Pictorial of a Nice Thursday and Friday

Thursday, I went up to Byron, to the cemetery in town and then out to "our" cemetery and over to The Farm to visit my sister, Susan

(Bethie--the hanging flower basket is beautiful)
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On the way--a ten acre field of nothing by Sunflowers 

Our cemetery--everyone is right where they belong

except--me on this end. 

Moved the Dog Angel on Fred's stone, it gets wet under it

so every time I go out, I move it to the other side. 

Turning down the road to the farm--

acres and acres of corn. 

My gosh!  Their pond is flooding over, back into the corn field.

Very rare for this time of year. 

On the other side of the road.

This is the spot where Fred and I were going to put our new double-wide

We would have a wet driveway--still in August. 

Susan and I yakked continually for 3 hours--more her than I.  I didn't get a chance to tell her I am filing for bankruptcy.  That's okay--another time.
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Friday--

Madeleine's 18th birthday.  I drove on down to Karen and Mark's.  Pammie was there, and Jennifer and the littlest Grands.  A really nice time.

 It appears we are going to have ice cream!

        Karen, Moi, Pam and Jen--I don't know why Pam is scrunched down.
                        She as tall or taller than Karen and Jennifer.

 

 Elise (grand 7), Madeleine and SIL, Mark                        

Alex (grand 8), Katie, and Stephen (grand 4).  Stephen and Katie are both in the medical college at Michigan State.

Pammie making bunny ears behind Andrew--he has no clue, LOL

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Jennifer's four.

Grands Elise, Alex and little Evan on Elise lap.

Grand 6: Andrew, almost 13.  If he only knew how much he looks

like his Grandpa Miller (my ex) at that age.

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Do you think Elise (10) looks up to her older cousin, Madeleine?             

Little Evan just kept saying, "Cake?  Cake?"

Look at his eyes, just dancing, and I think he has his tongue out!

I cropped the picture of me and the girls, but I wanted you to see Pammie's feet.  She rarely wears shoes and she always has on toe rings and differing ankle bracelets!  She's such a hoot!!

Throw Back Thursday

1984-1985

45 years old

I was a Sophomore in college.

Apparently the advertising department thought it was cool to put an "old lady" in with four other sophomore's for a TV, newspaper, radio commercial.

The End of the Month--Already!

Today's high temperature was: 63 degrees

A few sprinkles, but a nice day

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I didn't wake up today until 11:00 a.m.--because I was still wake at 4:00 a.m. last night.  

I watched this out my front windows:

The manager Rob and Jackie discussing something.

She is not happy with new neighbors coming in.

OH LOOK!  

Do you see the dog?

GUESS WHAT? 

Another Shih tzu--just like the one who lives behind me.

I will get to have a YAPPY DOG chorus--

in stereo.

I can hardly wait!

Cutting up the sod and ready to lay foundation

for their storage shed 

Pearl called at 1:30, wanting me to come down and help her get her credit score--FICO.

I walked up at 2:00--after my SOAP and back to the computer we went.  I had her sit down and show me how she was trying to enter her account to get into creditkarma.com.  She was very frustrated.

Come to find out, she had put in her e-mail address in CAPS--which is okay, but she had entered (dot) com, instead of (dot) net and it was telling her it was an invalid e-mail address.

We got that straightened out and finally got in to the website.  She didn't want her credit REPORT, she only wanted her credit SCORE and guess what?  You have to pay $1.00 for your FICO score AND they enroll you in a 7 day trial program, that, if you don't cancel within the 7 days, they then charge your credit card $29.95.

Knowing that Pearl would never remember to cancel her subscription--I stopped her and we searched around for FREE credit places.

WELL GUESS WHAT?  NO site, not even the government site, will give you your credit SCORE for free--you gotta pay either $1.00 and a free trail, or $4.50 to get just it.  You can get all the credit REPORTS you want for free, but not your FICO.

So--after 90 minutes we gave up.

"Why do they want to charge me?  It's my score!  I should get it free.  Where can I get it free?"

"I don't know for sure."

"I'll bet the credit bureau would give it to me."

"Yes--ah no.  Credit bureau?  They are the ones trying to charge you."

"My bank?"

"Not unless you want to take out a loan."

"Well-----all I want is my number!!!"

"I tell you what.  Go up to the car dealer up the road.  Pick out a nice new car and tell the guy you want to buy it.  The business manager will take you into his office and start getting the paperwork ready.  Along the way, he will check your credit score--realize that you can't afford the new car and tell you your credit score is too low.  THEN, you ask him what it is--he will tell you, and then you say, 'we didn't want a new car anyway.'  You walk out knowing what your FICO score is.  Problem solved!"
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Karen called today--we talked about her great accomplishment and she said, "Oh Mom...you know I'm not the greatest writer--I know what I want to say, but have a hard time getting it down on paper.  I almost called you to have you read the portfolio and edit it for me."

"You did a great job!!!  I like the different personal touches you added, like how you remembered some assignments that you dreaded because............"

"Yeah.  We had a seminar with the prof the other day, and he mentioned that.  How most of the other people in class just wrote, 'I did this or I did that', and I put in my feelings and what I got out of the assignments."

"Well--you posted it on FaceBook kind of late last night, so I stayed up and read the whole thing--every chapter and sub-chapter and....I thought it was fantastic!"

Then we talked about the camping trip they just got back from--to Arcadia National Park in Maine and how they hiked up (I can't remember the name of the mountain) to see the sun rise--the first place in the US that the sun hits in the morning.  Then, she told me, she wanted to do a Cathedral tour of Canada and they went to Quebec and also Montreal.  Come to find out, they visited the same place my Grandma and I visited in 1956--the summer between my junior and senior year of high school.

"Did you get to the St. Anne of Beaupre shrine?"  I asked.

"Oh yes.  It was wonderful!  Were you and great grandma there too?"

"Yes--wow, 58 years ago.  People went there for cures as they say the water is blessed--kind of like Lourdes."

"YES!"

"Did you go to the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal?"

"Yes--it's beautiful.  Did you and great grandma go there too?"

Yep.  Grandma paid for a chauffeur driven guided tour of Montreal.  And, she got some Holy bread from the Basilica."

"I didn't know great grandma was Catholic!"

"She wasn't.  Her mother, Great Grandma Augustine was--you know that picture Aunt Susan has of the Madonna and Child?  My great Grandma, brought that over on the ship on her wedding day.  She was French and her husband was English.  My Grandma--grandma Helene was Methodist, but she still kept some of the ways her Mother probably taught her.  I know she treasured the little knots of bread that the Priest blessed.  She carried them in her purse until the day she died."

"I had no idea!"

Then, she invited me to Madeleine's 18th birthday, this Friday.  The WHOLE family of mine is coming--Jen included.
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Tomorrow, I am driving up to The Farm to visit baby sister Susan .  I'm also going to stop in at the Byron cemetery and visit Beth's sons' grave and then drive on out in the country to "our" cemetery to make sure all my ancestor's and Fred are okay.  

I do love cemeteries!!!

Feel The Love

Today's high temperature was: 63

50 degrees this morning when I woke up

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I CAN FEEL THE LOVE FROM ALL OF YOU!!!

Yes, Pammie knows my situation.  Hers is almost as dire--especially if Jen and Eric move and Pam is out of her "Nanny" job.  Pammie is the ONLY one who knows my situation.  I am visiting my sister one day this week and I will probably tell her.

It would be helpful for Pam and I to live together--we could pool our money and it would help her pay her taxes and household expenses, but...she loves to live alone--as do I--and I think it might come down to her at the brink of losing the farm before she'd consider it.  Plus, I would hate to saddle her with the job of having to care for me if I got sick or disabled.

We shall see--it may be in The Plan and we just don't know about it.  I have always trusted God to lead me along whatever way HE wants me to go, and HE has always put me right where I need to be, so...........
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Melissa--I missed church last Sunday, so I am grateful for your words of encouragement.  In fact--they did more for me this morning, than ANY sermon, LOL.  Bless you my friend!  You lift me up!!!
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This was just posted on FB.  Karen has earned her Master's Degree with a 4.0 GPA!!

Karen Rivard

12 mins · 

Well, one more small assignment and my Master's will be finished. Big sigh!! Take a look at my webpage if you like.http://rivardk5.wix.com/mrsrivardportfolio

mrsrivardportfolio

RIVARDK5.WIX.COM

So Many Things On My Mind

Today's high temperature was: 64 degrees

Sweatshirt weather in July!

==========================

I am so unsettled!

Last night, I woke up at 3:00 with a horribly dry throat and the sound of a scream echoing and cats flying off the bed.  It must have been one heck of a nightmare!

I got on-line this morning and spent two hours taking the REQUIRED debt counseling "work-shop" to be able to file for bankruptcy.  Lastly, I did a live, on-line chat, with a counselor.  She was quite amazed that I have a budget all figured out in an Excel spreadsheet and that I have investigated ways to decrease that budget, like researching moving to a Government Subsidized apartment UGH, (which would cost me $10.00 less a month than staying here).

Got it all done and got my certificate.  Now--I have to do another on-line class that is only suppose to take an hour.  All fees are included in my attorney's fee.

Like... at my age, I need debt counseling?  I know what has brought me to this state--it's not from charging cruises, vacations, cars or fur coats to my credit cards.  

I am $629.00 over budget every month.  That is credit card payments.  I played the credit card transfer to a 0% for 12 months game and it worked for awhile and I got 2 cards paid off and down on the other 3, but...now that game is over, the APR  has gone up, the payments have doubled.  I have always paid early and more than the minimum.  

I HAD a FICO score of 779!!!

HAD is the operative word here.

I am on Welfare.
I go to the food bank every month.
I am going to file for bankruptcy.

I don't know what else I can do and IF--any appliance goes, or the car breaks down, or....or-----I do believe this is the source of the screaming nightmares...the What Ifs.

I have thought of moving back to my farm and living with Pammie.  It would help both of us, financially. I would be back where I most want to live, BUT, I know, Pammie doesn't want a house-mate and unless she asks---

About 8 years ago, Jen and Eric offered to build me an apartment over a third garage they were going to build.  I probably should have done it.  But what now--if they move, would I "go" with the house?  Be the "Mimi" to the new owners?

HOW THE HECK DID I GET TO THIS POINT IN MY AGED LIFE?

My family was fairly wealthy.  I was married to a GM worker with a good salary and benefits.  I worked for fifteen years.  WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?

Well--I know, but it does no good to ponder on the whys.  A lot of it IS my fault--too generous--too wanting to help (probably to gain love and affection?)

STUPID!!

It is what it is and I am going to have to live with it.
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I didn't realize how tall my Rose of Sharon bushes have become.  See their flowers?  At the top of the Lilac bushes.

Everything else in the perennial garden is starting to look a little "shop worn"--not much left too bloom.

Waning days for the Star Gazer Lily

 Only one Lemon Lily left--and was gone after yesterday's storms

The Rudbeckia will bloom on until frost.
Black-Eyed Susan

 Even the annuals on the front porch planters are shabby looking.

I didn't have good luck with them last year either.

    I don't know why.

 The only thing growing like a champ is the

Purple Bean Hyacinth vine, but....

no bean pods as yet and I don't think I am going to get any. 

The only thing I did well with this year, was the Zinnias.  I planted the seeds and forgot about them until they were nearly full grown.
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A trip up to the Meijer store in Howell, for some milk and tuna fish and a small macaroni salad took care of my afternoon.  The young male clerk asked me if I smiled all the time.  I answered, "Yes."  He said, "I do too.  Some people  have asked me if I had a secret."

"That has happened to me too," I replied.  "I guess if they see us smiling for no reason, they think we are up to something."

We had a good laugh and actually...he made my day!!
The only human contact I had all day.
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The footings are in.  Apparently they aren't going to pour a cement slab under the unit?  

Odd. If anyone ever has to crawl under the unit, they will be slithering around in weeds and mud!

Friends and Advice and Circuses

I have wonderful friends--some I see on a regular basis.  Some I see every day, like Pearl.

I have a beautiful friend named Christine.  She's almost young enough to be my kid! She lived with me for about nine months, right after my divorce.  We both were in a mentally, traumatic state of affairs and we'd have these long, late night, involved conversations--which ended up helping as much or more than the counseling we were both getting at the Mental Health place.

Then, Chrissy needed to move on to start her "real" life.  I took her to the bus station and off she went--so far away.  I cried for days and days.  I was and still am closer to her than any of my daughter's.  Probably because we AREN'T related? LOL.

I got to visit with Chris for a few hours, when Fred and I stopped in Virginia on our way to the Outer Banks.  Then, she and her Army hubby, went off to Germany and then Italy.  Now, Chris is back state-side and has me helping her market and sell the books she writes.  I know she could do this herself, but she uses my help as a pretense to pay me for every hour I research for her.

She even sent me "never to be paid back" money to pay for my furnace!!!

Do any of my own children do that for me?  Well no--the only one who could afford it, can't really afford that kind of help anymore because of her own situation.
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Then, there is another friend.  I have never met her.  I started reading her blog many years ago, and she started reading mine and..........what can I say.  This woman doesn't have a perfect life, but she does have a perfect love for others.  I have written about her on my blog and once again, Melissa Geiger, has blessed me.

Last week I received four gift cards from her.  One to the Rich People's store so I can go and buy my favorite salads from their deli.  Three from Subway--just up the road, where I can get a foot-long sub that will last me two meals!!!
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What can you do for people like this?  How can you re-pay them?  There is no way.  The only way I know how, is to make sure every night, when I say my prayers and ask for God's blessing on my OWN family members, these two women are included.

There are always new people that I add to my prayer list everyday-like Marla who had to put her beloved dog Bella to sleep, and Marcia who is in the process of having to move from her home, and of course, any of my other blog friends who are ill or family members of theirs facing surgery or troubles in their lives.

It doesn't seem enough and yet---to my way of thinking, prayer is very powerful and....perhaps that is the very best to pay back my friends for their constant love and helpfulness.
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I decided that in MY circus, one of my monkey's had to be trained!  So--when Dar came over yesterday, I took it upon myself to show her the pictures I had taken of her tight pants and the resulting "look" she has from a back view.

"I have joined Weight Watchers!"

"Great."

"But it is all on-line so you will have to come over and show me how to do it."
<I will HAVE to?>

"Okay.  I don't know anything about it, but we can probably figure it out."

"Oh...I've got to lose weight!"

"Ah--there is something I need to discuss with you.  I have been thinking about it all day yesterday and...I don't know quite how to bring it up.  I don't want you to be upset or angry with me."

"What?  You can tell me anything."

I came into the computer room and got the picture I had taken of her back-side."

"I was taking pictures of the construction going on across the street and you came into view and I took this."

and I handed her the picture.

"OH MY GOD!!!  Look at that!  OH MY GOD!! That's what I look at from behind?"

"I think you need to quit wearing bikini style underpants and wear a brief style and...beige in color."

"Beige?"

"Yes...Beige won't show under light colored pants."

"OH MY GOD!!!  You can even see my.... my crack!"

"See how the bikini style goes up--across the center of your bottom and leaves the rest hanging out.  It just accentuates your hips."

"OH MY GOD!!!  I went to work and looked like that all day yesterday?"

"I guess.  A brief style would look a lot better, but....I think you need to get a larger size work pants too."

"OH...and you say Beige color will help?"

"Yep.  Back in 1977, I was looking for a dress to wear to Pam's wedding.  I had on white under wear and the sales clerk advised me to always wear Beige underwear, as it won't show through anything.  I haven't worn any other color since--well, I did wear black, or wine color, but only under very dark clothes."

"Show me."

So I bent over, pulled my white shorts really tight around my hips.  "Can  you see my panty line?"

"No."

"Okay then."

"Oh--I am so happy you pointed this out to me.  OH MY GOD!!!  I'm going to the store right now and buy some Beige underpants.  You said get them in a brief style?"

"Yes."

"I don't know.  I have always worn Bikini style."

"You're seventy-two years old.  You're too old to wear Bikini style anything!"
<and off she went>

Whew.
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Pearl came down and she got to talking about bras.

"I don't look good in any of my tops anymore.  My boobs hang way down...even if I stand up real straight...which I don't usually anymore.  I stand stooped over."

"Maybe you need to get a light back brace to hold your posture straighter."

"Oh no.  I had one.  Can't stand it."

"Maybe you need to get an all-in-one body shaper."

"You mean...like a corset?"

"No--they make them nice and soft, but with a little bit of Lycra that holds you in...here and there...and keeps your boobs in the right place."

"Well--I'm not wearing one of those!  How do you go potty in them?"

"They have a snap crotch."

"Sometimes, I wait too long and don't get to the bathroom in time...so...that wouldn't work."

"Get a better bra."

"Sometimes I don't even wear one."

"I've noticed.  Where do you buy your bras?"

"Usually Wal-Mart.  I get the white, cotton ones."

"Ah.  Years ago, a dear friend of mine (Bethie) recommended Bali bras with the bow on the front.  I get the underwire ones, in Beige."

"Oh.  I can't wear an underwire."

"Have you ever tried?"

"No, but I know it would be uncomfortable."

"Mine aren't."

"How much do they cost?"

"Oh--around thirty bucks.  I have two.  One in the drawer and one on."

"Good grief!!  I'm not spending that kind of money on a bra!"

"Okay.  It's just a way to look better."

Then, I sang her my song:

"Do your boobs hang low,
Do they wobble to and fro.
Can  you tie them in a knot,
Can you tie them in a bow.
Can you throw them over your shoulder,
Like a Continental soldier,
Do your boobs hang low."

 and she laughed and then went on to tell me, she is ordering  <as seen on TV> The Digital Power Pressure Cooker--for ONLY 3 easy payments of $33.33, <plus shipping and handling>.  It makes enough food for an army, AND you can, can vegetables in it.

"Isn't it kind of big for just the two of you?"

"Oh, I can make meals and then freeze them."

"You don't have a garden...are you going to can with it?"

"Oh, we can go to the Farmer's Market and get lots of fresh vegetables."

"I thought, the last time you went to the Farmer's Market, you said you couldn't do it anymore because you can't walk around it."
<silence>

"Well...I already ordered it and hopefully....it will come while Merle is at work!"

and, within a month, it will reside in their storage unit along with the "123 Go Ready Express" and the ice cream maker and the special waffle maker and the My Pillow that kills her neck to sleep on.  <sigh>
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Then it occurred to me--both Dar and Pearl grew up with no Mother in the house.  Neither one of them has a sister--Pearl was an only child.  Dar, the youngest with 3 older brothers.  That very well good be why Pearl buys stuff to make up for her empty feelings and Dar doesn't know how to dress herself?
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I love Zinnias.  They are such a simple, easy to grow flower.  Unpretentious.  I grew them in the raised bed on the west side of my shed.  I cut them and bring them in the house, just to make a cute little bouquet for my chair side table.  

I gave this little bunch to Pearl--she loved it.

She said she wanted to keep the jar.  I said no.
"But, it's my favorite color," she wailed.
"Mine too," I replied.

A Beehive of Activity

I HAVE MISSED YOU GALS!!!

I took my computer back to the shop on Tuesday--not for repairs, but to have my "lost" files put on my new computer.  I feared I had lost my 40 years of genealogy work that was on my FAMILY TREE MAKER stored on my old hard drive.  I had not, but I was told, I had to re-install FTM.  No big deal?

WANNA BET?

I no longer have the install disc.  I "loaned" it to someone and they have moved and they loaned it to someone else.

FRUSTRATED!!

But you know me--I solved the problem the easiest way I knew how.  I ran to Best Buy and bought a new FTM and ran it over to the computer shop.

They also found all my old e-mails in Outlook 8, in the folders where I have them saved and put them into my new (much hated) Microsoft Outlook 2010.

All this cost me nothing because--it was supposed to have been done when they built me the new computer.  Well--there was a cost of $71.00 for the new FTM, but................
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So much activity across the street.  It will give me something to watch and take pix of and blog about, LOL.

The work started  yesterday morning.  I watched as they starting digging holes into the ground with a post hole digger on the front of the BobCat.  I said, "Those guys are going to tear up an electrical line for sure."  And they did--but it wasn't an electrical line--I heard a big WHOOSH and looked out.  They had broken the natural gas line.  Even though, Miss Dig had been out and clearly marked, in bright orange paint, where the electrical and gas line were.  MEN--working too fast and bulling ahead!

This guy arrived--I have no idea why he has a ski hat on. 

and then the boss, Miss Dig arrived.  

Hefty gal for sure.

She went over the entire lot--marking lines and boundaries. 

The gas company arrived and fixed the gas line.

====================

Here we are this morning at 8:00.  A BackHoe comes in and the team has an early morning conference on "how are we gonna do this?"

They proceed a bit more cautiously this time.

Then help arrives--knowledgeable help.

and a more careful, gentler work begins.

Note the shirtless kid--it was 58 degrees at this time.

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But wait--what's this going on.......a new supervisor?  

NO!  IT'S DARLENE!

She wants to talk to Rob, the park manager--note: the guy with his hand to his head--can we imagine what he is thinking?

He's talking to the guy in the BackHoe and pointing at Dar--who has a really bad pair of under pants on today.

Aha-so this is it.  She walks them over to her stump removed sawdust pile.

"As long as you have the equipment here, have him take away all that sawdust for me."

<sorry I made a catty remark about her underwear, but she was just over last night bragging about how she has gained 30#, but still wears a size 8 pants.  Me thinks her underpants are a size 4 and she needs to get some bigger ones?  After all, she gets a 15% discount where she works.>

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What I didn't get to tell you was MY adventure. 

 Tuesday, when I took my computer to the shop, I drive right by the street to Jen's house.  I knew Pammie was there with the kids, so on my way back, I just drove right up there and right up to the front door!  and, I got to see my Pammie and all of my younger grandkids.  Of course, baby Evan (almost 3) has hardly a clue who this Mimi person is, but................................

While the kids were inside, Pammie and I went out to the front porch, so she could have a smoke, and she sort of whispers to me that, "Jen and Eric are going out to New Jersey to look at property."

"I thought they had decided not to move."

"They did.  The first part of summer, they went out and talked to Eric's dad again, about Eric taking over the business and they came home and said it wasn't going to happen.  Eric can't work with his dad and his dad won't let Eric do what he wants with the company."

"Well--what changed their mind?"

"It's Jen's idea.  Eric doesn't want to move.  The kid's don't want to move.  Jen is tired of working and supporting the family.  Eric has climbed as far as he can in his job, so he won't be making enough for her to quit work.  She said, 'it's time HE started pulling HIS weight around here.' "

"Why don't they just downsize?  Sell this dang mansion."

"Eric designed this house when he was eighteen.  It is his dream house and he said that he couldn't stand to live in the area and know that someone else was living in his house."

"So---the only solution is to move out to New Jersey, where none of them want to live, just so Jen won't have to work?"

"Jen said she is very unhappy.  Neither one of them sees the kids.  Some days, they both work until after the kids are in bed asleep."

"I know."

"I told Jen that if she is unhappy, moving isn't going to bring her happiness.  Unhappiness follows you no matter where you move."

"Good.  Just what I would have said, but.....she would take it better coming from you than from me."

"I just hope they get out there this weekend, and can spend time alone and talk about all this and realize....."

"You know Pammie--this is the life Jennifer has always wanted.  A big, high paying job.  She's now a partner.  She wanted the big money...the big house.  She's got it and now, she's finding out...the kids are growing up and she's missing out."

"I know, Momma...but....you know Jen...once she gets something in her mind...nobody is going to stand in her way."

"Well...if Eric doesn't want to move and the kids don't want to move...her forcing it sure isn't going to make for a very happy home or marriage."

<then I bummed a ciggie from Pammie and we both just stood there and puffed and pondered>

Of course, Pammie is worried about losing her job.  I reassured her that plenty of places around here are looking for employees.  She could work at Meijer's and make nearly $9.00 an hour to start.  She thinks she's too old (at 55) to get a job.  I told her, "If Meijer's hires people like Dar, at seventy-two years old, they surely would hire you!"  

Of course, I'd like to say:

but...it kind of is.

On the other hand--I have no say in what Jen does--and that is a good thing because, you know darn well, it if didn't work out--it would be my fault!!

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