Time to pass around some more awards -and keep them moving too, folks!

This one came to me today from Ann Clemmons of A Nice Place in the Sun. Ann says this award is for commenters who visit frequently, leave comments from time to time that often keep her going. Well, I may visit daily but I don't ALWAYS comment even though I probably should. But some days, if I don't comment, that doesn't mean I wasn't there, doesn't mean I agree or don't agree -it's more that some days, my brain and fingers just don't feel like talking I guess. Silence of the Pinkys strikes me every now and again.

Of course, considering the fact that I have been known on occasion to practically write my own blog post in the comments section every now and again, maybe we can all be thankful when my fingers do become quiet, can't we?

This week, I've been a bit on the quiet side for the most part. Been trying to squeeze in some more time to work on my embroidery projects and now, I have one side of the green table-topper tablecloth completed. I love working on this item because it only uses one color floss -white -so I don't have to constandly be looking at the chart to make sure I have the right color floss going into the right box on the design on the fabric. Even though I only work now with stamped cross stitch, I can still muck up a design by getting my colors and placement of stitches in the wrong holes!

I generally enjoy various crafts -sewing, knitting, crochet and yes, embroidery -but I am not necessarily all that good at any of those crafts. I can manage but am far from an expert, far from being the meticulous crafter that EVERYTHING has to be exactly right; perfect -know what I mean?

When my two younger kids were small, I took a course in sewing with knits -learning various secrets and tips about how to make patterns (a specific type pattern that is) from the "Stretch 'n' Sew pattern assortment and as such, for many years, I made a lot of knit shirts for the kids and for myself. When Mandy was a pre-schooler and even in her early grade school years, I made a goodly number of outfits for her -little jumpers, a few dresses, slacks and such. One year, I even made each of the kids their Christmas outfits -the girls got matching floor-length dresses of a dark emerald green velveteen and I made my son a three piece corduroy suit of a pale green shade. I have never been a big fan of putting zippers in clothing -still am not -as that kind of stitching really requires someone with a more steady foot on the pedal and a keen eye on where the stitches are being placed too. Neither of those things are among my talent range. Therefore, the pants to the suit for my son will probably remain on record as the only time I ever put in a fly-front zipper and the complexities of stitching on velvet or velveteen are such that those two dresses where the first and last I have ever sewn with that type of fabric too. Oh and one other thing -the jacket to my son's suit also had a "welt" pocket and that thing just about was enough to make me almost pitch the entire project into the "I may tackle this at some later date" box! Luckily, I did eventually get the damned thing in there but I hated every last minute of that task too!

Knitting - I love to do but it takes me forever to complete anything bigger than making scarves with the fancy fur-type yarns! I am not the speed queen knitter that my aunt was and I am also not the meticulous knitter she was either -plus, I have never been able to master knitting with four needles! I'm only a two-needle knitter. My neighbor and dear friend, Shirley, who I helped get started on knitting, called me a month or two after I had shown her a few things about knitting to tell me she was making a pair of mittens then -using four needles! I still envy her that ability and that was probably a good twenty years ago at least that I got her started knitting and in short order, she knew more about the craft than I did.

Crochet is faster for me to do but here again, I can't always follow crochet patterns very well. I can generally figure out most knitting patterns but crochet can really play head games with me. So as a result I never tackle any type of clothing projects in the crochet line -only baby afghans and once in a while, larger ones for the sofa or beds.

But the embroidery is something I discovered a couple years ago after making a small square tablecloth with a Christmas design on it along with a tablerunner of a really nice red fabric and the design -a Christmas design -was done all in white thread. I gave those two items to my older daughter Carrie, for Christma that year and learned that she actually likes those handmade things. This is the same daughter who wouldn't be caught dead in any clothing that is hand sewn or hand knitted (not by me anyway) but she does loves these type things so I'm kind of figuring that, depending in how many of these craft things I have on hand to embroider now that I can get finished by Christmas, she may find herself the recipient of one of these items then. Maybe. It all depends though ya know on how long my interest in the embroidery stuff sustains itself here too. It may last another week -a month -who knows, maybe from now until I pass on to wherever is my destiny -so I want to make sure I get as many of these things completed while the energy level is burning there!

Or my fingers freeze up and my brain goes dead or I go blind and cross-eyed from the fine stitching. Or if my fingers get pricked so many times that the skin is rough and snags the embroider floss which could also cause me to get pissed off at the project and put it too in the above mentioned "I'll do it later" box, ya know!

And now, I have to end this post because Miss Maya had been up in her bed, supposedly sleeping (we thought) but then there was this wild banging noise coming forth and pretty soon Mandy brought her downstairs, looking a bit frightened, so she is now out in my room with the tv on, in my bed, wanting Grammy to come lay down with her. And if I do that now, I will most likely then also fall asleep and won't be in any shape then to come back and finish this post later so I'll polish it off now!

To end this -since I went from the award thing to the craft thing but didn't award the Commenters Award as yet to anyone, I'd best do that now too, shouldn't I?

So to those of you, my readers, who I consider to be the most loyal of the commenters, please take this award and pass it on to those who you feel are most deserving of that recognition too.

Keith at Ten Years Running Blind
Fermicat at Cosmic Cat
Beth at Around the Funny Farm
Rick at Palm Springs Savant
Jim at Suldog
Theresa at Theresa's Life

Now it's time for me to go see if a certain little girl and I can put each other to sleep!
Sweet dreams to one and all.

Let me start this by explaining something first. In case you haven't figured this out by reading my blog, there are times when I confuse very easily. Sometimes, my mind thinks it knows what's going on around me and as it turns out, what is being said is something totally different from what my perceptions might be.

Take for instance, the other day, my son was here and he and my son-in-law were talking out on the deck. I was in the kitchen messing around -the normal thing, ya know -and I overheard some bits and pieces of the conversation between the two guys.

You have to know, first and foremost, the topic of conversation between these two is almost always something pertaining to cars and my knowledge (and interest) in that subject is not very high. But when I heard my son mention something about being thankful that he doesn't have to worry about acne treatments, the last thing I thought about there was anything pertaining to cars!

So I questioned him about this and as it turns out, older vehicles that have been revamped a bit -classic type cars or trucks -sometimes, the paint jobs get a sort of pitting effect to them and that's what my son was referring to -not a skin condition.

See -learn something new every day after all, don't I?

See this photo above here? This is yet another award I received today from my Blogger Buddy, Dianne over at Forks Off the Moment. In her post today, Dianne said some really, really nice things about me, her perception of me and probably the part that was really true would be where she mentions that I was one of the first people to "find" her and her blog.

That part, I will agree with! I do remember finding her, but now, I have no idea HOW it was that I came across her blog and her first two-three posts. But what I do remember about it was reading these pieces on her blog and just knowing, then and there, that here's a lady who speaks her mind (oh, most definitely, she does that,) someone who is right up there with my dear late Aunt Mike as what I would call perhaps a rabid animal lover, a very hard-worker, a devoted mother/mother-in-law and most importantly to me, someone who has great intelligence and a fantastic sense of humor -both of which she employs quite generously in her posts too I must add!

If you've not yet read Dianne's blog, go now, do that and enjoy. Trust me! You'll love it -and her too!

I think it is now safe to say something again about my "Reader" that I use to help me keep up with the sheer volume of blogs I check in on -usually daily -(but I had to take a two day break this weekend due to having to run the yard sale Mandy had set up here at the house over Friday and Saturday.) I "think" (translate that to "I hope") I finally have my Reader operating on the up and up now. Now, with that reader, I keep tabs on roughly 160 plus blogs and some of those bloggers have been with me, so to speak, since shortly after I started my blog almost two years ago now. Over the months, years now, that I have been blogging, there are more than a few fellow bloggers who I have come to feel that I know them almost as well as I know some of my neighbors and friends.

Sadly, one of my favorite bloggers died suddenly last year -Bob Johnson who used to write several blogs - Letters I Wish I'd Sent, Rotten Robert, Bob's Odder Blog, to name a few -and let me reiterate here and now that when I learned of Bob's death, it hit me every bit as hard as if he had been my next-door neighbor because of the relationship I had formed with him, strictly through our blogs. Many times since then I have thought of something -a bit of humor, a political thing, a question about computers or blogging and thought, "Gee, I'll have to tell Bob or ask Bob about that" and then realize he is no longer with me, with us, in the blogging community. I tell you this now to explain this is the type of relationship one does often develop through this thing called blogging.

So, with that in mind as a guide, here's how I am going to pass this award on to other bloggers:

First, to the very first three bloggers I "met" and who have stayed with me over time.

Paige at Paradise Valley2
Barb of Skittles Place
Shelby at Time With Shelby

A few other bloggers who I have from time to time exchanged not only comments on each others posts, but also have become comfortable enough to share e-mails with on more than a few occasions. Some are -like Bob Johnson was -now comfortable friends, each in different capacities and interests, but who I look on and classify in my "friend" department.

Keith - Debo Blue - Mary Ann - Linda - David - Terry - Janey - Paula - Eric - Dave - Danielle - Gene - Singing Owl - Terri and Linda - Trav
Each of these bloggers and the various communications I have had with them have become friends to me over time, sharing information as well as comments with me that often helps me to answer many questions on lots of things besides blogging.

Then there is a blogger, down in Georgia- the Produce Man better known to many bloggers as "Meloncutter" who I rely on to give me a dose of humor most every day. We've also often conversed in the middle of the night or wee hours of the morning while he's waiting on his morning coffee to brew and I've often still been up and awake for various reasons -that I am a night owl, for one, or when I was unable to sleep much thanks to a nasty bout with Shingles and nights too when I was still up because the grandson was up, wide awake and fussing! On many occasions, the little chats on the messenger was nice to have with him as it made me feel not so alone here then.

And then there are these ladies too who I have come to regard as friends -those with whom I share even more with than just our posts and comments. Those who I read their posts, comments, e-mails and we tend to have much in common. I definitely can't over look them as I frequently sit here, coffee in front of me, reading their words of wisdom, their sentiments, advice too from time to time, and always feel that I am sitting across the kitchen table, talking to them.

Vic - Sandi - Mary - Maggie - and Pat

If you were to go through all the blogs on my reader -which is my "Blogroll Favorites" -you would find quite an eclectic collection of folks there. Many different personalities, many different age groups/generations actually, represented there. People who I connect with through shared beliefs of many types, interests, levels -from grandmothers, like me to young mothers with small children, people who are deeply religious, others -maybe not quite so much but with a strong sense of interest in social problems, politics, and especially people who I found and linked in to and stayed there because of autism and the effects the disorder has on someone near and dear to us. Many things drew me to these bloggers, just as many things keep me coming back to them, connecting on various levels from time to time, to provide humor, friendship, information and dare I say it, even love.

A long list of people I want to give this award to as a way of thanking them for providing me with many different opinions, and keeping me motivated, moving, enjoying not just blogging, but life a little bit removed from my home and family -and yet, not really removed as they seem to me to be part and parcel now of my family.

To equate the way I think of these folks especially along with all the others on my favs list, it's like the two ladies -my real neighbors and life-long friends, Kate and Shirley -who I mention both of them in my posts from time to time. These two ladies are sisters and I grew up two doors from them. Today, I live about six doors down the street from Shirley's house and two doors up the street from Kate's. We share many common interests besides having grown up on the same street and being friends all our lives -church, family, kids, grandkids, crafts -a lot of things.

Over the weekend, with the big community yard sale, Shirley stopped by my house to chat and visit both days; Kate managed to get up to my house on Saturday for a short visit. And yesterday morning as Kate and I were walking into church together, she informed me that her sister, Shirley, was in the hospital -having fallen Saturday evening as she was leaving Kate's house and she had broken her hip. Terrible news to hear, you know.

Kate told our pastor prior to the service about Shirley's fall and being hospitalized and when before the start of our service, the pastor announced this news to the congregation. Shirley is very well known in our church -as well as around the community -and as soon as the pastor said what had happened to her, there was a very loud gasp from those in attendance there!

And I feel very much about those on my blogging list, those named above, as I do about my very good friends, Kate and Shirley. Comfortable to talk to each of you about many, many things and worried, upset, hurt too at times, when I know some of you may be going through a difficult patch in your life.

Friendships grow on from many types of seeds and progress on many levels too over time. And truth be told, each of the bloggers on my list should also be given this award because each of you has welcomed me, listened to me ramble and rant, loud and long from time to time and kept coming back to me, inviting me back to hear you say more too!

And, that's the way it should be whether it is in real life or a "virtual" one we form via blogging, don't 'cha think?

Peace, my friends!

Ok, that's kind of a dumb title for this piece, I suppose, but let's face it, that's what it was, so I may as well call it by the proper name then. Right?

This past Friday and Saturday, there was a community yard sale here in Grassflat. And, as Mandy loves yard sales, needed to try to clear out some of the kids clothes as well (gotta make room for more stuff, ya know) then what better way to accommodate all of those things than to participate in the community-wide yard sale.

Here's some photos of the tables (and more tables) of clothes once worn by Maya or Kurtis (or Mandy's friend Nancie's two little guys) that we had for people to pick through last Friday and Saturday here in our front yard.
We had four tables lined up and the far end, pictured here, held mainly little boy items sizes 12, 18, 24 month, sizes 2T and 3T. Mandy priced the kids clothes very cheaply -50 cents per item - and this was what the table looked like late Saturday afternoon. We did have a lot of people stop by and look at things, many purchased items too, and when we started out Friday morning, the clothes on this table was piled about twice as high as shown here near to when we were done Saturday. We didn't make a fortune on this yard sale but the girls sold a good bit of stuff and what is left of the children's clothing is going to be donated to the Women's Shelter over in Clearfield in the hopes that maybe some other children will have clothes that are in very good condition -"very gently used" is probably the terminology.

I spent all day Friday sitting out in the front yard by the tables and to keep myself occupied, I was working on a table runner I started embroidering a week earlier. I finished it late Friday night and here's what it looks like. (It has this design on each end of the runner, obviously.)
Here's another shot of it -a little bit closer up. This also is supposed to have four napkins to match the runner but I ran out of the thread in the light yellow here so will have to wait a while now before I tackle the napkins.

Saturday -another bright, sunny day -brisk breeze that kept the temps from going sky-high -and again, I was in charge of the tables. Since I had completed the blue table runner the night before, and didn't have enough yellow floss to start working on the napkins, I embarked on another embroider project. This one is a table-top square tablecloth -about 35"x35" in size. It's a Christmas cloth -green with white embroidery -so with not having to worry about where this color went for this stitch and another color for these stitches, this area, etc., work on this item proceeded a bit faster. Here's what I got completed on this tablecloth on Saturday.
This is about half of one side that I got completed on Saturday. I had hoped to work on it more yesterday but didn't get around to that then nor have I had time to mess with it today but will be starting in on it again this evening.

I ordered several items from Herrschner's - a craft store, online -and these are two of the items I had ordered. I have 7 other table runners and two other small table cloths (35"x35") to work on now and all but two of these are Christmas designs. Think Christmas gifts if I can keep myself working on these things.

I had to order embroidery thread too from Herrschners because the closest place to where I live that one can purchase embroidery floss is a 37-mile drive to State College to the east or a 41 mile drive to the west to Dubois. The wonderful world of Walmart, in its infinite wisdom, has now completely eliminated any embroidery products in the Super Walmart store located 20 miles from here in Clearfield.

This really disgusts me and two of my neighbors and close friends, Shirley and Kate. For them, especially, this is a disappointment because they both like to do the stamped embroidery (which is what I do) but they also love to do the counted cross stitch which I do not even begin to try to mess with because it drives me absolutely bonkers. Makes me blind and cross-eyed, at the same time, and my workmanship shows those issues too with the counted cross-stitch! Messy! So, as much as I love the stuff that can be made in counted cross stitch, it will not be forthcoming from my fingertips!

What really sucks ya know, about Walmart's no longer carrying the embroidery stuff, is that that a few years back, they also cut back on the size of their entire crafts department. They used to carry a very nice selection of fabrics, yarns, other kits and craft items too. That is, until the Joanne Fabrics store that used to be located in Clearfield closed up and that's when Walmart began to cut back on their fabric and crafts department. A move that many of us in this region felt was really underhanded of them as well as unfair to the crafters in this region as it forces us to have to travel twice as far now to purchase any type of fabric or crafting supplies. Frankly, when the Joanne Fabric store closed down, I woiuld have thought perhaps Walmart, with no competition then in these items, would have at least kept this department at the size it was then, maybe even expanding it a little bit. But instead, they have been gradually trying to completely phase out any craft type things it seems.

People wonder why some of these hobbies are becoming a "lost art" and if Walmart's cutbacks on these products is any example, it's no wonder it is quickly fading into a craft of the past. What a shame too because any type of hand-crafted item can make such a pleasant way to relax, do something worthwhile and make a useful and pretty product that others may very much appreciate in years to come simply because it was hand-made -perhaps even specifically for the person who receives such items too.

By late Saturday afternoon, the little boy in the house had been running around the yard most of the day -in his bare feet, no less -and after supper, he looked like a regular little piggy -food smeared all up and down his body, dirt encrusted on his feet, legs and arms so Mandy brought him outside after supper -still fastened into his booster chair on one of the chairs to our dining room set -and she gave him what she calls a "redneck shower!" Here's Kurtis, enjoying getting the dirt, food and general grubbiness, sprayed off him as he sat in his seat!

What Mandy and I find really funny about his enjoyment of being "hosed down" is that in the house, in the bathroom, he hates the shower! He does however very much love getting in the tub and getting a bath though -has a field day splashing all around then!

After Mandy finished hosing him down, she turned him loose again in the yard except this time, he was naked but she just let him run a little bit, letting it "all hang out" and he was having himself quite a good old time.
Here's the little trash picker bending over, rooting in a big bin that Mandy had filled with toys the kids no longer play with. Apparently, she hadn't asked his opinion about which toys to get rid of, I guess, cause he was having a high old time, digging away, and playing with toys he'd previously been ignoring!

And finally for today, here's a picture too of my "new-to-me" 1998 Jeep that my son-in-law located for me and we arranged a reasonable trade-off of my old van with the crappy transmission for this fine unit. Bill did have to do some work to it but it was only a little bit of body work on the front of the Jeep as engine-wise, it runs fine and dandy! I'm very pleased with my new means of transportation anyway and I figure that's all that counts. Isn't it?
Oh yeah, and one other thing -if you noticed there are no pictures of the yard sale with Maya in them, that was because we sort of pawned her off for two days and two nights to one of Mandy's good friends (Jen-Jen) because if we'd have had her here while trying to do this yard sale, we would have been completely, stark raving mad, I'm sure, by Saturday night! But just to give you a little "fix" of a Maya picture, here's Maya last Sunday trying on one of her big sister's "back-to-school" purchases. Hope that Kate doesn't plan to wear this item in the same manner that Maya is modeling it, don't you?
That's it for now, folks!

Well, my faithful few (readers, that would be) it looks like there is a phantom loose in the house and it has struck again -taken the "Monday" page for this coming week's Bushism's! I have question everyone in the house (except for Maya and Kurtis) and no one has ever even thought of touching my desk calendar, much less taking a page off of the darned thing. I know it can't be the ghost of my mother coming through and doing this because she was a closet Democrat so would enjoy the humor of these sage sayings. As a result, this week, Monday will be a "make up your own Bushism Day" then. Unless of course, your week begins on Tuesday and if that is the case, then you're ok and here's the upcoming week's supply.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 147 days left

"Well, I think if you say you're going to do something and don't do it, that's trustworthiness."
--CNN online chat, August 2000

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 146 days left

The national poverty rate reaches 12.5 percent, and 45 milion people are without health insurance.
--August 27, 2004

Thursday, August 28, 2008 -145 days left

"And I suspect that what you'll see, Toby, is there will be a momentum, momentum will be gathered. Houses will begat jobs, jobs will begt houses."
-Gulfport, Mississippi, August 28, 2006

Friday, August 29, 2008 - 144 days left

"I said I was looking for a book to read, Laura said you ought to try Camus. I also read three Shakespeares.. I
ve got a eck-a-lec-tic reading list."
--Interview with Brian Williams of NBC News, August 29, 2006

Saturday and Sunday, August 30/31, 2008 - 143 days left and 142 days left

"It's totally wiped out...It's devastating --it's got to be doubly devastating on the ground.
--From Air Force One above New Orleans, August 31, 2006

Hopefully, next week will be 7 days worth!

When I was in my early twenties, I decided I wanted to get my ears pierced. This was something my grandmother had always been adamantly opposed to and so when I mentioned this idea to my mother, I was surprised to learn that she liked pierced ears. Furthermore, she even helped me to pierce my ears myself.

Fast forward several decades and today, it is very common to see both men and women sporting all types of body jewelry - pretty much the sky being the limit there now.

When my son came home on leave from his tour of duty in Germany, I was somewhat shocked to learn he had his nipple pierced. Later, when he was in a relationship with a very nice young lady but who his Dad disliked immensely, his Dad told him he should have had his nose pierced and the ring put in there.

Whether I like this fashion or not, my feeling is that if you're gonna have it, get the best product you can buy then.

Reading through the blogs I follow tonight, I came across a post that really stirred up a lot of memories for me. The title of this post is Carp-e Diem and was written by Terri, of Terri Terri Quite Contrary. If you go over to her place and read this post, you'll then understand (after reading mine, of course) why this piece hit home for me.

This event in my life took place 27 years ago this week, as a matter of fact. It was, I think, the only time when my kids were growing up that we were actually able to take a whole week of vacation -just my three kids and me.

I'd financed this lovely get-away for us by having a huge yard sale and had sold off bunches and bunches of "inventory" I had stockpiled away of Avon products I had purchased to use as "demos" for my customers. The yard sale had gone over quite well so I was, relatively "flush" then you could say. (Probably the one and only time during those years that I was in that type of financial state too, come to think of it.)

But anyway, I had made plans for us to go to several places during that week. First we went down to D.C. and spent a day with my best friend there and I had a chance to have lunch too with a few of my old work buddies that way. Then, we headed away from D.C. and up to Annapolis where we rounded up another old friend -Louis Seneci -who had been the boyfriend of one of my former roommates. With Louis, we headed to a restaurant out by the Chesapeake Bay where he and I feasted on hard-shell crabs and my kids -cowards that they were -ate hamburgers as they thought the crabs were just too gross. (Actually, my son did try some and found they were pretty good but he was already locked into the burger and fries he had ordered to begin with.

From there, after dropping Louis off, we headed back home for a day -so I could get my Avon order sent in on the required date. (Avon sales stop for no one ya know.) When we left Annapolis it was about 11 p.m. and I headed north towards Route 70 -knowing I could pick that up around Baltimore and once on Route 70, I could find my way back home almost blindfolded. However, of course, I had no map with me so I was just sort of flying by the seat of my pants, heading north and west and figuring eventually I would come upon Route 70. What I didn't count on though was getting into Baltimore -my first time ever in that fine city -and I hadn't a clue as to what each part of the city was like -good neighborhood, iffy or down right rough and scary. And so, at about 1 a.m., I had come upon Route 40 (another route I knew would lead me in the right direction) but Route 40 then, traveling through Baltimore took you through some pretty rough sections of the town and needless to say, I told the kids to lock the car doors and just be quiet as I didn't need them chattering at me, asking tons of questions and making me just a bit more nervous than I already was.

We survived that part of the drive, got on track then -route wise -and arrived back home here close to 5 a.m. that day. A little sleep, got my Avon order all ready to mail out and by early evening, we headed west on I-80 to Toledo, where I had made reservations at a motel to spend the night there.

The next morning, we called a lady who I had waitressed with a few years earlier at another truckstop here and who was then married to a Roadway Driver, picked her up and she went with us then to Cedar Point Amusement Park for the day.

The kids had an absolute blast at this park! Carrie tricked Clate into going on the "Blue Streak" with her by lying to him and telling him it was not a "rolly coaster" (as he called them then) and they stood in line for over 40 minutes to get on that ride, with him jabbering away to whoever was standing near them about how he was going on this ride and how it so WAS NOT a rolly coaster. Carrie told me when they returned from this ride that he was find as the car was pulling up the first hill until it peaked and then the rude awakening hit him that he'd been duped by his sister. She said he screamed at the top of his lungs at her, "You LIED to me, Carrie! This is a Rolly Coaster!" We still tease him to this day about how scared he was of any rides like that.

Mandy spent a good deal of the day rather ticked off though because she was much more daring than her brother but unfortunately, she wasn't quite tall enough to be allowed to go on some of the rides she wanted to check out. And, with Mandy -then as now -you don't want to tell her she can't do something!

After leaving the park and dropping my friend Helen off back at her house, we then started driving west again -this time to Stockton, Illinois -and the home of my kids grandparents -my ex-husband's parents and his hometown.

I drove all night and arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house at about 7 a.m. Just in time Grandpa said as he had big plans for us that day.

The grandparents had a little tiny old travel trailer on a lot down near the Mississippi River and Grandpa had a boat -not anything fancy -just a boat with an outboard motor for fishing purposes -and he wanted to go to their camp, spend the day and night there.

That date also happened to be my son's 8th birthday so Grandpa had special plans for him and his grandson to observe the boy's birthday.

Once we got do their camp, the first thing I did was head to the little bedroom and crash!

While I slept, Grandpa took all three kids down to the river and gave them a ride in his boat. Then he brought the girls back to shore, leaving them with Grandma and he and Clate set out on the river to do some serious bonding and fishing.

Along about 1 p.m., I woke up hearing a familiar voice yelling "I caught a fish, I caught a fish!" I knew right away it was Clate so I managed to drag myself out of bed, grab a cup of coffee and outside I went to join Grandma and the girls as we watched Clate running up the lane from the river, and a more excited 8-year-old boy you would never have seen than what he was that day!

He got up to where we were standing, waiting for him and for Grandpa, bringing up the rear and Clate was pointing excitedly to the fish on a rope of some kind that Grandpa was carrying and all the while, Clate was yelling as loud as he could, dancing around and telling us he'd caught these fish -all three of them -and Grandpa was really anxious to tell us all about their great fishing adventure.

Seems the kid had caught three fish alright -a sunfish, a perch I believe and also this huge fish that has to have been the absolute ugliest fish I have ever in my life seen too!

By that time, Grandpa had caught his breath and began to relay the story of the catching of the carp.

Seems that when this old carp hit on Clate's line, it really shook the kid up. After all, he was just this skinny little kid who had never ever been fishing before, much less on a boat on the mighty Mississippi River too. So when the fish hit and took off with the hook and bait, the old reel was spinning around like crazy and at first kind of had Grandpa afraid Clate would end up with a broken thumb until he finally got his thumb out of the way of that contraption.

Grandpa said it took the two of them a little over 20 minutes of fighting this creature until they were finally able to land it in the boat. And, as soon as they got that accomplished, Clate kind of laid back in the corner of the boat, arms spread out and announced to Grandpa, "Let's go home. I'm all fished out and it's Miller Time!"

Grandpa's first question to me about Clate's words there were to the effect of wondering where he'd picked that line up from. I told him not to look at me as I was a Genny girl then and it was the kids dad who was a Miller Man!

Clate was still all wired for sound from this expedition and he then told Grandma that he had already decided too what he was going to do with this fine specimen of a fish. He was going to bring it home with us and have me freeze it, "real, real hard" and then, he planned to mount it on a piece of wood so we could then hang it on the wall in the living room.

When Grandpa heard Clate's ideas of what he wanted to do with this fish, he turned to Grandma and said "Eileen, quick! Go get a shovel and dig a whole behind the trailer and bury this damned thing!"

So, that's where the fish ended up -in a whole behind Grandma and Grandpa's camping trailer.

But after we got back home and my ex-brother-in-law had stopped by the house to get all the details on our trip to Stockton and back, when Clate told Uncle Tom about the fishing trip and catching this carp, Uncle Tom then informed him about how you have to fix carp if you are planning to cook them.

According to Uncle Tom, you have to have a big old pine board and you put the fish on that and bake in the oven for a good while. Once it's done baking, you take the fish out of the oven and throw it away and you eat the pine board.

I wish I could find the photographs that Grandma and I both took of Clate that day as he proudly held up those three fish for us to capture the moment for posterity. I have them around here someplace -I think -unless they may have been burned, by accident, the night my son managed to catch the house on fire!

That's a story for another day though. And now, like Clate was that day, I'm all tuckered out and I'm heading to bed. Unfortunately, without either a Miller's Lite or a Genesee or a Coor's Silver Bullet to my name.

And that's my Fish tale for the day.

This date, August 19th, marks a very special day in my life.

Eleven years ago today, one of the best things ever to happen to me took place.

It's the day, back in 1997, that I became a GRANDMA for the very first time!

Although I do have lots and lots of pictures of my grandson, Alex -My Prince - I have most of them on floppy discs and my A-drive is non-functioning so I can't go in and open them.

He was such a beautiful little guy the day he arrived in the world and today, he's such a handsome young man. I'm so proud of him for so many reasons. He's intelligent, a very good student (something that totally amazes his mother at times), is learning to play the trumpet and doing quite well with that, has a terrific sense of humor (obviously he got that from ME,) and for an only child, he is actually not very spoiled too! Just a little bit, just enough spoiled as that stuff goes, ya know!
This picture is the earliest one I could locate on my computer and was taken before Christmas of 1998 when he was about 16 months old. The two little girls posing with him are the daughters of Mandy's then boyfriend. He was such a happy little guy, can you tell?

These pictures above were taken around the Christmas holidays and that's my son, Clate and older daughter, Carrie, in the upper photo and Alex and me, taken at the office where I used to work back then -at that "world's largest private weather forecasting company."
This was Thanksgiving Day, 2003 -when Alex was six years old, seated with Katie (the stepgranddaughter, then 11, and Maya, who was just a month old. This was at the home of my Dad's youngest sister -my Aunt Mike and great-great-aunt to Maya and Alex.
This picture of Alex with Aunt Mandy (doing her most favorite thing in the whole world -washing dishes -NOT) and was taken in 2005, when he was eight. You can get a little idea here perhaps about what a tall boy he was -still is -because Mandy is almost 5 ft 8 inches and he was already up to her shoulder on this shot.
On this photo, taken after the funeral for my Dad's other sister, Aunt Lizzie, the little lady in the center is our Aunt Mike, who was 89 years old at that time and she's surrounded by her nieces and nephews who were present for our aunt's funeral. Aunt Mike specifically requested that Alex come stand by her for this picture though as she thought the absolute world of him and he worshiped her as well. Present here are: Bessie Ann, Alex, me, Aunt Mike, Isabel, Skip, Mike and Margaret Ann.
This is Alex and his Mom, Carrie, taken the end of the school year of 2006. Again, you can see how evident his height is as his mother is 5 ft 9 inches tall. (His dad is about 6 ft 3, I think, so he does come by this quite honestly!)
Here's Alex with his other Grandma (Marge), his stepgrandfather (John) and me -after the special program held at his school in the spring of 2006.
Here's our team for the 2007 Autism Walk and that's Alex in the middle in front!
This was taken at the Sears Studio when we had pictures taken of all the grandkids and I loved this picture of Maya, holding on to Alex. She adores him and he does quite well trying to entertain her, keep her occupied and happy whenever they are together.
At this year's Autism Walk, that's Alex, his Mom (Carrie) and she's holding Kurtis. By the way, our team raised $2,728 for the benefit of the Autism Now organization!
June 3, 2008 -Me (Grammy J), Maya and Alex -after his school's band concert in which Alex had a trumpet solo -and did very well with it too, I must add! My Aunt Mike had to be watching him from heaven and being just as proud as punch -just as I was -because she had taught music for many years, to say nothing of him being her "pet."
And here he is -in one of the portrait pictures done of him this spring. Now you have to admit, he is one heck of a handsome young man though, isn't he?

The morning he was born, I bypassed going to work that day till after lunch so I could go to the hospital to see him and his mother. It was the most remarkable thing ever for me because although I had three children of my own and knew the fascination of one's own newborn child, seeing him for the first time was I think even more special. I couldn't take my eyes off him! I could have sat there in the room and just stared at him the whole day if I hadn't had to make an appearance sometime that day at the office on campus where I was working! Guess grandchildren do that to us though, don't they?

So there's my birthday boy -Grammy's Prince Alex -who will always hold a very, very special place in my heart as my first grandchild, first grandson too, and here's hoping today was a special day for him as he celebrated the first of a couple gatherings in honor of his eleventh birthday!

Whenever you get up here to Gram's house, Alex -your birthday present is waiting for you!

Love you, always -my most special young man -Prince Alex, you'll always be to me!

Grammy J

I don't normally like to do memes and most of the time, will tend to avoid them at all costs -especially the ones asking me to list a number of things about myself that are strange or unusual or of that ilk. But today, while reading blogs I subscribe to on my reader, I came across this one -a new one, made up by one of the bloggers I like to read - Hammer -and it struck a bit of a chord with me. Since I am always saying what I would do if ever I were to hit the lottery and a huge powerball one, at that, I figured I'd copy this one and do it for a change.

Like Hammer, I'm not going to tag anyone with it so if you'd like to participate, feel free -no obligation save perhaps linking it back to Hammer and to me.

With that said, here's my take on what I would do if I ever won a huge powerball jackpot!

You just won the mega powerball jackpot to the tune of 150 million dollars (after taxes)

1. What would be the very first thing you would do? Pay off all my debts, help my kids with their bills and build a large garage to accomodate my son-in-law and my son's desire to have a garage where they can do whatever kind of automotive work their pea-picking hearts' desire!

2. Where would you choose to live? Same house -it's been my HOME for 64 years and I love it here although I'd try to finish the remodeling work needed.

3. What kind of house would you live in? I'd build on to this house -an annex type thing, with a room large enough for a bedroom for me, plus a crafts/activity room for my computer, sewing machine, storage for my fabric, yarns, embroidery material and a huge bookcase with a tv and steroe system built-in to it. Also, room enough to put my organ in there too! This would also facilitate two more bedrooms upstairs and an additional bathroom to better accomodate the kids and all the grown-up folks in the family.

4. What kind of car would you buy? A new van-type vehicle that would hold everyone in the family as right now, all our vehicles will only hold a maximum of four and there are six of us here.

5. Where would you vacation? I would travel the U.S. in a deluxe motor home.I'd also plan trips abroad to visit the countries of my ancestors -Sweden and Scotland first, then go on to travel wherever I could that looked interesting to me to see -and I'd arrange to take my family with me too so they could enjoy the opportunity to see more than a few places in the US.

6. Would you have anything on your body fixed? I'd find a good liposuction surgeon first, then maybe think about fixing a couple other assorted body parts.

7. What kind of hobbies would you engage in? Take some classes in computer stuff -like HTML, plus learning how to work with other software, then set up a fabric/crafts store with classes available for others to learn (and me too) how to do a wide variety of crafts.

8. What charities would you donate to? Anything to benefit autisic children and their families! The Cancer Society would be another charity as well as the SPCA. I'd set up a foundation that would help people with needs that can't be met via the regular agencies -like someone gets hit with car repairs they can't afford but yet, can't afford NOT to have the work done or emergency funds to help people cover fuel costs, small potatoes to many but for those already living on the edge, it can make the difference between surviving or not sometimes. I'd donate more towards my church and various charities it supports.

9. Would you give money to your relatives? To some extent, yes. I'd help my kids, my grandchildren too by setting up separate accounts or trusts for them to see to it that they are able to manage their lives better down the road.

10.Would you run away from your current life? Nope. What would be the point there? You can't run away from "life" and its inner problems because unless you deal with them, they'll always be with you.

11. Would you continue to work? Since I'm considered "retired/disabled" now, I'd just continue with what things I am able to do.

12. Would the money change you in any way? Hopefully, it would make me more generous simply because I could afford to do more for others and I could be more open to things I currently can't participate in due to limited funds.

What would you do if you had a windfall of a great deal of money?

"You are never a burden.. don't ever think that. Friends need each other to pick them up when they are down and I would do nothing less. "
Dawn Drover~


This phrase was written in an e-mail received by Ann Clemmons at what she says was one of her "lowest moments, " and was sent to her by her dear friend Dawn Drover from Twisted Sister in response to a comment she had written to her in an e-mail.

This all inspired Ann to create a new award -the "Million Dollar Friend Award shown here.
If you have some million dollar friends you would like to pass this award to be sure to copy and paste the following paragraph with a link to Twisted Sister to acknowledge her words that touched me in my e-mail and I'm sure touched you.

Also include a link to A Nice Place In The Sun where the award originated. I have included both the links to Twisted Sister and A Nice Place In The Sun within the paragraph to go along with the award.

In addition, if you would like to include what a million dollar friend means to you, please feel free to do so, it will make each bloggers post interesting and exciting to read.

To pass The Million Dollar Award to your million dollar friends, copy and paste the award image along with the original paragraph below~ (click on blog names for the links)

Start Copy---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You are never a burden.. don't ever think that. Friends need each other to pick them up when they are down and I would do nothing less. "
Dawn Drover~ Twisted Sister

A Million Dollar Friend is the kind of person who instinctively knows what it means to be a good friend; this kind of person makes you look forward to the days ahead and fondly remember the days that have passed.

A Nice Place In The Sun

End copy------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, post your nominees and what a million dollar friend means to you. And that's it.

First off, I'd like to thank Ann for giving this award to me as well as numerous others she feels have stood beside her during some hard days she's had recently. I can relate fully to feeling very grateful to the many folks I have met and the friendships that have formed through blogging. It's such a great community -one that generally is very willing to come forward and try to help others in whatever way possible.

I'd like to pass this award on to all those folks on my Reader list but to sit here and list them individually (there are only 165 bloggers I subscribe to) would take me the better part of the day) so I'm just going to address this to everyone shown on my list in my sidebar. If your blog is listed there, then this award is being given to you because each of you, in your own special way, has become a "million dollar friend" to me!

And anyone else reading this post who feels their friends also deserve this recognition, please feel free to spread the friendship and love a bit further. Just follow the above information as provided by Ann to link it back to her and to Twisted Sister

Now, go forth and multiple in the name of friendship!

The question is: Are you a nervous traveller?

That's this week's question posted by David McMahon over at Authorblog. Every Sunday, he posts a different question and then asks anyone who wants to respond to do so and to link the post back to his site.

I've not been a world traveller, not by a long shot. I've never travelled by train, flown on three occasions so not too much to write about fear of travelling in that respect.

On those three airplane flights -two being coast-to-coast and the other, just a sort of "puddle jump" type flight from the old airport that used to be located about 12 miles from here to Philadelphia where I then changed planes to complete my trip to Washington, D.C. -I don't recall being really fearful on any of them. Yes, on the first flight -the one to Philly and ending at D.C., I was a bit anxious since it was my first flight ever and I really had no idea what to expect. Would I get sick was probably my biggest worry. I do have a fear of heights too so I was initially concerned about that but once the plane took off, I found myself fascinated as I looked out the window at the earth, far below me and it didn't frighten me the way I had worried it would.

I do love to travel a bit when I can, by car. I don't now, nor have I ever really had any opportunity to take any long automobile trips but I always liked to drive so any trip could be classified as an adventure of sorts for me.

However, there is one area where I often become quite afraid when it comes to travelling in a car and that involves riding with my older daughter. That girl has the capacity to definitely put the fear of God into me, ten-fold!

She tends first and foremost to have a bit of a lead foot. That's kind of putting it mildly at times. She can also become very stubborn about slowing down too. Tailgating is another thing she often does, which scares the heck out of me as well. And now, since she has a cell phone, it's just one more distraction for her and one that really sends me straight up the proverbial wall.

Two years ago this past January, I had some health issues that the local doctor sent me to Pittsburgh to have a "needle biopsy" -something our local hospital no longer has staff and equipment to provide here -and so, older daughter said she would drive me to Pittsburgh. Mandy normally is my transportation provider on long trips particularly those involving medical issues and she was six months pregnant at that time so she really didn't want to be driving that far.

That particular trip was especially difficult for me as it seemed every 10-15 minutes, the cell phone was ringing and it was her fiance calling to check in on us -how far we had travelled since his previous phone call, asking all kinds of petty questions ya know, and just enough conversation to be quite distracting for her while driving. (In my opinion, anyway!) At one point, on the Parkway, coming out of Pittsburgh and near Monroeville, daughter was zipping along, yakking on the phone, etc, and not paying attention to the traffic (rush hour, no less) in front of us that had come to a standstill and we almost rear-ended a nice big SUV and could have created a hell of a chain reaction accident too but thankfully, providence was with us.

That, and a few other episodes on that trip caused me -when I got back home -to tell Mandy to PLEASE, don't ever make me ride to Pittsburgh ever again with her older sister at the wheel!

Another thing with that daughter and her driving is she has absolutely no sense of direction! On that trip mentioned above and all subsequent trips we've made together to PIttsburgh, without fail, every time we get off Interstate 80 at the Brookville exchange, she has to ask me which direction should she now take -east or west! My standard line to her has been for her to follow Horace Greeley's line and "Go West, Go West young woman." (Ok, his line is "young man" and I changed the sex there.)

Truthfully, I think my older daughter knows that she holds this power over me to make me nervous and rather fearful when riding with her and she loves nothing better much of the time than to do things simply to bedevil me. So I think many of the things she does while driving are done for that purpose -just to see how far she can push the envelope and scare the living crapola out of me in the process!

Kids! They never do stop testing their parents' patience I guess, do they?