I Knew Him When . . .

I wrote about my nephew Jacob last year when he was a member of the film crew shooting Survivor China.  Well, I got an email from my sister Maxine today.  She had been talking to our sister Dennice (Jacob's mom) and checked out the web site for the company Jacob works for. 

Her email:

Hi, PJ, Lori, and Dee,

Maybe you have already checked out the company Jacob works for, but I took a look at it as I was talking with Dee this morning and Jacob is even listed with pictures and all.  I thought it was cool.  Dee said he is off to Africa soon as the youngest sound supervisor in the US.  'And we knew him when...'  Well, I'll close for now.  Love you all and hope that all is well. 

Love, Midge.

 

Cool, huh.  Here's the link to the web site of Adrenaline Films if you're interested.   He has worked on several TV shows and at least one movie.  I wonder what he's going to be working on in Africa.  Guess I'll have to give Dee a call.

If you go to the site, at the bottom of the home page you will see the words "Staff/Production Team".  Three people are viewable at any one time, and by clicking on the left or right arrows you can see more of the team members.  Holding your cursor over the person will show his name.  Jacob is the 11th one, I think.  If you click on his picture it will show more pics of him. 

Jacob is 23 and is my sister Dennice's youngest child.  Now that he's getting a name in the business I can see I'm going to have to start writing some childhood stories about him -- just to keep him humble, you know. 

What always impressed me about Jacob is that he knew at a very young age that he wanted to be a sound engineer.  He started working and saving and investing in sound equipment while he was in high school and hired himself out to film weddings, school plays, community events, etc.  He researched to find the media arts school he wanted to attend, chose Full Sail University in Florida,  visited them while he was a sophomore or junior in high school, and impressed them so much that they wanted him right then!

So yes, we are rather proud that we knew him when . . . .

Tags: Full Sail University, Adrenaline Films, Jacob Smith

Slow News Day

We're back to hot and steamy here in Southern Indiana.  That's okay, because I really don't want fall to get here too quickly.  I like cool weather, but I dread gloomy days.

We had some surprise company in over the weekend, our friends Tommy and Celestine from Nashville.  Tommy's sister is married to one of Thomas' brothers, so although he isn't family, it seems as if he is.  He and Thomas grew up together.  It was just a flying visit for them, and there were other family and friends in the area for them to visit, so we didn't spend a lot of time together, but it was good to see them.

On Saturday I told Eler Beth to choose where she'd like to have lunch, and she chose Steak N Shake.  I like a nice Steakburger now and then, but I absolutely hate eating inside at a Steak N Shake, because it takes forever to get your order. 

We were seated quickly, but an inordinate amount of time passed before our server took our drink order -- sweet tea for me and root beer for Eler Beth.  We were ready to order by the time our drinks came.  We both had cheeseburgers, I had onion rings, Eler Beth had cheddar cheese fries, and she had vegetable beef soup.  I told our server that we'd be ordering dessert later.  My tea, when it came, was so-so, but Eler Beth's root beer was horrible.  It was SO syrupy, just super-super sweet.

The soup came quickly, and it was very good.  I forgot to order Eler Beth another drink when the server brought the soup, but I didn't think it would be forever before she came back by our table.  It was.  Eler Beth had to sip on my tea while she ate her soup.  Believe me, I tasted her root beer, and it was undrinkable.  I should have grabbed one of the other servers -- you know, there were LOTS of servers in there, and it seemed to me that each one had only a few tables inhis or her section, but we barely saw our server at all -- or gone looking for our server, but I really do try not to be a bothersome guest.

Finally our food came, and I asked the server to go ahead and bring Eler Beth's vanilla shake in a to-go cup because she wanted it now.  I told her about the syrupy root beer, but she didn't even take the glass away with her.  Our food was very good, and there was plenty of it.  Our server was very pleasant, she just wasn't available.  We waited, and waited, and waited for her to bring that shake.

While waiting for our food, and while waiting for the shake, we had plenty of time to people watch and to observe other tables.  One of the things we observed was that THREE other groups of people who had come in after us were served their food before us.  One of them was in our server's section.  She did offer an explanation that the wait was because of the onion rings.  I guess there had been a run on onion rings?  If only I'd known.

One of the other things we observed was that there were a lot of old people there.  I observed it, anyway.  There were plenty of families and middle-aged people, like me (!!), but there were many, many older people.  So, of course, I had to say to Eler Beth, "There are a lot of octogenarians here today!"

"A lot of WHAT?"

"Octogenarians.  It means someone in his 80s, but I'm using it as a general term here to mean very old people." 

And we looked around at the tables to our right.  Three tables of couples, and three tables of ladies, all of them in their seventies or eighties.  Then on the other side of the room were two other tables of older people. 

The two ladies closest to us were sisters, and I heard one of them say it was her birthday -- she was 89.  One of the gentlemen got up and walked over to visit with one of the other gentlemen, and he stood there and carried on a conversation until his wife called him back to their table because his ice cream was melting.   My favorite was the couple who shared a strawberry milk shake, taking turns dipping their long spoons in for a bite.

My girl's milk shake finally came, just as we were finishing our food.  Then a few minutes later our server came to ask if we needed anything else and left our check.  That was the first time she'd come by just to see how we were getting along, although I'd noticed the other servers taking very good care of their customers.  I didn't bother ordering any dessert for myself.  I did want to get home before dinner time.

Did I leave a tip?  Yes.  Was it a good one?  Well, it was better probably than I should have left, but not as good as I would have left.  I respect wait staff, and perhaps she was feeling bad or having a very bad day.  But it just reinforced my belief that Steak N Shake is not a place I care to dine in very often.  Their drive-thru has always been fast, though.

Thomas has always maintained that poor service from regular employees means poor management.  And sure enough, when we paid our bill at the counter, the gentleman cashier wasn't pleasant at all.  He never smiled, never said thank you, never spoke to ME at all.  He took my bill, turned to say something to another employee in a very surly voice, finally rang me up, answered a question from another employee, got out my change and then handed it over the counter to me without even glancing at me.  I took note of his name and of the word "MANAGER" on his tag.

Yes, it's a slow news day here at Dusty Pages, when all I can write about is a trip to Steak N Shake!

Maybe I'll come up with something better later today.  Hope everyone had a good weekend and has a wonderful week to come.

 

10 more songs you will find on my iPod:

1)  Wild Wood Flower -- The Carter Family (Mother Maybelle and The Carter Family)

2)  Gravity -- Sarah Bareilles (contemporary)

3)  Things We Said Today -- The Beatles

4)  I've Just Seen A Face -- The Beatles

5)  Poor Jenny -- The Everly Brothers

6)  When The Lights Go Down on Broadway -- Journey (80s)

7)  Hair (From the musical, 70s)

8)  What Condition My Condition Was In -- Kenny Rogers and The First Edition (70s or 80s?)

9)  The Old Lamplighter -- The Browns (60s or 70s?)

10) Know Me, Knowing You -- ABBA (70s)

See anything you like there?

The Princess With The Tackle Belt, Who Means The World To Me

I'm getting ready to go to bed, but I was lying here with my day replaying in my head and decided I needed to get some things down here.

As I mentioned before, I spent some time helping Eler Beth go through some things from her room and closet, sorting and culling.  First of all I want to paint a picture of my complex little lady.  At one point I looked up from what I was doing and burst out laughing.  There stood Eler Beth, in purple shirt and white shorts, with her hair pulled back in a pony tail, wearing a "dress up" jeweled tiara on her head, fastening a big, black tackle "belt" around her waist (for use when fishing, you know).  She wouldn't let me run to get the camera!!

"Are you keeping that tiara?"  I asked.

"Of course!"  She answered.  "You know, Mom, just because I'm older doesn't mean I don't want to keep things like this.  Maybe I'll host a tea party for some of the little girls I know, and they can dress up.  Or maybe someday when I babysit I'll have this for the little girl to play with."

Makes sense to me.

That was her same argument for keeping all the coloring books and little-kid story books.  Someday when she babysits, they'll come in handy.  She's got me there.

We need a bigger house, or at least she needs a bigger room!  How in the world are we going to reconcile all her little girl things with a fox-themed room?  Oh well.  We'll do it somehow.  The real problem is where will we put everything she's determined to keep?

And that's what I really wanted to write about.  A couple months ago I mentioned the topic of childhood hoarding.  Well, I have her permission to write about this, but I'll try to be brief about it and not go into too much detail.  My readers probably know that I have OCD and anxiety attacks, and you probably know that Eler Beth has had problems with dealing with grief and she has anxiety attacks.  Well, she has exhibited some OCD signs most of her life, but they have always been manageable.

Well, back in June she had a little meltdown.  We don't know what brought it on, but we had taken a little weekend mini-vacation, and when time came for us to leave our hotel, she didn't want to leave and she didn't want to leave anything behind because she was afraid she'd forget what everything looked like, and she got panicky just thinking about how she'd feel.  It was much more involved than that, but that's the best I can do explaining it right now.  She didn't want to leave ANYTHING behind, including anything that had been thrown away. 

When we got home it got worse, and just let me tell you that there are ALL KINDS of hoarding problems, not just keeping "things".  For example, at first she had to keep something from each meal.  Then it was a piece of each thing on her plate.  Then it was a piece of each BITE she took.  She couldn't concentrate on anything.  While telling me that she'd be all right and that she'd make herself stop (she didn't want to go to the doctor) her eyes were focusing on a piece of lint on my shirt, and she was picking it off and putting it "away" in a zipper compartment of her purse.  And she finally admitted to me that a lot of what she was going through had been going on for months, but she'd been able to control it to a certain extent and hide it from me.

Her doctor, when I called her, got involved immediately and sent her to someone who could help.  She is on medication now, and her OCD is much better, and her hoarding is MUCH, MUCH better.  She had a few sessions with a therapist, and now that has ended because she doesn't need that anymore.  For about a week we didn't have our laughing, happy girl here; we had a miserable, panic-stricken young lady who was terrified because she couldn't control her impulses.  But within 10 days she was back, and now we have an occasional bad day, but for the most part the OCD is manageable and she is coping with the "hoarding" tendencies.

Re-doing her room is her idea.  And in order to do that she has to get rid of some things.  That has always been a bit of a problem, and one I can really relate to, but in the past it wasn't a traumatic event.  Now it is.  So we've been taking it slowly, and I've been trying to be especially considerate of her feelings about certain belongings.  We're making compromises, both of us.  The "treasures" in her "treasure drawer" are being moved out and into a pretty, decorative hatbox.  Old school papers are being culled for only the best ones and they'll go in a pretty scrapbook.  And so on.

Yes, I've had some uptight days and nights around here, but I just wasn't ready to write about it.  But we do talk about it.  Eler Beth is very open about it and will talk about it to anyone who seems interested.  She noticed some repetitive actions in one of her cousins and told that cousin's parents that they needed to check it out because she thought her cousin might have OCD and need some help.  I've never been secretive about taking medication for anxiety and I've talked about my OCD, so it isn't taboo to her, and I'm glad about that.

Well, that's all I'm going to say about this.  I really do NEED TO GET TO BED!!!  Now I think I can.

 

On a lighter note, here are 10 more of my iPod tunes:

1)  Suddenly I See -- K. T. Tunstall  (contemporary)

2)  Kathy's Song -- Simon and Garfunkel

3)  Superman (It's Not Easy) -- Five For Fighting  (contemporary)

4)  The Scientist -- Coldplay  (contemporary)

5)  Ticket to Ride -- The Beatles

6)  Take A Chance On Me -- ABBA

7)  All I Have To Do Is Dream -- The Everly Brothers

8)  Can't Buy Me Love -- The Beatles

9)  Don't Dream It's Over -- Crowded House (80s -- I think!)

10) Life in a Northern Town -- Dream Academy (also 80s)

Tags: OCD, Childhood hoarding, Anxiety

My Grandmother as a Young Girl

Thought I would share a photo my mother gave me recently.  The girl standing in the middle in the back is my grandmother, Iva Myrtle, known to her friends and family as Myrtle or Myrt.  She was my Mom's mother, and I never got to meet her, but I know I take after her in many ways -- loving to read, loving to write, keeping letters and newspaper clippings, bubble gum wrappers from dates, making up stories for the kids, and a host of other things.

Seated in the center are Samuel Lewis Hook and his wife Eler Elijah Blisset Hook, for whom my Mother was named.  In the back left is Timmy Lee Hook (known to us as Uncle Tim), my Mamaw (Myrtle Roberts to be), and Lena Luney Florence (known to us as Aunt Florence -- Aunt Florence married a Dowell, but as far as we know it was a different line of Dowells, no relation to my Dad). The little boy in the center is Shelton Coleman (known as Uncle Shel), and the smallest boy, on the left in front, is Raymond Estil (Uncle Estil).

I can remember Uncle Tim and I remember going to visit him and his wife, Aunt Effie in Hardinsburg.  The house they lived in was (and still is) next to the library, and I remember their porch was covered in red tile.  I never knew the others, but I remember Uncle Estil's wife, my Aunt Annie Mae.  It was her house that was destroyed in the April 3, 1974 tornado that I wrote about in April.

I think my grandmother was around 12 or 13 here, although she could have been as old as 14.  Mom says in a lot of her pictures she looked older than she was.  She was a pretty little thing, wasn't she?  In most pictures of my Great-Grandfather Hook he has white hair and a mass of white whiskers, but in this photo he is quite the handsome devil, isn't he?  My mother was named after this grandmother, Eler, and her other grandmother, Frances Roberts.  My Eler Beth is named after both of her grandmothers too.  I hope it's a tradition that will continue.

Tags: Samuel Lewis Hook, Eler Elijah Blisset Hook, Tim Hook, Myrtle Hook Roberts, Florence Hook Dowell, Shel Hook, Estil Hook

"Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally"

That phrase has been going through my head since yesterday.  During math Eler Beth needed to be reminded of the "order of operations", and this is a mnemonic phrase we learned to help us remember.  (parentheses {or brackets}, exponent, multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction).  But it's a strange little ditty to have playing in your mind all day long.

It finally rained here -- a little bit Wednesday, a bit more on Thursday, and all day today, albeit mostly drizzling.  It has been a good day to goof off, and that's what I've been doing.  I've caught up pretty well with journals today.  I read some.  I ran some errands.  I helped Eler Beth cull some more unnecessary articles from her room this afternoon.  I like cleaning on a rainy day.  Right now I'm having a cup of coffee and an oatmeal raison cookie.

While I was cleaning today I was listening to my iPod.  Sometimes I like to listen to specific artists or genres of music, but sometimes I put it on shuffle and listen to whatever comes up, which can make for a strange line up.  That's what I did today, and it occurred to me once again what a mixed-up collection of songs I have on it.  So I thought I would share 10 with you today.  (I'll share another ten another time).  These are the last 10 songs I listened to today:

 1)  A Long December -- Counting Crows (contemporary)

 2) Take it on the Run -- REO Speedwagon

 3) The Best of Times  -- Styxx

 4)  Hands -- The Raconteurs  (I LOVE this song!!  Thank you, Moongirl9, for introducing me to it!)

 5)  I'm Happy Just to Dance With You -- The Beatles

 6)  What A Lucky Man He Was -- Emerson, Lake & Palmer (70s)

 7)  Everlasting Friend -- Blue October (contemporary)

 8)  Eight Days A Week -- The Beatles

 9)  Hate Me -- Blue October (contemporary)

10)  Sky High -- Jigsaw (70s)

Do any of those ring a bell?

 

Today's Salute goes to:

        Seattle, Washington -- population 594,210  ~~

                                     1,135 miles from Jeffersonville.

                                           Sa-LUTE!

Tags: Seattle Washington, order of operations

A Wrap-up of My Weekend

I think I have all my Monday chores done now, the ones that didn't get done yesterday.  It was nice having Thomas off work over the weekend, and the weather was simply beautiful, although a bit humid yesterday.

Saturday morning Thomas and I got out early and checked out some yard sales.  I found a white chenille spread for $3.00.  It is large, and I couldn't find a single thing wrong with it.  I can remember my mother having a white chenille bedspread for many years, and this one is very much like it.  It has a perfumy smell that I don't like, though, so I need to have it cleaned. 

I remember a lady I worked with once talking about how she could remember saving her money for a chenille bedspread from Sears when she was a young married woman.  It was probably only about $30 or so, but that was a lot for her and her husband back then.  Her point was that if you wanted something nice back then you scrimped and saved for it.  Nowadays if you don't have the cash for it you buy it with a credit card or your store card, at least most people do.  And I can remember my mother saving for "nice" things like that.  She had a little jar she kept in her bedroom where she would put a bit of change now and then, change that would have been left over from the household money, since she didn't work outside the home.  Do people still save like that for a special purchase?  I have a sad feeling that nowadays if you manage to save a bit of change and let it build up, you probably end up having to cash it in to pay for gas for the car!

I can also remember S & H Green Stamps.  I used to LOVE looking through the Green Stamp catalog.  Mom would save up her stamps for something she wanted for the house that she probably wouldn't have even thought of purchasing otherwise, and she'd usually have some left over for us kids to get something, too. 

Well, anyway, I'm pleased with my chenille bedspread purchase on Saturday.  I don't know what the pattern is called, but it's a pretty one.

Saturday afternoon we went to Oxmoor Mall in Louisville.  I really do like that mall -- it's much larger than ours and very attractively laid out.  I did a bit of people watching, which was fun, and spent more time and money than I should have in Archivers.

Sunday night Eler Beth made a fire in the firepit and roasted some hot dogs.  She loves to do that.

Yesterday I actually went to the pond with Thomas and Eler Beth while they were fishing.  I didn't stay as long as they did because the heat and sun started bothering me, but it was nice for a while.  They caught catfish and bluegill and another eating-sized snapping turtle, about the size of the first one she caught.  Eler Beth has been planning on putting pictures in her journal of them letting Bowser go, but she hasn't done it yet, so maybe I'll sneak some in here.

I hope everyone had a really good weekend, and that no one had any problems from Gustav.  Have a great week!

 

Today's Salute goes to:

  Plover, Wisconsin,   466 miles from Jeffersonville ~~

                                    Sa-LUTE!

Tags: chenille, Plover Wisconsin

Old Lady Helms

I'm slowly trying to get back to the regular routine this morning, but it isn't easy.

We haven't had any real rain here in a couple of weeks now, and my poor flowers and plants are showing it.  I haven't been good about watering them every day like I should.  My neighbor across the street, Sharon, the older retired lady, gets out and waters hers just about every morning.  And I have to confess something bad here -- sometimes I don't water my flowers early in the day because I'm trying to avoid her.  Isn't that terrible?

She's a sweet lady, and I've written about her before.  We have helped her out with things at her house, plumbing emergencies and such, picking up her medicine or groceries for her, things like that.  And I enjoy our conversations sometimes, standing by the curb getting our mail,  calling to one another across the street, or sitting in one yard or the other, while Eler Beth rides her bike with her friends.  Eler Beth even makes a point to stop by and visit with her when she's out in her yard, or if she hasn't felt well Eler Beth will be the first to notice that she hasn't been seen outside for a few days, and we'll check on her.

But, lord, the woman can talk!  One day last week, at 6 a.m. I was watering in my front yard, and she came over and stood talking for over an hour.  Thomas says I'm just too nice and I need to break in and tell her I have to be getting back to my work, but I know the lady is lonely, and I just don't have the heart to do that.

This morning, since it's a bit overcast and I'm letting Eler Beth sleep in I went out around 8:30 to water everything.  I had on my Ipod and was happily singing along to The Beatles (not loudly, though) when all of a sudden I realized Sharon was practically at my elbow.  She doesn't hear well, and I think she'd been talking to me all the way up my drive because she was in the middle of a sentence when I realized she was there.  I think she was oblivious to the ear buds and the cord attached to the device at my waist the whole time we were talking.

Ranulf had been "helping" me water.  He's a big help that way.  He runs in and out of the shower, chases the spray, battles with the hose, runs up a tree and then jumps down onto the water spray from above -- taking it by surprise, don't you know.  She'd been watching him, so we had to discuss his play for a while.  She only stood talking about 15 minutes or so this time.  She must not be feeling well.  I guess Eler Beth and I will drop over later this afternoon to visit for a few minutes so I can see if she's doing okay.  She's been having trouble with her blood sugar lately.

So although I am conscious of feeling a bit irked when she came over and interrupted my down-time, I know realistically that I'm not really such a curmudgeon that I can't begrudge a few minutes to a neighbor.

I believe there are two very key elements to being a happy person and having a happy family that are often not regarded as such, and they are: 1) being self-aware as regards your own tendencies and needs, and 2) knowing your spouse's/partner's/children's tendencies and needs.  Well I know very well that I have hermit tendencies, and I sometimes have to MAKE myself get out socially.  Thomas knows this too, but he also knows that I actually do NEED alone time in order for my brain to "process" things correctly, and he sees that I get it when it's needed.  Andrew is very much like me in that way, although at his age right now those tendencies take a backseat to the need to be out and about with his friends.  Eler Beth is more like Thomas in that she needs to be "doing" all the time, and likes to entertain and be entertained.  I'm very happy and comfortable in my own brain and would live there most of the time if I were allowed to, which wouldn't be a good thing.

I know (or believe I know) some of what makes me tick in this area:  I was very, very painfully bashful as a young child;  I can remember being surprised when someone outside my family gave me a compliment, because I just didn't see myself as anything special at all;  Large families are good for a lot of things, but not for satisfying the need for some alone-time -- having the house to oneself for a day was pure heaven! --; I still express surprise when I meet someone new and they seem to actually want to spend time with me (and Thomas still asks "Why does that surprise you so much?"  And I really don't know.);  I have hosted social events and know how to lead in a social setting, but I still get all tied up in knots thinking about having to engage in small-talk with a stranger or acquaintance; I've given speeches and directed business meetings and been told afterward that I have a nice, conversational way about me, but the whole time I was sweating and feeling panicky on the inside;  as a Senior in high school I argued for a certain topic being written about in the newspaper of which I was the editor, and was wholly surprised when the newspaper advisor told me that I'd been responsible for changing the principal's mind about it because of my "cool, calculated, and well-reasoned argument" (all I could remember was being very nervous and making a very conscious effort at speaking carefully and clearly to him).

I've felt like I am outside myself watching on as a third party when I'm in certain situations.  I watch myself and censor myself or push myself along, and then if the reaction is good I look at myself with surprise and wonder!  Some people grew up with adults and others around them telling them they weren't worthy or good enough, and I didn't really have that experience.  Yet I grew up being surprised if someone told me I was good enough.  Psychology is a crazy thing, isn't it?  How can one ever really know what makes one tick?  We guess, and we find some clues in our past, and still there are unexplained feelings, reactions, and tendencies.  My mother says I was very sensitive as a child, that I got my feelings hurt easily, and that I was very perceptive about other people.  So maybe there were some sensitive issues that I don't even remember that had some effect on me and how I saw myself?  Perhaps heredity plays a big role?  I've heard both my parents say things that leads me to believe that each of them was a bit like me in this regard.

Oh well.  I have no idea where all of this came from.  I started out just meaning to write aboutwatering my flowers!   I do plan on fighting my anchoritic tendencies except when it's the proper time to indulge them.  I don't think Thomas or the kids will let me completely turn into an "Old Lady Helms".  This has been a strange, rambling entry, but I thank you for coming along.