April 28, 2017
1:29 a.m.
Sometimes I just can't sleep. So I do things like this instead!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l12DFAXyvWk
My son got married, so I made a video. Enjoy!
And goodnight.
Friday, April 28, 2017
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
April 26, 2017
2:50 a.m.
I should be asleep, but I'm too wound up to even try. I could play the toss and turn game, but it would only mess up the bed and piss off the dogs.
Maybe in a while I will try to catch the last two episodes of "Grimm".
What a week! What a busy, crazy, stressful week!
My son has been a married man for nine whole days. That's epic.
It was nuts, you know. The weather was lovely; sunny and warm. We arrived early, got the paperwork done, and then, as luck would have it, things got a little stressful for a bit. And then, miraculously, everything worked out beautifully.
I'm uncomfortable with the stressful. Thank God for the miracle stuff, that's all I have to say.
After taking a ton of pictures we went out to breakfast and visited for awhile.
I did not join in the trip to Estes Park afterward. My stomach and I had a disagreement over something or other. Like we do.
That was Monday the 17th.
A reception was planned for Saturday, the 22nd. Outdoors, at the home of good friends. I had ordered tables and chairs, possibly a tent in case of rain. And all indications were that the rain would probably come.
Terrific. We couldn't have had the rain on Monday, when everything could have been done indoors if need be?
So I put out a call for everyone to ask the powers-that-be for a little help in that regard, and low and behold, it worked! No rain!
But I got a call on Friday asking if the rental place could deliver everything a day early--at no extra charge, bless them--and there was no way to make that happen. No one was going to be there to sign for the delivery!
(I have got to break down and get my driver's license and get a car.)
So I asked if--maybe--I cancelled the tent, and just got the tables and chairs, which required no set-up time for them, I could get the delivery as previously planned.
That worked out, too. Now, please God, let the no-rain forecast be true, because if it rained, a lot of people were going to get wet!
My youngest daughter and her three children arrived on Friday morning after driving all night from Oklahoma. She and her eighteen-year-old daughter--who just happened to be celebrating her birthday that day--went to sleep for awhile. The five and four-year old grandsons joined forces with the nine-year-old grandson who lives here and proceeded to behave like little boys until I had to yell at them.
I don't like losing my temper with my grandchildren. I want to be the "nice grandma". But, oh my goodness! Yeah, they got into a bit of trouble with this old gal.
I was cooking up a storm and doing a lot of chopping and stirring until my hands were just a cramped up nightmare. Toward the end of the day, my hand badly, badly cramped and kind of got stuck and I was being a bit whiny about it. My five-year-old grandson expressed concern and then asked me "Do you want me to kiss it?" (He said "tiss it"--so cute!)
Well, I told him I sure did want it kissed, and he kissed it all better for me. Half an hour later he came back to check that I was feeling better. Wow! What a thoughtful little boy!
So, it's Friday night and my house is full: six grandchildren, three parents (Oklahoma Dad had to work and didn't get to come), son and daughter-in-law and me, all trying to get prepared for the shindig scheduled for the following day.
And along comes the middle daughter. her husband and two more grandchildren. Cooking fools, and it's getting late.
Now, the park where I live has a no-parking-on-the-street after 11:00 p.m. without a permit statute, and I had secured parking for my out-of-state visitor, but we all forgot about the other visitor, and their car got towed as everyone was busy cooking and cleaning!!
Now, I personally find this whole policy nothing but a racket between the park, the police and the towing company. I mean, I have neighbors who have told me that their visitors' cars have been towed while they were dropping off or picking up children who were being babysat. My number one daughter and son-in-law's car got towed shortly after they first came to Colorado. He went out to go to work and it was gone. None of us knew about the policy then--it was fairly new, and I have lived here over a decade. My visitors had always parked where they had their car with no problems, ever, and now they had to go pay a towing fee to get their vehicle back. This at a time when they had come to the area to find work and get back on their feet!
Needless to say, I was just as pissed off in the early morning hours of Saturday as I was when it happened to the other kids last fall. More so, because I had notified the park that I had visitors! But there was nothing to be done but wait until the lot opened and go bail the car out of jail.
Good grief!
Sixteen people in the house, all running on little sleep, lots of frustration, limited time to finish preparing. I'm thanking all the powers that be that I finished my cooking the day before, and middle daughter had finished much of hers during the night, because too many women in a kitchen spells nothing but trouble if you ask me!
I showered and packed up all the goodies I could manage. Out of town guests arrived and we tried to get everyone information for getting to the house of our friends.
I'm clock watching and realize that I might be late to the venue to sign for the tables and chairs and pay the rental place.
God, I HATE being late. It's a huge pet peeve for me.
Luckily, the rental place agreed to meet me half an hour later.
Sheesh!
I spent the ride over texting my woes to my sister.
At last, I signed for the tables and chairs and handed over my money. Adios, dinero!
My daughter-in-law went to work decorating the tables with the lovely centerpieces she'd made, and I went to work chopping vegetables with my bestie. Then we ran off to get dressed up a bit. Yep, I dressed for the occasion.
We had the great good fortune to have my parents, my sister and brother-in-law and my brother and sister-in-law come for the reception, and they arrived after the tables were delivered and mostly set up. GPS is a miracle in itself; no one got lost!
We also had the wonderful luck of having my brother-in-law, who is the brother of my children's father, come with his wife, son, daughter and his daughter's fiance. This is a man who once conducted a blessing ceremony for his sister and her husband at their reception many years ago. My son attended that ceremony and told his Uncle that if he ever married, he wanted the same blessing. His Uncle agreed.
Time passed, as it does, and this Uncle assumed that the request had been forgotten, but it had not. When my son called to invite him and ask that he come, he agreed happily. What a blessing!
Over the course of the day, people ate and drank, talked and laughed, met for the first time or got reacquainted after time apart.
I prepared food and visited with my bestie and with my family, ran back and forth a lot, held babies, ate a couple of things I shouldn't have--you know, party on!
Our wonderful friends who opened their home to us will never be forgotten for their kindness!! The big backyard was full of laughing children playing with the many toys. Kids jumped on the trampoline and played in the playhouse. It was great.
The men dug a fire pit and built a fire, which was quite welcome, since it was a chilly day, even without rain.
Many of us ended up inside, where we all soon congregated for the blessing of the rings and the couple's marriage.
My wonderful brother-in-law is one of those many immigrants who manage not to learn English even after years of living in the USA. No, he is NOT illegal. He just isn't confident in his use of the language, and so our friend translated the blessing into English. I wasn't confident enough in my use of Spanish to volunteer, so I was very grateful there was someone else available! Between the two of them, the blessing was beautiful and appreciated by all.
So, as you can see, a busy, crazy, stressful week.
And that was just Monday through Saturday.
And that's not including having a nice dinner with my daughter-in-law's mother mid-week. I made barbecued chicken breasts and loaded mashed potatoes that turned out yummy! It was nice to be able to visit with her more before she had to return to Louisiana. I wish she could have stayed for the reception, but unfortunately, people have to work. I'm making her some videos!
Youngest daughter stayed through Sunday night and then went back to Oklahoma. Her very own bestie from our Wyoming days--where she hasn't lived since she was fifteen--was another guest, and they took all the children to the aquarium downtown to see the fishies.
In the meantime, my Sunday was spent arguing with my stomach again. Food and I just have to come to some sort of agreement, you know. I want to eat it, and I want it to let me!
Lots of other things were going on during all this chaos. Stress is a gift that just keeps on giving, even in the times that should be most joyful.
But I think I will just focus on the joyful for right now, because stress seems to have settled in for the long haul, and I will have to deal with it come morning.
My son got married to a wonderful woman. That is joyful.
His Uncle came with his family, and performed a blessing that was beautiful--and joyful.
My family was here! Parents, siblings, in-laws, all my kids, grandchildren. Joyful.
The overflow pipe in the kitchen waited until last evening to break, so... okay, not joyful, but it would have been so much worse if it had happened earlier. Like on Friday or Saturday.
So, fiddle-dee-dee, as Scarlet said. I'll deal with it tomorrow.
(Okay, today. Whatever.)
As for the other crap? Guess we'll figure it out as we go along. Because no matter what, there's always going to be crap, isn't there?
Holy cow, it's nearly five a.m. Might as well stay up until the kids get up and get ready for school. Coffee and Sudoku.
Good Morning!
2:50 a.m.
I should be asleep, but I'm too wound up to even try. I could play the toss and turn game, but it would only mess up the bed and piss off the dogs.
Maybe in a while I will try to catch the last two episodes of "Grimm".
What a week! What a busy, crazy, stressful week!
My son has been a married man for nine whole days. That's epic.
It was nuts, you know. The weather was lovely; sunny and warm. We arrived early, got the paperwork done, and then, as luck would have it, things got a little stressful for a bit. And then, miraculously, everything worked out beautifully.
I'm uncomfortable with the stressful. Thank God for the miracle stuff, that's all I have to say.
After taking a ton of pictures we went out to breakfast and visited for awhile.
I did not join in the trip to Estes Park afterward. My stomach and I had a disagreement over something or other. Like we do.
That was Monday the 17th.
A reception was planned for Saturday, the 22nd. Outdoors, at the home of good friends. I had ordered tables and chairs, possibly a tent in case of rain. And all indications were that the rain would probably come.
Terrific. We couldn't have had the rain on Monday, when everything could have been done indoors if need be?
So I put out a call for everyone to ask the powers-that-be for a little help in that regard, and low and behold, it worked! No rain!
But I got a call on Friday asking if the rental place could deliver everything a day early--at no extra charge, bless them--and there was no way to make that happen. No one was going to be there to sign for the delivery!
(I have got to break down and get my driver's license and get a car.)
So I asked if--maybe--I cancelled the tent, and just got the tables and chairs, which required no set-up time for them, I could get the delivery as previously planned.
That worked out, too. Now, please God, let the no-rain forecast be true, because if it rained, a lot of people were going to get wet!
My youngest daughter and her three children arrived on Friday morning after driving all night from Oklahoma. She and her eighteen-year-old daughter--who just happened to be celebrating her birthday that day--went to sleep for awhile. The five and four-year old grandsons joined forces with the nine-year-old grandson who lives here and proceeded to behave like little boys until I had to yell at them.
I don't like losing my temper with my grandchildren. I want to be the "nice grandma". But, oh my goodness! Yeah, they got into a bit of trouble with this old gal.
I was cooking up a storm and doing a lot of chopping and stirring until my hands were just a cramped up nightmare. Toward the end of the day, my hand badly, badly cramped and kind of got stuck and I was being a bit whiny about it. My five-year-old grandson expressed concern and then asked me "Do you want me to kiss it?" (He said "tiss it"--so cute!)
Well, I told him I sure did want it kissed, and he kissed it all better for me. Half an hour later he came back to check that I was feeling better. Wow! What a thoughtful little boy!
So, it's Friday night and my house is full: six grandchildren, three parents (Oklahoma Dad had to work and didn't get to come), son and daughter-in-law and me, all trying to get prepared for the shindig scheduled for the following day.
And along comes the middle daughter. her husband and two more grandchildren. Cooking fools, and it's getting late.
Now, the park where I live has a no-parking-on-the-street after 11:00 p.m. without a permit statute, and I had secured parking for my out-of-state visitor, but we all forgot about the other visitor, and their car got towed as everyone was busy cooking and cleaning!!
Now, I personally find this whole policy nothing but a racket between the park, the police and the towing company. I mean, I have neighbors who have told me that their visitors' cars have been towed while they were dropping off or picking up children who were being babysat. My number one daughter and son-in-law's car got towed shortly after they first came to Colorado. He went out to go to work and it was gone. None of us knew about the policy then--it was fairly new, and I have lived here over a decade. My visitors had always parked where they had their car with no problems, ever, and now they had to go pay a towing fee to get their vehicle back. This at a time when they had come to the area to find work and get back on their feet!
Needless to say, I was just as pissed off in the early morning hours of Saturday as I was when it happened to the other kids last fall. More so, because I had notified the park that I had visitors! But there was nothing to be done but wait until the lot opened and go bail the car out of jail.
Good grief!
Sixteen people in the house, all running on little sleep, lots of frustration, limited time to finish preparing. I'm thanking all the powers that be that I finished my cooking the day before, and middle daughter had finished much of hers during the night, because too many women in a kitchen spells nothing but trouble if you ask me!
I showered and packed up all the goodies I could manage. Out of town guests arrived and we tried to get everyone information for getting to the house of our friends.
I'm clock watching and realize that I might be late to the venue to sign for the tables and chairs and pay the rental place.
God, I HATE being late. It's a huge pet peeve for me.
Luckily, the rental place agreed to meet me half an hour later.
Sheesh!
I spent the ride over texting my woes to my sister.
At last, I signed for the tables and chairs and handed over my money. Adios, dinero!
My daughter-in-law went to work decorating the tables with the lovely centerpieces she'd made, and I went to work chopping vegetables with my bestie. Then we ran off to get dressed up a bit. Yep, I dressed for the occasion.
We had the great good fortune to have my parents, my sister and brother-in-law and my brother and sister-in-law come for the reception, and they arrived after the tables were delivered and mostly set up. GPS is a miracle in itself; no one got lost!
We also had the wonderful luck of having my brother-in-law, who is the brother of my children's father, come with his wife, son, daughter and his daughter's fiance. This is a man who once conducted a blessing ceremony for his sister and her husband at their reception many years ago. My son attended that ceremony and told his Uncle that if he ever married, he wanted the same blessing. His Uncle agreed.
Time passed, as it does, and this Uncle assumed that the request had been forgotten, but it had not. When my son called to invite him and ask that he come, he agreed happily. What a blessing!
Over the course of the day, people ate and drank, talked and laughed, met for the first time or got reacquainted after time apart.
I prepared food and visited with my bestie and with my family, ran back and forth a lot, held babies, ate a couple of things I shouldn't have--you know, party on!
Our wonderful friends who opened their home to us will never be forgotten for their kindness!! The big backyard was full of laughing children playing with the many toys. Kids jumped on the trampoline and played in the playhouse. It was great.
The men dug a fire pit and built a fire, which was quite welcome, since it was a chilly day, even without rain.
Many of us ended up inside, where we all soon congregated for the blessing of the rings and the couple's marriage.
My wonderful brother-in-law is one of those many immigrants who manage not to learn English even after years of living in the USA. No, he is NOT illegal. He just isn't confident in his use of the language, and so our friend translated the blessing into English. I wasn't confident enough in my use of Spanish to volunteer, so I was very grateful there was someone else available! Between the two of them, the blessing was beautiful and appreciated by all.
So, as you can see, a busy, crazy, stressful week.
And that was just Monday through Saturday.
And that's not including having a nice dinner with my daughter-in-law's mother mid-week. I made barbecued chicken breasts and loaded mashed potatoes that turned out yummy! It was nice to be able to visit with her more before she had to return to Louisiana. I wish she could have stayed for the reception, but unfortunately, people have to work. I'm making her some videos!
Youngest daughter stayed through Sunday night and then went back to Oklahoma. Her very own bestie from our Wyoming days--where she hasn't lived since she was fifteen--was another guest, and they took all the children to the aquarium downtown to see the fishies.
In the meantime, my Sunday was spent arguing with my stomach again. Food and I just have to come to some sort of agreement, you know. I want to eat it, and I want it to let me!
Lots of other things were going on during all this chaos. Stress is a gift that just keeps on giving, even in the times that should be most joyful.
But I think I will just focus on the joyful for right now, because stress seems to have settled in for the long haul, and I will have to deal with it come morning.
My son got married to a wonderful woman. That is joyful.
His Uncle came with his family, and performed a blessing that was beautiful--and joyful.
My family was here! Parents, siblings, in-laws, all my kids, grandchildren. Joyful.
The overflow pipe in the kitchen waited until last evening to break, so... okay, not joyful, but it would have been so much worse if it had happened earlier. Like on Friday or Saturday.
So, fiddle-dee-dee, as Scarlet said. I'll deal with it tomorrow.
(Okay, today. Whatever.)
As for the other crap? Guess we'll figure it out as we go along. Because no matter what, there's always going to be crap, isn't there?
Holy cow, it's nearly five a.m. Might as well stay up until the kids get up and get ready for school. Coffee and Sudoku.
Good Morning!
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
April 18, 2017
4:28 p.m.
Please don't rain on my parade.
More specifically, please don't rain on my son's wedding reception.
The weather channel is predicting a "slight" chance of rain on Saturday. Ah...come on!! We all know that a "slight" chance means it's going to rain cats and dogs. Doggone it.
___________________________________________________________________________________
6:02 p.m.
Wow. What a negative nanny-goat I am. Hahaha! I got all busy cooking and cleaning, came back and saw what I wrote a while ago, and had myself a good giggle at my own expense.
It is not going to rain. It is not going to rain. It is going to be a beautiful day, my taco pies are going to turn out perfectly fine and everyone is going to show up.
Come on, universe. Be kind.
___________________________________________________________________________________
11:17 p.m.
Valerie's mother made the trip from Louisiana to attend the wedding, such as it was, of her baby. They went on a nice visit to Estes Park and saw the Stanley Hotel, lots of elk and mountain scenery.
Tonight I made a nice barbecue chicken dinner and we spent the evening--mothers and newlyweds--chatting and laughing and editing video of the road trip to Estes Park. I have to say it's really wonderful that this lovely woman is now part of the extended family. I get a real kick out of you, Miss Deani.
Somewhere out there someone is falling over because I have cooked more than once this month, and it's only half over. Well, pick yourself up and fall over again, because tomorrow it's off on a shopping trip I go to purchase groceries for all the cooking I still have to do this week.
Now, the worst part for me is actually the shopping. I don't understand how people actually like to shop. I would be delighted to have everything delivered to my door for the rest of my life, if not for the fact that I just couldn't let anyone else choose my tomatoes. Can't do it--I have to pick my own.
Sure, I could always grow my own...but winter happens. Ugh.
My dream home comes complete with a greenhouse, just off the breakfast nook, where I can grow fresh veggies year round.
(Please don't remind me that I'm not allowed to eat them. Please. I will find a way. [I really miss raw vegetables--a statement I never dreamed I'd make])
Also, please don't remind me that I don't do mornings and I don't eat breakfast--except for dinner. That doesn't mean I can't have a breakfast nook!
Anyway, I have to shop, and then I get to cook and cook and cook.
Therefore, going back to the beginning of this post--which has taken me all day to write--it simply cannot rain on this event.
Pu-leeze!
Does anyone have any influence with Mother Nature? Kindly put in a good word, will ya?
I'm going to sign off for now.
Gripe at ya later! (She said with a grin.)
4:28 p.m.
Please don't rain on my parade.
More specifically, please don't rain on my son's wedding reception.
The weather channel is predicting a "slight" chance of rain on Saturday. Ah...come on!! We all know that a "slight" chance means it's going to rain cats and dogs. Doggone it.
___________________________________________________________________________________
6:02 p.m.
Wow. What a negative nanny-goat I am. Hahaha! I got all busy cooking and cleaning, came back and saw what I wrote a while ago, and had myself a good giggle at my own expense.
It is not going to rain. It is not going to rain. It is going to be a beautiful day, my taco pies are going to turn out perfectly fine and everyone is going to show up.
Come on, universe. Be kind.
___________________________________________________________________________________
11:17 p.m.
Valerie's mother made the trip from Louisiana to attend the wedding, such as it was, of her baby. They went on a nice visit to Estes Park and saw the Stanley Hotel, lots of elk and mountain scenery.
Tonight I made a nice barbecue chicken dinner and we spent the evening--mothers and newlyweds--chatting and laughing and editing video of the road trip to Estes Park. I have to say it's really wonderful that this lovely woman is now part of the extended family. I get a real kick out of you, Miss Deani.
Somewhere out there someone is falling over because I have cooked more than once this month, and it's only half over. Well, pick yourself up and fall over again, because tomorrow it's off on a shopping trip I go to purchase groceries for all the cooking I still have to do this week.
Now, the worst part for me is actually the shopping. I don't understand how people actually like to shop. I would be delighted to have everything delivered to my door for the rest of my life, if not for the fact that I just couldn't let anyone else choose my tomatoes. Can't do it--I have to pick my own.
Sure, I could always grow my own...but winter happens. Ugh.
My dream home comes complete with a greenhouse, just off the breakfast nook, where I can grow fresh veggies year round.
(Please don't remind me that I'm not allowed to eat them. Please. I will find a way. [I really miss raw vegetables--a statement I never dreamed I'd make])
Also, please don't remind me that I don't do mornings and I don't eat breakfast--except for dinner. That doesn't mean I can't have a breakfast nook!
Anyway, I have to shop, and then I get to cook and cook and cook.
Therefore, going back to the beginning of this post--which has taken me all day to write--it simply cannot rain on this event.
Pu-leeze!
Does anyone have any influence with Mother Nature? Kindly put in a good word, will ya?
I'm going to sign off for now.
Gripe at ya later! (She said with a grin.)
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Wedding news!!
April 17, 2017
11:10 p.m.
Today was a good day. My son got married.
Yay!
Did I lose a son, or gain a daughter this morning?
I guess a little of both. From now on his role is irrevocably "Husband" before "Son". That's as it should be. My little boy is gone forever. Oh, well, it had to happen someday.
And I get a daughter-in-law in the bargain, and that's a pretty great thing.
As parents, we do a lot of worrying about who our children will meet and fall in love with when they are grown. It's justified; there are a lot of wrong matches out there.
So it's a wonderful thing when a right one comes along.
My son met his wife at a time when he'd become certain that he'd never meet "the one", and it has made him a better, happier man. I'm delighted that things have worked out so well, and that today they have made it all official.
Welcome to the family, Valerie Ibarra. You've been around long enough to know what you're getting yourself into with this kooky family. We're glad to have you!
Things have either changed a lot--or perhaps they have always been this way in Colorado; I don't know--but a civil ceremony here really just consists of filling out some paperwork, signing your names and getting things filed. And then you're married! No real ceremony required. But we were lucky enough today to discover that the best man is actually ordained and he performed a little ceremony--quite impromptu--for Sam and Valerie. So, thank you very much, Tony Wollenhaupt. You saved the day!
I have been sitting on this wedding news for a long time. It is so hard not to share good news. Now it's out there, and I am just so happy to share with the world how glad I am to add Valerie to this family.
May wedded bliss be yours forever, Sam and Valerie. I love you!!
Mom
11:10 p.m.
Today was a good day. My son got married.
Yay!
Did I lose a son, or gain a daughter this morning?
I guess a little of both. From now on his role is irrevocably "Husband" before "Son". That's as it should be. My little boy is gone forever. Oh, well, it had to happen someday.
And I get a daughter-in-law in the bargain, and that's a pretty great thing.
As parents, we do a lot of worrying about who our children will meet and fall in love with when they are grown. It's justified; there are a lot of wrong matches out there.
So it's a wonderful thing when a right one comes along.
My son met his wife at a time when he'd become certain that he'd never meet "the one", and it has made him a better, happier man. I'm delighted that things have worked out so well, and that today they have made it all official.
Welcome to the family, Valerie Ibarra. You've been around long enough to know what you're getting yourself into with this kooky family. We're glad to have you!
Things have either changed a lot--or perhaps they have always been this way in Colorado; I don't know--but a civil ceremony here really just consists of filling out some paperwork, signing your names and getting things filed. And then you're married! No real ceremony required. But we were lucky enough today to discover that the best man is actually ordained and he performed a little ceremony--quite impromptu--for Sam and Valerie. So, thank you very much, Tony Wollenhaupt. You saved the day!
I have been sitting on this wedding news for a long time. It is so hard not to share good news. Now it's out there, and I am just so happy to share with the world how glad I am to add Valerie to this family.
May wedded bliss be yours forever, Sam and Valerie. I love you!!
Mom
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Sisters
April 3, 2017
11:43 p.m.
Once upon a time, I was an only child.
That didn't last long. Thank God!
On Saturday, my sister Donna and I boarded a casino bound bus and went to spend the day with my other sister, Melanie.
It's kind of miraculous, really. Over the years, I have spent time with one or the other, and they have spent time together, but the three of us together? We figured it out, and it has been close to three decades since just the three of us had any significant time alone together.
God help us, we won't wait that long before doing it again!
We met at the casino and proceeded to talk and laugh, eat great food and talk some more, gamble a little, lose a bit, win a bit and ultimately we all broke even--a REAL miracle.
Gosh, it was fun.
There's no one in the world like a sister. They are your first girl friends. You might argue--even have knock down, drag out fights--but you have each others' backs no matter what. You went through all your earliest joys, triumphs and heartbreaks together.
No one knows me better than my sisters, I'm sure. They know what a brat I used to be, how I used to hide from everyone and read and write--and they still like me! What a blessing! They know about my shortcomings, my stupidest mistakes, my failures--and they still like me! I am such a lucky woman!
We have been blessed with a couple of awesome brothers, and we love them a lot. I know I want to spend as much time with them as possible, too, and share good times.
But sometimes you just want to have a girls' day, and you want it to be with the girls you know best and love most. The ones who have seen you at your worst and at your best and have always been rooting for you.
Sisters.
Thank you, God, for mine. You gave me the best!
I sure love you both! Thanks for the wonderful Sisters' Day!
___________________________________________________________________________________
By the way, if you are viewing the photos, that is Jim Beaver on my shirt. He wrote a really wonderful book called "Life's That Way" if you're interested in a great read. He's also "Bobby" on "Supernatural", so...yeah! I'm going to wear his face on my shirt. I have great fashion sense that way.
___________________________________________________________________________________
I actually have a.m. plans, so I'm calling it a night.
Sleep well!
I will attempt to do the same.
G'night!
11:43 p.m.
Once upon a time, I was an only child.
That didn't last long. Thank God!
On Saturday, my sister Donna and I boarded a casino bound bus and went to spend the day with my other sister, Melanie.
It's kind of miraculous, really. Over the years, I have spent time with one or the other, and they have spent time together, but the three of us together? We figured it out, and it has been close to three decades since just the three of us had any significant time alone together.
God help us, we won't wait that long before doing it again!
We met at the casino and proceeded to talk and laugh, eat great food and talk some more, gamble a little, lose a bit, win a bit and ultimately we all broke even--a REAL miracle.
Gosh, it was fun.
There's no one in the world like a sister. They are your first girl friends. You might argue--even have knock down, drag out fights--but you have each others' backs no matter what. You went through all your earliest joys, triumphs and heartbreaks together.
No one knows me better than my sisters, I'm sure. They know what a brat I used to be, how I used to hide from everyone and read and write--and they still like me! What a blessing! They know about my shortcomings, my stupidest mistakes, my failures--and they still like me! I am such a lucky woman!
We have been blessed with a couple of awesome brothers, and we love them a lot. I know I want to spend as much time with them as possible, too, and share good times.
But sometimes you just want to have a girls' day, and you want it to be with the girls you know best and love most. The ones who have seen you at your worst and at your best and have always been rooting for you.
Sisters.
Thank you, God, for mine. You gave me the best!
I sure love you both! Thanks for the wonderful Sisters' Day!
___________________________________________________________________________________
By the way, if you are viewing the photos, that is Jim Beaver on my shirt. He wrote a really wonderful book called "Life's That Way" if you're interested in a great read. He's also "Bobby" on "Supernatural", so...yeah! I'm going to wear his face on my shirt. I have great fashion sense that way.
___________________________________________________________________________________
I actually have a.m. plans, so I'm calling it a night.
Sleep well!
I will attempt to do the same.
G'night!
Monday, April 3, 2017
April 2, 2017
8:47 p.m.
Do you know that feeling you get when you're a little feverish and your mind goes to strange places? Once in awhile mine manages to make some connections and draw conclusions that actually make sense once I come back to myself.
Okay, not often, but, hey! Sometimes you get a little lucky, right?
See, the last few things I remember reading before I went a little fever-nuts was all the plans the new administration has for dismantling the EPA as we have known it for years.
It occurred to me that some of these fools might be considering their moves "nostalgic". They want to return to the "good old days".
I'm as nostalgic as the next guy. Yeah, you're right, I'm probably more nostalgic than the next guy, Which qualifies me to say that what they're striving to achieve is not nostalgia. The world they want to go back to is not "good old" anything.
Here's what I think:
Nostalgia is a longing for the good things in our own pasts. The feeling we had when being held on a parent's lap, listening to a favorite story for the hundredth time. The smell of your sheets after they'd hung on the clothesline in the sunshine all day. Laughing in the kitchen with your siblings while you work together making Christmas popcorn balls. Sitting around the campfire, strumming a guitar and singing.
It's not the memory of driving down the highway and watching the garbage blow across the road in front of the car. It's not memories of taking trash off the fishing line when you had hoped that the pull you felt when you started reeling it in was actually a fish. It's not the smell of garbage burning.
I grew up in a small town where you'd think that pollution, even in the 1970's, wouldn't be that much of an issue. It was, though. I remember garbage laying on the streets. I remember the smell of the dump on burn days. I remember soda cans floating down the river I fished in, broken bottles on the shore line, paper bags in the bushes.
And I remember when it all started to change. Litter laws, burning laws, all the things that cleaned up my little corner of the world and made it better.
There was a commercial that played quite often on television in those days, one that affected me deeply. It was a Native American man, walking or in a canoe in various places around the country, looking at the devastation left in the wake of our daily lives: air so dirty you couldn't see the color of the sky, garbage infested water, trash in the road. He turns to face the camera, and you see the tear roll down his leathered face. God, it was a touching testament to the destruction we were causing in our wakes. I was very young the first time I saw it, and it's permanently lodged in my brain.
Hey, I found it on YouTube. Here ya go!
https://youtu.be/j7OHG7tHrNM
How could anyone want for this country to return to that state of being?
I grew up in Wyoming, and that got messy. Naturally, cities were much worse. We visited Denver about once a year when I was young, and I'm not so old that I've forgotten how smoggy it often was there--and this was before it grew so big and traffic congested. The air there now isn't perfectly clear; I'd never make a claim like that. But it is considerably better now than it was then.
Also, the freeways are clean, the city streets are clean, and that didn't used to be the case.
Things improved in this country, starting in 1970 when President Richard Nixon signed a bill to start what became the EPA. The USA celebrated the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Later that year--December 2, 1970, in fact, the EPA was officially established.
I'm old enough to remember before and after the EPA formation--yeah, I was 10, but ask anyone who knows me: I remember things. I remember watching the news and seeing a river on fire! Man, when water is so dirty it can burn, that's a problem. I just looked it up, and that was the Cuyahoga River in Ohio, in 1969. See? I remember stuff, and thanks to the internet I can look it up and verify that I didn't just make it up.
I did that with the commercial, too; did you happen to notice that? Thanks, internet.
Anyway, it really bugs me knowing that a lot of these politicians who want to do away with the agency who put a stop to so many things that led to burning rivers, smog too thick to see the sky through and trash-littered streets are also old enough to remember what it was like before and after the EPA was established--and they want to do away with it anyway!
What's wrong with this picture? How did it come to pass that "We, the People" elected these so-called leaders just so they could turn around and rob our children and grandchildren of clean air, clean water and clean cities and towns, streets and highways?
It really, really just makes me sick.
Speaking of sick--what about people with asthma and COPD? What are we going to tell them when the EPA is dismantled? And at some point, the number of individuals with those problems will increase to astronomical levels.
Breathing won't be the only health problem, either. I don't even have the heart to make a list of all the potential problems.
I read that they've mentioned having environmental issues handled by the states. So, let's say Wyoming implements super-strong anti-pollution laws, for example. But neighboring states don't do the same. Well, the wind blowing through those states isn't going to stop at the border, people. Rivers run through multiple states; if the same laws do not apply in each state, the "clean" states are still going to be affected by the messes in up-river "dirty" states.
This is just not going to work!
This is not "nostalgia", or wanting to return to "good old days". This is literally taking backward steps into a past that was destructive and dangerous, a past that led us to form the EPA in the first place.
You want nostalgia? Bake your own bread and hang your sheets on the line on a sunny day. Inhale all the good smells. Read a well-loved book to a child in your life and tell them how your mum used to read it to you. Put on an old Elvis tune and sing along.
Don't burn trash in your yard and throw your McDonald's bag out the window! Don't allow businesses to dump waste into our rivers.
Just...don't!
I swear to God, I feel like I've been shoved into an alternate reality.
Someone please stop the madness.
___________________________________________________________________________________
April 3, 2017
12:55 a.m.
Whatever happened to my light and happy-go-lucky blog?
Sigh.
I know I get a little preachy sometimes. Sorry. Me Thinks. Sometimes my thoughts are not happy and light.
Darn it.
___________________________________________________________________________________
I've been off-and-on sick all day, and I'm tired now, even though I've done nothing much but lay around today catching up on a few shows and writing these few lines.
I'll catch you later after I attempt to catch some Zs.
Good night!
8:47 p.m.
Do you know that feeling you get when you're a little feverish and your mind goes to strange places? Once in awhile mine manages to make some connections and draw conclusions that actually make sense once I come back to myself.
Okay, not often, but, hey! Sometimes you get a little lucky, right?
See, the last few things I remember reading before I went a little fever-nuts was all the plans the new administration has for dismantling the EPA as we have known it for years.
It occurred to me that some of these fools might be considering their moves "nostalgic". They want to return to the "good old days".
I'm as nostalgic as the next guy. Yeah, you're right, I'm probably more nostalgic than the next guy, Which qualifies me to say that what they're striving to achieve is not nostalgia. The world they want to go back to is not "good old" anything.
Here's what I think:
Nostalgia is a longing for the good things in our own pasts. The feeling we had when being held on a parent's lap, listening to a favorite story for the hundredth time. The smell of your sheets after they'd hung on the clothesline in the sunshine all day. Laughing in the kitchen with your siblings while you work together making Christmas popcorn balls. Sitting around the campfire, strumming a guitar and singing.
It's not the memory of driving down the highway and watching the garbage blow across the road in front of the car. It's not memories of taking trash off the fishing line when you had hoped that the pull you felt when you started reeling it in was actually a fish. It's not the smell of garbage burning.
I grew up in a small town where you'd think that pollution, even in the 1970's, wouldn't be that much of an issue. It was, though. I remember garbage laying on the streets. I remember the smell of the dump on burn days. I remember soda cans floating down the river I fished in, broken bottles on the shore line, paper bags in the bushes.
And I remember when it all started to change. Litter laws, burning laws, all the things that cleaned up my little corner of the world and made it better.
There was a commercial that played quite often on television in those days, one that affected me deeply. It was a Native American man, walking or in a canoe in various places around the country, looking at the devastation left in the wake of our daily lives: air so dirty you couldn't see the color of the sky, garbage infested water, trash in the road. He turns to face the camera, and you see the tear roll down his leathered face. God, it was a touching testament to the destruction we were causing in our wakes. I was very young the first time I saw it, and it's permanently lodged in my brain.
Hey, I found it on YouTube. Here ya go!
https://youtu.be/j7OHG7tHrNM
How could anyone want for this country to return to that state of being?
I grew up in Wyoming, and that got messy. Naturally, cities were much worse. We visited Denver about once a year when I was young, and I'm not so old that I've forgotten how smoggy it often was there--and this was before it grew so big and traffic congested. The air there now isn't perfectly clear; I'd never make a claim like that. But it is considerably better now than it was then.
Also, the freeways are clean, the city streets are clean, and that didn't used to be the case.
Things improved in this country, starting in 1970 when President Richard Nixon signed a bill to start what became the EPA. The USA celebrated the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Later that year--December 2, 1970, in fact, the EPA was officially established.
I'm old enough to remember before and after the EPA formation--yeah, I was 10, but ask anyone who knows me: I remember things. I remember watching the news and seeing a river on fire! Man, when water is so dirty it can burn, that's a problem. I just looked it up, and that was the Cuyahoga River in Ohio, in 1969. See? I remember stuff, and thanks to the internet I can look it up and verify that I didn't just make it up.
I did that with the commercial, too; did you happen to notice that? Thanks, internet.
Anyway, it really bugs me knowing that a lot of these politicians who want to do away with the agency who put a stop to so many things that led to burning rivers, smog too thick to see the sky through and trash-littered streets are also old enough to remember what it was like before and after the EPA was established--and they want to do away with it anyway!
What's wrong with this picture? How did it come to pass that "We, the People" elected these so-called leaders just so they could turn around and rob our children and grandchildren of clean air, clean water and clean cities and towns, streets and highways?
It really, really just makes me sick.
Speaking of sick--what about people with asthma and COPD? What are we going to tell them when the EPA is dismantled? And at some point, the number of individuals with those problems will increase to astronomical levels.
Breathing won't be the only health problem, either. I don't even have the heart to make a list of all the potential problems.
I read that they've mentioned having environmental issues handled by the states. So, let's say Wyoming implements super-strong anti-pollution laws, for example. But neighboring states don't do the same. Well, the wind blowing through those states isn't going to stop at the border, people. Rivers run through multiple states; if the same laws do not apply in each state, the "clean" states are still going to be affected by the messes in up-river "dirty" states.
This is just not going to work!
This is not "nostalgia", or wanting to return to "good old days". This is literally taking backward steps into a past that was destructive and dangerous, a past that led us to form the EPA in the first place.
You want nostalgia? Bake your own bread and hang your sheets on the line on a sunny day. Inhale all the good smells. Read a well-loved book to a child in your life and tell them how your mum used to read it to you. Put on an old Elvis tune and sing along.
Don't burn trash in your yard and throw your McDonald's bag out the window! Don't allow businesses to dump waste into our rivers.
Just...don't!
I swear to God, I feel like I've been shoved into an alternate reality.
Someone please stop the madness.
___________________________________________________________________________________
April 3, 2017
12:55 a.m.
Whatever happened to my light and happy-go-lucky blog?
Sigh.
I know I get a little preachy sometimes. Sorry. Me Thinks. Sometimes my thoughts are not happy and light.
Darn it.
___________________________________________________________________________________
I've been off-and-on sick all day, and I'm tired now, even though I've done nothing much but lay around today catching up on a few shows and writing these few lines.
I'll catch you later after I attempt to catch some Zs.
Good night!
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