Well, I'll try again. I just wrote a post on thanksgiving and lost it!
We're having turkey with the help of a caterer which we found today. Our oven is playing tricks on us as far as crazy temperatures and can't be trusted to cook a turkey evenly at this time. repairman due tomorrow but if a part is needed we could have been in trouble. This way, we'll pick up turkey already roasted and just have to make the remainder of the meal. Sounds good to me.
We have so much to be thankful for this year. Our health although not great is better than last year and we have a beautiful, spacious apartment with friendly neighbors surrounding us as well.Could things be better? Sure but I'll settle for okay for the moment.
Enjoy your turkey day! We'll all think about dieting after Thanksgiving, right?
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Another Choice
Would I have retired when I did if I knew the economy would become so terrible so swiftly? If I had hung on for another two years until I turned 65, my social security benefits would have been a bit higher and maybe that would have been enough to see me through now.
Well. let's think about this! What did I do in those first two years of retirment that couldn't have waited a little bit longer? One of the things would have been that I would have been at work when my first grandchild was born and not get to spend the first six weeks of my granddaughter's life, helping her mom with household chores so she could concentrate on getting all the little motherly things down pat and coming up with a routine which she could handle when I went home.
The next year, my husband and I rented a RV and traveled cross country visiting family and friends scattered about. We got to take in the wonders of America that we had previously only read about.
We got to have a wonderful, fun filled two years doing things together. Once my husband became ill,that trip would never have happened and those six weeks watching the baby change each day wouldn't have come to pass either.
I think I made a good decision to retire early. What do you think?
Well. let's think about this! What did I do in those first two years of retirment that couldn't have waited a little bit longer? One of the things would have been that I would have been at work when my first grandchild was born and not get to spend the first six weeks of my granddaughter's life, helping her mom with household chores so she could concentrate on getting all the little motherly things down pat and coming up with a routine which she could handle when I went home.
The next year, my husband and I rented a RV and traveled cross country visiting family and friends scattered about. We got to take in the wonders of America that we had previously only read about.
We got to have a wonderful, fun filled two years doing things together. Once my husband became ill,that trip would never have happened and those six weeks watching the baby change each day wouldn't have come to pass either.
I think I made a good decision to retire early. What do you think?
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Grandma, then and Now
Can't take credit for writing this. Just wanted to pass along to all. This was submitted and I assume written by Ralph Ringenberg to Reminisce Magazine.
Enjoy!
Grandma, then and Now
In the dim and distant past,
When life's temp wasn't fast,
Grandma used to rock and knit,
Crochet, tat and baby-sit.
When the kids were "in a jam,"
You could always count on Gram.
In the age of gracious giving,
Grandma was the gal for giving.
Grandma now is at the gym,
Exercising to keep slim.
She's out golfing with the bunch,
Taking clients out to lunch.
Going south for sun and surf,
Seeking more exciting turf.
Nothing seens to stop
or block her,
Now that Grandma's
off her rocker.
Enjoy!
Grandma, then and Now
In the dim and distant past,
When life's temp wasn't fast,
Grandma used to rock and knit,
Crochet, tat and baby-sit.
When the kids were "in a jam,"
You could always count on Gram.
In the age of gracious giving,
Grandma was the gal for giving.
Grandma now is at the gym,
Exercising to keep slim.
She's out golfing with the bunch,
Taking clients out to lunch.
Going south for sun and surf,
Seeking more exciting turf.
Nothing seens to stop
or block her,
Now that Grandma's
off her rocker.
Friday, November 7, 2008
A Moving Experience
"Bret, Bret, where are you?" Madison was running through the house screaming her brother's name as if she had lost him forever. "Madison, I'm right here in our room! What's the matter?".Madison was sobbing and just about out of breath from running up the stairs. "Calm down, Madison, take a deep breath and tell me what's wrong?" Bret said to his little sister in his big brother voice which usually seemed to work with her. "Mommy said we are moving to a new house and will each have our own room, I'm glad we share a room. It makes me feel safe" Bret laughed and said "one day soon, you'll be glad you have your own room and I'll be happy that I have mine and can hang up all my baseball posters and stuff".
Since Bret was a big second grader already, he looked upon the move as an adventure while Madison at the age of five wanted nothing in her life to change. She wanted to go to the same kindergarten class as she had been; she wanted to continue to have a best friend in school named Tammy and another best friend down the block named Sarah. She didn't want changes in her life, didn't want to start at a new school, be the new kid in the neighborhood and have to search for new best friends. Bret, meanwhile, saw the move as a chance to join a new baseball team in the summer as well as a new soccer team in the fall. He welcomed the chance to meet new friends. He thought it would be nice to have a new teacher especially since Mom had told him that his new teacher was a man. That was so neat! While he liked his teacher fine now, having a man teacher just sounded so right.
How different Bret and Madison were from one another. He looked at the world as a place to explore, research and observe. Madison was a scary cat. He didn't know if it was because she was a girl or just because she was only five and had just started school. He realized that having his own room would allow him to decorate it as he wished and not feel the need to hide his best treasures such as baseball cards from his little sister's prying eyes and fingers. She would be happy to have a really girlie room once she got used to the idea of having her own space. Maybe Daddy would put up shelves for both of them. Bret would love to have shelves to put his books on as well as last year's soccer award. Madison could put out all her Dora the Explorer stuff on her shelves and she would like that.
Bret sat down to explain all this to her and to help her realize what fun it would be for this new move.
Since Bret was a big second grader already, he looked upon the move as an adventure while Madison at the age of five wanted nothing in her life to change. She wanted to go to the same kindergarten class as she had been; she wanted to continue to have a best friend in school named Tammy and another best friend down the block named Sarah. She didn't want changes in her life, didn't want to start at a new school, be the new kid in the neighborhood and have to search for new best friends. Bret, meanwhile, saw the move as a chance to join a new baseball team in the summer as well as a new soccer team in the fall. He welcomed the chance to meet new friends. He thought it would be nice to have a new teacher especially since Mom had told him that his new teacher was a man. That was so neat! While he liked his teacher fine now, having a man teacher just sounded so right.
How different Bret and Madison were from one another. He looked at the world as a place to explore, research and observe. Madison was a scary cat. He didn't know if it was because she was a girl or just because she was only five and had just started school. He realized that having his own room would allow him to decorate it as he wished and not feel the need to hide his best treasures such as baseball cards from his little sister's prying eyes and fingers. She would be happy to have a really girlie room once she got used to the idea of having her own space. Maybe Daddy would put up shelves for both of them. Bret would love to have shelves to put his books on as well as last year's soccer award. Madison could put out all her Dora the Explorer stuff on her shelves and she would like that.
Bret sat down to explain all this to her and to help her realize what fun it would be for this new move.
What happened to Amy on her first day of school
Today was the first day of school for Amy. The little four year old had eagerly dresses herself this morning in her best dress. She added small, lace trimmed socks to her feet and then slipped on her shiny new black patent leather shoes that mommy called Mary Jane's.
She ran into the breakfast nook of her home and twirled around for her mom and two older brothers to see how pretty she looked.Unfortunately, her seven year old brother was attempting to bring jars of grape jelly and honey to the table with the thought of adding to his toasted English Muffin.
Amy collided with her brother and the jars went flying. She was covered in purple as well as the sweet, sticky honey from her hair down to her shoes.Everyone first reaction was to laugh, Amy looked so funny turned purple.After a minute, her mom collected herself and rushed to Amy saying soothingly, "come Amy, let's get that dress off, get your face washed and get you into something really beautiful to wear to school". Amy wanted no part of this. She was crying and gasping for breath saying "I won't go to school, not today, not ever."
It took awhile but mom eventually got her calmed down, into the shower and cleaned up (no easy task with the honey situation.) She chattered brightly at Amy about what would be a good outfit to wear with her sandals now that the shoes had been ruined. Between them, they found a pretty blue skirt to go with a white blouse that was trimmed in blue. Another pair of lace trimmed socks and sandals and Amy was good to go.
Later mom would deal with the mess in the kitchen. Right now, she needed to get everone including Amy out the door, into the car and to school on time.
She ran into the breakfast nook of her home and twirled around for her mom and two older brothers to see how pretty she looked.Unfortunately, her seven year old brother was attempting to bring jars of grape jelly and honey to the table with the thought of adding to his toasted English Muffin.
Amy collided with her brother and the jars went flying. She was covered in purple as well as the sweet, sticky honey from her hair down to her shoes.Everyone first reaction was to laugh, Amy looked so funny turned purple.After a minute, her mom collected herself and rushed to Amy saying soothingly, "come Amy, let's get that dress off, get your face washed and get you into something really beautiful to wear to school". Amy wanted no part of this. She was crying and gasping for breath saying "I won't go to school, not today, not ever."
It took awhile but mom eventually got her calmed down, into the shower and cleaned up (no easy task with the honey situation.) She chattered brightly at Amy about what would be a good outfit to wear with her sandals now that the shoes had been ruined. Between them, they found a pretty blue skirt to go with a white blouse that was trimmed in blue. Another pair of lace trimmed socks and sandals and Amy was good to go.
Later mom would deal with the mess in the kitchen. Right now, she needed to get everone including Amy out the door, into the car and to school on time.
A True Teacher
My neighbor for whom I babysat as a teenager was a true teacher for me.
I spent a lot of time at her house even when I wasn't babysitting and got to watch a young woman in action as wife, mother and neighbor. She had a fun way about her and was raising her children to be happy, fun loving but also responsible citizens of the world.
We connected with a common interest of sewing and spent many hours together cutting out and basting clothes in my case for myself and in hers, clothing for her children.
I watched her prepare delicious meals for her family and frequently got to join in eating with them.
I learned a lot about motherhood from this woman and feel I modeled myself after her.
I spent a lot of time at her house even when I wasn't babysitting and got to watch a young woman in action as wife, mother and neighbor. She had a fun way about her and was raising her children to be happy, fun loving but also responsible citizens of the world.
We connected with a common interest of sewing and spent many hours together cutting out and basting clothes in my case for myself and in hers, clothing for her children.
I watched her prepare delicious meals for her family and frequently got to join in eating with them.
I learned a lot about motherhood from this woman and feel I modeled myself after her.
Sand
I long to be able to walk again at the beach, feeling the sand drifting in and out of my toes as I move along. I wish I could stand at the ocean front and feel the sensation of the sand shifting beneath my feet as the waves wash ashore.
I've always felt a calmness at being able to walk along the shoreline, bending from time to time and choosing shells to add to my collection.
I've always felt a calmness at being able to walk along the shoreline, bending from time to time and choosing shells to add to my collection.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Book list
I'm listing below some books I'm hoping to read within the next two months.Do any of them sound intersting to you?
It Only Takes A Minute
8 Sandpiper Way
Last Kiss
Against Medical Advice
Damage Control
and to get me writing AGAIN
Guide to Fiction Writing by Phyllis A. Whitney
Shimmering Images A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir by Lisa Dale Norton
How Not To Write A Novel by Howard Mittelmark & Sandra Newman
Tell me what you're reading these days.
It Only Takes A Minute
8 Sandpiper Way
Last Kiss
Against Medical Advice
Damage Control
and to get me writing AGAIN
Guide to Fiction Writing by Phyllis A. Whitney
Shimmering Images A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir by Lisa Dale Norton
How Not To Write A Novel by Howard Mittelmark & Sandra Newman
Tell me what you're reading these days.
Monday, November 3, 2008
What every happened to good service?
We went out Saturday night for dinner at a little local restaurant that we had "done" breakfast at a few weeks ago.We had found the meal at breakfast excellent, service good and the quaintness of the place charming. Therefore when we had a guest over, we chose to take him there to share what we had found before. What a difference this time! While the place was not crowded, we waited quite awhile for a simple hamburger and french fries. Mine was suppose to be medium rare (charcoal black would be a better description). My daughter's which was ordered as medium was the same but what we found to be particularly disturbing was that we had called ahead to be sure that something could be prepared without garlic (she has a severe allergic reaction to this) and when we asked again on ordering were assured that all food was cooked from scratch and there would be no garlic in it. Just to sure, I ordered mine without so as to not possibly have a mix up. Guess what! Both hamburgers were seasoned with garlic, well overdone and french fries cold(as were the hamburgers).As usual happens, the server came over after a few minutes and asked if everything was alright and when we told her no and complained about the garlic and that my daughter was already feeling the effects from it, she said she hoped we had something with us to contract the effect and moved away from the table. At no time did anyone say they were sorry but I do have to say server did offer to replace meal.
However we did not want to take a chance on something else.While the manager did come over, he also did not apologize although he did send server back to say there would be no bill after telling us that grill doesn't get cleaned between orders and acting as if that shouldn't matter.There was a great deal of indifference toward us and we did not feel that we would be welcomed back in the future.
However we did not want to take a chance on something else.While the manager did come over, he also did not apologize although he did send server back to say there would be no bill after telling us that grill doesn't get cleaned between orders and acting as if that shouldn't matter.There was a great deal of indifference toward us and we did not feel that we would be welcomed back in the future.
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