It has been a long time since I posted last as blogging has gone out of fashion. I see it has been almost four years. A lot has changed. My mother passed away, Syd's mother, brother and nephew passed away. Our son had a set of twins and then another set of twins then he moved across the state. Then the biggest change of all, we moved. my yard full of flowers is not my yard any more. So any pictures posted are from last year, and the other theme will change from flowers and nature to the Twin Twins as we lovingly refer to them. Enjoy.
Just Me, the one in the middle
A chance to post a few pictures of things I love most. If you like them then great, if not, oh well.
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Halloween 2013
My street in particular can be very
busy. There was a time when we had between 500 and 600 little and not so little
ones knocking on our door. At that time,
we lived in one of the nicer parts of town with well-lit streets and nice
sidewalks. Our neighbor just happened to
be the local Hershey representative/salesman and he gave out big chocolate
bars. You couldn’t get out of your
driveway, and hoped there wouldn’t be an emergency because no help could get
down the street which was a steady stream of cars following their children as
they run from door to door, trying not to trip over their costumes. The children seemed to come in droves with
long periods of the door being wide open.
Luckily it has slowed down. The neighbor moved and there are other nicer
parts of town. Our street is still
well-lit and with nice sidewalks so we get our fair-share of costumed children
and teenagers; this year we only had about 250. There are even moments of large
groups of trick-or-treaters looking for a yummy treat.
This year we grew some large
pumpkins, one weighing in at 64#s and another at 53#s. It was a major process to carve them. The seeds and guts weighed about 15# for
each. We always get complements on
them. That may be because so few of our
neighbors (we are an aging neighborhood, few little ones anymore) still carve
them. Sorry no pictures of these
monsters.
We are not picture perfect, but our
Halloweens are busy. I walked about a
mile to and from the front door. I am
exhausted.
Halloween 2012
Halloween: The Good,
The Bad, The Ugly
Second, I love the excitement in the air, and not just from
eating too much sugar. Parents and children picking out the perfect costume,
thoughts of bags of candy, (lucky teachers of those sugar high kids), and
running from house to house to see how many doors you can knock on, that is
what it is all about. I love to answer the door just to see this excitement
ooze out of the painted faces. This year we have had a plethora (using that big
word just for you Sister Orme) of cute costumes come to our door. Not just the usual Draculas’. Witches, cowboys
and cheerleaders, but Yoda, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, bumble bee s, a
headless horseman, lady bugs, dark angels, zombies, policemen, and super scary
monsters. They came young and too old to
be trick-or-treating. One group came
with their sombreros and guitars and serenaded for their treats. It being warmer than our usual bitter
Halloween weather, there have been more children and they are out later. So 300 pieces of candy later, it is finally
time to turn off the lights and put the tired feet up.
Lastly, I like doing special treat
bags for a few favorite people. In years past, I have done them for my youngest
sister’s kids. They have a grandmother
and an aunt who spoil them rotten with candy, so they do not go door to
door. They come to my house and down my
street and call it good. Because they
get so much candy from the grandmother and aunt, I give them prizes: fancy
notebooks and pencils, nail polish and card games. This year they did not come. The oldest is off to college, the next was
too busy chasing boys, and the youngest was sick. But, we have a family that we home teach that
has two young (ages 7 and 11) and I made special bags of candy, fancy pencils,
and popcorn. Syd made them cookies and
we also sent them home with a bottle of pickled green beans. As a special
surprise, some good friends showed up at our door. They had just moved back and
had not told us. We are so happy to have
them back in town.
There are some things I do not like
about Halloween, the scary stuff like haunted houses, scary movies, cold and
dark nights and dressing up. I think
that stems from my childhood. I grew up
in a big family, ten children to be exact.
We didn’t have a lot of money for fancy costumes. My mother had an old barrel full of junk,
scratched and dented masks, mismatched bits of old costumes that she had bought
or had been given to us. We would dig
through the barrel, hoping to find something to use. Being in Idaho, it was usually cold and
regardless of what your costume was, you had to put a coat over top to make it through
the night, so it really didn’t matter. A
beat up mask did the job. Not much fun
in that. We also lived in the country
and only went to a few homes, as they were too far apart. I remember one year we got to go into town
with a cousin. We made a haul that year. When Patrick was young, money was tight and so
we had to be frugal with our money, buying a costume was out of the
question. We put together something lame
and called it good. One year he went as an explorer, another as a Dracula, with
a plastic bag cape, one year we cut up on old sheet and he was a ghost and
another year he was a sand creature from Star
Wars. Not very creative to say the
least, but they were affordable.
We always carved a pumpkin, still
do. Let me rephrase that, Patrick and I
carve pumpkins; Syd does not get involved at all. He lacks any holiday spirit. We often get
comments on them, about how creative they are.
Even the simple ones come out fun.
This year was no different, simple but nice. The last ten years I have grown them, using a
giant/mammoth pumpkin seed. They do not
come out nice and round and a perfect shade of orange. Being misshaped only
makes them more fun to work with. One
year we grew one that was almost a hundred pounds. This year the largest was
only 23 pounds. Not bad.
All in all, Halloween is a good,
bad and ugly holiday.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Sports and Kids
There are times like tonight that I am glad that our son did
not get big into sports. Let me explain.
Like most parents, when our son was born we had big dreams
for him, go to college, marry a beautiful girl, have 5 children, be the star of
a sports team, become rich and famous.
Of course we knew these were more our dreams than his and they would not
all come true, especially the star of a sports team. His parents were both terrible at sports and
not competitive enough to succeed. As he
grew we made sure he had the opportunity to participate in any he was
interested in, t-ball, soccer and basketball.
He played several years of t-ball, but didn’t seem to care if he didn’t
get to continue on. It may have been
because he wasn’t all that great. So we
tried soccer. He was better at this, but it also didn’t seem to pique his
interest. He played basketball for several years. He wasn’t great but he
enjoyed it. Then one year he played on a
team where the coach was more concerned with his son playing than being fair to
all the other players. His son played on two different teams and one game he
chose the other team. So an assistant
coach was put in charge. Winning was a
priority and our best player was at the other game. P anxiously awaited his turn to be put
in. Our neighbor showed up to see how
they were doing and asked if he could play.
The assistant coach said, “Sure.”
P sat the bench the entire game.
We talked to the assistant coach, but he only shrugged his shoulders, as
I said winning was a priority. That was
the end of our being basketball parents.
P’s junior year he decided to run cross country. The CC coach lived just a few houses down and
P had watched the team practice on our street for years. He wasn’t fast, but he stuck with it for the
season. It didn’t help any that we had
some warts burned off his knees during the season. During his freshman year he
began playing the trombone in the pep band. Although not a sport, he watched a
lot of games, football and basketball. He quite enjoyed this except for his
friends thought that it was nerdy. So he
quit his senior year, although he stayed in the jazz band.
Now fast forward to tonight.
We live in a great location. A
school playground in our back yard. You
may think the happiest place on earth is Disneyland, but it is really recess on
a school playground. We love it. During the after school hours and summer it
turns into either a 4 diamond t-ball, 2 soccer game, or tag football
field. Just to the east of it is the
Larry Wilson football field, with lights and a scoreboard, very official. The sound of whistles blowing, parents
cheering and coaches yelling fill the air each night, whether it is a game or
just practice. Tonight was no different.
I was out picking tomatoes and beans in the garden when I heard a coach
take after two boys who were not working out with the rest of the team. He stormed across the practice field, steam
pouring out his ears and grabbed the two boys.
I didn’t seen what they were doing but it must have been serious enough
to risk the wrath of the coach. The
words that spewed out of the coaches mouth were shocking, words that no child
should be forced to hear. After several
minutes of berating these boys with a variety of swear words thrown in he
calmed down (I think he realized I was out there and could clearly hear every
vile word he uttered). It was at this
point I was glad that it wasn’t my son who was being severely chastised. In defense of the coach he did try to smooth
things over and play up the “we are all a team and you are Important and I want
you to succeed” card. But it was too
late, the damage had been done, my ears had been grossly offended and my heart
went out to the two boys. I did learn
there was some verbal fighting between the two boys, some name calling and
punches thrown.
I do have one favorite coach, our neighbor. He has a deep voice that carries far. I always know when he is out there. I have yet to hear any other coach be so
positive with the players, even when they make serious mistakes that may mean
the team will lose. He will bring in the
player, give him a pep talk, and then show him his mistake and what he can do
to avoid it next time. After a pat on
the back, a final encouraging word he sends the player back in with a “thumbs
up and I know you can do it.” The other positive thing about him is that while
he always coached his own son’s teams, he never played favorites during a game. Yes he spent extra time with them, doing a
one on one training, but that was always on his own time and their friends were
always invited to join. If he could have
been our son’s coach I think our son would have enjoyed sports more. But Coach Brown is a rarity; a one of a kind
who began coaching too many years after our son was done with them.
I am glad that our son is grown. Someday I hope he has
children of his own and perhaps they will enjoy sports in a way that our son
never did. I hope if they do that they
are blessed with a Coach Brown.
Monday, August 12, 2013
A visit with the Vampires (aka donating blood)
For the last 10ish years I have tried to regularly donate
blood, and am up to 70 +units.
This is not my favorite thing to do.
Who willingly wants to inflict pain on themselves? It isn’t super painful, a finger prick
(probably the most painful part) and then a dull jab in the arm, neither of
which I enjoy. Then you get to wear a badge of honor around your arm, so people
can comment on it. Why do I do it? There is a part of me that likes to be a
support to the community, like recycling (that is a whole other topic). Giving blood is a type of recycling, using
blood that I have plenty of to help someone who doesn’t have enough. So it is my civic duty to give.
When I was much younger and skinnier, I attempted to donate
and was so relieved when they told me I couldn’t because of low blood pressure.
I was told to go drink a Coke or Pepsi and come back. I couldn’t find the courage to go back,
although I did have a Dr. Pepper while trying to convince myself to attempt. It
took a lot of years to build up that courage.
Did I mention I do not like needles? (Again another topic of discussion)
I have talked several of my sisters into donating with
me. None of them have had positive
experiences like me. One usually has
problems, like severe pain, or a bad stick so they have to twist the needle
around, NOT FUN. The other often has weak blood or her blood pressure is too
low, so she isn’t a good candidate. So
most of the time I donate alone. I will
be honest and share that not all of mine donations have been great. I have had
a few times when I didn’t qualify due to low iron. One time I got faint while taking advantage
of their juice and snacks. They had me
lay on the floor for about a half hour.
I blame this on the fact that I was anxious to get my Christmas shopping
done. Now I avoid donating too close to
Christmas unless my shopping is done. Lastly, I always donate using my right
arm. They checked both arms and said the
right was ideal, the left not do great.
One time I had a tiny red dot on the right arm near the usual puncture
site. They couldn’t use it so I agreed
to give the left a try. They all said it
could be done. This was not
successful. First the vein was smaller,
and then it made a sharp turn. After
twenty minutes of a slow drip and frequent twisting and adjusting of the needle
(ouch, this really hurt) they called it a barely a half pint. Since then it is always a right arm process
and always successful despite the extra sharp stab because of the scar tissue
buildup.
There actually is a method to this madness. I live in a small town, with limited
shopping. Keep this a secret, donating is a good excuse to have to go to the
bigger city and shop, guilt free. I
realize it is only 15 miles away, and that is actually closer than most people
would drive in a big city to do basic shopping, but I try to be careful with my
allotted gas money. Syd buys it without
a lot of comment. I in turn do not make
trips to IF without a valid purpose. Donating blood is certainly a valid
purpose. As I write this I am preparing
my list of stops to make: a trip to Sam’s Club, a quick stop at Shopko, a
needed trip to Harbor Freight for Syd (that always justifies a trip), and if
there is still time, a stop at Office Max and Fred Meyers. All these stores avoid the bulk of 17th
Street (another topic) and the east side stores which are always the
busiest. Off to do my civic duty.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
More Random thoughts
I keep having these random thoughts about things I should post. Of course I don't actually write or post any of them. That is just the way I am. Here is list number 2:
- Mornings
- School Busses
- Cancer
- Girls Camp
- Hot Flashes
- Chife
- Lists
- Making the bed (this one requires pictures to understand, just have to take them)
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Random Thoughts
I realize it has been almost a year since I last posted. It is obvious that I am not a great blogger. Some of my friends and acquaintances post regularly, almost daily. NOT ME. Getting pictures ready to add, being creative in what I write, finding the time and inspiration, these all stress me out. Extra stress in my life is something I do not need, especially now. So, what am I doing here, writing, blogging. I have thought about this for some time. I have a lot of random thoughts. I suspect most people do. So for the next year I am going to share some of those random thoughts, no deep, dark secrets, no real pictures, just random thoughts about things or people in my life.
Some of thoughts may include:
Some of thoughts may include:
Parents and aging
Children
and my aging
The dog and other pets
My new hair color according to my hairdresser
Winter / snow / cold
My family / siblings / in-laws and out-laws
Church callings (Young Womens, my current)
The Temple
Traveling
The balancing act of marriage, house, job, school, temple,
church callings, and yes, even facebook
Education and goals
Teenagers
Goals or lack thereof
Holidays
Yard Work and even worse, house work
Cooking--
Eating out
Shopping: clothes, food, furniture, paint color
Yaa
TV Shows we watch (Dowton Abby and more) and why
Out my back door or front door
I will not write daily, I will not write weekly, I may not write for many weeks or maybe even months, nothing regular. So if you really want to read my rambles you must check back once in a while. And if you do not want to peruse them, which I wouldn't blame you, after all these are only thoughts, nothing important, nothing that will make or break your eternal salvation, then no loss. And if you do read them and want to share your own ramblings or random thoughts about any of the above subjects on you own blog, leave me a message so I can wander over to your blog and read.
Also did I mention there will not be a lot of pictures. I take them, a lot of them, but have not been in the mood to post them.
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