Looking Back at 2005

So what happened at the Helms' this year?  Nothing too, too spectacular.  Let's see:

Thomas spent his first full year working for the company he began working for in 2004.  He is so happy there.  He and Red are the only two full-time welders for both their quarries in this area.  He and Red had gone to high school together and had worked together at another company as well.  They get along, and really, Thomas gets along with most of the guys there that he comes in contact with.  The pay is decent, but more importantly than that, he doesn't come home every day stressed, like he used to.  They got a very good year-end bonus last week!  The big bosses really like him, and that makes a big difference, too. 

Thomas got a new (for him) four-wheel drive this year, that has really come in handy.  He got four deer this year and I-don't-know-how-many pounds of fish that he and the kids caught throughout the year.  I think he has had a pretty good year, all in all.  He is such a good man.  At work there are one or two girls who either are currently in a bad relationship or single from a messy divorce who sometimes, in the middle of talking about men in general or their husbands in particular, will turn to me and say, "but you got a good one."  And I did!  He's not perfect, but neither am I.  After almost 19 years of marriage we are best friends and still lovers who have weathered bad times and shared great times.  We know each other inside out and still find out new and interesting things about each other.

Andrew turned 16 this year.  He doesn't have his license yet.  I want him to keep his permit for awhile and get some experience.  In other "Andrew news"......hmmm........not much, really.  He's kind of gotten through the worst of the teenager-attitude-thing.  He is a pretty good kid, though.  No girlfriend yet.  There have been a couple he's been interested in to some extent, but no real "dating", and there have been a few that have shown interest in him that he hasn't been interested in.  He's shown more signs of maturity this year and has done better keeping his chores done at home.  He also had his first summer job.  The grades could be better. (!!)  Sophomore is a yucky year, though.  But I'm used to all As from him and so far this year shall we say, um, hasn't been all As.  But, hey, a new year starts tomorrow, so hopefully he'll get his mind back on the books a little more.

Andrew really is a good kid.  I couldn't ask for a better son.  He's funny, witty, smart and very loving.  I expect great things from him someday.  One thing he really got into this year that pleases me is his writing.  He used to have no interest in it, but now he does, and he's really quite good.

Eler Beth turned 9 this year.  She's always busy, so it's safe to say she had a busy year.  She started having anxiety attacks and problems with obsessive compulsions this year, so she is getting help for that and has been doing much better.  She's a fourth-grader, so one more year after this and she'll be a big middle-schooler!  Her grades have been GREAT!

She continues to fish, collect fossils and rocks and minerals and keeps her fingers in whatever "pies" are happening around here!  She's my darling!  I tell you what, there is something so special about this child!  Sometimes I look at her or think of her and my heart just swells to bursting-point.  She started a "newspaper" for her and her friends this week while she's been out of school.  I did that when I was about her age, too.  She's smart, talented, creative and fiesty!  And I couldn't be more proud that she's mine!

And me?  Well, I started this journal in March.  I have really enjoyed sharing in the online lives of some new j-land friends.  I never would've believed that I could get so much enjoyment out of these journals but I have.  It's amazing how often something will happen or I'll see or hear about something that makes me think of someone in j-land.  I turned 39 this year -- the last of my thirty-somethings!  I got a new (for me) car this year, a new computer, a new refrigerator, and a renovated bathroom!  Yay!  Thomas and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary in June.  Our dog, Fancy, had four pups (kept two and gave away two).  Our other dog, Heidi, had eight pups (kept two and gave away six).  My cat, Freedom, is five years old now, and is still the Queen!  There was one new great-nephew born on my side of the family, and there is one on the way, and there was one new great-nephew born on Thomas' side of the family just this past week.

I love my job and where I work, but I found out in June that our department is being pretty much done away with.  (See here.: http://journals.aol.com/helmswondermom/DustyPages/entries/1262)  But I've gotten over it.  I could go to another department, but I think I'll just stay 'til the end, take my severance and find something I like closer to home.   And even with that news, I've still had a good year at work.  I've enjoyed doing the newsletter for our department and handling the orientations for the temps, and being involved in other little projects.  I expect to have a good incentive again from this year (we get them in February).

So, all in all, it has been a decent year.  I have a lot of goals for 2006.  More later.

Biscuit braggin'

I've been baking bisuits.  Really, really good made-from-scratch biscuits.

My biscuits have finally, finally become as close to my mother's as I can get them! 

My mom makes the best biscuits.  She learned from watching her mother and I learned from watching her.  I had occasion to make some recently for a potluck breakfast at work, and since it had been awhile since I'd made homemade biscuits I had to make a couple pans two days before just to make sure I could still do it!  They were great!!  Light and flaky on the inside, nicely browned on top and crispy around the edges.  Melt-in-your-mouth good!  And when I say made-from-scratch, that's what I mean.  No mixes, not even a recipe.  Just made from practice and from knowledge ingrained in me from standing at my mother's side helping to knead, pat out and cut the dough (and always allowed to cut and shape one special one "just for me".).  Now I can't wait to make some for my Mom (who always said she liked my biscuits, anyway), and my sisters.  Will they be able to tell if they're mine or Mom's?  I'm very proud of these biscuits.  I've tried for years to get just the right texture and taste!  It's always great when you reach a goal, isn't it?

Tomorrow is the kids' last day of school until the new year.  It will be nice not having to get them up for school for two weeks.

We are still working a lot of overtime.  Our counts are still high and we still have a lot of new people. (I'm doing an orientation with 9 new ones tomorrow, as a matter of fact.)  I guess I'll enjoy the overtime money while it lasts!  We can always use it.

A friend of ours recently had back surgery and isn't able to get up and around much yet.  So I cooked several things over the weekend and took them to her.  They've been eating mostly sandwiches and opening cans.  (She's a single mom with two young sons.)  She isn't supposed to stand or sit.  She can walk or lie down.  The surgery was very low on her back, just above her tailbone.  At some point in her life (probably during a marriage with a guy who liked to throw her around) she had actually broken her backbone down there, and only a few months ago found out about it.  She's fortunate that she caught it when she did.  Anyway, I left them a few homecooked meals in their freezer.  (Including biscuits!!  Hah!)  I'm about cooked-out though.  Tired from the overtime and this cold weather.  I'm ready for a break!

My Mother and Her Family

My mother turned 82 years old last week!  She is in great health, too.  She recently had her yearly physical and the doctor and nurse made so much of her great cholesterol numbers that she said she's going to make copies and send one to me!  She's a spry old bird, that lady is!

Her father farmed most of his life and her mothers' family did, too.  Her mother's father really thought that my Papaw Roberts wasn't good enough for their little girl, but she married him anyway, and they were just right for each other.  They had eight kids. (9 actually; one died at a few days old.)  The oldest was Leland, who died in 1990.  The next was the baby who died, whose name was Morris Monroe, but who was forever referred to by the other children as "Baby Brother", even though he would have been older than all of them, but one; all of us grandchildren refer to him as "Baby Brother" also whenever we mention him or visit his little grave.  Next was Elnora, my mother's only sister, who died in 1996.  Then came my mother, Eler Frances (she was named after both her grandmothers; my middle name is Frances after her; my daughter is Eler Beth after her and Thomas' mother.).  Then there were six more boys, Calvin, who died in 1968, Sam and Carl, still living, Delmer who died a few years ago, and John, also still living.

As I said, my grandfather Roberts was a farmer.  He raised corn and hogs.  My mother was born in 1923, so she was still growing up during the Great Depression.  Times were hard, but their family quite often had more than a lot of the families around them.  My grandfather had one of the first cars in the neighborhood and he had the first radio.  On warm Saturday evenings friends and family would stop by and sit out on the porch and the radio would be turned up as loud as it would go, and they would listen to whatever programs were their favorites at the time.  My father told about how he was too bashful to join everyone on the porch, but he was fascinated with the radio and loved the music, so he would walk "the circle" (the road they lived on made a big wide curve and doubled back on itself, like the eye of a needle, and both families lived on that circle), because he'd be able to hear the music almost the whole way around.  (Of course this was when they were both still very young, before they started courting!)

My mom and her siblings went to a little one-room schoolhouse that was still standing until a few years ago.  They walked to school, of course, down a long, steep hillside.  Even when things were really bad, economically, even at the end of winter when the supply of canned summer food was maybe getting low, Mom's family still always had enough to eat.  My grandmother was a good cook and sent her kids to school with sufficient lunches.  But there was a family in the neighborhood that had next to nothing.  The two boys of the family often came to school with nothing but cold corn bread for lunch for days and weeks, especially toward the end of winter.  They had plenty of it, but that's often all they had.  So Mom told how her brothers, Calvin and Sam, around the same ages as those boys, would take a little extra with them and ask the boys if they'd mind trading some of their corn bread.  So they'd have, say, ham and biscuits with cake or cookies.  They'd have plenty of everything, so they'd trade some of each thing they had for some cornbread; and they'd make sure they sat there with those boys and ate every bite of that corn bread, too.

I never knew my mom's mother.  She died two years before I was born.  But I know a lot about her.  She was very ladylike, but tough as well.  My older sisters tell about how her sons always treated her like she was something fragile.  When she got older and had a lot of trouble with arthritis they wouldn't let her lift a finger to do anything that they could do for her.  My mother has all her personal things she left behind, and when I was little I loved going through the old camel-backed trunk going through her old letters and things.  She was very funny and witty.  She wrote poetry and stories and she saved everything!  I remember a candy wrapper that she'd saved and written on it the date, who she was with (probably her sister or cousin) and where they'd gone and why.  Her letters to my grandfather before they married always gave me a peek into her humor and intelligence.  My mother is very like her.

I knew my mom's father; I was 18 when he died at the age of92.  He was a funny, smart man.  He had bright, merry blue eyes and loved to laugh.  He and my grandmother must have been perfect for each other.  My mother is very like him as well.

    My mother on the left, along with her sister Elnora (Aunt Noni).  They were about 18 and 20 in this picture.

Tags: Lonzo Roberts, Eler Roberts Dowell, Elnora Roberts Dowell, Iva Myrtle Roberts

A Confession

Last night I ate a pint of Spumoni ice cream!  Yum!  (Rum, whipped cream, pistachios, fruit, chocolate and so much more!)

I don't usually like ice cream.  Sometimes when I am dishing out bowls of ice cream or building cones for the kids or Thomas I may eat a spoonfull.  Once in a blue moon I'll have a cone -- it can't be soft serve (I hate eating soft serve), and I usually just barely have the ice cream above the top of the cone.  Yes, I know.  I'm strange.  I've just never been an ice cream eater.

I do like sherbet and frozen yogurt.  And I love cones!  Especially waffle cones!  But it is very rare that I just have a craving for regular ice cream.

Spumoni is the exception!  I love that stuff!  Last night I didn't eat any dinner.  I took Eler Beth out to spend her allowance and we bought a pint of Spumoni.  (She likes it, too.)  When we got home she ate a few spoonsful and I ate the rest!  It was delicious!!!

There!  I've confessed!  I feel so much better now!

Sad Bunnies

Have you ever had an idea for a journal entry that seemed at the time to be interesting or funny or unusual, and then after you wrote it, you wondered why in the world you thought it would be a good idea?  Well, this is that kind of entry.  So I am apologizing ahead of time for what you are about to read.  At the time, it seemed kind of funny (in a sad kind of way).  Poor little rabbits.

Yesterday I was reading ALPHAWOMAN's entry,  BAD BUNNIES , and it made me remember something that happened several years ago.  It was Spring, and I was going somewhere with my sister, Lois, in her car.  We were on an old country road and had just rounded a sharp curve.  Ahead of us in the middle of the road were two rabbits, feeling very frisky!  Have you ever seen rabbits hopping about in the Springtime, doing their little mating dances?  It's very cute; because rabbits just are cute.  During these little dancing rituals they jump very high.  Very, very high!  As we rounded the curve, we had only a split second to take in the sight of the two rabbits performing gigantic leaps before one of them leaped straight up into the air in front of the car, and hit the very center of the windshield, making a crack that was more than a foot long!

Lois and I both shrieked, and she pulled the car over to the side of the road and stopped.  The crack in the windshield went almost all the way through the glass.  We both stared at it for a minute, then she said, "You'll have to go with me to my insurance agent.  He's never going to believe this!"

You know what?  He never even batted an eye.  He said that was not the first time that had happened!

Poor little rabbit.  Poor little rabbits I should say.  We both felt so bad about it, although there was no way we could have avoided it.  I think my sister even cried over it.

Wow, what a depressing entry!  I don't write anything in here for a week, and this is what I come up with?  When I first remembered it I thought of it as an interesting anecdote.  I mean, really, how many people have had their windshield cracked by a little rabbit?  (Apparently more than we'd thought.)

Oh, I just remembered another rabbit story.  When my nephew Brad was about 14 he was visiting our house for a few days (my parents' house) and had brought his bike with him.  One day he left for a bike ride and had been gone for only about 10 minutes when he unexpectedly returned, walking calmly into the house with a stricken expression on his face.

"I think I just killed a rabbit."

"With your bike?" We asked.

He had.  It ran out in front of him and he'd run over it before he could stop.

Okay, enough of this.  I'll try to do better next time!

Brrr..........

Been busy this week!  I was expecting to be offered some overtime, but we had just about as much as we wanted this week!  That's okay.  We haven't had any for awhile, so I worked my butt off.   If I'd realized I'd be putting in so many hours, though, I would have prepped some meals over the weekend.   Thomas has had a bad cold all week (but worked, anyway!) and hasn't felt much like cooking, and I've been late, so the poor kids have had to either fend for themselves or take what we've felt like whipping up at night.

This weekend I'm going to plan out some menus and put some meals in the freezer, because I've already committed to working overtime next week as well. 

I can handle the disclaimer that AOL has attached to our journals.  Makes me feel much better about the ads.

It has been getting very cold here!  Got down in the twenties last night.  And it's only 37 degrees right now.  We had some sleet earlier in the afternoon and yesterday there were a few flurries, but nothing sticking.  I have a feeling that snow is coming though.  It's gray and cold and the sky just looks like snow, you know?  Thomas went hunting, of course (first day of muzzleloader season), even though he has a cold.   (We have to keep our priorities straight, after all. )  I was feeling a little achy yesterday at work, so on my lunch break I bought a half gallon of orange juice at Kroger and drank it all during the afternoon.  I feel pretty good today.  I'm getting ready to have a cup of tea and curl up with a good book.  (After I catch up on some journals!)

I'll probably be back a little later!

A not-so-frantic Friday

It is very beautiful and very cold here in Southern Indiana.  Thomas is hunting all day, and Andrew is spending the day with some friends, so Eler Beth and I have spent the day together.  (I am worn out!)  We had breakfast and lunch out and we did some shopping. 

We have a new Bass Pro Shop nearby that just opened a couple weeks ago.  She and I went back there again today.  It is really a nice place.  There must have been a couple hundred people there.  They have a really nice embroidery shop there where they can embroider just about anything you want, and you don't have to buy the item to be embroidered there. 

Of course Thomas has his eye on one of the boats there and also on another tree stand.  Eler Beth bought a bird watching kit and a book on identifying birds.  I enjoy the old photos and antique toys, books and even utensils that they use to decorate the store.  They have a big tank with some huge catfish in it, and a waterfall.  The third floor isn't finished yet, but there will be a restaurant up there. 

I bought Eler Beth a new dress coat which she really needed.  She has grown so much in the past year.  And I bought a sweater for myself.  So it's just been a nice, lazy day.  I really needed to be home cleaning, but it was too nice to stay inside.  And it wouldn't have been fair to Eler Beth to keep her in all day when the guys are out having fun, now would it?  Now I'm making a big pot of homemade vegetable soup for dinner.

I'm free to spend a little time on the computer now, so I'll probably pop in and out all evening.  I appreciate the comments left regarding my previous entry.  Yes, it is our wish that "J" moved.  I don't know if they rent or if they bought the house.  When it was empty I can't remember if it had a For Sale sign or not.  They keep the place up very well.  It's a very attractive house, which is more than I can say for J.  He has kept to himself since that last incident.  I haven't even seen him walking his dogs.  I'm hoping he messes up and the police catch him at something illegal.  From what I've heard he's alienated almost everyone on our block, so maybe he'll watch his Ps and Qs, if nothing else.  And we don't let Eler Beth go anywhere near his house.  So, that's about it for now.  Just a little boring entry, all in all.  More later!

Love Thy Neighbor.............

I have a story I can tell now.  We live on a fairly nice street.  Our subdivision is an old one, one of the oldest in our town; and we live in the oldest part of it.  Our house was built in 1974, so we've had our fixing-up to do on it.  But we have a very big yard and there are big, old trees all along our street, including in our yard.  A lot of our neighbors have lived on this street for 30 years.  So all in all, it's a pretty good street to live on.

We are good neighbors.  We clear snow from the drives and walks of our older neighbors, look out for their homes when they're away, keep an eye on their kids when they're outside playing, mow their yards and trim their easements, even spraying for mosquitoes!  Our kids are good kids and we keep our dogs in our own yard.

But we have this one neighbor I'll call "J."  "J" moved in a few years ago, three houses down from us, with his wife or girlfriend or whatever she is.  J may be in his forties.  He could be close to sixty.  It's hard to tell.  He has long, silver hair that he pulls back in a pony tail, thick lensed glasses, several teeth missing, and he looks like he's led a hard life (probably on purpose).  When J first moved in he began walking his two young Rottweilers all around the neighborhood, stopping to chat with his new neighbors.  He stopped to chat with us one day.  We introduced ourselves and welcomed him to the neighborhood.  I petted his dogs and asked about their ages.  They were very well-behaved dogs, and you could tell he cared well for them.

I never had anything specific against J.  But he did have annoying habits, like letting his dogs step into my front yard when he stopped to chat; sometimes letting them relieve themselves there.  He didn't watch his language around me or my kids, but I really didn't rate his intelligence or his upbringing very highly, so I let it go.  I never paused to talk with him, anyway, unless Thomas was there with me.  Then I'd be civil.

Last summer he crossed the line.  Eler Beth was walking our beagle, Heidi, on a leash back from her friend's house.  Heidi pulled the leash from her hand and ran ahead of her down the sidewalk toward our home.  Just past J's house she stopped and Eler Beth caught up with her.  J stepped out of his house with his dogs who started barking at Heidi.  Heidi started into their yard barking back, but Eler Beth pulled her away.  J yelled at my daughter that she'd better "keep that d----- dog on a leash"  or he'd sic his dogs on her.  I don't know if he meant Eler Beth or Heidi.  Eler Beth ran home and told me.  She was very upset.  When Thomas got home we told him and he went down to talk to J.  He wouldn't come to the door.  Their car was in the drive and the dogs were in the back yard, but no one came to the door.  Well Thomas decided he'd better report it, so he called the sheriff.  We had an idea that maybe he'd been drinking and was now passed out.  The deputy couldn't get anyone to come to the door either, but he made a report and apparently the prosecutor called J into his office.  The deputy told us in a few days that he had denied saying that to our daughter and that he said our dog hadn't been on a leash.  Of course there was no proof either way, just our word against his and vice versa, but the prosecutor warned J about making threats and about letting his dogs run out into his front yard which is not fenced.  He also suggested that Eler Beth not walk our dogs past J's house if she could help it, and to make sure the dog was on a leash at all times.   A few days later J put up a three-foot-high plastic picket fence in his front yard.  (Which, I found out, apparently constitutes a legal enclosure.)

Apparently J carries a grudge.  He has not stopped to chat with us since.  (boo hoo)  And he has been going around the neighborhood trying to stir the neighbors up against us.  On Friday, October 29, Thomas was in the back yard doing something, and when he came out of the back yard and onto our driveway Eler Beth's Beagle pup, Bruin, ran out with him.  J just happened to be walking down the sidewalk at that time, and Bruin, being a happy, bouncing, puppy, ran straight for J, looking for some attention.  Before Thomas or Eler Beth could do anything more than call the pup's name, J stepped INTO OUR YARD and kicked Bruin in the side of the head.  Our immediate next door neighbor happened to witness the whole thing and he said that Bruin staggered in circles for a few seconds.  As soon as he had kicked the dog J drew his foot back like he was going to kick him again.  But Thomas had come up to him by then and pushed him away from the dog.  J hit the ground.  He got up and stepped toward Thomas like he was going to do something, so Thomas simply closed the distance between them and invited him to continue.  J didn't.  He went home with his tail tucked between his legs, threatening to call the police.  Afterward Thomas picked up Bruin to check him out and the older lady who lives across the street from us who had been sitting in her front yard the whole time called over to Thomas, saying, "Thomas I had my back turned.  I didn't see a thing!"  And her next door neighbor came over and said, "I'll say whatever you want me to say."  Now those are good neighbors.

Thomas did call the sheriff's office, and a deputy came out.  Apparently J had called them too.  The deputy took Thomas', Eler Beth's and our neighbor's statements, and he took pictures of the pup.  He just kept shaking his head and saying, "He's just a little pup!"  He told Thomas that it would be up to the prosecutor, but that he was pretty sure he wouldn't take it to court.  We had Bruin checked out and he was okay. 

Well Monday Thomas stopped by the prosecutor's office just to see about things, and the prosecutor told him that he'd warned J to stay away from our dogs, that he'd told J that he (the prosecutor) could understand why Thomas had pushed him, that J shouldn't have stepped into our yard, that it was just a three-month old puppy, and that he still had on file where J had allegedly threatened Eler Beth.  Later we found out in a roundabout way that J had "allegedly" offered some drugs to some of the young people in the neighborhood and the county police were keeping an eye on him for that.  And we found out that apparently he thinks he's some kind of gift to women, because he has "allegedly" tried to work his way into the  homes of at least two single females in the neighborhood.  (And they wouldn't let him in -- go figure!)

Anyway, I've wanted to write about this, because it had been on my mind so much.  I wasn't really worried about Thomas getting into any trouble, but you never know.  I haven't seen Joe since that happened.  A few days ago a pup of another neighbor of ours had a seizure (the vet said he'd been poisened; possibly had licked or drank something he shouldn't have), but all the neighbors along our block immediately figured it was J!  Turns out the pup had swallowed some glass!  But anyway, I think J has made himself scarce because we found out that he's got everybody on the block turned against him now.  Serves  him right.

Well, I'm trying to catch up again. 

Sunday was so gorgeous!  I played with my dogs for a good two hours and we finally got the leaves raked up in the front yard.  I figured I'd waited long enough.  There may be snow one day this week.

Things were hectic at work.  It always is when it's a three-day week.  I'll probably be working some overtime next week.  We can use the money, but I'm not as enthusiastic about overtime as I used to be.  But I am very enthusiastic about my four day weekend. 

Today was Grandparent's Day at Eler Beth's school.  My Mom couldn't make it this year, so I arranged to just do a half-day and I went.  It still shocks me how much she and her classmates have grown!  They are all getting so tall!

Here is what she wrote for my Mom last year for Grandparent's Day:  

                     Grandparents Are Giving

My Mamaw: 

   My Mamaw colors with me.  She spends time with me and plays with me.  She loves me, kisses and hugs me.  My Mamaw baby sits me and when she does she watches me play.  She does not get mad at me.  Instead she says "stop" in a nice way.  She watches TV with me and lets me sit in her lap.  She plays with me.  I think she is the best grandma.

And I think that is a great testimony to a Grandma.

Meet Mars and Jupiter

Eler Beth had a substitute art teacher last week who had them draw one shape, and then, using that shape, create a "creature" of some kind.  So Eler Beth created two cute little aliens from her original shapes.  She named them after planets.  I especially like Mars.  He's cute enough to be in a story book.  I told her she needs to write an illustrated story about his adventures.  They are cute enough to share here, so here they are.  (I added explanations in case some of you can't figure out what everything is.)  Sorry if you aren't into "kid" art.  This is the equivilant, I know, of hanging my kids' art up in my cubicle and calling every visitor's attention to it.  But, hey, indulge me, okay?  

 

picture not available

A Word From Our Sponser

The little box at the bottom of this page has worked to block animated banner ads, but as you can probably see, there is now a non-animated banner ad at the top of my journal for E-Trade.  I do not endorse E-Trade.  They are proabably a fine company, but I found this opinion interesting:

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/shorting/message/45

As a matter of fact, if I were to trade online, it would probably be with Scottrade:  http://www.scottrade.com/index.asp?supbid=59603

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Girls day out

Today was Girls' Day Out for me and Eler Beth.  Thomas was hunting, of course, and Andrew went to FOG (Festival of Games) all day.  So Eler Beth and I decided we'd just spend the day together. 

I asked her what she wanted to do, and she said she wanted to go to Chuck'e'Cheese's for lunch.  So, we dropped off Andrew and two of his friends at the convention center in Louisville at 6:45 am, came back and got breakfast at McDonald's and brought it home with us.  I had my coffee and napped for a while, while she watched some TV.  Then we went shopping.  Hit the mall, Wal-Mart, Once Upon A Child, and a few other places.  Then to CEC for lunch.  (NOT my favorite place.  At least they have sandwiches and salads!)  But my girl had fun, and that's all that mattered.  I had asked her if she wanted to bring a friend, and she said not this time; today she just wanted to be with me. 

We wasted some money on games, then went next door to The Dollar Tree and wasted some more money.  (I love The Dollar Tree!)

We had a good time, though.  Got home around 4:00.  All in all we had a nice day together.  Spent way more than I should have, but sometimes you have to, you know?  We both needed some Fall clothes, for sure.  I still have to pick up Andrew and his friends.  Thomas is asleep on the couch, and as I sit here typing this it looks like Eler Beth is going to sleep on the love seat.  I hope everyone is going to be able to get up on time tomorrow!

Deer Me!

Here is a pic of the buck that Thomas got last week. 

11 pointer.  175 lbs. field dressed.

Today he got a doe that dressed out at 125 lbs.

Once in a Blue Moon

While driving home after dark last night I happened to glance up at the full moon, and it looked like it had a blue caste to it.  My first thought was, "Oh no, a blue moon!  Now I have to do all those things I only do 'once in a blue moon!' "

I'm pretty sure it wasn't really what's known as a "blue moon" (when there are two full moons in one month), because I don't think we have another one of those until 2006 or 2007.  But it sure literally had a blue light to it!  I came home thinking, "Great!  Now I have to clean my house!"  But I didn't.  Guess I'll just have to wait for the next blue moon.

DISCLAIMER: The Author of this Journal does not endorse the advertisers displayed at the top of this page.  The banners were inserted without consent or prior notice by AOL as part of a marketing stategy to exploit online journals.  I have requested the banners to be removed.  Until then, please do not click on any banners.  Thank you.

I see no ad up there!

Thanks to another Journaler, I have blocked the banner ad at the top of my page so that I cannot see it.  At the bottom of the page if you click on the middle box you can choose to block pop-ups and animated pop-ups from AOL.

We interrupt this program to bring you a special message from FIRST SAVINGS BANK

You may see an ad at the top of this page for Bank of America. I have never had any personal dealings with BOA, but I know people who have and who hate it. You may want to do your homework before opening any kind of account there.

I bank with a local bank called FIRST SAVINGS BANK. It is locally owned and operated in my area of Southern Indiana. I have banked with them for years and really appreciate their service. The employees are always kind and courteous and I get more than my money's worth with them. You may not have a FIRST SAVINGS BANK in your area, but there may be another locally owned and operated bank that you would do well to patronize.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program..............

Disclaimer

DISCLAIMER: The Author of this Journal does not endorse the advertisers displayed at the top of this page.  The banners were inserted without consent or prior notice by AOL as part of a marketing stategy to exploit online journals.  I have requested the banners to be removed.  Until then, please do not click on any banners.  Thank you.

I like this disclaimer that Dorn is using in her journal.  http://journals.aol.com/dornbrau/DUSTBUNNYCLUBOFNORTHAMERICA

The Banner Ad Fairy left me a surprise!

I'm away from my journal for a few days, and -- Wow!  Someone left me a banner ad!  What's going on?

I have been so busy and tired this week that I haven't even read my alerts.  So when I sat down to get caught up this afternoon and to make an entry in my journal, boy was I surprised! 

I think I've caught up enough to get the picture.  I'm not sure how I feel about this.  Oh, I don't really like it, but I'm not sure what I want to do about it.  I'm still thinking about it.  I have a feeling that I'm not as outraged as others who have had their journals longer.   Maybe I'm just too burned out with dealing with corporate greed already this year.  I don't know if I have any fight for this one.

I actually made this entry earlier, but my save button didn't work!!!  So then I had to hop around to find the journal that had the instructions for fixing it.  (Thank you, Celeste!)  It's very late now, and I have to be up early in the morning, so I'm not going to make the entries I was going to make.   I'll do it tomorrow.  And I may hop over to someone's journal and sign their petition.  (I can't remember whose journal it was, though.  I'll have to go back through my alerts!)   I am very tired!

Well, here goes.  Hope my save works.

Just testing.

Correction

It was an 11-pointer, with two of the tines broken off.

First Day Success

Well, Thomas got a 10-pointer this morning.  It weighed 175 lbs. field dressed.  It was a 10-pointer, but one of the tines had been broken off.  He's cleaning it now.  Then we'll cool it down, and in a day or so we'll start packaging all those steaks and roasts, and my personal favorite, tenderloin!

Gunner's Mate, 1st Class Jeff Dowell, Jr.

I meant to make this entry yesterday.

My Dad, Gunner's Mate First Class Jeff Dowell, Jr.  He was twenty years old in this picture, preparing to head out to sea on the USS TAPPAHANNOCK, an oiler servicing the big ships in the Pacific during WWII.  

http://journals.aol.com/helmswondermom/OurFamilyStory/entries/934

Onamatapeia, leaves...and other things

There are things that are just inexplicably pleasurable to the senses. Things like popping bubble wrap or squeezing those little squishy things that are supposed to relieve tension – and they do! Certain words are pleasurable for the way they sound; others for the way they roll off the tongue. One of my favorite words is onamatapeia, pronounced on-uh-mot-uh-pee-uh. I may have the spelling wrong, but it’s the pronunciation that counts anyway, because it gives me great pleasure to say it..., to savor it as it rolls off my tongue.

And this time of the year, one of the things that gives me the most inexplicable pleasure is the sound of dry leaves crunching under my feet. My front yard is full of Maple leaves, and I haven’t had any urge to rake them up yet, or to have the kids or Thomas do it. They’ll have to be raked up sooner or later, but for right now I go out of my way just to crunch through them. I crunch across the yard purposefully, taking the long way to get to or from my car or the mailbox. I love the smell, too.

Of course there are times when you don’t want that crunch sound. Like when you’re making your way to your tree stand early in the morning, trying to get settled in before the deer come by. And that’s what got me to thinking about my leaves – tomorrow is the first day of gun season, so we’re getting Thomas all ready to head out early in the morning. Hope he gets one, because our freezer is finally empty of venison.

There are probably readers out there who don’t care for hunting, and I respect that. I grew up with fresh meat as a big part of my diet, and so did Thomas. We never buy beef anymore, unless it’s ground beef. Thomas usually gets three or more deer a year, so we fill our freezer and then give meat to our families and friends, and especially to people we know who are struggling to make it. It’s good, lean meat, no additives, no preservatives, and we process it ourselves so we know it’s clean and unspoilt. And it tastes great too! When it’s our deer, processed by us, there is no strong, wild flavor. And we don’t make much of it into ground meat or salami or whatever – it’s roasts, steaks, stew meat and ribs for us!  We don't hunt for the "outdoor experience", or for socializing puposes (no drinking, no smoking allowed), it's not a "get out and do something with the guys" type of thing.  (Actually, there are only a couple of men that Thomas will hunt with.  He's very particular when it comes to his hunting.)  And it isn't about the rack either.  We both prefer a doe over a buck.  So it's all about the meat with us!

Saves some money through the winter months as well.

Our kids have grown up with deer meat. When Andrew was little he wouldn’t eat anything unless you told him it was deer; so I had to preface everything with the word deer: deer-bacon, deer-chicken, deer-turkey, etc. Once when Eler Beth was little we were having dinner at my Mom’s and when I asked her if she’d like some roast beef she said, "What’s beef?"!!! She knew hamburger was from cow, but roasts and steaks were venison as far as she knew. She was about three years old, and when I told her what beef was she went running to Andrew, "Andrew, Andrew guess what we’re having for dinner! Beef! And guess what beef is! Cow!" Boy did Thomas and I feel guilty!

So I guess we’ll see if the great hunter takes one tomorrow. He probably will, but then you never know. 

Life is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)...Much to my kids' embarrassment!

My baby girl is feeling better.  I kept her home the rest of the week though.  Her fever didn't really begin to go down until around noon on Wednesday.  She finally ate a little that evening.  But until today she has kept a low-grade fever.  Her doctor called yesterday to let me know that the other strep tests had come back normal.  So I guess she just had some viral infection or flu virus.  Who knows, with all the crud that's going around right now.  I don't like to see her down like that with a fever.  She's so active, it just really hurts to have her so sick.   So far Andrew has only had a sore throat lately.  He just bought one of those DDR games for Game Cube (Dance Dance Revolution), and I think he's about to wear himself out on it, though.  (You can actually see how many calories you burn using it;  maybe I should commandeer it a few days a week!)

Thomas and I had a nice, relaxing evening.  He had shot his newest muzzleloader right after work today, sighting it in, and so tonight he sat here cleaning it, and I kept him company.  Of course while he was cleaning the gun I was on the computer, messing around, and AOL Radio has been playing the best 70s music on their Super '70s station.  We were both singin' along and gettin' down! 

Oh.  I just had a thought.  Maybe that's why the kids didn't interrupt us?  You know, I was thinking how wonderful it was that they were leaving us alone and we were getting some down time, companionably doing our respective things, but enjoying the music together.  Now I realize that our jammin' was acting as a protective barrier.  I'll file that away for future reference.

An Unexpected Punchline

Thomas came home from work with a good story today.

It seems that one of the guys (a mechanic) that works at his company had a very bad toothache yesterday. We’ll call him "J". Apparently J didn’t want to take off work to go to the dentist. Or the tooth was so bad that he thought he wouldn’t have any trouble. Or maybe he’s just an idiot.(!)  Anyway. He decided to pull it himself. At work. With needle-nose pliers.

Half the molar came right out. The rotten half.

The other half apparently had a very healthy and very long root and refused to budge.

Me, appalled, "Did he go to the dentist today?"

Thomas, laughing, "He had to! His wife made him! He tried and tried, but he couldn’t get it out with the pliers!"

Me, cringing, "I should hope not! Of all the stupid things!"

Thomas, reasonably, "Yeah! He should have used those bent-nose pliers.  They would have grabbed the tooth better!"

Why won't the AARP leave me alone?

I've never had a problem with age or the idea of aging.  My mother was 42 when I was born, and I never really thought of her or my Dad as being "old" even in their seventies and eighties.  They never acted old.  And although there is a large spread of years between me and the oldest of my siblings, again, none of us really seems old.  And even as a young child I always liked being around older people.

I have even thought, and indeed spoken aloud my thoughts, about looking forward to turning 50 and getting to join The Red Hat Society.  And things like Senior Discounts and AARP have actually appealed to me.  I mean, I've gotta get old, anyway, right?  So why not look forward to some perks?

Well, I'm beginning to get really irritated!

I'm 39.  I'm five months away from turning 40.  And the AARP has been knocking down my door (mailbox) trying to get me to contact them and register for all their wonderful benefits!  EIGHT TIMES so far this year!!!

Five years ago I got something from them in the mail, and I sniggered and showed it to my husband and threw it away.  Obviously a mistake.  Two years ago I got something.  Again, obviously a mistake.  Last year I got one letter.  I started to feel a trifle paranoid.  Why were these people insisting I was 50?

Now enough is enough!!  Today I got the EIGHTH letter of 2005, wondering why I haven't registered yet!  It starts out "Our records show that you have not registered to receive the benefits to which you are entitled."  I think I'll return their little form and see what happens.  I wish there were a live person I could contact to ask why they think I'm 50.  The name and address are mine.  And apparently they've been able to follow me, because the first one I got was right before we bought our current home and moved into it. 

I have my birth certificate.  I have my memories.  I have corroboration of people I've known all my life that I was actually born in 1966.  I know I'm 39.  I haven't slipped through some time warp.  I haven't pulled a Rip Van Winkle.  And for some reason, although never bothered by judgements about age before, for SOME reason, this insistance by this organization that I am 50+ has really bugged me!  Maybe I'll check their website (surely they have a website?) and see if there's someone I can contact.  Because for 11 more years I want the AARP to leave me alone! 

Women and Men

Someone once sent this to me, and I really liked it!

 

Apples and Wine

Women are like apples on trees.

The best ones are at the top of the tree.

Most men don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt.

Instead, they just take the rotten apples from the ground that aren't as good, but easy.......

The apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality, they're amazing.

They just have to wait for the right man to come along -- the one who's brave enough to climb all the way to
the top of the tree.

Share this with other women who are good apples, even those who have already been picked!

Now Men....

Men are like a fine wine.

They begin as grapes, and it's up to women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Doesn't that just warm your heart....

A Change of Plans

I have been home for the past two days.  I had taken a PTO day for Tuesday.  I thought I'd get some work done at home and go have lunch with Eler Beth at school as a surprise.  But about midnight Monday she crawled into bed with us complaining of a headache.  She was burning up!  I took her temp and my thermometer read 102.5.  I got her some Motrin and some juice and sat up with her for awhile.  She was hot one minute and cold the next and her headache just wouldn't go away.  She finally fell back asleep with me rubbing her head.

Needless to say Tuesday didn't go quite as I'd planned.

Her fever would not stay down.  But she had no other symptoms.  She was achy and headachy, which could just have been from the fever.  No stuffy head, stomache-ache, sore throat, coughing or sneezing.  But her neck was stiff and sore; so that worried me.

So I took her to the docter.  The rapid Strep came back negative, but they took a second culture to send off.  Her throat was a little irritated, but not too much.  Her ears looked fine and they could find no congestion, neither chest nor sinus.  They did a urinalysis and it came back fine.  So the doctor said, "So I'd like to check her blood count, just to be sure."  "Okay," I said, but inwardly I was thinking, "Oh, well, shoot!  It's going to be next to impossible to get her to sit still for this!"  I didn't say anything about what was coming, but when the nurse came in and started getting everything out, Eler Beth grabbed my hand and scooted closer to me.  "Mom, what's that!" she quavered.  "We're just going to have to prick your finger and get a little blood, that's all," the nurse said.  Yeah.  Right.

It took a few minutes and a threat to call Dad to get her to unclench her fist.  My little drama queen!  "It will be over in just a minute" was countered with, "Mom, you just don't understand!"  "Remember "M" (her cousin with diabetes, two years older than she is) has to do this every day" was met with "I don't care!"  "If she can't get it all this time she'll just have to do it again" got "No she won't!"  Finally it was done.

Her white count came back fine, but the type of white cells indicated a bacterial infection, not viral.  So it probably is strep throat.  But the doctor said if the stiffness in her neck and shoulders worsened at all to get her to a hospital.  She wrote a scrip for Amoxycillin just to be on the safe side, and I'm still giving her Motrin.

It took until about 11:30 this morning for her fever to go down and stay down.  She was finally able to eat a little applesauce this morning, and she's napping right now.  But she was up and down all night, restless, so consequently so was I.  I should know by Friday if it is strep.  The stiffness is better, but she is still achy.  I was able to take another PTO for today, but I may see if someone can stay with her tomorrow.  Hopefully by Friday she can get back to school. 

As for the things I wanted to do around the house -- oh well!  I did manage to get some laundry done.  I guess the little projects I wanted to do will just have to wait for the weekend.

Why Women Are Crabby

My sister sent me this:     Why Women are Crabby (amen to all of this!)    
    
    We started to "bud" in our blouses at 9 or 10 years old only to find that anything that came in contact with those tender, blooming buds hurt so bad it brought us to tears. So came the ridiculously uncomfortable training bra contraption that the boys in school would snap until we had callouses on our backs.    
    
    Next, we get our periods in our early to mid-teens (or sooner). Along with those budding boobs, we bloated, we cramped, we got the hormone crankies, had to wear little mattresses between our legs or insert tubular, packed cotton rods in places we didn't even know we had. 
        
    Our next little rite of passage (premarital or not) was having sex for the first time which was about as much fun as having a ramrod push your uterus through your nostrils (IF he did it right and didn't end up with his little cart before his horse), leaving us to wonder what all the fuss was about.    
        
    Then it was off to Motherhood where we learned to live on dry crackers and water for a few months so we didn't spend the entire day leaning over Brother John.  Of course, amazing creatures that we are (and we are), we learned to live with the growing little angels inside us steadily kicking our innards night and day making us wonder if we were preparing to have Rosemary's Baby.    
   
        Our once flat bellies looked like we swallowed a watermelon whole and we pee'd our pants every time we sneezed. When the big moment arrived, the dam in our blessed Nether Regions invariably burst right in the middle of the mall and we had to waddle, with our big cartoon feet, moaning in pain all the way to the ER.   
        
    Then it was huff and puff and beg to die while the OB says, "Please stop screaming, Mrs. Hearmeroar. Calm down and push. Just one more good push,"  (more like 10), warranting a strong, well-deserved impulse to punch the ***** (and hubby) square in the nose for making us cram a wiggling, mushroom-headed 7-10 lb bowling ball through a keyhole.   
     
    After that, it was time to raise those angels only to find that when all that "cute" wears off, the beautiful little darlings morphed into walking, jabbering, wet, gooey, snot-blowing, little poop machines.     
    
    Then come their teen years.  Need I say more?  
      
    When the kids are almost grown, we women hit our voracious sexual prime in our early 40's - while hubby had his somewhere around his 18th  birthday.   
     
    So we progress into the grand finale: "The Menopause," the Grandmother of all womanhood.  It's either take HRT and chance cancer in those now seasoned "buds" or the aforementioned Nether Regions, or sweat like a hog in Spring and Summer, wash your sheets and pillowcases daily and bite the head off anything that moves.    
    
    Now, you ask WHY women seem to be more spiteful than men when men get off so easy INCLUDING the icing on life's cake: Being  able to pee in the woods without soaking their socks...

   So, while I love being a woman, "Womanhood" would make the Great Gandhi a tad crabby.  Women are the "weaker sex?"  Yeah right.  Bite me.ut soaking tocks...
 

Sunday Ramblings

I have been pretty busy this week.  Our weather has finally become cool.  I actually used my furnace early Friday morning.  (Just because I wanted the chill taken off the air before the kids got up.)  I had the air on for a while today, though.  I'd love for it to stay like this for a few weeks.  I don't mind it getting cool, but I'm not looking forward to frigid temps, bone-chilling winds and cold rain or wet snow!  Uhggg!

I did my presentation on diversity during our staff meeting on Friday, and I think I did a pretty good job, especially considering I was getting a migraine.  I've had migraines since I was six years old.  My mother didn't know what they were called; she called them "sick headaches", since that's what her mother had called them.  I remember it distinctly.  I was watching tv with the family and my head started hurting suddenly and horribly, and my vision got blurry.  I told my mother and added that I felt sick at my stomach.  She immediately put me to bed in a dark room with a cool cloth on my head, and she gave me two aspirin (this was in 1972 before Tylenol had become well-known, if it even existed then, and before it was  known that it wasn't safe to give aspirin to children).  Then I can remember having to throw up.  I didn't start feeling better until the next day.

The second one I remember having was when I was eight.  I had gone to spend the night with one of my married sisters, P.J., and I was keeping her son and his cousin busy while she cleaned house and made dinner for a dinner party she was giving.  I was playing games with the boys when I felt it coming.  This time the headache and extreme nausea came at the same time and I had little jagged lights in my periferal (sp?) vision.  I told her and she said, "Oh no, you have migraines too!"  She gave me two Tylenol and put me to bed in a dark room.  I found out later that all my sisters and my brother had migraines, but that she had very severe ones where she'd have to go to the emergency room for a codeine shot whenever she felt one coming on.

The next one I remember having was when I was 11 or 12.  This is when the vision problems became really bad.  I would have the jagged bright lights inmy periferal vision, but then I'd have blind spots.  The lower half (on a diagonal) of whatever I was looking at directly would simply not be there.  I found out this was standard in my family.  My mom and siblings almost always had these blind spots.

Then I had one at 13, another bad one at 15, and then I started having a couple a year.  The last really, really bad one with the headache, stomach pain and blindness was when I was 21, about two weeks before my wedding.  That was the worst one I have ever had.  After that I starting having four or five a year, but I rarely, if ever, have nausea, and sometimes I don't even have the headache.  I just start feeling kind of woozy and out of sorts; it seems like I'm looking through a tunnel, and then I get the bright, jagged lights and/or the blind spot.

My doctor told me that was classic migraine.  Nothing that has ever been prescribed for me has ever worked any better than OTC stuff.  Usually if I can take an Excedrin Migraine as soon as I feel it coming on I can stop it or at least keep it from becoming severe.  For a few years I rarely had any, but for the past couple years they've become more frequent.  I guess as I get older my hormones are going screwy again.  But at least I rarely have the pain and nausea now, and when I do they're no where near as severe as they used to be.  I can handle the vision problems, as long as I'm not driving and can just stop whatever I'm doing and wait it out.

I guess that's enough about migraines!   

Can you say...PRO - CRA -- STI -- NAT -- ING?

Okay, so I'm wasting time.  I have the house to myself this evening and I really should be finishing up a diversity presentation I'm doing for a meeting at work tomorrow, but instead I'm wasting time here on the computer.  I thought I'd see what Google thinks of me, so here are a few things that I am.......

Lori is --

   Genetically incapable of artifice (that's nice)

   Jailed on charges of treason against Peru (???)

   Made with rolled oats, Rice Crispy cereal, dried fruits and nuts (the nuts part is right!)

   A singer/songwriter from the Bay Area (not!)

   A photographer who bends the line between truth and illusion (But I'm "incapable of artifice" remember)

Anyway, now what?  I really don't want to do the diversity thing right now.  I just have some finishing touches to put on it.  So I'm going to play some more.  It isn't every evening I have the house to myself in the middle of the week! 

Hello!?

Is everyone having trouble with their comments alerts?  I'm not getting alerted when someone leaves a comment.  I just went the rounds and commented in my favorite journals and now I'm wondering if the authors are getting alerted when they receive comments. 

A Lesson In Retaliation

The story a couple of entries back about my niece Evonne and the spider in her soup made me remember another family tale involving her.  When she was about five years old she was being watched one day by her aunt (my sister Dennice), who took Evonne with her to the laundromat in her apartment complex.  The laundromat was next to the apartment complex's playground and was built with windows along one wall looking out onto the playground.  So while Dee did her laundry she was able to keep an eye on Evonne and a little boy about the same age while they played.

Of course she couldn't keep her eyes on them 100% of the time.  She was emptying a dryer when Evonne came running in, calling loudly, "Aunt Dee Dee! Aunt Dee Dee!  You don't 'posed to pay back evil for evil, do you?"

"Huh?" Dennice gasped.

"You don't 'posed to pay back evil for evil, do you?"

Dennice gathered her scattering wits.  "Uh, no! No, of course not!"  She became aware of several pairs of curious eyes -- what does that little kid know about paying back evil for evil?-- and said decisively, "No, we aren't supposed to pay back evil for evil.  Why?  Who's trying to do that?"

"He is!"  Evonne turned and pointed an accusing finger at the little boy, shrinking behind her.  "I hit him and then he hit me back!"

Neverending Pears!

I spent most of the afternoon peeling pears!  Lots of pears!  Lots and lots of pears!

A few weeks ago Thomas and the kids picked several bushels of pears and then Thomas with a little help from Eler Beth peeled and prepared all of them and he now has several five gallon jugs of pear must, currently making wine.  He made pear wine last year and it was delicious!  Neither of us drinks much of anything alcoholic, so we ended up only keeping about four bottles of the wine.  We gave the rest away as gifts.  And as I said it was VERY good!  We also made preserves.

Well, then a friend told Thomas that his tree was just full of pears and to come help himself, so he and the kids picked them, and now we have sliced pears ready for making preserves!  I peeled and Thomas cored and sliced.  (I really gave my $1.00 vegetable peeler a work out!  I really love that thing!)  Of course a lot of the pears have been eaten as "pears", too.  They were really good this year!  Anyway, I'm glad to have them out of the way.  Now I'll be making and canning preserves.

I spent the first part of the day sleeping.  I was up most of the night coughing and nothing would help until I took some Thera-Flu early this morning.  That always makes me sleepy, especially when I haven't slept well anyway.  So peeling pears is about all I accomplished today. 

It is finally getting cooler here.  The rain we got yesterday and today helped make it feel even cooler than it actually was.  I'm not ready for it! 

My daughter brought home five As (one A+) and a B on her report card this week!!  I'm very proud!

Well, that's all I've got tonight!  It's late and I'm tired, so more later.

And that reminds me.........

Well, Sunday I redeemed myself by making homemade vegetable soup and cornbread, and as I sat down here to decide what I was going to write, the vegetable soup reminded me of a "soup" story.  This story was written down by the family "historian/scribe", my sister Barbara, years ago, and I'm sure she did a better job than I'm going to do, but I'll give it a shot -- because it's a cute story.

I was about 10 years old, and it was a cold, snowy, blustery day.  My nieces and nephew and I had been playing outside and were very happy to come in to my Mom's nice warm kitchen, smelling deliciously of her homemade vegetable soup.  We gathered around the kitchen table, bowls of soup in front of us, my mom and four of my sisters ladling soup into their own bowls, pouring cups of coffee and talking away.

Suddenly in the middle of their conversation, my three-year-old niece, Evonne, piped up with, "Pidah in my tsoup!"  The conversation continued, so she tried again, "Pidah in my tsoup!"

"What's she saying?"

"I don't know; sounds like she's saying there's a spider in her soup!"

"Well, there is!  There is a spider in her soup!"

No one knew how the spider came to be in her soup, but the soup was disposed of, a fresh bowl was given her, and talk turned inevitably to such topics as -- places in the earth where spiders might be eaten -- times of famine in which perhaps we might be happy to have spiders to eat, etc.  My seven-year-old nephew, Bill, always a picky eater anyway, stated, "Well, I  wouldn't eat it!"

My seven-year-old niece, Sheila, (definitely her mother's daughter!), tried a compromise.  "Well, if you cut its head off...."

Bill:  "I still wouldn't eat it!"

Sheila:  "Well, if you cut its legs off...."

Bill:  "I still wouldn't eat it!"

Sheila:  "Well, if you drained all the blood out!"

Bill:  "I STILL wouldn't eat it!"

At which point Sheila's mother, my sister Dennice, offered reassuringly, "That's okay, Sheila.  Sometimes no matter how you prepare something, the men won't eat it!"

Fish sticks aren't so bad!

After everyone had eaten, Thomas said, "Good dinner, Lori!"  To which I replied, "Hah!"  He said "Don't laugh.  I'm serious."  I looked at him incredulously and said, "Well, it was quick and easy, anyway."  He said, "And it was good.  Hit the spot!"

And he was serious.  Didn't get any complaints from the kids, either.  Guess if they're hungry it really doesn't matter.....prepared with love, and all that.

But, now this is hilarious!  Sometimes I'm in the mood to do one of those "tests" to see what category I fall into.  They usually make me feel good about myself.....sort of reinforce the positive, you know.  So tonight I took this one, not realizing that it was done by BETTY CROCKER:

 Find the Food that Fits Your Distinctive Flair .  So I took the quiz, and here's what it said:  My style is --    

                    Classic Contemporary

You take the ordinary and make it extraordinary.  In fact, that is what everyone is hoping for from you.  From basic baking to spur of the moment brunches, no one cooks the classics quite like you.

ROFL!!!!!

So I'm going to accept Thomas' compliment at face value, because, - ahem, -  "No One Cooks The Classics (fish sticks) Quite Like I Do!

It's a Fish Stick Night

This should be a "grill-out" night, but it's going to be a fish stick night instead!

Today was BE-U-TEE-FULL.  Sunny all day, warm breeze, 74 degrees!  Thomas worked until 2:00.  Andrew barely stuck his nose outside all day!  (Typical teen.)  But Eler Beth and I got outside.  She went out in the ministry work with some of the sisters from the Hall, and then she went to Lily's to play most of the afternoon.  I was actually feeling some better this morning.  Still coughing, though, but my glands didn't seem as swollen.  I did some shopping, dropped off yet another bag at Goodwill and played in my back yard!

I gave each of the dogs some individual attention, which is saying a lot, considering how many dogs there are.  I cleaned food and water dishes, put fresh straw in their houses/yards, brushed all of them and played ball.  Scout is learning his commands now.  He can sit and lie down to verbal and hand signals.  I did some trimming and hung laundry out on the line to dry!  (One of my favorite things to do.)  I told the lady next door that she could have Tiny whenever she was ready for him.  I think they're getting his house ready.  He sure is a sweet puppy.  He's the one I thought we were going to lose one day, if you remember.  He has done fine since then.  They think the world of him.  Every day after everyone at our house leaves for the day he sneaks over and waits on their back porch for them to come out.  Then when they come out they pet him, then he comes back home.  So she said they just had to have him, because he picked them!  He is so sweet.

So anyway, Thomas got home, ate lunch and tinkered around with one of the lawn mowers.  Lily and her dad brought Eler Beth home, so then Thomas and Larry had to visit for awhile.  Then Thomas and Eler Beth went to check out a new fishing spot.  They should be home soon, though.  Anyway, it has been a wonderful, slow, easy, comforable day.  I sure do need more of them in my life.  But they're rare!  I'm just now getting online and checking my alerts.  I need to work on my "Book" journal tonight.  I told Andrew the computer is mine for the rest of the evening!

So instead of cooking out (as the perfect weather is calling for) I'm going to fix fish sticks!  Forgive me, please!   It's quick and easy, filling and tasty!  I'll mash some potatoes, open a can of something green and a box of mac and cheese and my kids will be happy.  There are cookies and ice cream for dessert!  I'll fix a better dinner tomorrow!  This just isn't the evening for spending a lot of time in the kitchen, ya know?  I'm going to go bring in some clothes off the line, then I'll be back later.

Early morning ramble

We are having a potluck today at work, so I got up and made my famous zucchini casserole to take.   It was requested!  It should be ready in about 10 minutes.  Smelling goooood!  Tomorrow is Lee's last day at our company.  She is going back to school to get her Master's Degree in Art History and also has a part-time job.  She tried doing all three, but the full-time job is too much.  (She doesn't know it, but we're doing a vegetarian potluck just for her because she's, um, a vegetarian!) 

Well, just thought I'd visit my journal while I had a chance.  I'm not feeling quite as bad this  morning as I did yesterday.  Still feels like I have some congestion in my chest, though.  I'm still drinking my orange juice.  I'll take my herbal tea, cough drops and ibuprofen with me and be sure to have my coffee, and I should survive the day!

See ya later.

Orange-you Glad?

From the REALAGE TIP OF THE DAY:

Three Cheers Throw back three shots of orange juice every day for maximum health benefits.

Drinking orange juice morning, noon, and night can help raise and keep antioxidant levels consistent in your bloodstream. This, in turn, may help keep you protected from free-radical damage all day. It's not just the vitamin C in the juice that's beneficial; the less-touted carotenoid cryptoxanthin in OJ has been associated with a 15 percent to 31 percent reduced lung cancer risk.

Well, I've been doing that, yesterday and today, but only because I've felt like I was coming down with something.  Sore, scratchy throat, a little achy and sneezy.  Hope the OJ can push whatever this is out of my system!

My Other Journal

I finally started getting my other journal re-done the way I want it, and today I put in the first entry.  If anyone is interested, here is the link:   Dusty Pages Book Talk.  I hope that there are readers out there who will enjoy reading this journal, as well.

What Corporate Culture Am I?

I took this quiz, Tickle: Tests, The Corporate Culture Test, and here are the results:

Lori, you'll thrive in a corporate culture that allows you to be a People-person.

You realize the importance of people getting along in the workplace. After all, an organization's identity is built on the quality and dedication of its workers. While others focus on winning personal accolades, you prefer to work hard at providing harmony and human connections. You're motivated by contributing to that social fabric. Because you tend to be in tune to the social dynamics of a company, you probably have an internal sense of where you stand and don't need constant validation from peers or superiors.

Certain types of companies are waking up to the fact that they need more people like you. But which companies are they? And how can you find a business based on a system that values your contributions and will really let you shine?

Well, that's a good question.  And one I'm asking myself more and more as the months go by.  I have not applied to any open positions within W/A (my company) yet, because I want to stay where I am right now.  Afterall our jobs don't end until April or May of next year.  (For those new to my journal, that's when my department (Document Management) is, for the most part, being contracted out to a document management company who is sending my job, and others like it, overseas.  I still, though, in general, like the company I work for.  There is a lot to say in its favor.  I've been reluctant to apply for another position, though, for three reasons:  1-- I really like what I do, and am still comfortable doing it; 2 -- I'm not going to apply to a department that I don't just have a huge desire to work for, just because my deapartment is being outsourced, and; 3 -- I'm thinking about looking for something closer to home, because of the gas prices.

I have to say the results above do seem to fit the way I am at my job.  I'd like to find another position where I am as comfortable as I am now.

Therapy

For those of us who find ourselves under more and more stress, especially at work, I offer the following 20 Ways to Maintain A Healthy Level of Insanity:

1.  At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses On And Point A Hair Dryer At  Passing Cars.   See If They Slow Down.

2.  Page Yourself Over The Intercom.  Don't Disguise Your Voice.

3.  Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with That.

4.  Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It "In."

5.  Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone Has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch To Espresso.

6.  In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write "For Sexual Favors."

7.  Finish All Your sentences with "In Accordance With The Prophecy."

8.  Dont Use Any Punctuation

9.  As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

10.  Ask People What Sex They Are. Laugh Hysterically After They Answer.

11.  Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go."

12.  Sing Along At The Opera.

13.  Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme.

14.  Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play Tropical Sounds All Day.

15.  Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In The Mood.

16.  Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Hard.

17.  When The Money Comes Out Of The ATM, Scream "I Won!, I Won!"

18.  When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking Lot, Yelling "Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"

19.  Tell Your Children Over Dinner, "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go."

And The Final Way To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity.......

20. Send This Message To Someone To Make Them Smile...It's Called Therapy...

I don't know to whom I am to give credit for these.  I think they were in an email from one of my sisters also.

A Math Lesson

Here's a cute thing that my sister sent me in an email:

History of Math

Last week I purchased a burger for $1.58. The counter girl took my $2 and I was digging for my change when I pulled 8 cents from my pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the nickel and 3 pennies, while looking at the screen on her register.

I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters, but she hailed the manager for help. While he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood there and
cried.  Why do I tell you this?

Please read more about the "history of teaching math":

Teaching Math In 1950

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.  His cost of production is
4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

Teaching Math In 1960

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.  His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

Teaching Math In 1970

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.  His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?

Teaching Math In 1980

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.  His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment:  Underline the number 20.

Teaching Math In 1990

By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question:  How did the forest birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down the trees. (There are no wrong answers.)

Teaching Math In 2005

El hachero vende un camion carga por $100. La cuesta de production es.............

And we wonder why jobs requiring intelligence are being outsourced??

What I hate is when you go to the cash register with zucchini and the teenager waiting on you has to ask what it is before she can ring you up.  Once I had one ask me what I had, and it was peaches!  PEACHES!!

     My backyard is full of leaves!  The trees along the creek bank are almost bare, already!  Boy it happened fast.  I don't mind.  I'm ready for a little bit of crisp weather.  Today was gorgeous.  It's 63 degrees outside right now, but sunny.  We ran around the backyard playing with the dogs for awhile.  Another one of the pups went to its new home this past Monday -- the really, really pretty one with all the markings that I called Jolie.  The people who got her have three acres that she can run around on, and a little boy to play with.  So now we have one male and two females to find homes for.  Andrew is, as I've said, keeping the brown one.  And Eler Beth talked her Dad into letting her keep the black male, Bruin.  Who didn't see that coming!

At work we moved to the 9901 bldg. two weeks ago.  We're on the 8th floor, and the building has 11 floors (12 if you count the basement), so I can increase my stair walking now!  So far I can only get from the 1st to the 5th without having to take the elevator the rest of the way up.  Guess I'll just add a little more every day or so.  I have increased my water intake, and I can tell that it's making a difference.  I am actually eating less.  Now I just need to increase my exercise.

I've been housecleaning today, so now it's "me" time.  I'm going to re-do my other journal "Dusty Pages Book Talk".  It's about time I did.  More later.       

Wow, I'm so flattered!

I've just been comment spammed.  How nice.  I promptly blocked the name, and now I shall pass it on.  KREAMEDKORN

I just received five alerts from other j-landers who've been comment spammed, and I will pass along those names to block as well:  blaze1wyteowl; txrebalgirl26; katric15.

The other two were the one I got and another one for the first one listed above. 

 

Beautiful Day To Welcome October

October 1.  Wow, this year has certainly gone by fast.  It is another beautiful day out there.  It's only in the sixties right now, I think.  The sun is shining and it just really smells like Fall.  I love days like this.

I'm still trying to do the tasks that I had assigned myself to do this weekend.  I'm still wading through "stuff" to get rid of.  I've bagged up another bag of clothes for Goodwill.  I have Andrew detailing the inside of my car.  He owes me some money, so I said if he did a good enough job I'd credit it to his account!  Ha!  I have some special chores for Eler Beth to do today, too, but she's been in such a bad mood this morning, that I'm waiting for Thomas to get home to tell her to do them.  I don't feel like arguing with her, so I'm taking the easy way out and waiting for Dad to get home.  Cowardly of me, I know.  I just don't have time to fool with it.  She's 9-1/2, but I think her hormones are going wild all ready.  She's not a big girl, she's actually average height for her age, but she is all muscle and she is "built", if you know what I mean.  She has curves all ready!!  Two of my nieces who were built like that at that age went through puberty early, and it would definitely explain the mood swings she's been having.  She's still my sweetheart, though.  (Just my sweetheart in a bad mood!)

She found a Rose of Sharon growing beside our house today that we didn't plant.  I swear I have no idea why I hadn't noticed it!  When she came in to tell me what it was, I figured it was just a weed that's leaves resembled a Rose of Sharon, but, by-dogies (as my Mom would say), it is a Rose of Sharon, and it even has a bloom on it.  She's good about noticing things like that.

Well, I'd better get back to work.  Break time's over for now.

Off and Out

Well, I have been home for two days.  I took off yesterday and today just so I could get some things caught up at home, and today all I did was sleep! Yesterday I did get my living room cleaned, and I played with my dogs in the morning.  Then I went to Eler Beth's school to have lunch with her.  On the way I noticed I was seeing a lot of police cars.  Our subdivision is right outside the city limits, so we actually are serviced by the County Police, but I was seeing City, County and State police cars.  Some were behind me, I was meeting some, and some were parked near my daughter's school.  When I went to the front door of the school the doors were locked.  So I realized that something was going on and the school was on a lock down.  The receptionist came to open the door for me.  "We're not letting just anyone in or out, but you can come in," she said.  I asked, "Just who exactly are we not letting in?"  "Bank robbers!" she said.  "Well, I'm glad to hear it!" said I.

Seems that the Main Source bank less than a mile from our house and about 1/4 mile from my son's high school was robbed at gun point about 30 minutes earlier.  Since my daughter's school was within a mile of the bank also, they were also under lock down.  I haven't heard anything more about it today.  I don't know if they caught the guy yet or not.

I ran some errands after I had lunch with Eler Beth, then I went through summer and outgrown fall and winter clothes and bagged them up for Goodwill.  Today I was going to continue cleaning and working in my yard since the weather here is gorgeous!  Mid-to-upper 80's during the day and 60's at night!  Wonderful!

But after the kids left for school I lay back down thinking I'd just get another hour's sleep, and when I woke up it was 2:15 in the afternoon!  I guess I must have needed it.

I took the kids over to some friends' house to play this evening and Thomas and I had a little quality time to ourselves.  Now I am at my computer, catching up on alerts.  I guess maybe tomorrow I'll try to do some more housework.  I definitely will not sleep all day -- can't waste a good Fall day.  Tomorrow is the first day of bow season, but Thomas is working, and besides it's not quite as cool as he likes it to be for deer hunting.  But if he weren't working he'd be out there!

Well, more later.

Epsom Salts and What They Can Do!

A lot has been happening around here, and yet not really much of anything.  Two of the puppies have gone to their new homes.  The one with a lot of orange that I called Pumpkin has now been re-christened Rosco by his new owner.  It's an older gentleman, a friend of our friend Bob, who has been a widower for years and whose dog recently died.  His daughter lives with him, and they both fell in love with Pumpkin/Rosco.  He'll have a really good home there.  That was yesterday, and the day before Thomas' nephew and his family came by and took the little black female.   Eler Beth had been calling her Mera, but they'll re-name her, I'm sure.  She'll have a good home, too.  Andrew is keeping the brown one (that I call Traveler), so that leaves 5 pups to find homes for.

They are eight weeks old today.  They have been de-wormed and had their first shots, but on Wednesday one of them was sick.  He is a big boy, but we call him Tiny.  He has such a sweet nature.  Well, they all do, but there's just something about him.  He's like a big, sweet, teddy-bear of a boy, if you know what I mean.  Well, his belly seemed very large and he was whining.  I thought he'd either eaten too much and/or was constipated, or he had a parasite infestation that was making him sick.  I try to keep my dogs de-wormed and keep their yard clean, but you almost can't keep puppies from having worms of some kind.  They were due for their 8 week de-worming today anyway, so that day I just went ahead and gave him his dose early.  Apparently the de-wormer tastes pretty good to them because they drink it down really well from the syringe.  About an hour after I'd given it to him he had stopped whining, but was sleeping, and limp as a wet noodle. 

I've had pups and kittens that have, for whatever reason, not made it, and I usually can tell right away by the way they look and act if there's no hope.  I didn't think Tiny had that look, but I was still worried.  His eyes when he'd been awake earlier and whining were clear, not clouded over.  His breathing was good, and his nose was cold and wet.  But because he was so limp and I couldn't nudge him awake enough to do more than just barely open his eyes I was worried.

I had toyed with the idea of giving him a laxative but wasn't exactly sure which kind or how much.  Thomas got  home and immediately suggested that I give him a dose of Epsom Salts (what we refer to in our house as "Nasty Stuff")!!  To Thomas Epsom Salts is the cure for everything, and I am not exaggerating!  He has a lot of stomach troubles and he can mix up some Epsom Salts in hot water, drink it, and he immediately feels better.  I tasted a little once, just for the heck of it, and I can honestly say that I'd have to be held down and have it forced down my throat or at least be so constipated that I was desperate!  Well, I had actually thought of giving the poor little thing Epsom Salts, so I let Thomas fix a weak mixture and I put one teaspoon in the syringe.

I picked Tiny up and he was so limp that I had to support his head like he was a little baby.  I put the tip of the syringe in the corner of his mouth and pushed the plunger just a bit.  His eyes flew open and he started struggling in my hand, trying to turn his head away from that nasty taste!  He wasn't limp anymore!  I gave him most of the teaspoon, lay him back down in their house and waited.  Not even a half hour later Eler Beth ran inside the house yelling, "Tiny just ran out to meet me!"  I checked, and sure enough he seemed fine.  I'm keeping a close eye on him, but so far he's been normal.  So maybe he was constipated, I don't know.  But I know this -- no one will ever be able to successfully argue against the efficacious properties of Epsom Salts!  Not to Thomas, anyway!