Blog Holiday

I'm going to be taking a bit of a blog holiday this week.

There is an awful lot going on in my life right now - none of it exactly bad, just keeping me awfully busy.

We had a wonderful family vacation this past weekend. I can't wait to tell you more about it and share my MANY photos. I know you just can't wait, hehehehe.

Whenever I have a few minutes, I'll try to keep up with your blog postings - they always make my day, no matter what you are talking about. The sad, happy, indifferent, boring (in your words), silly - it doesn't matter - I love reading about YOU!

Be sure to check back in with me every few days, you just never know when I'll find that extra moment I need to get a blog post up.

Peace and hugs.

I am surrounded by the best

Those who follow my blog know that rarely do I “express an opinion”.  Sure, I talk about what I am thinking at the time or what is going on in my life but I mostly stay away from controversial topics.  That is the way I am, so that is the way I blog.

Until now.

I feel comfortable in my little blog community.  I grin at my 18 followers.  I envy those who have hundreds of followers, but well, in most cases they also have a smaller circle of friends.  At least that is the way I see it.  There are a few exceptions of course and those bloggers I really applaud because they deserve every dedicated follower they have.

Where I am going with this is of everyone I follow I cannot imagine a single person intentionally hurting another blogger’s feelings.  None.  Nada!  And yet someone took offense at something typed and someone else feels bad about.  Come on folks.  This is blogsville.  And fortunately this is a nice side of blogsville.  I care about every one of my followers and every single one I follow.  And I am telling you not a single one of you would intentionally hurt someone else!

So my message here is…. lighten up.  Don’t sweat the small stuff (because it is all small).   Treasure the friendships we have formed here.  They are special.  And never take offense, because I’m telling you here and now that I guarandamtee that when a comment is made, no offense is EVER intended!

I have no idea what happened to cause hurt one way or the other.  It is none of my business.  But I am moved to say hugs to all and that each and every one of you are mahvelous!

Home

 

As we headed out for our “early morning walk” (8:00 isn’t really early, is it…) a white tail deer streaked in front of us across the gravel road.  The temperature was a perfect 70 degrees, a bit humid, but nice…

I tend to get lost in thought, as I know many of you do, and I got to thinking about how happy I am with my life.  A poem my oldest daughter, Tessa, wrote sixteen or so years ago came to me.  I want to share it with you today.

HOME

Within these walls we live

and in these walls it’s love we give

These walls have seen good times and bad

these walls have seen times happy and sad

Though outside these walls we may go

there’s a promise we will always know

That wherever in life we may roam

there’s always a place to return to called

 

 

HOME

Tea time

I am likely to ramble a bit in this post.  So maybe grab a cup of hot tea, coffee, iced tea, soda…  I mentioned in my previous blog that I’ve been drinking a lot of hot tea lately.  It is strange how multiple events come together to change things. 

To explain why I’m drinking more tea, I have to back track to our Cruise last January.

One of our ports of call was Tortola, British Virgin Isles.

Tortola is a scenic Island and everyone was very friendly.  It was one of the few ports where I actually bought anything. 

Their shops carried out of the ordinary, interesting things.  This is the little shop where we bought most of our souvenirs.

This little metal mermaid fish was hand crafted out of discarded oil drums.  She hangs on my kitchen wall and I smile and remember the good times we had every time I look at her.

The same little shop sold tea leaves.  They were sampling Sunny Caribbee Tea the day we visited.  Its ingredients include Mango, Passion Fruit, Rum (non alcoholic) and Lemon and Orange peel spice.  I think it is a soothing tea.  When dad was too ill to eat or drink much of anything I would fix him a cup of this tea.  He loved it. 

So, the tea brought back from our cruise is the first reason I’ve been drinking a lot of hot tea.

The second reason for my new tea passion is this little tea pot.  As we were going through the many boxes of things Jim’s mom had accumulated over the years we happened onto this little tea pot.  Isn’t it great? 

  The basket with the tea leaves fits inside the teapot.

The other basket fits on top of the tea leaf basket.  Pour the hot water in, watch is slowly drip through and wala! the perfect pot of tea.

The other treasure that sweetens this tea passion of mine is a tea cup from the set of china I inherited from my mom.  The flowers of the tea pot and china may not  match, but to me they are perfection!

Everything you didn’t want to know about me

It’s time for a change of scenery. Everybody’s tired of grandkid stories and pictures. So now I’m going to bore you with things about me! Oh quit groaning. Nobody is actually forcing you to read it. And when you have a boring blog day, you can steal it and put it on your own site! How’s that?

Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Have fun and be truthful!
1 What is your occupation right now? retired government worker/owner of commercial embroidery business/part time church secretary/professional bum
2. What color are your socks right now? I only own white socks but rarely wear them. Sandals right now.
3. What are you listening to right now? Alison Kraus
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Smarties candy (remember I have grandkids)
5. Can you drive a stick shift? absolutely
6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Funeral director (don’t get excited… it was about an embroidery job)
7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? I stole it from Funny In My Mind. I’ve only been following her blog a short time and find her blog and her sense of humor refreshing. Check her out!
8. How old are you today? I am a day older than yesterday, or 686 months old, or 57 and some odd months, etc.
9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Sports bloopers (I don’t do sports)
10. What is your favorite drink? I’ve been drinking an awful lot of hot tea lately (maybe I’ll blog about it next lol)
12. Favorite food? anything I don’t have to fix
13. What is the last movie you watched? I don’t remember, but it will shortly be the new Harry Potter movie. We’re taking grandson Travis to see it Saturday night.
14. Favorite day of the year? every day that I wake up feeling good.
15. How do you vent anger? I rarely get angry but when I do, I slam doors and usually stomp out of the house for a long walk.
16. What was your favorite toy as a child? My walking doll that my Godfather gave me (another blog topic, I do believe…)
17. What is your favorite season? Fall
18. Cherries or Blueberries? Cherries from my cherry tree
19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? I’d certainly read it with interest if this shows up in other blogs.
20. Who is the most likely to respond? no clue
21. Who is least likely to respond? the people that refuse to comment but still read me, lurkers are they called? (I’ll stay with Funny’s answer)
22. Living arrangements? husband, 3 dogs, 1 cat, untold number of sheep, grandkids in and out when I least expect it.
23. When was the last time you cried? when I think of my mom and dad.
24. What is on the floor of your closet? storage bins of blankets and a bag of old clothes to go to the Salvation Army.
25. Who is the friend you have had the longest? My husband (we met in Kindergarten as most of you know)
26. What did you do last night? plowed and planted fields on Facebook’s Farmtown (I know, what a waste of time) and worked on a design of a boat for a dear friend/customer/fellow blogger (It’s coming along nicely BTW)

27. What are you most afraid of? heights, snakes, ditches (see previous post) and losing a child or grandchild (I want to be the first to go, not them)
28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? Plain with mustard, ketchup, and pickles on it. Onion too if it is not too strong.
29. Favorite dog breed? Golden Retriever
30. Favorite day of the week? they all kind of run together
31. How many states have you lived in? 1 – I live 20 minutes down the road from where I was born
32. Diamonds or pearls? diamonds
33. What are your favorite flowers? hydrangeas, wisteria, and herbs of any kind

Ditchawhatia?

As we headed out to church yesterday morning with Dakota and Austin in tow, we got halfway up our gravel road when I remembered we had forgotten to grab the bag of cucumbers from the kitchen counter.  We had more cucumbers from our garden than we could possibly eat, and I’m not going to can pickles this year.  The plan was to put them out in the back of church for people to take.

So Jim decides to do one of his famous three point turnarounds in the middle of the road.  And I am scared of ditches!  Petrified!  I always have been.  Jim tells me to close my eyes and explains to the boys that grandma has ditchaphobia (that’s what we call it).  In addition to my fear of snakes and heights, I have an irrational fear of ditches.  Pulling to the side of the road or heaven forbid backing up towards a ditch sends me into a shaking, whimpering, sniveling mess.

I survive the return to the house, retrieve the cucumbers and we head out again.  The boys are still talking about silly grandma from their back seat viewpoint.  Dakota speculates about a deep ravine (ok it was only a small ditch) on one side of the road and asked, “Grandma, what would that do to your ditchafearia?” 

I now have a new official name for this irrational fear – ditchafearia.

Small Town Fun

Prairie Home, Missouri – Population 227

On the nights of the Fair – Population 228 (just kidding)

Our son and his family live in the little town of Prairie Home, Missouri and this is fair week. So we grabbed a couple of the grandkids (Austin and Dakota) and headed down the road to the Prairie Home Fair.

We’re talking Corn Dogs, Funnel Cakes, Cotton Candy and all the dirt you’d ever want to deal with.

This black stallion and Austin are both giving me the stink eye.

Into the bowels of a fire eating dragon we go.

This is one of those go round and round til you puke rides. I think the boys rode it at least a dozen times.

More circle rides. I’m glad young bellies are stronger than old(er) ones like mine!

We finally met up with a few of the other grandkids. Austin and James are hanging out at the viewing stands waiting for the 4-Wheeler competition (yes, you heard me right – 4 wheeler competition.)

Reagan really is having fun, but someone just tried to take her cotton candy from her and we all know you DO NOT mess with a girls cotton candy…

Dakota, Anna and Austin anxiously awaiting for Allen to compete.

And there he is! Allen Haslag! Number 7, taking his 4-wheeler through the paces. They were an hour and 1/2 late in getting this competition going and it was too dark for my little camera flash to reach to the track. Allen was in the 7 and under class of the competition.

(photos lightened compliments of LadyStyx - thanks Styxie!)

They took turns driving around these OCHA’s, who patiently stood in their assigned places, as fast as they could. Then someone would show the OCHA’s where to move to and they’d take turns going through the paces again. I think Allen took third in his class but don’t know for sure because we HAD to get back to the rides!

Life was not going to be worth living if Dakota and Anna didn’t get to ride on the Ferris wheel but they were too young to ride alone. Finally after much begging, I agreed to buy tickets (5 for the Ferris wheel at $1 each!) and go with them. We waited in line… and waited… and waited… and waited… What is the hold up? They were taking people off and putting people on, but they sure were moving slow. One more group to go and then us! Yea!

What are these gypsies doing arguing? One says it is fine. The other says no way! Then the guy who operates the Ferris wheel throws down his hat, climbs out of the magic control box and stomps off. Sorry folks, the ride is closed!

What! (the kids say) and whew (I say) … I didn’t really want to go on the ride but was being the good grandma. We could have been stuck at the top of that thing! And believe me it took them forever to get everyone off – I kept an eye on it. The Ferris wheel was down for the count.

Back to the boring ol’ Merry Go Round. That works for us just fine.

$15 for each one of those hot pink arm bands that let you ride til you are sick.

$5 for a Ferris Wheel ticket I couldn’t use.

$2 each for countless hot dogs.

$2 each for countless sodas.

$2 each for countless cotton candy.

Worn out for the ride home – Priceless!

Vulcan greeting my style

Sometimes a girl just needs something to brighten up her day.  These pretty sandals are just the ticket.  Jim and I were looking for a cabinet for our bathroom remodel job at a boutique-like store and just as we were ready to leave, I spotted this pair of sandals.  I don’t think anybody would argue that they are practical, and most likely they won’t be very comfortable with all the beading, but they are flashy and just what I needed.  Plus they were my size and on sale for only $11!!!!  Mark ‘em sold!  Aren’t they pretty?  Ok the few guys who read this blog, quit rolling your eyes.  I like them.

  

About 13 years ago I had both my feet operated on.  The surgeon removed a bunion on my right foot and did a joint replacement on the big toe of my left foot.  As painful as it was to have both feet repaired and replaced at the same time, I have always been thankful I did.  It literally gave me my life back in terms of being able to walk.  I was to the point where I could hardly wear anything other than wide “old lady” shoes without great pain and my feet were so ugly I certainly didn’t even consider wearing sandals.   Once I was back on my feet (so to speak) I became a shoeaholic.  I could wear just about any kind of shoe again!  And I was pain free!!!! 

 

I’ve notice, though, years after the surgery, that I have an unfortunate side effect.  The big toe new joint foot has slowly but surely become a little strange.  Ok, a lot strange.  

Who wouldn’t recognize Spock and the Vulcan “Live Long and Prosper” sign? 

If we ever meet and I’m wearing sandals, you will immediately notice my own version of the Vulcan sign.

May we all live long and prosper!

Hey baby – It’s your birthday!

Happy Birthday dear hubby Jim.  CHEERS!  Here’s to another 57 years.  Ok, that’s probably not realistic, so here’s to as many good years as the good Lord gives to us.

 

 

We went shopping with our son, Greg, and his family yesterday.  Jim’s birthday is today and Alicia (Greg’s wife) celebrates her birthday on Wednesday.  After wandering around Menards (yea I know it was hard to handle such excitement) and Bass Pro (an outdoors man’s delight), we walked across the way to the Lone Star Steakhouse.  I’ll have to say the food was really good.  The company was even better.

Here is Greg and Reagan getting ready to go inside Lone Star.  Reagan was pretty fed up with the whole experience.  She wanted food and she wanted it now!!!!

I know I get carried away with snapping pictures and embarrass the whole lot of them sometimes, so I only took one shot inside the restaurant and of course everyone except Allen (in his brand new hat that grandma and grandpa bought him) was looking up.  Wake up Greg, food is on its way!

All and all it was a nice relaxing day.  That’s a good thing because the real birthday day of today is turning out rather crappy for Jim.  The nursing home is trying to move a roommate in with his mom and she is kicking ass and taking names.  They have threatened to kick her out but we hope we found a solution.  We took her to get a perm while they move things around.  They took us up on our suggestion to move her to a new room where she is the “newbie” rather  than moving someone into her room.  Then she would no longer feel like she is protecting her space.  I knew they were making a huge mistake letting her have a room to herself for all of these months just  because they could.  Now that they need her to share, she is having none of it.  Pray things settle down and she gets to stay.  This is a really nice place and it would be very traumatic to move her.

That goes back to the “here’s to another 57 years”.  Bleh!  Who needs it if you don’t have a good mind, hurt all the time and are pissed at the world.

Gobble, gobble

On my way home tonight, as I headed down our gravel road I came upon quite a site.

A mama gobbler was bobbing her way across the road in front of me with her too many to count gobblettes bobbing behind her. What a photo opportunity. I even had the top down on my bug convertible, so I could get a clean shot without windows in the way. And I had my camera with me too!

In my purse

In the trunk

of the car

Awwww mannnnnnnn!

On a positive note, I believe my internet problem is fixed. This time Mr. Tech checked things out on their end and found a loose connection at the relay station. This begs the question. Why do they automatically assume the problem is with owner equipment that has to be replaced at owner’s cost? Just wondering. Actually I used to work for the state telecommunication’s department and it was frustrating to troubleshoot problems such as this. I guess it makes sense to try to resolve the problem the easiest way possible. But easy for who?

Oh well, I’m in a bit of a pissy mood. I’ll brighten up shortly. Jim is on his way home with Dakota (7 year old grandson). He’ll brighten up my day.

DSL Woes

My internet connect has been real funky lately. One minute it is working, the next minute it isn't.

I've been working with the phone company and we decided my modem was semi-fried since it was working some of the time. So they delivered a new modem yesterday. We didn't switch it out because my on again, off again modem was working at the time.

So this morning I log onto the internet only to find I once again had no connection. Time to implement the new modem! I plug all the connections in and wala! Nothing. I unplug everything, replug everything, unplug, replug, reset, hold my tongue just right. Still nothing.

So back to the phone. Miraculously I got the same tech support guy. He has me stand on my head and count backwards from 100 and still nothing. Another tech (hopefully the same guy as yesterday) will show up this afternoon to check the outside connections. I refrained from asking why he didn't do that while he was at my house yesterday. It never pays to piss off tech support.

If I don't comment on your blogs it is because I am in DSL neverland at the moment.

I hope everyone is coping with everything going on in every life and will check into blogs when I have a few stolen seconds available at work.