for the kids too as they got a big treat that the weather was quite cooperative and therefore they could wear their swimsuits and play on the front lawn with a hose, a big beach-ball type apparatus that you hooked the hose up to it and it sprayed water in various directions plus, they also got to play with water-filled balloons too -tossing them at each other and every getting soaked.
Here's a couple videos I managed to get of some of the activities at Vacation Bible School this year.
First off -the opening exercise that the teacher (Danielle) let the class to sing and dance and get all fired up to learn the teachings of this program -titled Operation Overboard.
And then there were the fun-filled water activities -simplistic, yes, but those kids really had a great time with them all the same!
The little boy in the green trunks is my grandson, Kurtis -and trust me, he had an absolute blast getting sprayed by that big old beach ball sprayer contraptions!
While the younger kids seemed to enjoy the water balloons mainly as something to throw onto the sidewalk and watch them break, the older kids -especially the teens who were there to help with the classes -were the ones who really had a blast chasing each other all around and trying to hit one another with those very full balloons!
And, now -after having survived managing the kitchen duties for Vacation Bible School and even getting a lot of compliments too (some came from the kids, no less) if I end up being in charge of the kitchen again next year, I won't be near as nervous about being able to handle that bit of stress!
It's really a great program and gives the kids a little bit of instruction in our faith as well as a chance to do little craft-type items that they can then bring home at the end of the week.
And, I'm really thankful that even though the attendance is not very large these days -unlike when I was a kid and all the protestant churches in our township joined forces and we held Bible School then for two weeks in the high school building and generally had at least 100 kids in attendance there then -that this program is still being presented for the children of our church.
Definitely worth the effort!!!
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Bonfire In the Works
It has been a very frustrating night here for me. From trying to change browsers, to trying to figure out how to convert an attachment sent to me in my e-mail and then, removing those things from my computer because I couldn't seem to get them to work properly -and generally getting very, very frustrated in the process, it's left me with the thought of wishing I could just take those stupid apps or programs or files -or whatever they are -and just toss them out the back of the house and into the nifty little thing behind our deck -our fire pit.
This is a not too big area that my 2nd ex-son-in-law named Bill, who technically is still my son-in-law but through no fault of my daughter's as she's been trying for the better part of a year now to make it that he is officially my second-ex-son-in-law named Bill! Never thought it could be as much of a pain in the dupa as this has turned out to be too! (Mainly because he hasn't signed ALL the paperwork involved and by this stage of the game, probably hasn't even a clue as to where he put all the paperwork involved too!
Just makes a person want to scream ARRGH, doesn't it -along with a whole lot of really obnoxious cuss words too.
Besides this lovely thing he built specifically for burning papers and wood and that could be used to sit by it and warm one's self too on a summer night that maybe hasa teensy bit of a chill to it (unlike the summer nights we've had here recently which would do anything BUT give one a bit of a chill should not be confused with a much larger area, further down in the back yard where we burn other stuff that we need to eliminate!
Sadly, I know of no way to get these things that frustrated the living daylights out of me for about the past 3 hours now -maybe longer -to the pit just beyond the deck and make sure they are finally disposed of for once and for all!
Yeah -just a bit of wishful thinking there.
But maybe tomorrow evening, provided it isn't raining, we can have a little bonfire in the pit and maybe even make a couple of little kids happy as they get a chance to toast some marshmallows over that blaze there then!
I'd be happy just to have that much of a thrill from burning a couple old newspapers then!
This is a not too big area that my 2nd ex-son-in-law named Bill, who technically is still my son-in-law but through no fault of my daughter's as she's been trying for the better part of a year now to make it that he is officially my second-ex-son-in-law named Bill! Never thought it could be as much of a pain in the dupa as this has turned out to be too! (Mainly because he hasn't signed ALL the paperwork involved and by this stage of the game, probably hasn't even a clue as to where he put all the paperwork involved too!
Just makes a person want to scream ARRGH, doesn't it -along with a whole lot of really obnoxious cuss words too.
Besides this lovely thing he built specifically for burning papers and wood and that could be used to sit by it and warm one's self too on a summer night that maybe hasa teensy bit of a chill to it (unlike the summer nights we've had here recently which would do anything BUT give one a bit of a chill should not be confused with a much larger area, further down in the back yard where we burn other stuff that we need to eliminate!
Sadly, I know of no way to get these things that frustrated the living daylights out of me for about the past 3 hours now -maybe longer -to the pit just beyond the deck and make sure they are finally disposed of for once and for all!
Yeah -just a bit of wishful thinking there.
But maybe tomorrow evening, provided it isn't raining, we can have a little bonfire in the pit and maybe even make a couple of little kids happy as they get a chance to toast some marshmallows over that blaze there then!
I'd be happy just to have that much of a thrill from burning a couple old newspapers then!
Rocket Scientist Needed!
It all began this evening when I was looking at a website from Sweden where one could purchase lovely needlecraft kits.
You all know how much I do love to embroider and also, that I happen to be 50 percent Swedish in my ancestry and I love things that are Swedish. Don't 'cha remember that? Gosh, I hope so seeing as I talk about the needlework I love, post pictures from time to time of items I have completed and also, how much I do (usually) enjoy doing research too from time to time about my Swedish ancestry.
Right? Certainly!
Well, my darling little granddaughter it seems had managed to find -all on her own, at the tender age of 8 years and having just completed second grade, how to get to a Google site where you can get things translated from one language into English. Now that's just what I needed since the website is totally in Swedish and about the only things I understand in Swedish is "How are you?" "Thank you" and "You're Welcome!" So I had to get Maya to show me how to get to the Google Translate site, which she did. And I was having a fine time copying text from the Swedish Website, pasting it into the Google Translate and then reading what the description about the items I liked said.
The trouble began early on though with the Google Translate when I happened to discover there was a place that I could actually surf when the text was written in one language and I could read it translated automatically (no copy/paste stuff needed, you know) simply by downloading a different browser.
That browser being Chrome.
Well, Chrome's been around a good while, that I know and a couple good blogger and Facebook friends have said some good things about it and it's supposed to (according to those friends) be much better, much faster and all those neat things we all want, than Firefox.
So off I went to try to download Chrome!
And what a mess, what a can of worms that opened up for me!
After having to change my password several times in the process of the download, mainly because I wasn't sure which e-mail address I have is really my e-mail address for my Google Account -which apparently has several different aspects to it and some use one e-mail address while others use my other address and be damned if I know now which does which!
Finally, I was so disgusted with getting the message about entering my e-mail address and password, after which I immediately would get a phone call with a number of about 10 zeros on my caller id, and a phone id number I had to immediately key in and then hit enter to verify I am who is really supposed to be using this account and so forth, inevitably it would ask for my password and I would enter the most recent one I thought I was to be using, only to get yet another phone call and on and on it went!
Finally, disgusted to the max, I uninstalled the freaking darned Chrome browser! Simplicity -thy name certainly is not anything to do with any kind of Google accounts!
After that, I saw I had some new e-mail and went to clear my inbox and handle those mails that needed attention and trash the rest of 'em there.
One that needed attention came to me from a lady from our church who has been working on a particular committee (and driving me slightly -or semi -bonkers with the list she's been typing up.
This e-mail when I opened and saw there was an attachment involved, and when I saw the extension on the attachment, I just knew this was going to make the problems earlier pale.
Why? Well because she had typed this list up using Microsoft Works and my computer isn't set up to recognize and accept WPS extension stuff! Nope. Because I use Word.
But then I thought oh shucks, this shouldn't be a problem because earlier this year, one of the ladies I am working with for our class reunion had sent me a file she had done up on her Mac (and we all know how well, how nicely Mac files and PC files play together, don't we? Yeah, right! They don't! So at that time, a friend had told me how to download another file or application or program -whatever the Hell it is called -which would convert any files that were sent to me using an extension that isn't part of the normal repertoire on my computer!
So, when I went to do the conversion of this new-to-me WPS file, I was given the option of downloading either Open.org or Open Freely. Like the non-rocket scientist I happen to be I thought the Open Freely sounded intriguing and so I chose that one.
Of course, that meant going through all the rigamaro of downloading yet another program and then, trying to get it to work -which I couldn't seem to get it to that state of affairs -and finally ending up getting totally ticked off -again -and uninstalling then the Open Freely thing-a-ma-jig!
That's when I discovered that in downloading the Open Freely that also apparently was an Openly Free invitation to several other applications or programs or some such to come in and camp out on my computer! I was not pleased at all when I realized beside the Open Freely there were a total of five other items showing as having been downloaded via the Open Freely one to my computer! Actually there were six, but the sixth one, doesn't show up on my Control Panel where it shows me all the programs loaded to my computer.
But those that showed up there were these: K-Lite Codec Pack, Genieo, ASPCA Reminder, Qinstaller, and Default Tab. The one that doesn't show up anyplace on my control panel -Yahoo Toolbar!
I did manage to uninstall those five programs listed above -after a whole lot of time that could have been put to much better use, ya know, if it only took a click and zip, zip, zip, presto magic, the unwanted piece would be gone. But of course, you know I'm sure that's the last thing in the world that would happen when we inadvertently get these other programs slapped on our computers without our ever even having asked for any of them to be there.
I already have about two toolbars to many on my computer and the last damned thing I really need is one more and especially one from Yahoo too! But now it appears I am stuck with the Yahoo Toolbar along with the Toolbar from AVG -my anti-virus program -also one that doesn't show up on my control panel with a way to disconnect from that toolbar either!
So, if anyone of you, my blogger buddies, knows how to remove the AVG toolbar and also, the Yahoo Toolbar too, without having to add a couple extra programs I neither want nor need, please drop me a note with full instructions.
Just make sure the instructions are all written in plain and very, very simple English though as that is the only language I do pretty much understand -unless of course you communicate in the English version of Computerese -which is a language guaranteed to confuse me, probably more, than if you wrote instructions in Swedish and I ran them through the Google Translate thingy!
You all know how much I do love to embroider and also, that I happen to be 50 percent Swedish in my ancestry and I love things that are Swedish. Don't 'cha remember that? Gosh, I hope so seeing as I talk about the needlework I love, post pictures from time to time of items I have completed and also, how much I do (usually) enjoy doing research too from time to time about my Swedish ancestry.
Right? Certainly!
Well, my darling little granddaughter it seems had managed to find -all on her own, at the tender age of 8 years and having just completed second grade, how to get to a Google site where you can get things translated from one language into English. Now that's just what I needed since the website is totally in Swedish and about the only things I understand in Swedish is "How are you?" "Thank you" and "You're Welcome!" So I had to get Maya to show me how to get to the Google Translate site, which she did. And I was having a fine time copying text from the Swedish Website, pasting it into the Google Translate and then reading what the description about the items I liked said.
The trouble began early on though with the Google Translate when I happened to discover there was a place that I could actually surf when the text was written in one language and I could read it translated automatically (no copy/paste stuff needed, you know) simply by downloading a different browser.
That browser being Chrome.
Well, Chrome's been around a good while, that I know and a couple good blogger and Facebook friends have said some good things about it and it's supposed to (according to those friends) be much better, much faster and all those neat things we all want, than Firefox.
So off I went to try to download Chrome!
And what a mess, what a can of worms that opened up for me!
After having to change my password several times in the process of the download, mainly because I wasn't sure which e-mail address I have is really my e-mail address for my Google Account -which apparently has several different aspects to it and some use one e-mail address while others use my other address and be damned if I know now which does which!
Finally, I was so disgusted with getting the message about entering my e-mail address and password, after which I immediately would get a phone call with a number of about 10 zeros on my caller id, and a phone id number I had to immediately key in and then hit enter to verify I am who is really supposed to be using this account and so forth, inevitably it would ask for my password and I would enter the most recent one I thought I was to be using, only to get yet another phone call and on and on it went!
Finally, disgusted to the max, I uninstalled the freaking darned Chrome browser! Simplicity -thy name certainly is not anything to do with any kind of Google accounts!
After that, I saw I had some new e-mail and went to clear my inbox and handle those mails that needed attention and trash the rest of 'em there.
One that needed attention came to me from a lady from our church who has been working on a particular committee (and driving me slightly -or semi -bonkers with the list she's been typing up.
This e-mail when I opened and saw there was an attachment involved, and when I saw the extension on the attachment, I just knew this was going to make the problems earlier pale.
Why? Well because she had typed this list up using Microsoft Works and my computer isn't set up to recognize and accept WPS extension stuff! Nope. Because I use Word.
But then I thought oh shucks, this shouldn't be a problem because earlier this year, one of the ladies I am working with for our class reunion had sent me a file she had done up on her Mac (and we all know how well, how nicely Mac files and PC files play together, don't we? Yeah, right! They don't! So at that time, a friend had told me how to download another file or application or program -whatever the Hell it is called -which would convert any files that were sent to me using an extension that isn't part of the normal repertoire on my computer!
So, when I went to do the conversion of this new-to-me WPS file, I was given the option of downloading either Open.org or Open Freely. Like the non-rocket scientist I happen to be I thought the Open Freely sounded intriguing and so I chose that one.
Of course, that meant going through all the rigamaro of downloading yet another program and then, trying to get it to work -which I couldn't seem to get it to that state of affairs -and finally ending up getting totally ticked off -again -and uninstalling then the Open Freely thing-a-ma-jig!
That's when I discovered that in downloading the Open Freely that also apparently was an Openly Free invitation to several other applications or programs or some such to come in and camp out on my computer! I was not pleased at all when I realized beside the Open Freely there were a total of five other items showing as having been downloaded via the Open Freely one to my computer! Actually there were six, but the sixth one, doesn't show up on my Control Panel where it shows me all the programs loaded to my computer.
But those that showed up there were these: K-Lite Codec Pack, Genieo, ASPCA Reminder, Qinstaller, and Default Tab. The one that doesn't show up anyplace on my control panel -Yahoo Toolbar!
I did manage to uninstall those five programs listed above -after a whole lot of time that could have been put to much better use, ya know, if it only took a click and zip, zip, zip, presto magic, the unwanted piece would be gone. But of course, you know I'm sure that's the last thing in the world that would happen when we inadvertently get these other programs slapped on our computers without our ever even having asked for any of them to be there.
I already have about two toolbars to many on my computer and the last damned thing I really need is one more and especially one from Yahoo too! But now it appears I am stuck with the Yahoo Toolbar along with the Toolbar from AVG -my anti-virus program -also one that doesn't show up on my control panel with a way to disconnect from that toolbar either!
So, if anyone of you, my blogger buddies, knows how to remove the AVG toolbar and also, the Yahoo Toolbar too, without having to add a couple extra programs I neither want nor need, please drop me a note with full instructions.
Just make sure the instructions are all written in plain and very, very simple English though as that is the only language I do pretty much understand -unless of course you communicate in the English version of Computerese -which is a language guaranteed to confuse me, probably more, than if you wrote instructions in Swedish and I ran them through the Google Translate thingy!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Home Away From Home
With the 50th Reunion of my high school graduating class just around the corner now, there's still a lot of things I need to work on to get completed for that event.
I have a place set up where we can gather the night before the reunion now for anyone who wants to come out and kick back a little bit and have a chance to get reacquainted more fully that what we will be able to do in the limited time frame that just the evening of the reunion will afford.
For "The Night Before" I have made arrangements that our class can go to the local chapter of the Moose where they can have food and liquid refreshments and a chance to talk without having to shout every single word to each other. Most of the other places where we could gather tend to have a very loud, very rowdy at times, and packed establishments too whereas this place would afford us a bit of privacy and the ability to hear the conversations at hand.
I'm going to suggest to the others in our group working on the planning of this reunion too about preparing a little booklet to give to each classmate attending as well that would include in it a little bit of information about all our fellow classmates too. Not just a listing by their name but also to include their address, e-mail address if available, date of birth, marital status, anniversary date, children/grandchildren too -if any.
Just a little self-contained address book with a tiny bit of other information about those we knew a long time ago such as where they are today and what their interests might be too.
Just something to keep us in some type of communication, at any rate.
Another thing too is something we didn't think of before but probably should have is information about places for people from out-of-town to stay -motels and such -in the area.
I've got a little listing done up now about those things and plan to send that out too in the near future. One place I knew about but didn't think of it until talking to one of our classmates who resides in Florida now and that is this bed and breakfast that is just about 4 miles from my house and I'm really impressed with this place. The lady who has this place graduated three years behind our class, her sister was a year behind us and one brother was a year ahead of us so people from our class would no doubt remember her but probably have no idea about this place since she just got it all completed within the past 2-3 years now.
But I think it is so beautiful I just have to share the website here and you tell me what you think about this place too!
http://mountainviewfarmsbb.com/
Take a peek at the pictures of this B&B and tell me you wouldn't like to spend a relaxing weekend there!
I have a place set up where we can gather the night before the reunion now for anyone who wants to come out and kick back a little bit and have a chance to get reacquainted more fully that what we will be able to do in the limited time frame that just the evening of the reunion will afford.
For "The Night Before" I have made arrangements that our class can go to the local chapter of the Moose where they can have food and liquid refreshments and a chance to talk without having to shout every single word to each other. Most of the other places where we could gather tend to have a very loud, very rowdy at times, and packed establishments too whereas this place would afford us a bit of privacy and the ability to hear the conversations at hand.
I'm going to suggest to the others in our group working on the planning of this reunion too about preparing a little booklet to give to each classmate attending as well that would include in it a little bit of information about all our fellow classmates too. Not just a listing by their name but also to include their address, e-mail address if available, date of birth, marital status, anniversary date, children/grandchildren too -if any.
Just a little self-contained address book with a tiny bit of other information about those we knew a long time ago such as where they are today and what their interests might be too.
Just something to keep us in some type of communication, at any rate.
Another thing too is something we didn't think of before but probably should have is information about places for people from out-of-town to stay -motels and such -in the area.
I've got a little listing done up now about those things and plan to send that out too in the near future. One place I knew about but didn't think of it until talking to one of our classmates who resides in Florida now and that is this bed and breakfast that is just about 4 miles from my house and I'm really impressed with this place. The lady who has this place graduated three years behind our class, her sister was a year behind us and one brother was a year ahead of us so people from our class would no doubt remember her but probably have no idea about this place since she just got it all completed within the past 2-3 years now.
But I think it is so beautiful I just have to share the website here and you tell me what you think about this place too!
http://mountainviewfarmsbb.com/
Take a peek at the pictures of this B&B and tell me you wouldn't like to spend a relaxing weekend there!
Literary Giftings
My son's birthday is just around the corner now -next month, he'll add another year. So, I've been giving a little thought now and looking at various things he might like to get for his birthday.
He loves old things -but the old things he loves generally are old cars, particularly volkswagons or old pickup trucks.Now those are things totally out of my realm to tr to get for him. Can't afford things like that for openers, plus I would have no idea what to get him along those lines even if I did have the extra money.
And besides, he just acquired a new-to-him volkswagon about two weeks ago -one with no front windshield, no clutch and who knows how many other things that I'm pretty sure are vital to the operation of this buggy but which it came without!
I think I'll let the car restoration area completely up to him to get what he wants, what he needs there.
I know he likes various t-shirts and since he had served in the Army for a little over 4 years (from 1993 to 1998 or 1999 -can't remember exactly there -I thought about getting him an army t shirt -or perhaps something else denoting the outfit he served in or something like that.
But then last week when Maya and I were out prowling the community yard sales in the neighboring village here, I came across something else that I thought he might just find very enjoyable. At one of the sales, the people had books and books and more books -and all of them hard bound, very good books too for sale, absolutely dirt cheap! (Like for a quarter or fifty cents a copy, no less.) And I came across several I thought he might like but ended up selecting one by Kurt Vonnegut -titled Bagombo Snuff Box -which is a absolutely beautiful, like new, condition and I think this is something he will actually enjoy reading too.
Maybe later I can find a couple other books by Mr. Vonnegut -like Cat's Cradle or Slaughterhouse Five, either one of which I think he would probably enjoy too!
He's not exactly like his sisters or me with respect to reading a lot, but he does appreciate occasionally settling back and reading a really great piece of literature. Maybe I can help him start his own little library over time.
He loves old things -but the old things he loves generally are old cars, particularly volkswagons or old pickup trucks.Now those are things totally out of my realm to tr to get for him. Can't afford things like that for openers, plus I would have no idea what to get him along those lines even if I did have the extra money.
And besides, he just acquired a new-to-him volkswagon about two weeks ago -one with no front windshield, no clutch and who knows how many other things that I'm pretty sure are vital to the operation of this buggy but which it came without!
I think I'll let the car restoration area completely up to him to get what he wants, what he needs there.
I know he likes various t-shirts and since he had served in the Army for a little over 4 years (from 1993 to 1998 or 1999 -can't remember exactly there -I thought about getting him an army t shirt -or perhaps something else denoting the outfit he served in or something like that.
But then last week when Maya and I were out prowling the community yard sales in the neighboring village here, I came across something else that I thought he might just find very enjoyable. At one of the sales, the people had books and books and more books -and all of them hard bound, very good books too for sale, absolutely dirt cheap! (Like for a quarter or fifty cents a copy, no less.) And I came across several I thought he might like but ended up selecting one by Kurt Vonnegut -titled Bagombo Snuff Box -which is a absolutely beautiful, like new, condition and I think this is something he will actually enjoy reading too.
Maybe later I can find a couple other books by Mr. Vonnegut -like Cat's Cradle or Slaughterhouse Five, either one of which I think he would probably enjoy too!
He's not exactly like his sisters or me with respect to reading a lot, but he does appreciate occasionally settling back and reading a really great piece of literature. Maybe I can help him start his own little library over time.
Monday, July 23, 2012
An Alternate Addiction?
I'm sorry to say that my latest attempt to stop smoking cigarettes seems to have gone down the tubes -at least for right now anyway.
I know I should quit but just can't seem to get the good incentive needed to do that embedded deeply enough within me at this point in time I guess.
I've been trying to think of alternatives I could try -like maybe checking out Davidoff and try weaning myself off cigarettes by switching to cigars. Maybe?
Probably not the best idea I've ever come up with, is it?
Or perhaps, I could try calling a lady who is a psychologist and who advertises that she does hypnosos for smoking cessation. That's about the only method I haven't given a shot to -well that and acupuncture is another way some people have succeeded in cessation of smoking.
If she doesn't charge an arm and a leg and the whole darned farm, maybe one of those route would be a good method for me to try!
Gotta do something, that's for sure!
I know I should quit but just can't seem to get the good incentive needed to do that embedded deeply enough within me at this point in time I guess.
I've been trying to think of alternatives I could try -like maybe checking out Davidoff and try weaning myself off cigarettes by switching to cigars. Maybe?
Probably not the best idea I've ever come up with, is it?
Or perhaps, I could try calling a lady who is a psychologist and who advertises that she does hypnosos for smoking cessation. That's about the only method I haven't given a shot to -well that and acupuncture is another way some people have succeeded in cessation of smoking.
If she doesn't charge an arm and a leg and the whole darned farm, maybe one of those route would be a good method for me to try!
Gotta do something, that's for sure!
Pending Visitor...
Next week -on Thursday, August 2nd to be precise, we will have a visitor coming here for a couple of days.
The kids -my kids that is -are all very much looking forward to this visitor and his stay, although it is only going to amount to 4 or 5 days.
Their Dad is flying in next Thursday from Nevada to see them and the grandkids -first time he's been back here I think in 4 years -or maybe it is 5 years -after that much lapse of time, I forget when he was last here.
Clate, his girlfriend and her three little boys and Mandy (along with, I believe her boyfriend) are planning a nice little getaway and going to take Dad down to Carlisle, PA for a big car show going on there next week. Now, cars -of virtually any type -and a big car show like this one is, well that's an adventure that will definitely be right up their Dad's as well as Mandy and Clate's alleys!
Yes, you could say my kids are car happy or rather addicted is a better term maybe -to cars. But they come by that very honestly as that's exactly how their Dad is too!
Maya and Kurtis don't have not been bitten, not as yet anyway, by that kind of car "bug."
And even though Mandy asked me if I wanted to go along with them to this, I told her there were a whole lot of other things I could think of that she could use in the gifts for parents -at least where THIS parent is concerned. Definitely I would be most appreciative of oh, some strawberries and say, a little chocolate too!
So, instead I will stay home with the two younger grandkids and pray for a peaceful two days and one night here alone with them!
With things the way Mandy and Clate have things planned out, this means I will only have to cook two meals then for their Dad!
Blessings in everything, aren't there?
The kids -my kids that is -are all very much looking forward to this visitor and his stay, although it is only going to amount to 4 or 5 days.
Their Dad is flying in next Thursday from Nevada to see them and the grandkids -first time he's been back here I think in 4 years -or maybe it is 5 years -after that much lapse of time, I forget when he was last here.
Clate, his girlfriend and her three little boys and Mandy (along with, I believe her boyfriend) are planning a nice little getaway and going to take Dad down to Carlisle, PA for a big car show going on there next week. Now, cars -of virtually any type -and a big car show like this one is, well that's an adventure that will definitely be right up their Dad's as well as Mandy and Clate's alleys!
Yes, you could say my kids are car happy or rather addicted is a better term maybe -to cars. But they come by that very honestly as that's exactly how their Dad is too!
Maya and Kurtis don't have not been bitten, not as yet anyway, by that kind of car "bug."
And even though Mandy asked me if I wanted to go along with them to this, I told her there were a whole lot of other things I could think of that she could use in the gifts for parents -at least where THIS parent is concerned. Definitely I would be most appreciative of oh, some strawberries and say, a little chocolate too!
So, instead I will stay home with the two younger grandkids and pray for a peaceful two days and one night here alone with them!
With things the way Mandy and Clate have things planned out, this means I will only have to cook two meals then for their Dad!
Blessings in everything, aren't there?
Training -or Retraining -the Trainer!
After I got finished around noon with my general morning stuff, checked my e-mail, played a tiny bit on Facebook and then, cleared out all the posts waiting for me to read in my Reader, I had the kids get ready and we were going to take Sammy for a walk then, up the road to pick up our mail.
Maya wanted to ride her bike while I walked the dog and of course, Kurtis chimed in as he wanted to ride his bike too then. This meant that they would be riding their bicycles on the road and so, of course, had to be on the lookout then for cars going up and down the street.
Kurtis is still using a bike with training wheels and for that I am very grateful too as he doesn't pay a lick of attention to where he is going with that darned bike. He's too busy "star-gazing" in the middle of the day -as he has to keep turning his head and watching for anything and everything along the road, in people's yards and such!
After this walk with those two kids and their bikes, I think I need to look into signing into getting a policy for general liability insurance.
First, he almost wrecked as he started to bring his bike onto the road almost in front of the house because he was too excited and too busy looking all around him and not paying any attention to the fact he was pulling the bike off to the right and it started to topple over on him then as he put his leg over the crossbars.
Then on the way up to the mailboxes, again -not paying any attention to where his front wheel was going, he almost ran over the dog then! Actually, he did bang into Sammy's left front paw and Sam -poor baby, that he is -let out a yelp which in turn scared Kurtis and he almost fell off the bike again!
Finally, we arrived at the mailboxes and I got our lovely batch of junk mail (and only one bill) for the day and we headed back home.
On the way home, the kids saw the twin girls who live up the street from us -and one of them just so happened to have been in Kurt's class this past year at school, so of course, he goes into a bit of a showoff routine, yelling up to her that he's riding his bicycle and that it's a space rocket! Oh, brother! The boy does have a really vivid imagination now, doesn't he?
It was on the way home though that I realized Kurtis hadn't yet learned about this thing on bikes called brakes!
So, each time I had to remind him not to get going too fast or to slow down and pull over to stay clear of a car, he would immediately drop his feet to the road and begin to drag his feet with his toes agains the pavement! Not the best thing to do for one's feet especially if you are wearing sandels!
So I then had to show him how to position his feet on the pedals and how to place pressure on the pedals in the opposite direction he was using when going forward. Can't believe whoever has been trying to teach him about riding a bike hadn't bothered to show him about the darned brakes!
As we got closer to home, Maya was a good ways ahead of me and because she is more experienced at bike riding, she turned and began to ride her bike down the little hill down to our yard. I started to yell at Kurtis to try to get him to stop at the top of the bank in front of our house as I really didn't want to even think about him riding down that little bank there and down onto the grass because I just knew that would be the end of our safe trip up and back to the post office that was about to end with him laying on the ground and the bike being off to the side -or worse, maybe on top of him
But of course, little Mr. Independence, couldn't be bothered to stop and wait for me there. Nope! Away he went, playing a little game of follow the leader down the bank and in to the yard.
By the time I got to that spot, I saw his bike laying on its side in the back yard but since I didn't hear any screaming, didn't see him running up through the yard towards me with any bleeding cuts or other injuries, I breathed a big sigh of relief to be back home, both kids each all in one piece!
And I definitely did give some serious thought to popping open a nice cold relaxing bottle of Yuenglings but then, realized if I'd have had a beer now, it would have taken away the energy I will need to fix supper.
So, in the interest of feeding the family, I decided to save that beer for a later time -like maybe tonight as a nice little nitecap!
By the time that rolls around though, I'm liable to be in need of a whole darned six pack if these two kids don't soon stop their incessant petty fighting!
Each
Maya wanted to ride her bike while I walked the dog and of course, Kurtis chimed in as he wanted to ride his bike too then. This meant that they would be riding their bicycles on the road and so, of course, had to be on the lookout then for cars going up and down the street.
Kurtis is still using a bike with training wheels and for that I am very grateful too as he doesn't pay a lick of attention to where he is going with that darned bike. He's too busy "star-gazing" in the middle of the day -as he has to keep turning his head and watching for anything and everything along the road, in people's yards and such!
After this walk with those two kids and their bikes, I think I need to look into signing into getting a policy for general liability insurance.
First, he almost wrecked as he started to bring his bike onto the road almost in front of the house because he was too excited and too busy looking all around him and not paying any attention to the fact he was pulling the bike off to the right and it started to topple over on him then as he put his leg over the crossbars.
Then on the way up to the mailboxes, again -not paying any attention to where his front wheel was going, he almost ran over the dog then! Actually, he did bang into Sammy's left front paw and Sam -poor baby, that he is -let out a yelp which in turn scared Kurtis and he almost fell off the bike again!
Finally, we arrived at the mailboxes and I got our lovely batch of junk mail (and only one bill) for the day and we headed back home.
On the way home, the kids saw the twin girls who live up the street from us -and one of them just so happened to have been in Kurt's class this past year at school, so of course, he goes into a bit of a showoff routine, yelling up to her that he's riding his bicycle and that it's a space rocket! Oh, brother! The boy does have a really vivid imagination now, doesn't he?
It was on the way home though that I realized Kurtis hadn't yet learned about this thing on bikes called brakes!
So, each time I had to remind him not to get going too fast or to slow down and pull over to stay clear of a car, he would immediately drop his feet to the road and begin to drag his feet with his toes agains the pavement! Not the best thing to do for one's feet especially if you are wearing sandels!
So I then had to show him how to position his feet on the pedals and how to place pressure on the pedals in the opposite direction he was using when going forward. Can't believe whoever has been trying to teach him about riding a bike hadn't bothered to show him about the darned brakes!
As we got closer to home, Maya was a good ways ahead of me and because she is more experienced at bike riding, she turned and began to ride her bike down the little hill down to our yard. I started to yell at Kurtis to try to get him to stop at the top of the bank in front of our house as I really didn't want to even think about him riding down that little bank there and down onto the grass because I just knew that would be the end of our safe trip up and back to the post office that was about to end with him laying on the ground and the bike being off to the side -or worse, maybe on top of him
But of course, little Mr. Independence, couldn't be bothered to stop and wait for me there. Nope! Away he went, playing a little game of follow the leader down the bank and in to the yard.
By the time I got to that spot, I saw his bike laying on its side in the back yard but since I didn't hear any screaming, didn't see him running up through the yard towards me with any bleeding cuts or other injuries, I breathed a big sigh of relief to be back home, both kids each all in one piece!
And I definitely did give some serious thought to popping open a nice cold relaxing bottle of Yuenglings but then, realized if I'd have had a beer now, it would have taken away the energy I will need to fix supper.
So, in the interest of feeding the family, I decided to save that beer for a later time -like maybe tonight as a nice little nitecap!
By the time that rolls around though, I'm liable to be in need of a whole darned six pack if these two kids don't soon stop their incessant petty fighting!
Each
Something Good This Way Came!
After posting about so many things that have really bogged me down of late, depressing the heck out of me a lot of the time, I actually have something to write about that happened this weekend and, to my way of thinking, was really neat!
Surprised? I wouldn't blame you if you were but it's the truth. This Sunday was what I would describe as a really awesome day for me!
A while back, I was contacted on the Grassflat Grown Facebook page by a lady who lives in the Cleveland area, inquiring about an area between the village where I live and one of the neighboring villages here. She -in an honest error -thought the area of interest to her was also another little town here but it isn't -as I explained to her -as it is merely an area in between my hometown and the next village over. Truly, it is the epitome of the "Blink and you've missed it" kind of place.
But anyway, because the area of interest to her is where her mother was born and lived until 1929 at which time the family migrated west to the Cleveland, Ohio area -and she and her family were all very interested in trying to see where her Mom had lived, had grown up, etc., she had asked me to help her in that journey.
This weekend, she and her husband and three of their four children, plus grandkids too, had all come to visit in this region and we made arrangements that they would come down to my house after church today and we would then go out to the section of Cooper Township known as "Knox Run."
Because I actually know very little about Knox Run -the history of the area nor the families who once lived there -I had told her that I felt fairly certain though that I could hook them up with one of two ladies who do live in this region and who could most likely give them a whole lot more information than I ever could do.
So by the time they arrived at my house, I had made arrangements with one of these two ladies -who offered to ride along with us as we made our foray out to Knox Run.
The lady I contacted is Mrs. Janet Rydberg Larson (widow of Raymond Larson, who was one of the bigger coal operators in this region for many years) and Janet also was my high school typing teacher. She also is one very knowledgeable individual where the history of the township where I reside is concerned. Fact is, there is probably very little that she DOESN'T know about this little township!
When we got up to Janet's home, she said she wanted to call her son, Alam, to see if maybe he would like to go with us as he, like his Dad before him, has worked around the local coal mining industry for many years now too and is also extremely knowledgeable too about the history of the mines, as well as people who once lived her too. (A case of the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in that respect, you could say, huh?)
And so, he became our "Tour Guide" you could say!
He drove his vehicle with his mother, Mary Ann Becca Soltis and I as his rapt audience and took us down to the area of Knox Run where Mary Ann's family homestead once stood. And furthermore, he also looked up information for her pertaining to the property, who had owned it, who still owns it, how much land had been involved in her parents' homestead area and lots and lots of other bits and pieces of information definitely of major interest to Mary Ann and her family!
Here's the two photos I managed to get of Mary Ann and some of her family -down in what is now a very wooded area but is where her family's old home once was located. I had wanted to get a photo of her with Janet and her son, Alan, too but we were all so busy talking about the way the land had been once upon a time and all of us learning little bits of history, I'm lucky I got these two photos to remember the day!
And I had one really fun time, also very educational for me too, touring this area and learning a good bit more about this tiny community that borders my home town!
There were a lot of laughs in this little adventure and Mary Ann and I explained to Janet how she had come to find me -via that Facebook page and then, how a cousin of hers had found my good friend, Anne Lucas Ryba -who is originally from here but who also lives in the Cleveland region too and Anne had referred Mary Ann's cousin to me, telling him that I am an "expert" on things about this region! Boy, when Anne told me she had told Mary Ann's cousin Mark that about me, I howled laughing. Expert is far from what I am about local history, that is for sure!
But, I do give myself credit for knowing the right person to contact who, along with her son, really are experts in this stuff!
I wish there were some way I could do this kind of stuff more often though -show people from out-of-the area little high points in our region. Now, that kind of job would truly be right up my alley!
Of course, before I launch my "Tour Guide" business, I better get cracking and study up on a whole lot more historical data about the coal mines, the railroads, the lumber industries -all of which were the big employers in this region in the years since 1850, when the first settlers made their way to this region of Pennsylvania!
But boy, I sure would love to be able to do that!
Surprised? I wouldn't blame you if you were but it's the truth. This Sunday was what I would describe as a really awesome day for me!
A while back, I was contacted on the Grassflat Grown Facebook page by a lady who lives in the Cleveland area, inquiring about an area between the village where I live and one of the neighboring villages here. She -in an honest error -thought the area of interest to her was also another little town here but it isn't -as I explained to her -as it is merely an area in between my hometown and the next village over. Truly, it is the epitome of the "Blink and you've missed it" kind of place.
But anyway, because the area of interest to her is where her mother was born and lived until 1929 at which time the family migrated west to the Cleveland, Ohio area -and she and her family were all very interested in trying to see where her Mom had lived, had grown up, etc., she had asked me to help her in that journey.
This weekend, she and her husband and three of their four children, plus grandkids too, had all come to visit in this region and we made arrangements that they would come down to my house after church today and we would then go out to the section of Cooper Township known as "Knox Run."
Because I actually know very little about Knox Run -the history of the area nor the families who once lived there -I had told her that I felt fairly certain though that I could hook them up with one of two ladies who do live in this region and who could most likely give them a whole lot more information than I ever could do.
So by the time they arrived at my house, I had made arrangements with one of these two ladies -who offered to ride along with us as we made our foray out to Knox Run.
The lady I contacted is Mrs. Janet Rydberg Larson (widow of Raymond Larson, who was one of the bigger coal operators in this region for many years) and Janet also was my high school typing teacher. She also is one very knowledgeable individual where the history of the township where I reside is concerned. Fact is, there is probably very little that she DOESN'T know about this little township!
When we got up to Janet's home, she said she wanted to call her son, Alam, to see if maybe he would like to go with us as he, like his Dad before him, has worked around the local coal mining industry for many years now too and is also extremely knowledgeable too about the history of the mines, as well as people who once lived her too. (A case of the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in that respect, you could say, huh?)
And so, he became our "Tour Guide" you could say!
He drove his vehicle with his mother, Mary Ann Becca Soltis and I as his rapt audience and took us down to the area of Knox Run where Mary Ann's family homestead once stood. And furthermore, he also looked up information for her pertaining to the property, who had owned it, who still owns it, how much land had been involved in her parents' homestead area and lots and lots of other bits and pieces of information definitely of major interest to Mary Ann and her family!
Here's the two photos I managed to get of Mary Ann and some of her family -down in what is now a very wooded area but is where her family's old home once was located. I had wanted to get a photo of her with Janet and her son, Alan, too but we were all so busy talking about the way the land had been once upon a time and all of us learning little bits of history, I'm lucky I got these two photos to remember the day!
And I had one really fun time, also very educational for me too, touring this area and learning a good bit more about this tiny community that borders my home town!
There were a lot of laughs in this little adventure and Mary Ann and I explained to Janet how she had come to find me -via that Facebook page and then, how a cousin of hers had found my good friend, Anne Lucas Ryba -who is originally from here but who also lives in the Cleveland region too and Anne had referred Mary Ann's cousin to me, telling him that I am an "expert" on things about this region! Boy, when Anne told me she had told Mary Ann's cousin Mark that about me, I howled laughing. Expert is far from what I am about local history, that is for sure!
But, I do give myself credit for knowing the right person to contact who, along with her son, really are experts in this stuff!
I wish there were some way I could do this kind of stuff more often though -show people from out-of-the area little high points in our region. Now, that kind of job would truly be right up my alley!
Of course, before I launch my "Tour Guide" business, I better get cracking and study up on a whole lot more historical data about the coal mines, the railroads, the lumber industries -all of which were the big employers in this region in the years since 1850, when the first settlers made their way to this region of Pennsylvania!
But boy, I sure would love to be able to do that!
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Practice -The Necessary Pain!
Frequently, around this house, there are discussions that crop up and I wonder where in blazes whichever child it might have been who started asking questions about various things, came up with some of these issues that have been broached recently.
A couple of days ago Maya hit me with one of her marathon "Question and Answer" session starting out with what seemed like a fairly inconsequential question -"What's a French Horn?" So I tried to explain that instrument to her and then she asks me if I knew how to play one of 'em. Well, I told her that I had learned to play the French Horn, yes but not for very long. The next question -progressing along fairly normal here -was "Well, did you take lessons Gram?" followed by "Is it hard to play it?"
Hmmm. I was seeing a pattern starting here, ya know. I told her that yes, I had taken lessons and yes, it was hard to learn to play at first but then, ALL musical instruments are hard to play at first!
Then, she wanted to know if her Mom played any instrument(s) too and I told her yes, that her Mom had taken clarinet lessons for a while in elementary school and even played for a time in the elementary school band too. Then she wanted to know what other, if any, instruments I had lessons for and I told her I had taken violin lessons, also in elementary school for 3 years plus, at about that same time, I had also taken piano lessons as well. Yeah, the well-rounded musician, huh?
Then she started talking about how maybe she might like to take some kind of lessons to learn to play some instrument but she was trying to figure out which instrument would be easy to learn to play.
Again, I told her, with a little more emphasis on the ease of learning to play anything right means practice, practice, practice.
After which she switched gears here a bit and mentioned about the guitar her Dad had seen fit a few years ago to get for her older half-sister and that maybe she could learn to play that then?
Oh brother! Her sister and that guitar had been a bit of a disaster in that I think she may have picked it up and tried to follow her dad's instructions for the basics of the instrument for maybe about 10 tries and then, when she didn't sound like Eric Clapton or some other musician, that guitar was stuffed back into her closet, never to resurface again.
Now it wasn't a bad guitar but it definitely was not a guild f512 that he had purchased for her. But he couldn't get the message across to her -nor could I -that all great musicians tend to sound pretty crappy when they first start to learn to play ANY instrument and you have to work -really, really hard, for a long time usually too, before you can play even half way decently!
And I can see the writing on the walls here with Maya and the musical instruments too -as she is not only like her half-sister in her lack of wanting to put in the necessary work, but she also comes by that honestly too -from her Grandmother!
A couple of days ago Maya hit me with one of her marathon "Question and Answer" session starting out with what seemed like a fairly inconsequential question -"What's a French Horn?" So I tried to explain that instrument to her and then she asks me if I knew how to play one of 'em. Well, I told her that I had learned to play the French Horn, yes but not for very long. The next question -progressing along fairly normal here -was "Well, did you take lessons Gram?" followed by "Is it hard to play it?"
Hmmm. I was seeing a pattern starting here, ya know. I told her that yes, I had taken lessons and yes, it was hard to learn to play at first but then, ALL musical instruments are hard to play at first!
Then, she wanted to know if her Mom played any instrument(s) too and I told her yes, that her Mom had taken clarinet lessons for a while in elementary school and even played for a time in the elementary school band too. Then she wanted to know what other, if any, instruments I had lessons for and I told her I had taken violin lessons, also in elementary school for 3 years plus, at about that same time, I had also taken piano lessons as well. Yeah, the well-rounded musician, huh?
Then she started talking about how maybe she might like to take some kind of lessons to learn to play some instrument but she was trying to figure out which instrument would be easy to learn to play.
Again, I told her, with a little more emphasis on the ease of learning to play anything right means practice, practice, practice.
After which she switched gears here a bit and mentioned about the guitar her Dad had seen fit a few years ago to get for her older half-sister and that maybe she could learn to play that then?
Oh brother! Her sister and that guitar had been a bit of a disaster in that I think she may have picked it up and tried to follow her dad's instructions for the basics of the instrument for maybe about 10 tries and then, when she didn't sound like Eric Clapton or some other musician, that guitar was stuffed back into her closet, never to resurface again.
Now it wasn't a bad guitar but it definitely was not a guild f512 that he had purchased for her. But he couldn't get the message across to her -nor could I -that all great musicians tend to sound pretty crappy when they first start to learn to play ANY instrument and you have to work -really, really hard, for a long time usually too, before you can play even half way decently!
And I can see the writing on the walls here with Maya and the musical instruments too -as she is not only like her half-sister in her lack of wanting to put in the necessary work, but she also comes by that honestly too -from her Grandmother!
The Whole Thing!!!
I'm sorry to report -again -or should I say "As usual" that my attempts to get my blood sugar levels, my cholesterol levels and my weight all in sync are not working!
No matter what I eat -whether it be stuff that is very low in calories, or minimal carbs, if any, or items that are supposed to help keep the cholesterol in check, what it all boils down to pretty much is that my food intake then is relying pretty much on lettuce!
And even that is sketchy for what it does to my intestines in the process!
Yeah, as the old saying goes, "No rest for the weary or the wicked" and by golly, I guess I must fit in that slot now.
I'm thinking maybe is should just go to this website http://www.shoppharmacycounter.com/t-Adipex-Medicine.aspx and tell the pharmacist to give me all that stuff they have as if I'm gonna have to give up eating (which is what it darned near does seem like I'll have to do) I better bloody well have something around to help me not miss food so much then in the process, don't 'cha think?
I know that's irrational thinking but dang it anyway, when no matter what I eat my blood sugar levels always go in the reverse of what the no carb, lo-cal stuff is supposed to do to those tests! Just can't get them to work out and behave the way they are supposed to do and frankly, it is driving me bonkers in the process!
No matter what I eat -whether it be stuff that is very low in calories, or minimal carbs, if any, or items that are supposed to help keep the cholesterol in check, what it all boils down to pretty much is that my food intake then is relying pretty much on lettuce!
And even that is sketchy for what it does to my intestines in the process!
Yeah, as the old saying goes, "No rest for the weary or the wicked" and by golly, I guess I must fit in that slot now.
I'm thinking maybe is should just go to this website http://www.shoppharmacycounter.com/t-Adipex-Medicine.aspx and tell the pharmacist to give me all that stuff they have as if I'm gonna have to give up eating (which is what it darned near does seem like I'll have to do) I better bloody well have something around to help me not miss food so much then in the process, don't 'cha think?
I know that's irrational thinking but dang it anyway, when no matter what I eat my blood sugar levels always go in the reverse of what the no carb, lo-cal stuff is supposed to do to those tests! Just can't get them to work out and behave the way they are supposed to do and frankly, it is driving me bonkers in the process!
What's Next?
It does seem that with every passing day the news just get worse and worse -especially around this area.
And after eight months of all this stuff, you'd think I'd have become accustomed -or inured -to the bad stuff, but you know what, it hurts just as much today as it did back in November with the charges and then the firings, followed by a diagnosis, death and now, the statue is removed.
Tomorrow, the NCAA is supposed to announce their punishment too of my dear old Alma Mater and by the sounds of things, that's going to really be a spike driven into the backbone of a whole lot of people -not those actually responsible for all this mess though.
If the predictions coming out tonight so far about the NCAA and the ramifications that could be in store for the student athletes, for openers and also, for the many people who have businesses in the area and who rely on those football games to make a little profit or even to just break even for the year, as well as for many people who are employed by the university and lots of other places -well it definitely ain't gonna help the economic structure of the area, that's for darned sure!
They may as well take out Beaver Stadium and put in this kind of college press box to replace the ultra large, fancy one that was installed there a couple years ago because there will be no need whatsoever for the one there now as there will be no media reporting anything there!
Yeah, I know -probably shouldn't say that but punishing those who had no pony in this race, is just as wrong, overall, as is what happened over the past two decades too.
And I'm tired, disgusted, depressed and overall, just sick of this whole blasted mess!
And after eight months of all this stuff, you'd think I'd have become accustomed -or inured -to the bad stuff, but you know what, it hurts just as much today as it did back in November with the charges and then the firings, followed by a diagnosis, death and now, the statue is removed.
Tomorrow, the NCAA is supposed to announce their punishment too of my dear old Alma Mater and by the sounds of things, that's going to really be a spike driven into the backbone of a whole lot of people -not those actually responsible for all this mess though.
If the predictions coming out tonight so far about the NCAA and the ramifications that could be in store for the student athletes, for openers and also, for the many people who have businesses in the area and who rely on those football games to make a little profit or even to just break even for the year, as well as for many people who are employed by the university and lots of other places -well it definitely ain't gonna help the economic structure of the area, that's for darned sure!
They may as well take out Beaver Stadium and put in this kind of college press box to replace the ultra large, fancy one that was installed there a couple years ago because there will be no need whatsoever for the one there now as there will be no media reporting anything there!
Yeah, I know -probably shouldn't say that but punishing those who had no pony in this race, is just as wrong, overall, as is what happened over the past two decades too.
And I'm tired, disgusted, depressed and overall, just sick of this whole blasted mess!
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Speed is What I Need!
Ever hear that old expression, "The faster I try to go, the more behind I get?"
Well, if you hadn't heard it before, you're hearing it now. And that really does seem to describe my life, my days, much of the time.
Why is it that everytime I think I'm gonna get this or that taken care of, accomplished, finished, whatever, I end up more behind, dragging up the rear?
Right now, I need to get a little note typed up and into the mail to those of my classmates who do not have a computer, don't have e-mail if they do have a computer (or won't admit to having access to one) or if they do have e-mail, they have all kinds of fancy-schmancy filters built in that if I were to send this message to them at their e-mail account, they would never receive it because it would go into one of those doggone filters!
Listen up, people! I'm operating on a time table here and trying to get stuff set up and organized for our class reunion and you're really making my life even more difficult by doing that to me!
I thought maybe if I could get a tune-up on my computer and speed up my pc that might help the situation but as I see it now, that wouldn't bring me any relief in the end anyway.
Although, it might be better overall for my computer time and usage if I did look into doing that.
Nah! Not right now anyway because -well to be honest -I don't have time (or the funds either) to do that!
Well, if you hadn't heard it before, you're hearing it now. And that really does seem to describe my life, my days, much of the time.
Why is it that everytime I think I'm gonna get this or that taken care of, accomplished, finished, whatever, I end up more behind, dragging up the rear?
Right now, I need to get a little note typed up and into the mail to those of my classmates who do not have a computer, don't have e-mail if they do have a computer (or won't admit to having access to one) or if they do have e-mail, they have all kinds of fancy-schmancy filters built in that if I were to send this message to them at their e-mail account, they would never receive it because it would go into one of those doggone filters!
Listen up, people! I'm operating on a time table here and trying to get stuff set up and organized for our class reunion and you're really making my life even more difficult by doing that to me!
I thought maybe if I could get a tune-up on my computer and speed up my pc that might help the situation but as I see it now, that wouldn't bring me any relief in the end anyway.
Although, it might be better overall for my computer time and usage if I did look into doing that.
Nah! Not right now anyway because -well to be honest -I don't have time (or the funds either) to do that!
What's a Vacation?
Boy, I've been running around here like a chicken with my head cut off lately. All kinds of projects and more cropping up almost daily -or so it seems some days!
I have definitely decided that I need a vacation though. Technically speaking, one does generally have to have a job to get a vacation don't you so I guess that's why I can't take one of those va-ca things any more.
Not that back in my "working" days/years I got to take much in the way of a vacation because things like that were far and few between.
But you know what, I'm thinking I really do need, really do deserve one and I'm thinking something like some Sunset beach nc real estate would really do the trick for me. Well it looks good and it sounds good, even though it is, for sure, just going to have to be a virtual vacation for me!
Gonna have to go play that old lottery again and again, some more!
I have definitely decided that I need a vacation though. Technically speaking, one does generally have to have a job to get a vacation don't you so I guess that's why I can't take one of those va-ca things any more.
Not that back in my "working" days/years I got to take much in the way of a vacation because things like that were far and few between.
But you know what, I'm thinking I really do need, really do deserve one and I'm thinking something like some Sunset beach nc real estate would really do the trick for me. Well it looks good and it sounds good, even though it is, for sure, just going to have to be a virtual vacation for me!
Gonna have to go play that old lottery again and again, some more!
Very Well Hidden!
Boy, what a day! From about 10 a.m. Friday morning until almost 10 p.m. tonight, a very important part of our family here was missing in action!
Who was missing? Not so much who, but what was missing! It was the cats -Pearl, who is a little over a year old now and Tavia, the kitten that is supposed to be moving to live with my older daughter but somehow, I kind of think she'll probably end up living here!
But in the meantime, when I realized that both the grown cat and the kitten could not be accounted for, I was more than a little bit upset about this.
I hunted all over the house -upstairs, downstairs, basement -no cats. Went outside and looked all around the house, down to the garden and beyond that and still no trace of either, much less both of them!
We figured that they had both escaped via the window in my bedroom because that room, being on the first floor and Mandy had just put in a window fan there about 2 weeks ago which doesn't fit clear across the area of the window opening, thus leaving a corner section of the screen exposed and the cats being, well cats, ya know, had discovered the other day that the screen in that corner wasn't fitting tightly either so, one good push and they could have gotten out and taken off.
That's what we figured anyway.
Well it was about 9:30 or close to that, when Mandy -who was out in the kitchen -made a comment to the effect that Tavia, the kitten had just appeared there from out of no where. Considering that it rained here -off and on -the bulk of the day so even if it wasn't raining, the grass was continually wet -she was shocked to discover when she picked the kitten up that she was perfectly dry!
Hmmm. Now how'd she manage that if she was -supposedly -outside all day?
Well while we were still pondering that question, around 10 p.m., Pearl the grown cat then suddenly appeared -again, out of no where, ya know! And she too was bone dry!
Now the big mystery is where in blazes were these two fur balls hiding then for all that long a period of time?
Be darned if I know cause I sure didn't see them when I was virtually tearing the house apart, moving what furniture I could move and trying to think of other areas that would provide a good hiding place for a cat and a kitten!
Little escape artists are now back and probably right now are dreaming up their plan of attack for where they can hide, inside, and drive Grammy nuts!
Who was missing? Not so much who, but what was missing! It was the cats -Pearl, who is a little over a year old now and Tavia, the kitten that is supposed to be moving to live with my older daughter but somehow, I kind of think she'll probably end up living here!
But in the meantime, when I realized that both the grown cat and the kitten could not be accounted for, I was more than a little bit upset about this.
I hunted all over the house -upstairs, downstairs, basement -no cats. Went outside and looked all around the house, down to the garden and beyond that and still no trace of either, much less both of them!
We figured that they had both escaped via the window in my bedroom because that room, being on the first floor and Mandy had just put in a window fan there about 2 weeks ago which doesn't fit clear across the area of the window opening, thus leaving a corner section of the screen exposed and the cats being, well cats, ya know, had discovered the other day that the screen in that corner wasn't fitting tightly either so, one good push and they could have gotten out and taken off.
That's what we figured anyway.
Well it was about 9:30 or close to that, when Mandy -who was out in the kitchen -made a comment to the effect that Tavia, the kitten had just appeared there from out of no where. Considering that it rained here -off and on -the bulk of the day so even if it wasn't raining, the grass was continually wet -she was shocked to discover when she picked the kitten up that she was perfectly dry!
Hmmm. Now how'd she manage that if she was -supposedly -outside all day?
Well while we were still pondering that question, around 10 p.m., Pearl the grown cat then suddenly appeared -again, out of no where, ya know! And she too was bone dry!
Now the big mystery is where in blazes were these two fur balls hiding then for all that long a period of time?
Be darned if I know cause I sure didn't see them when I was virtually tearing the house apart, moving what furniture I could move and trying to think of other areas that would provide a good hiding place for a cat and a kitten!
Little escape artists are now back and probably right now are dreaming up their plan of attack for where they can hide, inside, and drive Grammy nuts!
Friday, July 20, 2012
A Little Obsessiveness
The other day, we went to State College to do some shopping, mainly trying to find bargains for back to school clothing needs for the kids. Mandy had scored quite well on Saturday at some of the local yard sales but on Monday, after taking a load of clothes the kids had outgrown over to a very nice consignment shop there and getting a good credit applied to her account followed by finding a few items there in the right sizes too, we went to a couple of the larger stores in the region.
At one store, I came across a really cute light blue (sort of a light blue denim look) tee-shirt that had one word on it, emblazoned across the chest.
OBSESSED!
And it was in just the right size that Miss Maya is currently wearing and I felt it was the most appropriate word ever to be on a tee shirt for her because you see, she is frequently obsessed with things!
We've gone through several phases of her obsessions -early on, she was obsessed with watching the Country Music Channel on TV -when she was about 2-3 years old -and she had a little toy guitar which she would hold in front of her, imitating various country musicians on TV with their style of holding the guitar, their movements and such and then, she would sing one or two lines of some of their most popular songs along with the videos as they played on the tv screen.
Then, she developed an obsession for dates -particularly paying close attention to the days/dates she heard her mother say that there was a doctor or dentist appointment lined up for her or for her mom -it mattered not which, because she would remember these dates and she obsessed about watching the calendar -which she had done a pretty decent job of learning to read that for a child of only 3-5 years of age!
She's had lots and lots of other obsessions too over these very formative years but one that has been with her the longest is one we really would like to get it to cease and desist as both Mandy and I -as well as her aunt too -have tried everything and anything to get her to stop with this one.
What might that be, you ask?
She obsesses over any kind of bug bite or nick, scratch, you name it on herself -arms, legs, face, chest -or on anyone else too who might have a limb or other body part that has a mark on it and is within her range and she will be constantly trying to scratch it open!
I think about the only thing we haven't done is to show her eczema pictures and use them as examples that this is what her skin is going to look like -marred and scarred up -if she doesn't stop with this obsessive scratching and digging at these marks!
Any suggestions of what we can do to get her to stop this one?
At one store, I came across a really cute light blue (sort of a light blue denim look) tee-shirt that had one word on it, emblazoned across the chest.
OBSESSED!
And it was in just the right size that Miss Maya is currently wearing and I felt it was the most appropriate word ever to be on a tee shirt for her because you see, she is frequently obsessed with things!
We've gone through several phases of her obsessions -early on, she was obsessed with watching the Country Music Channel on TV -when she was about 2-3 years old -and she had a little toy guitar which she would hold in front of her, imitating various country musicians on TV with their style of holding the guitar, their movements and such and then, she would sing one or two lines of some of their most popular songs along with the videos as they played on the tv screen.
Then, she developed an obsession for dates -particularly paying close attention to the days/dates she heard her mother say that there was a doctor or dentist appointment lined up for her or for her mom -it mattered not which, because she would remember these dates and she obsessed about watching the calendar -which she had done a pretty decent job of learning to read that for a child of only 3-5 years of age!
She's had lots and lots of other obsessions too over these very formative years but one that has been with her the longest is one we really would like to get it to cease and desist as both Mandy and I -as well as her aunt too -have tried everything and anything to get her to stop with this one.
What might that be, you ask?
She obsesses over any kind of bug bite or nick, scratch, you name it on herself -arms, legs, face, chest -or on anyone else too who might have a limb or other body part that has a mark on it and is within her range and she will be constantly trying to scratch it open!
I think about the only thing we haven't done is to show her eczema pictures and use them as examples that this is what her skin is going to look like -marred and scarred up -if she doesn't stop with this obsessive scratching and digging at these marks!
Any suggestions of what we can do to get her to stop this one?
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Pretty Posies?
I envy so many of my friends and neighbors and blogger friends too, many who have gorgeous floral gardens around their homes and often have beautiful house plants as well.
Growing flowers is not something on my list of things I do well! Most definitely not! If anything, instead of having the proverbial green thumb (like my Grandfather had with all the different types of flowers and especially rose bushes too) to ply the soil in the itty-bitty flower beds still existing in front of my house that my Grandfather, then my Mom too, used to have filled with flowers of many types every year!
My Grandma was a flower lover too but her skills were generally applied to the many house plants she always had. There was always a big indoor wooden box that sat out in what was our sunporch when I was a kid and in it would be various lovely plants ranging from ivy to snake plants, to beautiful, large African Violets among others.
In the 30 plus years since I moved into this old house, I have had one house plant that managed somehow to survive and even thrive for a while under the loving care of my "Black Thumb!"
Generally speaking -and I think I have confessed up to this at some point or two -maybe more -in the past, but a plant that entered my house to live here was usually loving nursed till it died from my very unskilled nursing!
If I were to try to have some house plant -or heaven forbid -the plural -plants -in this place I would have to find some kind of plants that thrive on very infrequent care and extremely little watering!
If there's some horticulturist around who specializes in supply of succulents delivered nationwide that might be the answer to my lack of gardening skills.
Of course, I'd also have to figure out where on earth I could possibly even put even just one pretty little flower inside my house as every available space is pretty much currently in use!
Growing flowers is not something on my list of things I do well! Most definitely not! If anything, instead of having the proverbial green thumb (like my Grandfather had with all the different types of flowers and especially rose bushes too) to ply the soil in the itty-bitty flower beds still existing in front of my house that my Grandfather, then my Mom too, used to have filled with flowers of many types every year!
My Grandma was a flower lover too but her skills were generally applied to the many house plants she always had. There was always a big indoor wooden box that sat out in what was our sunporch when I was a kid and in it would be various lovely plants ranging from ivy to snake plants, to beautiful, large African Violets among others.
In the 30 plus years since I moved into this old house, I have had one house plant that managed somehow to survive and even thrive for a while under the loving care of my "Black Thumb!"
Generally speaking -and I think I have confessed up to this at some point or two -maybe more -in the past, but a plant that entered my house to live here was usually loving nursed till it died from my very unskilled nursing!
If I were to try to have some house plant -or heaven forbid -the plural -plants -in this place I would have to find some kind of plants that thrive on very infrequent care and extremely little watering!
If there's some horticulturist around who specializes in supply of succulents delivered nationwide that might be the answer to my lack of gardening skills.
Of course, I'd also have to figure out where on earth I could possibly even put even just one pretty little flower inside my house as every available space is pretty much currently in use!
Will the Era End Here?
As if my personal life doesn't get hairy enough -and all by itself too, it often seems -since last November there's been an ongoing thing all over the country but especially in this area that has had millions of people, far and wide, very upset.
And yes, I've been one of those who was confused by a lot of the information coming out of State College/University Park. I've been angry, hurt, depressed and probably had just about any and/or every other emotion you can think of enter my train of thoughts on most any given day too.
Of course, the issue has been none other than the things that led up to the trial and conviction of one of the former defensive coaches at my Alma Mater and if you don't know what university that might be, what trial I'm referencing here, you have to have been living under a rock.
But one thing I think that is for sure is this -that there won't be much need for the university to worry about purchasing football gifts from RESportsInc.com this year!
There's been talk that it is entirely possible that the NCAA may totally cancel the football program at the university here because of ramifications involving four men who were without a doubt, the four most powerful men on campus.
I'm not going to go into any major details about all of that happened. It's not that I don't have my own opinions about this mess, because I do, but the thought that the football program on campus might very well get closed down for at least a year as punishment aimed -theoretically -at one of these four powerful men, at the very least, well I'm not going to be quiet about my thoughts on that topic.
Frankly, should that be what is decided upon, I don't feel that would be fair at all to the student athletes who chose to attend this university, were good enough academically and had the physical prowess too needed to play college football to have them cheated out of their potential to secure a position after graduation with a pro football team. All over something someone else did -not them!
Do I have any ideas what type of punishment the NCAA could impose here? No, I don't -at least not at this point in time.
But whatever decision is made, let's hope it isn't something that causes the players to lose their potential to jockey for a good slot in one of the professional football teams once they finish college.
And yes, I've been one of those who was confused by a lot of the information coming out of State College/University Park. I've been angry, hurt, depressed and probably had just about any and/or every other emotion you can think of enter my train of thoughts on most any given day too.
Of course, the issue has been none other than the things that led up to the trial and conviction of one of the former defensive coaches at my Alma Mater and if you don't know what university that might be, what trial I'm referencing here, you have to have been living under a rock.
But one thing I think that is for sure is this -that there won't be much need for the university to worry about purchasing football gifts from RESportsInc.com this year!
There's been talk that it is entirely possible that the NCAA may totally cancel the football program at the university here because of ramifications involving four men who were without a doubt, the four most powerful men on campus.
I'm not going to go into any major details about all of that happened. It's not that I don't have my own opinions about this mess, because I do, but the thought that the football program on campus might very well get closed down for at least a year as punishment aimed -theoretically -at one of these four powerful men, at the very least, well I'm not going to be quiet about my thoughts on that topic.
Frankly, should that be what is decided upon, I don't feel that would be fair at all to the student athletes who chose to attend this university, were good enough academically and had the physical prowess too needed to play college football to have them cheated out of their potential to secure a position after graduation with a pro football team. All over something someone else did -not them!
Do I have any ideas what type of punishment the NCAA could impose here? No, I don't -at least not at this point in time.
But whatever decision is made, let's hope it isn't something that causes the players to lose their potential to jockey for a good slot in one of the professional football teams once they finish college.
Committee Time!
Well, the Women's Group at our church -of which I am the lovely President (I'm being a bit cynical there, in case you needed an explanation) is undergoing some changes right now.
First off, at our last meeting, the lady who had pretty much single-handedly managed several different areas of work that function under our group header, announced she wanted to step down from these jobs!
I understand her desire to do this as she moved back to this area oh, about 10-12 years ago now and when she did that, she also returned to being a member of our church -of which she had been a member as a baby, child, teen and probably until she moved away from here or got married. And finding someone to take on the things she did -well, let me put it this way -my first thoughts were that it was going to be mighty big shoes to fill there!
She and another former member of our parish had organized and ran the "Candy Shoppe" that we have had as part of our Fall Bazaar -and trust me, it's one of the biggest draws to our bazaar too -for about 10 years now. I figured this would probably be the most difficult area to get someone to come in and take it over. I was pondering the other evening about who I might be able to get to run this and finally happened to remember a lady, formerly one of my old Avon customers 20 plus years back who -with a girlfriend of hers -had begun making specialty candies in their homes. So, I got brave, called her and asked her if she would consider managing this "shoppe" at our Bazaar. After giving her a brief description of what was basically involved, to my surprise, she agreed to take on the task!
Wow! One call, one taker, one area resolved!
I was on a roll!
Handling the maintenance of the coffee maker, ordering coffee, the little nitty-gritty piddling things that come along with that job, we got a lady willing to take that job when she volunteered to do it at the meeting.
Then there was the job of running the Rada Shoppe at the bazaar and another lady spoke up then that she thought she could manage that without too much disruption.
It appeared to me then that left only one area to find someone who could and would take over and run it and that's the task of taking care of securing, preparing and serving (and of course, also the cleanup afterward) of Funeral Dinners!
Now this area is one that is a very important deal -to be able to find out what the family of the deceased wants served, what kind of meal, how many people they would expect our group would have to feed and a kazillion little tiny things that also come into play and the person who handles the organization of a funeral dinner has to know all these little, bitty extra things that all come together to make this meal one that is nourishing on several levels for the family.
I thought that we had sort of resolved that at the meeting but unbeknownst to me, the next day one lady who hadn't been present at the meeting took it on herself to start doing what she felt needed to be done to get this all under control right away.
And the first thing she did was call several members and announce to them that she and the lady I thought was going to take the bulk of the responsibility for this job (based on what she'd said at the meeting) well, she and the telephone call woman would be co-chairs for this committee.
She made several calls (none to me at that point though) and it wasn't until she talked to one of the other older members of the group that that lady asked if she had spoken to me about all this organizational stuff she was doing. When she had replied "No" the other older member suggested that perhaps I should at least be made aware of what she was trying to do.
And that's when she finally got around to calling me and telling me, pretty much what had been said at our last meeting, stating it all to me in a way that almost sounded as if I hadn't even been present at that meeting at all!
Hmmm. Now, I do know this is pretty much this woman's modus operandi and while she is usually very organized, very thorough about all kinds of stuff along these lines, she also has a reputation for being a bit on, shall we say, the brusque side? Because she is very straight-forward, and blunt too, she often steps on a lot of toes when she gets on a roll. Not that I am "Miss Innocence" exactly because I've been known to tick a few people off here and there too, but I'm trying really, really hard to toe a fine line so I can keep peace within the women in this little group. Suffice it to say, I run the meetings a bit (some might say that's "a lot") on the loose side as it is such a small group that comes to the meetings, I don't get overly carried away with the way I preside over the meetings. Where one woman -the telephoner person -is quite adamant that all meetings are to be run using Robert''s Rules of Order, I use my own set of much looser Rules by good old Robert!
Anyway, it seems the thing this woman wants most is to have a committee to handle each little tidbit our group manages and frankly, with our membership (meaning those who actually take the time to attend our meetings) being so small -generally only consisting of 8-10 women who show up that doesn't leave many people to serve on upteen committees, does it?
But anyway, she's rocking and rolling away, calling everyone and their brother to come serve on the Funeral Dinner Committee so we can then get a list (from the lady stepping down) of everything she handles for one Funeral Dinner, putting it in writing and then, I have made it known that I want at least 3 copies of this directive when it is completed. I want one for in the President's guide book so the person who follows me in this office has a guide; I want a copy in the Church Secretary's office -in case the President's copy gets misplaced and I also want a third copy placed inside one of the cabinets in the kitchen area where anyone working in that area for a Funeral Dinner can look and do a check list to be assured that every little detail has been taken into consideration and done!
I have mentioned this several times in the past so many months but now, all of a sudden, the way this "telephone lady" is going on about this, you'd swear I'd never suggested anything at all, much less this set of directives!
So now, she has pretty much taken charge of this and I think -unless this has since changed -next Tuesday evening some of us from our group will be meeting to begin laying out plans for at least two menus from which a family in need of being served a funeral dinner can select what they want us to serve. We'll be deciding if we will offer trays of sliced cold cuts and cheeses along with maybe some pasta or potato salad type dishes and a dessert or, if the family wants some type of cooked meal, will we buy a big old beef roast, make meatballs in gravy, meatloaf or perhaps continue with what we generally have served which usually was a spiral ham!
For the most part, I really don't mind terribly that this woman is trying to get these directives in writing and so forth, but I do resent at times the way she is insinuating or implying that this is all something totally new and also, that no one but her has ever thought of doing things this way!
So, I'm sitting back, trying to keep a rather low profile on all of this and most of all, trying to keep a little bit of an eye on exactly who she is contacting too lest she call someone whose toes have previously been maybe only lightly bruised or, heaven forbid, really mashed!
It's all about playing my own little version of "Rodney King" ya know and soothing people a bit, saying "Can't we all just get along?"
And that pretty much sums up the hunt for lots of committees and lots of prayers that things proceed as friendly as is humanly possible!
Wish me luck, will ya?
First off, at our last meeting, the lady who had pretty much single-handedly managed several different areas of work that function under our group header, announced she wanted to step down from these jobs!
I understand her desire to do this as she moved back to this area oh, about 10-12 years ago now and when she did that, she also returned to being a member of our church -of which she had been a member as a baby, child, teen and probably until she moved away from here or got married. And finding someone to take on the things she did -well, let me put it this way -my first thoughts were that it was going to be mighty big shoes to fill there!
She and another former member of our parish had organized and ran the "Candy Shoppe" that we have had as part of our Fall Bazaar -and trust me, it's one of the biggest draws to our bazaar too -for about 10 years now. I figured this would probably be the most difficult area to get someone to come in and take it over. I was pondering the other evening about who I might be able to get to run this and finally happened to remember a lady, formerly one of my old Avon customers 20 plus years back who -with a girlfriend of hers -had begun making specialty candies in their homes. So, I got brave, called her and asked her if she would consider managing this "shoppe" at our Bazaar. After giving her a brief description of what was basically involved, to my surprise, she agreed to take on the task!
Wow! One call, one taker, one area resolved!
I was on a roll!
Handling the maintenance of the coffee maker, ordering coffee, the little nitty-gritty piddling things that come along with that job, we got a lady willing to take that job when she volunteered to do it at the meeting.
Then there was the job of running the Rada Shoppe at the bazaar and another lady spoke up then that she thought she could manage that without too much disruption.
It appeared to me then that left only one area to find someone who could and would take over and run it and that's the task of taking care of securing, preparing and serving (and of course, also the cleanup afterward) of Funeral Dinners!
Now this area is one that is a very important deal -to be able to find out what the family of the deceased wants served, what kind of meal, how many people they would expect our group would have to feed and a kazillion little tiny things that also come into play and the person who handles the organization of a funeral dinner has to know all these little, bitty extra things that all come together to make this meal one that is nourishing on several levels for the family.
I thought that we had sort of resolved that at the meeting but unbeknownst to me, the next day one lady who hadn't been present at the meeting took it on herself to start doing what she felt needed to be done to get this all under control right away.
And the first thing she did was call several members and announce to them that she and the lady I thought was going to take the bulk of the responsibility for this job (based on what she'd said at the meeting) well, she and the telephone call woman would be co-chairs for this committee.
She made several calls (none to me at that point though) and it wasn't until she talked to one of the other older members of the group that that lady asked if she had spoken to me about all this organizational stuff she was doing. When she had replied "No" the other older member suggested that perhaps I should at least be made aware of what she was trying to do.
And that's when she finally got around to calling me and telling me, pretty much what had been said at our last meeting, stating it all to me in a way that almost sounded as if I hadn't even been present at that meeting at all!
Hmmm. Now, I do know this is pretty much this woman's modus operandi and while she is usually very organized, very thorough about all kinds of stuff along these lines, she also has a reputation for being a bit on, shall we say, the brusque side? Because she is very straight-forward, and blunt too, she often steps on a lot of toes when she gets on a roll. Not that I am "Miss Innocence" exactly because I've been known to tick a few people off here and there too, but I'm trying really, really hard to toe a fine line so I can keep peace within the women in this little group. Suffice it to say, I run the meetings a bit (some might say that's "a lot") on the loose side as it is such a small group that comes to the meetings, I don't get overly carried away with the way I preside over the meetings. Where one woman -the telephoner person -is quite adamant that all meetings are to be run using Robert''s Rules of Order, I use my own set of much looser Rules by good old Robert!
Anyway, it seems the thing this woman wants most is to have a committee to handle each little tidbit our group manages and frankly, with our membership (meaning those who actually take the time to attend our meetings) being so small -generally only consisting of 8-10 women who show up that doesn't leave many people to serve on upteen committees, does it?
But anyway, she's rocking and rolling away, calling everyone and their brother to come serve on the Funeral Dinner Committee so we can then get a list (from the lady stepping down) of everything she handles for one Funeral Dinner, putting it in writing and then, I have made it known that I want at least 3 copies of this directive when it is completed. I want one for in the President's guide book so the person who follows me in this office has a guide; I want a copy in the Church Secretary's office -in case the President's copy gets misplaced and I also want a third copy placed inside one of the cabinets in the kitchen area where anyone working in that area for a Funeral Dinner can look and do a check list to be assured that every little detail has been taken into consideration and done!
I have mentioned this several times in the past so many months but now, all of a sudden, the way this "telephone lady" is going on about this, you'd swear I'd never suggested anything at all, much less this set of directives!
So now, she has pretty much taken charge of this and I think -unless this has since changed -next Tuesday evening some of us from our group will be meeting to begin laying out plans for at least two menus from which a family in need of being served a funeral dinner can select what they want us to serve. We'll be deciding if we will offer trays of sliced cold cuts and cheeses along with maybe some pasta or potato salad type dishes and a dessert or, if the family wants some type of cooked meal, will we buy a big old beef roast, make meatballs in gravy, meatloaf or perhaps continue with what we generally have served which usually was a spiral ham!
For the most part, I really don't mind terribly that this woman is trying to get these directives in writing and so forth, but I do resent at times the way she is insinuating or implying that this is all something totally new and also, that no one but her has ever thought of doing things this way!
So, I'm sitting back, trying to keep a rather low profile on all of this and most of all, trying to keep a little bit of an eye on exactly who she is contacting too lest she call someone whose toes have previously been maybe only lightly bruised or, heaven forbid, really mashed!
It's all about playing my own little version of "Rodney King" ya know and soothing people a bit, saying "Can't we all just get along?"
And that pretty much sums up the hunt for lots of committees and lots of prayers that things proceed as friendly as is humanly possible!
Wish me luck, will ya?
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
More from the Zoo!
Yes this place is as much -if not more -of a zoo here than ever!
For a change too, some of it has been fun and games of the nice type to write about. So far this summer, the kids have been able to go to DelGrosso's Amusement Park over in Tipton, PA -which is between Tyrone and Altoona and is a nice, clean, decent sized place to spend a day. Usually, it is that, anyway. The day we were there was hot, hot, very hot and for much of the afternoon, I really was convinced that I was surely going to melt away!
When we left the amusement park to go over, across the highway to the Water park, and as I was trying to climb up the rampway that crosses over that highway, my legs and back hurt so bad by that time that I seriously was thinking I might have to get down on my hands and knees and crawl up that to get to the level crossover part! But thankfully, I made it up, over and down the other side and while the kids and Kurt's TSS were cooling off in the big pool there, I camped out under a big canopy a little ways away from the pool area and did a little bit of embroidery work on the project I was trying to get completed then.
After that there was the parade in Osceola Mills on the 4th of July -Annual Fireman's Convention there, ya know -and Miss Maya and her Mom both marched in the parade as representatives of the play, "The Aristocats" which the Philipsburg-Osceola Senior High School's Drama Club presented then that weekend. Maya was in that play -her third appearance in the past 16 months or so with one drama group or another in the area.
Friday and Saturday -July 6th and 7th -was the play and the whole family here, plus older daughter and my older grandson plus a very close friend of Mandy's and his six-year-old daughter all got to watch this presentation. It was sort of an experiment for us in that Kurtis had never attended a play before so prior to the start of it, Mandy gave him one heck of a stern lecture on how he was going to have to sit still, be quiet, totally behave just as he would do were he in school!
And the experiment with him worked out fairly well too, in that he did manage to be on his very best behavior for the entire play. It wasn't until we started to leave the auditorium and got out into the lobby area where there were way more people than he was able to handle milling about and the meltdown started to surface. Thankfully, Mandy recognized the signs of that and grabbed his arm and hustled him outside, got him seated on the grass up against the building wall and told him then it was okay for him to let loose and scream, cry -whatever was needed -to regain his stability factors then.
After that, we celebrated the end of the summer play season for Maya anyway with a visit to the local Dairy Queen for some much needed cool refreshments!
This past weekend was the Community Yard Sale in the neighboring village of Lanse so Mandy, the kids and I went out there and hit as many of the sales as we possibly could, with all of us coming back home having spent not a whole lot of money but with lots of cool, neat little things we wanted!
Maya was given $4.00 to spend at the yard sales and I had her with me, while Kurtis went with Mandy. Much easier on all concerned to separate the kids and go in opposite directions, ya know!
I was really proud of Maya, watching her look over the many items people were offering and she checked the prices carefully, then, did the math in her head as to whether she had adequate funds in our pocket to purchase this or that and when she decided on something she wanted, she took it to whoever was in charge of collecting the money and had it all figured out how much she had to turn over to that person then too. She also knew exactly how much change she would get in return too! Pretty good practice for her to learn the ins and outs of "high finance" and budgeting, don't you think?
I spent around $9.00 in all I think and came home feeling quite pleased as I'd managed to snag about 10 or 12 books I'd not had a chance to read before along with finding a few items along the crafts lines plus a beautiful completed craft project of a cloth Christmas tree, trimmed with tiny red ornamental balls and some silver inexpensive beading looped over the branches! Mandy even found a good assortment of clothing that will work very nicely to provide almost a whole new wardrobe too for Maya when it's time to go back to school this fall!
Sunday was another excellent day with the service at church during which Kurtis continued on with improving his social skills -a whole lot, as a matter of fact that morning! For openers, he went up for the Children's Sermon along with his sister (and of course, had his special comfort item -"Bear-Bear" in tow too. This week he engaged in a fairly lengthy conversation during the Children's Sermon with Pastor Matt, answering a lot of the questions asked of the kids and giving some very descriptive answers but thankfully, not that had any potential to be the least bit problematic in any way! During communion, again with Bear-Bear at his side, Kurtis knelt and allowed Pastor Matt to put his hand on his head while giving the Children's Blessing and then, before Pastor Matt could move on to the next person, he offered up Bear-Bear so Pastor Matt was obliged then to bless that stuffed animal/pillow -whatever you want to call it -too! And, once again this week, as he did last Sunday, when it was time to do the Sharing of the Peace, Kurt's hand was offered up to anyone and everyone who was anywhere within his reach!
Always so great to see advancements of any kind, but especially those on the social skills level like these are, for either of the grandkids but especially so for Kurtis as he has frequently been more than a bit on the shy or standoffish side.
Monday, we all went to State College so Mandy could do a transaction with the local consignment store there (Kid-to-Kid) and build up her credit there for use yesterday and still have some leftover too for future purchases. I went to Michaels Crafts Store there to get information and then, from that info, was able to make a purchase of a nice pretty large-sized frame and mat so I can then frame the embroidery piece I completed about two weeks ago. I've never framed anything like this before so I had not a clue how to select a frame that was appropriate nor to pick out what color to get for my mat background for the piece too.
Then last night I got to try out something I purchased last Friday -a set of special baking pans and equipment needed so I could try the fine art of baking cake pops!
One of my favorite bloggers -Mrs. 4444 (Barb) at Half-Past Kissin' Time - has been extolling the virtues of these things -cake pops -for quite some time now and when I saw this pan set on sale at a store near here for half the price all the other stores were charging, I decided, what the heck, give it a shot!
I had purchased a packet of Wilton's meltable candy/icing toppings at Micheals to use to decorate my first attempt at this project and realized once we got home, that from being in the bag in the trunk of the car most of the afternoon, those candies were already melted down so I'd best get busy then and do the required baking then!
I was going to try to get some snap shots of the finished product -which looks like a fat lollipop but is actually just a nice little ball of cake, baked in this pan and then, rolled or spread -whichever method works best for the baker -with the topping but apparently Mandy must have my camera in her purse as I couldn't locate it to take pictures today. But they turned out pretty decent for my first venture ever into this process and judging by the response I got from all three of my grandchildren here, this is something they've given me authorization to make again!
And it wasn't really all that difficult -only took me about 2 1/2 hours, start to finish (meaning clean-up too) for a yield of 18 cake pops, 3 cake balls (not enough of the sticks to put them on), decorating or icing all of that and chilling them! They aren't exactly the kind of food I should be eating as I can see my blood sugar levels going into sky-rocket mode but still, everyone needs a little sweet stuff every now and again, don't we?
And when the kids are happy, that generally tends to make the adults very happy too! So, call that a Win-Win situation!
And now, since Mandy will soon be home from work and after that, it will be time for supper, I best get busy fixing the pork chops I plan on cooking on the grill tonight! Or maybe not, since I just glanced out the window and what was when I began writing this post a beautiful, very sunny day, is now clouding over quite rapidly, looking more and more like we probably will get at least a brief shower, maybe a bit more. Who knows? Well, I know it most likely will rain now that I announced to the world -and the weather -that I had plans to cook out on the grill!
Murphy and his law invading my space yet again!
For a change too, some of it has been fun and games of the nice type to write about. So far this summer, the kids have been able to go to DelGrosso's Amusement Park over in Tipton, PA -which is between Tyrone and Altoona and is a nice, clean, decent sized place to spend a day. Usually, it is that, anyway. The day we were there was hot, hot, very hot and for much of the afternoon, I really was convinced that I was surely going to melt away!
When we left the amusement park to go over, across the highway to the Water park, and as I was trying to climb up the rampway that crosses over that highway, my legs and back hurt so bad by that time that I seriously was thinking I might have to get down on my hands and knees and crawl up that to get to the level crossover part! But thankfully, I made it up, over and down the other side and while the kids and Kurt's TSS were cooling off in the big pool there, I camped out under a big canopy a little ways away from the pool area and did a little bit of embroidery work on the project I was trying to get completed then.
After that there was the parade in Osceola Mills on the 4th of July -Annual Fireman's Convention there, ya know -and Miss Maya and her Mom both marched in the parade as representatives of the play, "The Aristocats" which the Philipsburg-Osceola Senior High School's Drama Club presented then that weekend. Maya was in that play -her third appearance in the past 16 months or so with one drama group or another in the area.
Friday and Saturday -July 6th and 7th -was the play and the whole family here, plus older daughter and my older grandson plus a very close friend of Mandy's and his six-year-old daughter all got to watch this presentation. It was sort of an experiment for us in that Kurtis had never attended a play before so prior to the start of it, Mandy gave him one heck of a stern lecture on how he was going to have to sit still, be quiet, totally behave just as he would do were he in school!
And the experiment with him worked out fairly well too, in that he did manage to be on his very best behavior for the entire play. It wasn't until we started to leave the auditorium and got out into the lobby area where there were way more people than he was able to handle milling about and the meltdown started to surface. Thankfully, Mandy recognized the signs of that and grabbed his arm and hustled him outside, got him seated on the grass up against the building wall and told him then it was okay for him to let loose and scream, cry -whatever was needed -to regain his stability factors then.
After that, we celebrated the end of the summer play season for Maya anyway with a visit to the local Dairy Queen for some much needed cool refreshments!
This past weekend was the Community Yard Sale in the neighboring village of Lanse so Mandy, the kids and I went out there and hit as many of the sales as we possibly could, with all of us coming back home having spent not a whole lot of money but with lots of cool, neat little things we wanted!
Maya was given $4.00 to spend at the yard sales and I had her with me, while Kurtis went with Mandy. Much easier on all concerned to separate the kids and go in opposite directions, ya know!
I was really proud of Maya, watching her look over the many items people were offering and she checked the prices carefully, then, did the math in her head as to whether she had adequate funds in our pocket to purchase this or that and when she decided on something she wanted, she took it to whoever was in charge of collecting the money and had it all figured out how much she had to turn over to that person then too. She also knew exactly how much change she would get in return too! Pretty good practice for her to learn the ins and outs of "high finance" and budgeting, don't you think?
I spent around $9.00 in all I think and came home feeling quite pleased as I'd managed to snag about 10 or 12 books I'd not had a chance to read before along with finding a few items along the crafts lines plus a beautiful completed craft project of a cloth Christmas tree, trimmed with tiny red ornamental balls and some silver inexpensive beading looped over the branches! Mandy even found a good assortment of clothing that will work very nicely to provide almost a whole new wardrobe too for Maya when it's time to go back to school this fall!
Sunday was another excellent day with the service at church during which Kurtis continued on with improving his social skills -a whole lot, as a matter of fact that morning! For openers, he went up for the Children's Sermon along with his sister (and of course, had his special comfort item -"Bear-Bear" in tow too. This week he engaged in a fairly lengthy conversation during the Children's Sermon with Pastor Matt, answering a lot of the questions asked of the kids and giving some very descriptive answers but thankfully, not that had any potential to be the least bit problematic in any way! During communion, again with Bear-Bear at his side, Kurtis knelt and allowed Pastor Matt to put his hand on his head while giving the Children's Blessing and then, before Pastor Matt could move on to the next person, he offered up Bear-Bear so Pastor Matt was obliged then to bless that stuffed animal/pillow -whatever you want to call it -too! And, once again this week, as he did last Sunday, when it was time to do the Sharing of the Peace, Kurt's hand was offered up to anyone and everyone who was anywhere within his reach!
Always so great to see advancements of any kind, but especially those on the social skills level like these are, for either of the grandkids but especially so for Kurtis as he has frequently been more than a bit on the shy or standoffish side.
Monday, we all went to State College so Mandy could do a transaction with the local consignment store there (Kid-to-Kid) and build up her credit there for use yesterday and still have some leftover too for future purchases. I went to Michaels Crafts Store there to get information and then, from that info, was able to make a purchase of a nice pretty large-sized frame and mat so I can then frame the embroidery piece I completed about two weeks ago. I've never framed anything like this before so I had not a clue how to select a frame that was appropriate nor to pick out what color to get for my mat background for the piece too.
Then last night I got to try out something I purchased last Friday -a set of special baking pans and equipment needed so I could try the fine art of baking cake pops!
One of my favorite bloggers -Mrs. 4444 (Barb) at Half-Past Kissin' Time - has been extolling the virtues of these things -cake pops -for quite some time now and when I saw this pan set on sale at a store near here for half the price all the other stores were charging, I decided, what the heck, give it a shot!
I had purchased a packet of Wilton's meltable candy/icing toppings at Micheals to use to decorate my first attempt at this project and realized once we got home, that from being in the bag in the trunk of the car most of the afternoon, those candies were already melted down so I'd best get busy then and do the required baking then!
I was going to try to get some snap shots of the finished product -which looks like a fat lollipop but is actually just a nice little ball of cake, baked in this pan and then, rolled or spread -whichever method works best for the baker -with the topping but apparently Mandy must have my camera in her purse as I couldn't locate it to take pictures today. But they turned out pretty decent for my first venture ever into this process and judging by the response I got from all three of my grandchildren here, this is something they've given me authorization to make again!
And it wasn't really all that difficult -only took me about 2 1/2 hours, start to finish (meaning clean-up too) for a yield of 18 cake pops, 3 cake balls (not enough of the sticks to put them on), decorating or icing all of that and chilling them! They aren't exactly the kind of food I should be eating as I can see my blood sugar levels going into sky-rocket mode but still, everyone needs a little sweet stuff every now and again, don't we?
And when the kids are happy, that generally tends to make the adults very happy too! So, call that a Win-Win situation!
And now, since Mandy will soon be home from work and after that, it will be time for supper, I best get busy fixing the pork chops I plan on cooking on the grill tonight! Or maybe not, since I just glanced out the window and what was when I began writing this post a beautiful, very sunny day, is now clouding over quite rapidly, looking more and more like we probably will get at least a brief shower, maybe a bit more. Who knows? Well, I know it most likely will rain now that I announced to the world -and the weather -that I had plans to cook out on the grill!
Murphy and his law invading my space yet again!
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