Life

Left over silliness from the day after Thanksgiving.  Me dancing in my Senior Prom formal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z78yLAe9-TM&feature=youtu.be
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Sunday I attended the performance of the Nutcracker Ballet.  My grand girl Madeleine was the Snow Queen this year.  She is amazing to watch.  Tall and willowy, so graceful.  She has such stage presence.  She gets "lost" in her dancing and looks enraptured.

What is amazing to me, the whole family are so giving.  They do most things together.  When Karen and Mark took their 30th anniversary cruise--I thought, "How nice to get away.  Just the two of them."  Then I found out, they took all the kids with them.  Now if that was me, I'd want to be alone with my husband, but not them.  They love doing everything with their children--ages 30-19.

Maddie can get filthy, dirty cleaning up old tires from vacant lots in the middle of Detroit, and loves it.

Then she can get down and dusty in Guatemala, building houses, and loves it. 

Then she can study to be a nurse and work for an elder care business.  Take care of an elderly lady during the night, which entails changing the lady's diapers, etc, and loves it.

Then she can strap on her toe shoes and dance like a prima ballerina, and loves it.

She doesn't realize how pretty she is and she is so humble, she doesn't think she is doing anything out of the ordinary.   

I am so filled with awe at Karen's family.  There is never any discord.  I have never seen any of the kids act like "normal" teenagers with all the snottiness and angst.  All I can think of, it has to be their faith and their total togetherness.  Boogles my mind!

"People" are not supposed to be backstage.

At intermission, her dance instructor saw me through the window in the stage door and came out and got me.  Then she went and found Maddie and took this photo.

Usually we only see the dancers afterwards, when they are out of costume.

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I had a ball yesterday!  Up to the Wal-Mart to get my tons of groceries for the month.  Up and down the aisles, I saw so many little, short old ladies, and two in electric buggies, that I could help reach up to the higher shelves and get what they needed.  I have never really liked being tall, but now--in my old age, I relish in it.  On my way out of the store, I took all my left over change from last month (that I usually throw in my jug) and dropped it in the Red Kettle.

I got a carry out guy to take out my cart and lift the heavy can of kitty litter into the trunk for me and when I got home, John was driving by and stopped and carried in ALL my groceries.

What a great day!!
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Today's schedule is to get my hair cut at 2:30, stop at the post office to mail a Christmas prezzie to my "daughter" Chris in Texas and finish making my Christmas cards.

LIFE IS SO GOOD!!

It Is What It Is

I'm almost afraid to go to see Madeleine dance in the Nutcracker on Sunday.  I imagine my radar will be up, looking for anything strange and I am not being a racist when I say, if someone comes in dressed in Muslim dress, I will probably be observing them.  

Actually, I have lived here almost 13 years and have never seen anyone in Muslim dress, and the Nutcracker is being held in an auditorium in a small town, but......................we get antsy, don't we?

How can you fight an ideology?  

I don't really understand why the President thinks climate change is causing this.  Give them jobs and they no longer will be Jihadists?  Stricter gun control laws so they can't get any weapons?

What?

California is a Liberal State, run by a Liberal Governor.  "They" have incorporated the strict gun laws that the President wants to put into law for the entire US.  Did those laws help those 14 dead people?

The media so careful not to call it an act of Terrorism, when by the 3rd hour of the coverage, when I heard the guy's name, I knew it was.  So I'm a profiler.  Big deal.

The true definition of Jihad is "striving for self improvement."  The Radical Jihadist interprets that to mean, "Holy War".  Kill ALL Infidels--including Muslims who do not prescribe to Sharia Law.

I took a Comparative Religions class back in 1983.  One of the religions studied was Islam.  I was interested in reading more.  When I read the Quran and the Hadith, I was stunned.  I told some of my friends about Muhammed's teachings.  They looked at me like I had three heads and were not a bit interested.  Why should they be, or me?  We lived in a farm community.  We had never seen, nor probably would never see a Muslim.  I only had met Jews because of my going to college.

Over the years however, I have never forgotten and years ago, when we heard of some of the earlier attacks and then 9/11, I had that "I told you so" feeling.

I had to almost laugh out loud when C.A, I. R.. representatives came on TV to say they had no idea that Sayed would do such a thing.  My neighbor's were saying, "Now look at them.  They are the nice Muslims."  I didn't tell them that C.A.I.R. is suspected to be a front for radical Muslims.  They came on the air so quickly--to get their "spin" out there.

The fact of the matter is, we could go "over there" and bomb every Radical Jihadist we could find and it will not change a thing, except kill our service men and women.  If there was only one Jihadist left in this world, he would soon find another sympathizer and then another and..................Radical Islam would be back in full force.

Now, Ass Carter wants to send women into combat?  What is going to happen the first time one of our service women is captured by ISIS?  She will be raped.  She will then be beheaded.  Her body will be dragged through the streets and you know darn well, "they" will have full video of the events and that video will somehow slip out and we all will see it.

Can you imagine the uproar this would cause in our Country?

There is nothing we can do about any of this.  Nothing our Country can do actually--except put back into force the detection, the tapping of phones, the observation and even then, "they" will somehow get through.  We could let 10,000 more Syrian refugees come into Detroit, I am sure none of them would be Jihadists!

Every time I hear that sound and see BREAKING NEWS banner come across the TV screen, I just get a chill.  It really can't be anything good.  I think we are going to hear and see that a lot more.  I actually think there will be more shootings as this Holiday season progresses.

The Jewish holiday starts and our Christian holiday right after.  Then of course there is all the New Year's Eve celebrations.  We are suppose to just go on with our lives and not be afraid of crowded situations?

The only consolation I have is that I have read THE BOOK and I know the ending.  The Temple hasn't been destroyed yet.  I just hope I am "taken" out of here before the BIG battle begins.

A Fruitful Day

I had to replace my humidifier.  Mine was 5 years old and with the lime content in our water, it bit the dust.  Last fall, I took it all apart and cleaned it really good before I put it away.  It was working then.

Yesterday, I got the big, heavy dang thing out, filled it with 5 gallons of water and turned it on.

Nothing!

I took the top part off--the part with all the working parts, and oiled the fan, and checked it out, then put it back on.  Turn it on.

Nothing!

I decided this year I would only use gallons of water I get out of the machine at Wal-Mart.  I had 8 gallons ready to go.  So--in the non-working humidifier, was 5 gallons of purified water.  How to get it out of the humidifier and back in the jugs?

2 cups at a time!  ARRGH!!!

I was so mad that I came in here, jumped on Amazon and ordered a new one--just like the old one.  I had already purchased 4 filters for it and I didn't want to return the filters and I liked this humidifier, so................................ and it was $60.00 less than it was 5 years ago!!!  HOWEVER--although I had the $80.00 it cost, saved up, that money was NOT intended for a humidifier!!

After I got most of the water out, I tore that thing apart and slammed put it piece by piece back in it's box to put out to the curb on garbage day!

I did save the water jug part just in case the handle ever breaks off and I won't have to buy a replacement.

I need a fairly large humidifier.  It gets very dry here, in the winter.  If I don't have it running all winter, every time I touch anything metal, I get shocked and, while I've heard that electrical shocks are good for arthritis, I don't enjoy the experience.

That reminds me of a story.  We had a neighbor farmer who had arthritis in his hands just something awful.  He heard of the "shock treatment", so every morning he'd go out to his barn and grab on, with both hands, to the electric fence.  Now, if you have ever accidentally touched an electric fence, you know you get a pretty good zap from it.  It seemed to help him however, so I guess he wasn't as weird as we all thought?
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I have some of my Christmas decorations up.  I have all the ones I am putting up, up.  No Christmas tree this year.  For the first time in my life.  Kinds sad, but I am not in the mood!  I will have no visitor's to see it.  Which is how it has been the last 3 years.  I usually put it up just for me and so I can enjoy the sparkling lights, but not this year.

I have my lighted wreath on the front porch.  My lighted angel, Christmas tree and Candy Cane in the front windows, my nativity collection and Santa collection.  That's it.
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Today is Jennifer's 44th birthday.  Mark was almost 14, Pam was 12 and Karen 10 when Jen was born.  They named her.  I was sure she was going to be a Matthew.  When she was born, I wanted her named Angela, because I had nearly lost her twice while I was pregnant, I also had pre-eclampsia and Toxemia.  I thought she was my Angel(a) miracle.

My hubs and kids hated that name so I told them to name her, but her middle name had to be Dorathy, after my mother who had died the year before.

She is a determined, hard working woman since she was about 14.  Extremely high IQ and quite accomplished.  At one time, she and I were very close.  Now, she won't speak to me or be anywhere I am going to be and she is moving to New Jersey and taking my four grand children with her.  (Sigh)

I called her "Sweetzie Bug" for years.  Her brother called her "Mouskrat"  because when she was born, he thought her hair was furry like a Muskrat's pelt.  (He had a trap-line at the time.)

On the back of this collage I sent her for her birthday, looks like this.

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I got the knitted mini-bag done for Chris.  It is the cutest thing!  It holds everything I need for a run to the store.  Glasses, wallet, keys.  A cell phone would also fit and not a whole lot of heavy weight, like with my purse.

Just pull up the drawstring and away I go.  I took it with me to Wal-Mart and the print shop today and had three ladies ask me about it.  Cute as can be!
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11 months of work--done!  I have all my genealogy books done and ready to wrap.  They turned out just beautiful, I think.

 This is the oldest oak tree in the county where we lived and it stands in Susan and Chuck's back yard.




Clear plastic cover













An image/map I found of the place in Germany our ancestor's emigrated from.

  

 The fold-out pedigree chart I made for each branch of our family

Lots and lots of photos of the ancestor's and descendants and their homes

A page for my sister and her son and my children 

\

A personal note to each of my children, in their book, and a nice heavy, blue linen back cover

110 pages, filled with words and photos, most pages on both sides.

I saved all my receipts and added them up.  The paper was the most expensive, followed by the inkjects.  It averaged out to $106.45 a book.

Is there somewhere in the back of the book where I could put a teeny, tiny Price $106.45, so they would appreciate it more?

For Heaven's Sake!!

Where did I go?  I can't believe it's Tuesday night and I haven't posted a thing.

My Spartans won the B1G East Conference title and will play for the B1G Championship this Saturday night--against undefeated Iowa.  I know you are all interested in this fact.  LOL

My Spartan Basketball team won the John Wooden Legacy Tournament out in California, Sunday night.  More interesting facts for you.

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My sister is off to Fort Bragg, NC visiting her husband's new grandson.  They will stop on the way home in Virginia to visit his brother and then on up to New York to visit his other grandson.

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My grand girl, Maddie, will be dancing the solo role of the Snow Queen in this year's Nutcracker, this next Sunday.  I thought that kid would quit dancing when she graduated, but oh no.  She loves ballet.  This will be my 14 year seeing the production.  I am soooooooo sick of the Nutcracker, but I cannot NOT go!!!

I love this photo of when she started ballet and the bottom one of her laying the same way now.

Here she is in dress rehearsal, in the white.

and this picture appeared in the local newspaper of her teaching the little girls how to be the little mice--she's in the middle

and her 14 years ago in her first Nutcracker

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John and Maizey stop by almost every morning now.  He takes her for her walk down the street toward the lake and on their way back, when she gets to my driveway, Maizey walks part way up the driveway and lays down.  He can't get her to move.  So, he calls me on the phone and I open the door, they both come inside, Maizey lays at my feet while I feed her a few treats, John and I chat, and then they're off.

It really quite nice.  Now that John realizes that I am not going to seduce him, and I realize that he isn't going to rape me, we have a really nice friendship.  We yak away like a couple of old ladies!!   Catching up on the latest gossip, talking politics, religion, sports.  It really is perfect.  If I need help, he helps me.  I shared a recipe with him and he brought me some of the cakes he made.  I gave him some of the spaghetti sauce I made and he brought me chicken noodle soup he made.  Then, he goes about his business and I go about mine.

Occasionally, when they get ready to leave, we hug each other, but it's like a "friend" hugs, not the kind Friend Merle used to give, with his thumbs pushed up into the sides of my boobs!!!

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I finished up my 20 quarts of spaghetti sauce for my "boys" Christmas present.  I only need 16 quarts so I will have some left over to share with Pearl, Dar, John and some for myself.

This time of year, I need a bigger freezer!

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I finished up the last 3 of my genealogy books all printed out and tomorrow will take them up to the printer to have them punched and the coil, front and back cover put in.

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I am almost done with a project I test knitted for Chris.  It has been a difficult pattern for me, but really fun to do.  To see it progress as I work along.  I made a pair of crocheted slippers for Pearl's daughter and now I am making a pair for her Grand daughter--because the grand daughter keeps stealing the Mom's.

Sunday morning, I was pondering on something, so I made a picture of my thoughts.

Best Black Friday Ever

The kids and sister have known for years that I can't drive after dark.  Come to find out, my sister and her hubs sat home alone Thursday.  They had Thanksgiving with her son's family on Wednesday.  She said, "You should have come out.  We don't really do Thanksgiving anymore, but you could have come for lunch."

I explained that I thought her son would be there celebrating with his family and didn't feel right about just intruding.

Anyway--Karen must have realized something because she called us all this morning and invited us down for a "craft" day at her house.  "Be here by 11:00.  Bring whatever craft you are working on and we'll go down in the basement, watch "White Christmas" and yak."

Susan picked me up on her way.  Pammie came too.  Jen was invited, but turned us down.  Her MIL was visiting and although Karen invited the MIL to come too, they didn't.

Well--what a great time we had.  This day will keep me happy until Christmas which we found out today, is going to be at Pammie's house!!!!!  The first time I will celebrate Christmas Eve back in my own house since 1988.  We will start the festivities at noon!!!  I WILL GET MY FOUR HOURS OF BEING WITH THE KIDS--well, Jen may not show up, but.....................
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 Karen has an enormous storage room just off her basement.

My sister playing the piano

My sister singing Christmas carols as loudly as she can to bring the others down stairs.

 Pam was crocheting an afghan and checking her phone.







Maddie was crocheting an afghan and Helene a scarf.

 Susan had been working on her scrapbooking and Karen was sewing on a quilt.

We all had a try at lifting the 35# bar bell,  Susan got it about 6" off the floor, I got it up to my waist and Karen did several reps, squats and over her head.

We sang all the songs along with the movie--we've seen it many, many times.

Then, things got a bit crazy

Pammie got to talking about how she loved the trunk with all the old clothes in it that my kids used to make Halloween costumes.  Madeleine made the comment that they had a "dress-up" trunk with "Gramma's old prom dresses."  Helene went into the storage area and pulled out the box.  There it was.  My beautiful Senior Prom formal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zvdAyGkmK0

Then they wanted me to try it on to see if it still fit.  Someone took a video of me dancing around the basement, but I haven't seen it as yet.

Maddie found a purple number from someones bridesmaid dress and Helene put on the negligee I had made for her mother and a kitty hat I had made for one of Jen's Halloween costumes.      

We settled down and went back to our handiwork and finished watching the movie.  Maddie had to run to ballet practice.  We did manage to get one photo where we look like proper women, lovely ladies.  Which of course is a lie, because we are more normal in the rest of the photos than the last one.

Three trying to sit in a space for two.

Ah-hh,  There we are.  Very prim, proper 

and looking so normal!

Then tonight, I got this picture of my son and Cindy.  He sure doesn't look like he has cancer, does he?

Thank God.  The infusions he gets every few weeks have not made him sick and his "numbers" are near normal.

BEST DAY EVER!!!!

The Way It Was

I miss the way is was.  We always dressed up for Thanksgiving dinner at my Grandma's, and it was dinner, 1:00 pm precisely.  None of this eating at four in the afternoon nonsense!

After my Grandma died, we were always up to Mother and Daddy's.  After Mother died, I had Thanksgiving dinner for everyone.  I cooked all day Wednesday--two or three recipes that my Grandma and Mother always had.  I made 4 or 5 different pies.  Pumpkin, Mince, Apple, Cherry and usually Banana Cream.  My Dad and step-mother came and my hubs family.  The women all worked so I had them bring nothing.

I used my Grandma's best long linen damask table cloth, her china dishes and crystal water goblets and my Mother's pure sterling silver-ware.  The kids loved it!!  They were on their best table manners that day.

When I lived in Saginaw, I always fixed Thanksgiving dinner for my house mate Ernie and his mother.  Just the three of us, but I made all the trimmings.  It was their custom to have peel and eat shrimp as an appetizer.

Then, when I moved down here, the whole family was still going up to The Farm, with Daddy and Step-mother.  After Daddy died, step-mother always went to her daughters and Fred and I always went to Jennifer's.  Her mother- in-law would come in from New Jersey and we'd  have a big meal and then while the men watched football, we women played Canasta.

Then Fred died and everyone felt sorry for me and I had invites to everyone's place!!  Then Jen got mad at me and the next year I went to Karen's, with all her in-laws.  When Susan and Chuck moved to The Farm in 2012, I had Thanksgiving with them.  We'd usually get Pammie to drive on up for dinner with us.

My son and Cindy always go to her Mother's for Thanksgiving.
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So this year, when I hadn't heard anything by yesterday, I realized that NO ONE was going to extend an invitation.  That pretty much hurt!    So--when I got up this morning, I decided to treat it like any other Thursday.

I did not watch the parade.  I stayed in this computer room and worked on getting my last genealogy book printed out.  Then, at noon, I went out into the living room, had a bowl of Cheerios and watched a bit of the Lion's football game. I got my last batch of spaghetti sauce going and then I watched a really good movie with Ryan O'Neil, Shelly Somebody and Drew Barrymore called "Irreconcilable Differences."

I was working on a new knit project for Chris, while I enjoyed the movie.

Then, between 1:00 and 3:00, Karen called and invited me down.  They were eating at 4:00.  I can't drive after dark, so the minute I got to her house, I would have had to start back.  Then my sister called, she is coming this way tomorrow.  Then Pearl called and was so angry at my family, she invited me to go with them to her grand daughter's.  Then John stopped by with two pieces of the Pineapple Cakes he had made from the recipe I gave him.

Then, it was 6:30 and the MSU Spartans were playing basketball and now--just look--it's after nine and I will be going to bed soon!

It was a pretty good day--62 degrees and sunny. 

I still miss the way it was, however.  Now, I am waiting to see how they can all screw up the (once a year) four whole hours I get to be with family on Christmas Eve!  I can't wait for it all to be over!!!

2 in 1

What a lovely time Andrew and I had at supper.

I told him to choose where he wanted to go and he picked Red Robin.  Their family used to go there all the time, but haven't been in a couple of years.  It IS quite expensive.  I had a hamburger and our bill came to $32.38.  I told him to order anything he wanted, and he did!

We talked about so many things.  Their move--he is not happy, but says, "I don't really have a choice, so I will make the best of it."  We talked about college--he still wants to go to MIT--that hasn't changed since he was 6.  We talked about choices he will be making in the next few years.  I cautioned about making spur-of-the-moment choices and how that could hurt his life.  We talked about drugs--he says cigarettes, alcohol and weed are very prevalent in his class and the high school.  I was quite amazed, as  his school is rather a small townish atmosphere.  We talked about religion and how he likes their new church because, "I can ask questions.  I can voice my opinion, and I'm not going to be judged or thrown out.

We talked about his siblings--he's very keen on the youngest Evan because, "He is very smart!"

I told him that the move is going to be hardest on Elise, he agreed and said, "She just cries about it all the time!"  I said, "Girls form really strong friendships.  They have a deep emotional connection to their friends.  Elise is really going to miss Violet, that shes known since she was three.  Right now, she probably doesn't think she will make any new friends, but she will.  Just be nice to her and don't tease her."

I asked about his friends.  He only has a couple in his own class.  He has three really good friends who are Seniors this year.  Why is that?  He is taking Senior AP classes, so he is with the Senior Gifted kids more than he is with his own Freshman class.

Andrew has a very high IQ and is super intelligent.  At 12 1/2, he built his own computer.  Not just a regular computer, but one of those with extra hard drives, lots of megabytes and other bytes I can barely understand.  He has been told by family and teachers, since he was 4, how brilliant he is and...he believes it and knows it.

He doesn't act haughty, at least not around me, but when I said to him, "You are very intelligent," he didn't give me one of those "Aw shucks," looks, he nodded his head in agreement.  "Just don't let your intelligence make you weird like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates.....don't let it isolate you from other people.  Be as smart as you want, but be humble about it and interact with all kinds of people."

He is very courteous, to everyone.  He uses his "Please" and "Thank Yous" to the waitress and to all others.  I like that about him.

We talked about politics.  He's a lot smarter about that,  than most adults I know.  He said, "The way our Constitution was written up, the Congress is supposed to have as much or more power than the President.  The Congress who is supposed to represent the people.  Nowadays, the President has all the power and the Congress, with their unlimited terms, aren't representing the people.  They are just there getting and doing favors from their other buddies and working on a nice retirement package."

Andrew just turned 14.  14 going on 20.  He is unlike any 14 year old boy I have ever met and talked with.  His knowing that he is exceptional in the brain department seems to give him a certain sense of confidence.  I suppose he could be a pain in the ass, and I hope he learns to tone that down, before some Jersey Boy beats it out of him.

Andrew has also lost the uncomfortableness he used to have at 10-12 about hugging Gramma Judy.  He not only hugs me now, but easily said, "I love you, Gramma."

I do not know why he is wearing his hair long like this.  I also don't know why he dressed so sloppy when we went out to eat.  I said nothing about it.  I don't really understand teenagers all that well anymore.

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This morning, John and Maisey stopped in.  I was still in my pajamas.  Luckily I wear flannel pajama pants and a waffle-weave thermal top, so I was clothed.  He gave me a jar of special jam he bought in the UP.  Thimble Berry, which he noted was special.  I had never heard of it before, so I Googled it.

Each year, hundreds of jars of thimbleberry jam are produced and sold by local jam makers to feed the appetites of visitors hungry for a taste of Keweenaw. Each year, many more jars are produced in homes throughout the Keweenaw Peninsula to feed families hungry for a sweet breakfast companion or after school snack. But even seasoned jam makers must learn new ways to meet the unique challenges facing them throughout the entire process. Two characteristics of thimbleberries present the first hurdles to a would-be jam maker: It grows only in the wild, and it is extremely fragile.
    
 It is not unusual for home jam makers to gather their berries in the wild. Wild blueberry and strawberry jams have been popular for decades, perhaps centuries. However, these fruits can be gathered in just about any type of container, including  boxes, baskets or pails. Not so the thimbleberry. So delicate are these berries that they break open from the weight of the berries above them in the pail. Even the most careful picker cannot avoid bruising them. To prevent the juice of the berries from being lost to the forest floor, only a watertight- or in this case juice-tight-container will do for gathering. Plastic five-quart ice cream pails are perfect for the job.

The Monks have this place to sell UP items to support their monastery.

$15.00 for a pint of jam!!
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The rest of my day was spent copying out my next to last genealogy book and making a quick trip up to Cartridge World to get my color and blank inkjets refilled!!

Tomorrow is looking like I am going to be alone on Thanksgiving day.  I have no invites from no one.

Kind of sad in a way.  I have four children and a sister and yet none of them thought about the old lady.  It will be so much more convenient when I'm dead!!

BUT, rather than let those kinds of thoughts creep into my mind, I will content myself with finishing up the printing of the book, knitting and crocheting and starting my last batch of spaghetti sauce.