Love...

Just wanted to share a couple of things (if you're my facebook friend you've already seen them).

My favorite wedding picture.

Our song.
We had been dating a while and had fallen in love (or did we love each other from the start?). We were on a double date, riding home in the back seat and talking quietly, just the two of us. We decided that we need a song. "What song should be ours?" And this started playing on the radio. We liked the lyrics and it became our song.

So ... Happy 27th Anniversary, Jim. I love you more than life itself.

Monday Musings

Thirty years ago tonight (a Friday in 1982), I was sitting on my friend Renee's couch with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of wine in the other waiting for her boyfriend Fritz's friend to arrive. A blind date. She had been trying to set us up for a few months and finally, after an especially difficult time in my life, I agreed. I needed some fun. I told her to make sure he knew that I wasn't interested in a relationship, just to go out and have fun. And we did. We went out for fish and chips (a staple for Jim as I would find out) and went with friends to see a band and have a couple of drinks and dance and just have a good time.

And while we were slow dancing during a fast song, we shared our first kiss.

And my life was forever changed.

December 1982

July 2012

His kisses still wow me.

Blessings...

The F-word

The dreaded F-word.

My daughter, Jamie, was an only child until she was 8 1/2 years old, thereby missing all of the sister-sister or brother-sister interaction that occurs only in closer age siblings.

She did get to experience some lovely sister-brother interaction later on, especially while babysitting. But that's another story for another time.

I'm not sure how old Jamie was, but we were still living at our last house (over 20 years ago) where Jamie was more apt to have playmates whose homes she could walk to safely down our dirt road. And so, on this particular day, she went down the road to play with two sisters, Melissa and Marcie. In age, I believe Jamie falls right between the two girls.

When Jamie returned home, she had something on her mind:
"Momma, Marcie called Melissa a Fartface. Is that the F-word?"

Well, I did everything I could not to laugh at what was quite a serious question. I must not have been ready to explain the f-word to my young daughter. And, besides, she was quite happy with my response:

"Yes, it is and I never want to hear you say it either!"

You know what? I can honestly say that I've never heard my daughter call anyone a Fartface!"

Enjoy your Friday!

Poetry on Wednesday

Okay. This isn't poetry. But it's on my mind.

My mom loved to sing. That's one of my fondest memories of her. The song that we all most associate with her is "You Are My Sunshine". She sang that to each and every grandchild. And most of the greats too.

But there's another song that I remember and I wonder if Jamie will remember too. Jamie and I lived for three years with my parents and sometimes, on a lazy day, she would sing this to Jamie...


Now it never occurred to me to look for it. Maybe I thought she made it up, I don't know. But today I was remembering and I googled and found it. It was recorded in 1933, the year my mom was born.

Memories...

My Boy Scout

I once vowed (to myself) to try really hard not to post twice on one day ... but here we are. I have things to do, a house half dusted and bookwork to finish, but I find myself thinking about my son and my country and I had to share a little bit more.

In September 2001, my son was 12 and was an active Boy Scout, had been on his first high adventure, had served a week as a Mackinac Island Honor Scout, and had been to the National Boy Scout Jamboree all during the summer months that year.

BOY SCOUT OATH:
On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

Jon took the Boy Scout Oath, Law, Motto, and Slogan very seriously, which is why it was so important to fly that American flag during the weeks after September 11. And it's still why he notices our flag when he drives by our house on his way home from work.

And it was his group of scouts whose idea it was to make sure that there was a flag raised and lowered during campouts out in our woods by the lodge and camp where Boy and Cub Scouts still camp today.

Jon went on to continue to be active in scouts and became an Eagle Scout. Once an Eagle, always an Eagle.

In his senior year of high school, Jon very seriously considered joining the United States Army. The thought scared me beyond belief. As fate would have it, Jon's life took a different path, but he is no less loyal to what his country stands for. And for that, I am proud.

One last thing. Jon, who loves that hard, head-banging rock that I just can't listen to, for a short time loved country music (though he will barely admit it now!).

And this is what started it:

We Must Not Forget

This video was shared this morning and I started watching it. And I started crying. I thought about stopping the video because it was just too painful; the memories of that day just became too raw. But I kept watching because ... we can't forget. We must not forget. It shouldn't become just a dim memory to us. Watching this should bring back all of the pain we felt that day as we realized what was happening.

So skip watching the video if you must. If you're anything like me, it will make you cry.




My son texted me last night to remind me to put our flag at half-staff for today. You know, sometimes you don't realize just what's on a person's mind. We know that Jon is preoccupied with girlfriend, work, friends, house, socializing, but we forget that being a proud American and showing that respect has always been important to him. On September 11, 2001 when he came home from school and found out the full extent of what had happened, he insisted on one thing ... We already had our American flag flying proud. He thought everyone needed to be flying their flag. What he decided that we had to do was to go buy another American flag and he and his dad went to my mother's place and mounted it by her door. She didn't have a flag, he knew it, and he thought that she must fly one.

Is your American flag flying proudly?

Normal. What's that?

It's been a busy, hectic last few weeks, but Jamie is all moved in to her condo as of two weekends ago. There's still work to be done and for sure the place will feel more like home for her when Jim's tools are all moved out!

Of course, all of this came just as the mad rush of meetings, trainings, and classroom setting up came for Jamie and school starting today. I told her that she can rest over Christmas break. :) I was there waiting for her phone to be set up last Monday while she was at a training and unpacked, washing and put away some of her kitchen stuff. I had to be there again Thursday morning waiting for her Dish to be installed so did a little more then. We've been back and forth for the past two weeks so I haven't had a chance to miss her! I think I'm safe in saying that she loves it there...

She can take Sosha for this walk every day!

I am looking forward to things settling down so that Jim and I can find some normalcy. Last Saturday, Jim went off on a service call and a stop at Home Depot. He had been planning to work at Jamie's afterwards, but decided that he was plumb worn out. He called and said that he wanted to go antiquing. And I just had to give him what he wanted! :)

Wanna see what I got? 

Souvenirs and Aldi's

Jim doesn't like souvenirs. I've gotten him cutsey little things, or shirts, or hats, or tin signs when we go to Frankenmuth, but they don't really thrill him. He'd rather I not spend the money on him.

Unless it's food. So, I brought him black liquorice, cinnamon bread, and an eclair (and one for me!). Those things he likes.

I talked to him when we were getting close to home yesterday and he was at Lowe's picking some things up for Jamie's home fix-up. He said he had to stop at Aldi's and get some of the pre-cooked sausage patties that he likes.

He came home with:

• eight cans of frozen orange juice concentrate. I just bought 6 on Monday, but he didn't know. We do go through a lot of orange juice. The man doesn't ask for much and he likes his orange juice!
• frozen hash browns 
• donuts
• fudge stripe cookies (which he claims are for me)
• potato chips
• frozen eclairs (even though I told him I was bringing him a really good one from the Bavarian Inn)
• a lemon meringue pie
• and...sausage patties

This man should not be allowed in Aldi's by himself!

Poetry on Wednesday

I'm tired. But I'm trying to keep up here and I like to find a poem for Wednesdays. It is Wednesday, right? For a little while longer anyhow. I found nothing ahead of time and nothing strikes me right now. So, I'll just say:

Our Little Getaway

We had a great time;
Jamie and I.
Shopping and eating;

but not too much.
We laughed a lot;

and remembered the fun

that we had with my mom

on these trips when she could come.

My son texted me last night;

with a wonderful idea.

He and his lovely girlfriend

would meet us for lunch today.

They were traveling through the area

on their way home from 

a weekend away.

The perfect way

to end a wonderful

time away!

                                                                                            ~Laura Welser

Yes, I realize that is not a poem and I made it up as I went along. But I centered it and italicized it so it kind of looks like a poem. I probably shouldn't have signed my name to it though.

I'll do better next week!

Duker-day...and the horrible week

Duke here.

As some of you may know, my mom and sister went away for a whole week to something called LauraPalooza. Well, actually it was two weeks, but I got to go to where she was for the second week. That was a good week and I'll talk about that next week.

But that first week? It was horrible.

I knew something was up when I saw her packing the suitcases. And I know from experience that the suitcases mean that I'm not going. I know that when I'm going on the trip, she packs in the huge thing called a dufflebag . I don't know why. I just know that suitcases means I'm staying home.

And Sosha shared in my misery.

And she packed both her suitcases and then she packed some extra bags. I knew that this was not good.

My mom wants you to know that behind me is the door to the shop. That's why it's so dirty.

Very early that Monday morning, Mom and Jamie got into Jamie's car...and they were gone. And it was very quiet here. And things just weren't the same. On top of all that, Dad was very busy and Sosha and I were left home alone for very long days. It was a bad week. Every night Dad talked to Mom and that made me happy. I never got to talk to her, but just knowing that Dad was talking to her made things a little better.

Even if I banged on the front window to be let in, no one was in the house to let me in.

The house was quiet. Not that we got to spend much time in it since we were outside all day. No little breaks in the house like Mom gives us when she's there. No following Mom to the chicken coop and begging for the treats she gives the chickens. Just Dad. And he was always in a hurry. Especially for the the last couple of days.

Old picture (obviously it didn't snow while they were gone).
And no one was here to take pictures.

What last couple of days, you ask? The last couple of days before he loaded up the car, opened the door and told us to hop in, and we left! Then the very good week began! And I'll talk about that next Duker-day.

This is me the last time I took that wonderful trip!

The Joy of Painting...

For some reason, we were all Bob Ross fans in this house. I think it's because he had a way of convincing us that even we (who could only draw stick people) could create works of art.

My son and father-in-law got into a Bob Ross kick when Jon was just a little guy. After my father-in-law passed away, Jim found a "painting" that Jon and Pa created together. We matted and framed it and it now hangs in Jon's living room.

I love these PBS remix videos. Enjoy Bob Ross -



Have an artsy sort of day!

Ready or not...

I'm coming back. I think.

I've been gone about two months, right? I didn't plan it that way. It just happened.

On our way to LauraPalooza 2010

Sometimes I feel as if I have to be entertaining or informative, but what I had to remember is that I started this blog as a journal of sorts. So, while I'm hoping that my day-to-day life is fun to read or teaches a valuable lesson :), I can't let the pressure to please get to me. Plus, this dang Blogger has been giving me fits. It either tells me that I'm following every blog that I ever followed (even those I long ago stopped following) or none at all. Therefore, I have missed some of your posts. And I miss you.

Here's a little bit of what's been going on:

My daughter and I are leaving for Mankato, Minnesota and LauraPalooza on Monday!  While we had planned to go to De Smet, South Dakota and Walnut Grove, Minnesota (two Laura homesites) and I am terribly sad that we're not, I made the difficult decision to cut those out of the trip. It was the right decision, but that doesn't make it easier. We are stopping in Pepin, Wisconsin on the way home (Laura's birthplace) while heading to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (one of my favorite drives). A few days at Jim's family cabin in northern Michigan will be a relaxing way to finish off our trip. Jim is hoping to meet us up there with Duke and Sosha and I'm really hoping that it happens.

Ice Cream Social - LauraPalooza 2010
Looking forward to seeing friends that I don't otherwise get to see
and missing friends who won't be there...

Although nowhere near where it used to be or should be, business has kept us busy lately. It seems to come in bursts, but no complaints here!

Did you know that by around fall Jim and I will once again be emptynesters? No, of course you didn't! Jamie bought a condo! Her first home. And we are so very excited for her. It's a good time to buy and luckily for her, her dad doesn't mind a little home improvement since the place looks like it stepped right out of the 70s. Jamie's got some great plans though, and the place will be so cute when it's done.

So...what else? It's been incredibly hot here in Michigan, as I'm sure it has been in many other parts of the U.S. It usually doesn't bother me unless there are several days in a row of hotness. And there have been. We're in for a slight cool down though. I'll take 80s.

Jim bought me a little laptop! And I'm taking it on our trip. I might even check in here so look for me.

Be safe, stay cool (if you're in a hot spot), and I'm excited to be back!

Poetry on Wednesday

Where The Wild Things Are
by Maurice Sendak




 I read this book to my son every night for many months way back when, twenty years ago. He loved it.

And now, said Max. "Let the wild rumpus start."

He especially loved when the wild rumpus started and I would often make different noises as I turned those pages where the rumpusing took place. For some reason, Jon's favorite seemed to be when I simply said (in a deep un-momma-like voice), "RUMPUS! RUMPUS! RUMPUS!"

But I think his favorite part of the book was:

And into the night of his very own room, he found his supper waiting for him. And it was still hot.

Because Jon loved home and he loved things to be cozy. And what would be cozier than coming back from a wild rumpus and finding a nice warm meal in your very own room?

April...the month that was

Or...where did April go?

Or...where did the last 23 years go?
My children in March of 1989.
I know that I've shared this before,
but it's my blog so I'm sharing it again :)

I'll have an A to Z Challenge reflections post up in the next week or so, so I won't go into that right now. Just wanted to update.

Let's see.

March was a beautiful early spring and April...was not. I suppose April may have been a somewhat normal spring, but March was so unseasonably warm and perfect that it was hard to accept April and the somewhat normal spring weather that she brought with her. Hopefully May will be all blue skies and puffy white clouds and sunshine.

I do want to apologize if I haven't visited or commented on your beautiful blogs lately. April became "the month that I may have bitten off more than I could chew" month. I'm hoping to do better in May.

It seems we spend a lot of time at funeral homes and funerals lately. A few weeks ago, my husband's aunt, the last sibling left in my father-in-law's family, passed away. Last week, we were at the funeral for a long-time family friend. He was the brother to one of Jim's closest friends, also the brother to my sister-in-law (Jim's brother's wife). He was too young (59). Cancer.
And this past weekend my uncle, my father's only brother, passed away. We will be at the funeral home later and to the funeral tomorrow. I wasn't close to this uncle, but his death brings to mind so many memories of my father. I wish that we would have had more time. He should have lived to a ripe old age and it makes me so sad that we lost him too soon.

If you visited me and left comments during the Challenge, I will be trying to make the rounds this next week so I promise that I will come visit!

My son had sinus infections twice this month. The second one visited with its friend, the flu. He's better now. He works long hours and socializes just as a 23 year old might. I think he needs more down time and sleep. He would probably not agree.

My daughter found out that: she's allergic to wheat, cow's milk, egg whites, and shrimp at the ripe old age of 31. She also found out that she has an extra bone in her foot that chose to start causing her great pain in the past couple of months. Lots of blood work, x-rays, cortisone shots, and an uncomfortable foot wrap. Lots of adjustment, label reading, and doctor appointments. A couple more tests to rule out any more problems. No surgery. But she's a wonderful teacher. We knew that, but her evaluation proved it. We remain hopeful that she will be in the same teaching position next year.

Jim and I are good. Duke is good (after a bout with worms) (yuck). Business is either veerry sloow or veerry busy. I guess one sort of balances the other. Somewhat.

I think that's all she wrote, folks. I may, or may not, take a little time away from blogging to make up for being such a pest in April. Haven't decided yet.


Have a terrific Tuesday!

Poetry on Wednesday

There are different versions of the following poem (nursery rhyme, actually), but this is the one I would sing to my son when he was a little guy...

Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John,
Went to bed with his trousers on;
One shoe off, and one shoe on,
Diddle, diddle, dumpling my son John

Wishing my son, Jon, the happiest of birthdays!
It's a lucky thing you were a boy -
Gigi (my mom) wanted us to name you Spring
if you were a girl!

 Finding it hard to believe that it's been 23 years since I gave birth to the baby of the family!

Here I Am!

I really didn't mean to do drive-by blogging on Sunday saying all that "I'm back" and everything and then disappear again! Really I didn't! It's just that we're doing a remodel on the living room - paint, new paneling (that Jim made) and a new fireplace mantel (that Jim made); plus we're going to have the wood floors in the living room and hallways sanded down and refinished. It's a long process as Jim works on it in his spare time. I'm in no hurry. It'll be so worth it! So, I've been helping Jim here and there when he needs an extra hand and I've disassembled and am reassembling my kitchen. Actually just emptying some of the cabinets and cupboards and cleaning and rearranging. Gah! The projects have consumed us, but I'm very excited about how the living room is shaping up. I remembered to take some before pictures and probably should take some in process pictures. I promise I will post them. Our house isn't big or fancy, but Jim's work is beautiful and I'm happy that he's taken on this project.

Here's a waaaay before picture!
Jim and his mom, dad, and younger sister in front of
the fireplace.
In case you didn't know, Jim's parents built this house in the '50s.
We bought it from them 20 years ago.

I'm also remodeling my blog! :-)

Determined to finish the kitchen project today!

Monday's Musings...

It was a very quiet and simple holiday week, but one that I enjoyed very much. We managed to spend it with nearly everyone that we wanted to...there are those that we love far away that we would have loved to see...
Everything was simple and gave me time to reflect on what exactly this holiday is all about.

I have things that I want to say, but can't find the words. Isn't that weird. It's nothing serious or profound, just reflections. Maybe another day.

I will share just a few pictures from our Christmas Day:

I tried a new recipe for a french toast crock pot breakfast. Bad time to try new recipe.
The chickens enjoyed it topped with their Christmas present of dried mealworms!

Duke and Sosha get their gifts first.

Sosha enjoys a new woobie!

Duke unwrapping that new bone that he was staring at on the mantle on Christmas Eve.

I was really excited to give this to Jamie. It's a To Kill a Mockingbird charm bracelet (her favorite book).
Each charm represents one of the items that Boo left in the knothole in the tree.

Allow me to tell a story:
We have a crawlspace off the basement where we keep the Christmas wrapping paper
and where we used to hide Santa gifts. It's creepy in there so I only take out whatever I can reach
and make Jim crawl in for the rest.
This year we found something we must have missed about 15 years ago.
We decided to give it to Jon anyways. :-)
He had friends over on New Year's Eve.
I wonder if they played with it!

Jim wanted a price gun for some of his inventory that he has
on hand. It would save him from having to search for a price.
When he opened it he said that he's wanted one since he was
eight years old. Then he started pricing everything.

We spent the afternoon at Jon's house where one of his cats, Ethel,
was enjoying his new Wii game.

Isn't this the cutest couple ever?
Brittany had to work so we only saw her for
a little bit before we headed home.

Yes, it was a good Christmas!

Christmas Eve and My Babies

My babies are long grown and mostly moved out of the nest, but I hold these memories in my heart...

Christmas - 1980 - Baby Jamie (5 mos. old) with Santa

Christmas - 1989 - Baby Jon (9 mos. old) and Big Sister Jamie (9 yrs. old)
and I'm quite certain that Jon only agreed to sit on Santa's lap because his Dot was with him.
*When Jon started talking he called Jamie "Dot".

My dad...

It's been nineteen years today since my dad passed away. I miss him today and I miss him always...

Monday's Musings...And The Story of Ginger

My son bought me this wreath for Christmas a couple of years ago...

There was a reason. Well, besides the fact that I do have a small collection of gingerbread people in my kitchen, it was that this familiar gingerbread boy and girl adorned this particular wreath that prompted Jon to buy it for me when he spotted it at our local mall. He was reminded of a very similar, but slightly more worn out, gingerbread friend from his childhood.

You see Ginger and Spice (the gingerbread boy and girl dolls on the wreath) were sold at Christmas time around about 1991 at Target. I thought they were so cute and bought them both to display at Christmastime. After Christmas that year, they were safely packed away with the other decorations. When I started decorating for the Christmas season in 1992, Jon was helping me (as only a three year old boy can) and spotted Ginger and Spice. He took Ginger who immediately became his best friend. It was funny to me because Jon just never became attached to any stuffed animal or toy in all of his 3 1/2 years. Why now? Maybe it would have only lasted for the holiday season had it been any other Christmas. It was not any other Christmas though.

Jon and Ginger getting geared up for some pressing work that needed doing.

A week before Christmas, my dad suffered a stroke. My parents were living in Florida and had actually been preparing to leave to come and spend the holidays with us in Michigan when it happened. My sister and I took the soonest flight we could get out on and flew down to be with him. We were hoping for...well what we were hoping for just wasn't to be.

I did know one thing within a very few days. We would not be home for Christmas and, added to everything that was happening, I just couln't bear the thought of being away from Jim, Jamie and Jon on Christmas day. I begged, cried and pleaded until Jim agreed to drive to Florida with the kids. He's a saint, really.

And my dad passed away the morning after they arrived, the 23rd of December 1992. And Christmas would never be the same for our family. We did have a very sad, but necessary Christmas that year. Our dad would not want us not to have Christmas, that I know for sure.

I think that is the main reason that Jon became more attached to Ginger. It was a lot for a little boy to handle at that time and maybe Ginger was his shoulder to cry on. I don't know. I only know that he and Ginger were pretty close friends until Jon started preschool. Even then, Ginger would wait patiently for Jon. He still does. I secretly packed Ginger in with Jon's things when he moved to California and again when he bought his own house. Ginger's still there. A little worse for wear, but still there.

Jon and Ginger played hard and sometimes just couldn't
quite make it into bed before they both fell asleep.