Ambushed!

The kids ambushed Thomas this afternoon with a volley of snowballs.  This has been a tradition since Eler Beth was about three years old.  Each year they get him on the day of the first snowfall of the season, and then they see how many more days they can surprise him.  One time they were hiding in wait for him, and when his car came into view we saw that he had a pyramid of snowballs on the hood!   He'd anticipated their attack and had stopped just up the street, out of our sight, to prepare some ammunition.  They got a kick out of that.

Yesterday was our first real snowfall, so Eler Beth was prepared for Dad when he pulled into the drive.  Andrew didn't participate in that one.  But today, since we had a little more snow this morning, he and Eler Beth put together a bunch of snowballs, and she hid in the front yard while Andrew climbed up in one of our maple trees out front.  They had rigged up a basket filled with snowballs that he pulled up with some rope.  Thomas never saw it coming!  After the first volley of snowballs he thought they were all coming from Eler Beth, whom he could see, and he was wondering how she was managing to get him from two different angles.  I helpfully looked up into the tree, and when he looked up Andrew zonked him with one!  That tickled Thomas.  It was all-out war there for a few minutes!

Some News

Another reason I called my Mom yesterday was to see what she'd found out from a recent visit to the doctor.  She had gone to a dermatologist to check a few things out.  She has a little bump of skin behind one ear that turned out to be nothing.  He said it wasn't even a mole, just a bit of skin.  She had a pre-cancerous mole above one eyebrow that he burned off.  Then she had a little scaly patch of skin on one cheek that the doctor was a little concerned about, so they did a biopsy.  I was calling to see if she'd heard back from the doctor.

While we were talking she got another call, and it was the doctor's assistant.  The place on her cheek is cancer, a basal cell carcinoma, the best kind to get, if you have to have a skin cancer.  Also, the one she has is very shallow, which is also a good thing.  The doctor called in a prescription for a chemotherapy cream that she will apply daily for several weeks. Then she has a follow-up appointment with him in March.

Hopefully that will take care of it, and that will be the end of it.  My Mother is a very pro-active sort of person, who isn't afraid to go get things checked out (especially with seven kids who can put out a continuous stream of "You really should go check that out!", and who are totally capable of picking her up bodily and delivering her to wherever we think she needs to go!).  So the lesson, once again here boys and girls, is early detection!

And even though I'm sure everything will turn out okay, you know I'll appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers.

Some Memories

I called my Mom yesterday because it would have been her and my Dad's anniversary.  She had just got off the phone with my sister, Maxine, when I called.  I guess Maxine and I were both thinking alike.

I don't remember my parents ever making too big a deal out of their anniversary, although over the years we had given them some really nice parties and gifts, especially after we were grown.  I can remember once when I was high school, we decided that Mom and Dad needed a really nice storage building -- Dad had been saying he guessed he needed to find somebody to help him build one for a long time, but hadn't got around to it.  He wanted a nice building to put all his lawn and garden equipment and tools in, with room for regular storage as well.  Our house was not big, and storage room was minimum.

All of my siblings were out of school and working and/or married at the time, so all of us put together our resources, along with some cousins and some good friends who were like family, and we started planning.  On the day of their anniversary, which was a Saturday that year, my Mom's baby brother and his wife came and picked up Mom and Dad to take them out for the day.  They told them they wanted to spend the day with them, just the four of them, and then they were taking them out to lunch.

While they were gone, my brothers-in-law, sisters, brother, cousins and several friends erected and almost completely finished a big 30 x 30 ft. wooden building, with big double doors.  Only the wiring had to be left for later.  (The weather had cooperated, and it was a very dry, sunny February day.  If we'd had bad weather, then we were going to give them a big card with the blueprint inside, telling them that it would be built as soon as the weather improved.)

While they were doing that I was in charge of the house and the food.  My niece Sheila and friend Angie and I cleaned the entire house and kept sandwiches, cake and drinks ready for the workers, and then in the late afternoon, two of my sisters and I fixed a quck dinner, set the dining table and brought out a huge anniversary cake that another friend had made for us.

Mom and Dad were, needless to say, completely surprised.  Mom told me later that she half expected that we were planning to surprise them with some people over for dinner and cake, because my aunt and uncle kept them out later than they were expecting, but that the building was a total surprise.

That was a very nice evening, and I remember Mom and Dad actually walzing that night while my uncles and brother played guitars and fiddle.

Even though I can never remember them making a big deal out of their anniversary themselves, I do remember that Mom always made a special dinner for Daddy on that day, and Dad always brought Mom a huge, satiny, heart-shaped box of her favorite chocolates every year.  (Of which there was always an abundant supply, since Valentine's Day was just around the corner!)

February 1, 1947

I meant to post this yesterday, but got busy and forgot.

If my Dad were still alive, he and my Mom would have celebratred their 60th wedding anniversary on February 1.  They were able to celebrate their 55th anniversary before he died.

My parents, taken a few months after they were married.  They had been dating for a while, and when my Father came back from WWII, they decided on the spur of the moment to marry.  They grabbed the first two people they saw off of Main Street to act as witnesses, and those two people happened to be two of my Mother's cousins!

First Day Of The Month

Once again, it the first day of a new month, which means I have to ask -- Have you scheduled your yearly mammogram yet?  Do it today!

Please don't put it off.  I heard an alarming report on a medical news program last week, that although cancer rates are declining in toto, fewer women are getting regular mammogram screenings. The two main reasons sited were these: women's fear of the discomfort, and fear of something being found.

It really doesn't hurt. There's a little pulling, a little stretching, but I was actually pleasantly surprised when I had my first one because it was nowhere near as unpleasant as I'd been led to believe.

Fear of something being found?  Please, please, let them find it NOW and not later.  My mother, in her sixties, had a small, pea-sized lump found, discovered it was malignant, had the breast and some lymph nodes removed, and is still hale and hearty at the age of 83.  The sooner something is discovered, the better the chances of a good prognosis.

Update on my friend, Julie: she continues to do very well.  She has had three rounds of chemo-therapy now, has not suffered with too much in the way of side effects, and she is still very upbeat.

Tags: Mammograms,

Five Minutes For Climate Change

From Guido ~~

The “Alliance pour la Planète” (a national grouping of environmental associations) appeals to all citizens to give the planet 5 minutes respite : everybody to extinguish all their lights and illuminations and turn off equipment on stand-by on the 1st February 2007 from 19h55 until 20h00.

The purpose is not just to save electricity for 5 minutes that day, but to draw the attention of citizens, the media and the authorities to the waste of energy and the need to initiate action! 5 minutes respite for the planet: that’s not long, it costs nothing and will show our politicians that climate change is something which should figure prominently in political debates.

Why the 1st February? Because that is the day on which the latest report of the United Nations Panel of Experts is to be released in Paris. Although this event is scheduled to take place in France, we should not miss this opportunity of drawing attention to the global climatic situation.

If we all participate our actions will have great public and political resonance, at an important moment in our political life.!

Please make this appeal as widely known as possible in your own circles and networks ! please also publish it on your websites and in your newsletters.

Tags: Alliance Por La Planet, Environment, Social Action

We've Been Blessed With A Little Snow

  Thanks D for the lovely graphic!

The kids actually had a two-hour delay this morning.  There really isn't much snow on the ground, just barely an inch, but it started last night and made the roads a little icy and slick this morning early.

Thomas put some salt down on our drive and walks and on the drive, steps and walk of our elderly friend Sharon, across the street.  It's still snowing a little right now (see the snow in my weatherpixie's background?), and we're expecting more this evening, so I won't be surprised if school is late again tomorrow.