Memories

This made me think of Jennifer

I have no idea. 

 I do have her address so I Googled Earth(ed) the house they are renting,

 but couldn't get a ground view of it.

Sometimes, I get real teary-eyed and desperate about it, but then,

I give it up to God, because I can't do a thing about it.

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I have a basket that hangs on the wall under my seasonal angel x-stitched pictures.  Every time Fred gave me a bouquet of roses, I'd take one rose, hang it upside down in a dark closet and after it had dried, put it in this basket.The three yellow roses he gave me on our first date--him telling me, "Yellow roses stand for friendship.  Red roses mean love," were at the front of the basket and the rest filling up the back, until that basket was filled to the brim. (On the 3rd date, he brought me a dozen red roses.)

Well, you know how it is.  You place something in your house and it is there and after awhile you don't even look at it because it is part of your house?

Yesterday, while cleaning the living room, I put up my Spring angel picture and noticed how old, dead, dusty and ugly looking that basket of roses had become.  So, trying to be logical and practical, I took the basket out to the trash can and turned it upside down.  That act made me sad, but.......only for a moment.  Let's face the cold hard truth here.  There hasn't been a new rose placed in that basket for nearly five years.  The first yellow ones were 11 years old!!  Time to go.

I stuffed a bunch of fake Tulips in the basket and each new season, when I put up the next Angel picture, I will put in new fake flowers for that season.

BUT--I still have Fred's, dirty, worn out, old sneakers in the upper shelf in my bedroom closet.  Sigh.

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Something one of my blog buddies posted about reminded me of a long ago memory.  Butterflies. 

My Mother had a thing for Monarch butterflies.  She planted Milk Weed to get them to come in near her gardens.  When she read about them gathering in Point Pelee, Ontario for their migration to Mexico, she persuaded my Dad to load up their pick-up camper and take us all there.  Mother, Daddy, Susie, my hubs, me and our three kids.

We saw millions of Monarchs hanging in the bushes and trees.  Mother was thrilled!

Mother died five months later.  

That summer, as I sat on the ground, weeding my 120' long perrenial garden, a Monarch came and lit on my left shoulder.  I sat quietly for a moment and then said, "Mother.  Is that you?"

When I got back inside the house, there was a message on the answering machine.  It was from my sister, Susie.  She lived quite a distance away from me.  I called her back and first thing she said, "You will not believe this.  I was sitting out in the sun on the patio and a Monarch butterfly came and lit on my shoulder!  I wondered if it was Mother."

"Which shoulder?" I asked.

"My right one."

Now, neither my sister or I believe in "signs" from the hereafter, nor that people who have passed on can send messages, but when I told her of my experience, almost at the same time as hers, we both said, "Hm-mm.  Maybe?"

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

The Monarchs come into this link at about the 3 minute mark.

I'm Old and I'm Getting Cranky!

Neighbor's that mow their lawn on Sunday's annoy me to the nth degree.  Especially when they were home all day Saturday and could have done it, or the retirees that have all week to do it.  I live TOOOO close and windows open, with the roar of these smelly, exhaust spewing machines going past my house, barely 15 feet away!!!  Sunday is supposed to be a quiet day!

I cannot stand to listen to Ted Cruz' voice.  Nasally and whiny sounding!  "They" say, Kasich is the only one who has a chance to beat HiLIARy in November.  How can we get him elected?  Just a real down-to-earth guy.

What the heck is happening in Houston and Texas with rain of Biblical proportions?  Did you see that on the news?  Is this another city built below sea level, so they have no drainage.  Idiots!!

It took my 5 hours to clean my wee 16 x 18' living room today.   Work 15 minutes, rest 10.  My back is causing me problems for the last couple of months.  I thought that problem had been taken care of when I had my last hip replacement.  Haven't had any back pain since--until February--when I carried in heavy stuff.  GEEZ LOUISE!

Got bedroom/bath/utility/kitchen/living room all done.  I always leave this awful room for the last.  Suppose to do the worst first, but.................I need to really get my, "If I have to, I can do anything", theme song going before I tackle this room.  Maybe tomorrow.  Maybe Wednesday.

The clutter in this room isn't helped by the fact that when I am working on genealogy, I have stacks and stacks of papers I have printed out.  Family groups.  Sorted by oldest to youngest ancestor.  I even have two TV trays in here to hold the excess!  Plus my desk is piled high, all centered and encircled around my desk chair.  I LOVE IT!!!!!

<but anyone who enters can see it from the front door>

The Park brought in two dumpsters--for us residents to use to throw away our stuff while spring cleaning. The dumpster for my area of the park was suppose to arrive today.  They dropped it off late Friday night. I went up there to dump some stuff and it was full!! The people that live in the nearest area to the dumpster, saw it set in place Friday night and had all weekend to fill it--and they did!  I'll just put my stuff out on Thursday with the rest of my garbage.

John was really ticked off.  "They said the dumpster would be ready today and yet those people used it early.  That's just not fair!  They shouldn't have used it until the proper time!"  

I replied, "Mellow out, Kid.  Just put your junk out on garbage day."

Then I said, "Tomorrow is yard waste pick-up day. I've got some branches and stuff I gotta get in the bag.  Come and help me."    and he did, but he continued to grumble about the dumpster issue.

I can see why he has been divorced twice.  He would drive me nuts!!!!!

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

Today, Susan's youngest boy, Matthew would have been 40 years old!  He had already been accepted to Michigan State to study Architecture.  He would have been wonderful at that.  Unfortunately, he died one month after his 18th birthday and two weeks before his high school graduation.  He was the happiest, easy going kid I ever met.  He called me "Awunt Juday".  He died of A.L.L.=Leukemia, supposedly the easiest one to cure.  He lived here in Michigan with his Dad.  My sister, Susan, lived way out in New York.  Can you even imagine the trips she made back in forth--in her car--alone?

Pammie called me tonight and I found out something that is a great relief to me.  My son Mark, has had good luck with his cancer with the pills and infusion they have given him, but a month ago, his oncologist told him he needed to start chemotherapy to really put a stop to it.  Mark was really upset.  Apparently he thought the pills were going to be enough.  He probably didn't understand all the doc told him on his first few visits.  His partner, Cindy is not much better.  She goes with him, but doesn't know what questions to ask and doesn't remember what the doc said any better than Mark.

He asked Pam what she thought he should do. Should he do the chemo?  Pammie told him that decision was entirely up to him.  She couldn't give any advice because she didn't know anything about cancer or what treatments he should have.

Well, I have been praying that he would opt for the chemo.

Pammie told me tonight that Mark has decided to go with the therapy.  The oncologist told him they could practically guarantee him 8 more years and by then, newer treatments will have come along.  He promised Mark that he won't be sick, they have stuff to counteract the poison chemo.  The oncologist told him to keep smoking weed and to use the Cannabis oil and to make brownies with it, sprinkle it on his salad.  (Lordy!)

I have read a lot about how they are having remarkable results with Cannabis killing cancer cells.

Mark said to Pammie, "I guess Ma can't be mad at me now for smoking weed!"

Brats!  They are ALL brats!!!

 Gotta get this posted so it still says "Monday" at the top.  Talk with you later.

Whassup?

What unimaginably beautiful weather we are having!!  Unimaginable because last week we were inundated with snow, gray clouds and rain every day and, none of us could imagine that spring would spring so quickly.

So my Forsythia's not going to bloom this year, and many of my Daffodils are laying face down on the ground, BUT the Tulips are just coming into bud and the Lilac bushes look like they are going to do well, and----I made it through another winter!!!!!
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Doing a bit of spring house cleaning every day--doors and windows open to the fresh breeze.  Still have to turn the furnace on at night, but................the cats do love sitting in the open windows or front door and looking at their outside world through just the screen.

I am up to my grommets in genealogy.  Probably the most extensive one I have ever done.  The only thing about genealogy that is disappointing is that, we get facts and dates, but we don't often get the family stories.  

When I did the one for my family, included in each person's "facts" on Family Tree Maker, I put in a brief description of the person, i.e., their profession, a bit of their life history.  Then, when I finally finished, I uploaded my Family Tree to Ancestry.com.  That way, anyone else looking around, will find a bit more than just facts and figures.  It's also nice to have photos of the people too.

I got up to see Pearl and Merle--well it wasn't planned, Pearl called and wanted me to tell her how to get into Face Book.  "Something went wrong.  I think I've been hacked.  I got in yesterday, but can't today."

So, up there I trotted and had her try it and found out why she couldn't get in.  She was clicking on the wrong desk-top icon!?????????????!!!!!!

Don't ask.  I don't know.  It's like her memory just flips out every now and then.  She messed up her on-line bank again, by putting in the wrong password--3 times--and got locked out.  (Sigh)

Merle is doing well with Parkinson's exercise class and riding a stationary bike and then riding his own bike around the Park.  All the new ways to combat the advancing disease.

I think I have found a way to keep Darlene out of my house.  When she was here the other night, she saw two ants climbing up the wall behind me.  She got very nervous.  I took a Kleenex and got them and disposed of them, but she had a shudder.  Then she saw another one and I just ignored it.  Apparently ants bother her a lot.  They don't bother me...so I think I will put out some sugar and invite even more inside.  LOL
<maybe I could find and train a pet spider?>

John is so funny!  He and Maizey stop in here every, single night!!  Around 9:00 nowadays.  He goes on and on, about stupid people, stupid drivers, stupid laws, stupid politicians--on and on and on!  Then, when he is all done with his rant, he looks at me, smile and says, "And how was your day?"  Because I told him once how Dar irritates me because all she does is talk about herself.

I could not live an entire day with that man!  He is not mellow in the least!  Every little thing makes him upset!  I can't bear to ride with him in the car because he rants and raves about everyone else on the road!

But he did give me 2# of sliced ham.  HAH!

Okay--I gotta get to bed so I can get up tomorrow and do something useful and see if I can find my way out of the 1500's and back to the present.  It's truly amazing how surnames change down through the generations.

There Is Only ONE Truth

I posted this on Face Book Sunday morning.  I was curious to see the comments from my "friends".

"There is only one truth.
There is no your truth.
There is no my truth.
There is only one truth.
No matter how much you want YOUR truth to be true, if it is false, you are wrong.
There is and can only be one truth.
So, my philosophical, pondering peeps--why can't we see the only one truth and agree it is the truth?"

It didn't bring many comments.
  
Some thought it was a religious question.  I hadn't intended it to be.
Some just commented, "Huh?"

Now, you know the kind of thing that wanders around in my mind.  HAH!  Aren't you glad you are sane?

This can be the kind of thing that pops into my mind, after I go to bed and I am trying to find sleep.  No wonder I have a sleeping problem!
===================
Do we ever really know The Truth?  Perhaps only if it is verified by proof and not just based on someone's opinion?

"The sky is blue."  Is that The Truth or is it based on the way WE see the sky--through the atmospheric layers?

"From outer space, the Earth is blue."  We've seen and verified that to be Truth.  Is it really or once again, viewed "down" through atmospheric layers.

"I will vote in the Presidential election on November 8, 2016."  That's not The Truth, there are too many variables.  I might be dead by then.

"Barack Obama is the best/worst President we have ever had."  That certainly isn't The Truth, it is based on opinion.

"I have had miracles in my life, sent from God."  The Truth? or just a coincidence that some opinions attributes to God.

"Today the sun is shining."  Now, that IS The Truth, but---only for this area.  It may very well be raining in Florida or Wisconsin.

I guess, in the long run, there IS, your truth or my truth.  I'd sure like to know what The Only Truth really is--on a much deeper level.
<Arrgh.  I have a headache just thinking about all of this>

I think, I think too much!!!!
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I gave John his genealogy book tonight and he was tickled pink.

I may not surface for a couple of days because I am working on another genealogy.  You know how I get obsessed when I am deep into 1800 census reports.  LOL

Pride Goeth Before The Fall

Well, I just thought I was the Cat's Meow!!

Quite on my own, and because I am so brilliant, I switched from 5mg Melatonin at bedtime to 10mg.  I had been having trouble sleeping through the night.

Well!  For 5 nights straight...to be at midnight and awake (before the alarm) at 8:00.  WOW.  Plus, I felt so good.

So, of course, as I tend to do, I was bragging to everybody about it.  Then the Pride Karma dude got in the way, and took me down.

Last night, I took my evening pills and climbed into bed around 11:45.  The cats settled and off to sleep---they went.  Not me.

At 1:00, I got up and took a Tylenol PM, sure to do the trick.

At 2:00, I got up and took a Benedryl.

At 3:00, I finally fell asleep.  Consequently,  I didn't wake up until 10:30.

The day half shot, plus I felt like I had been dragged through a knot-hole backwards, from all the drugs.  I had so much I wanted to get done today.  Finally, the snow and rain we have been getting for the last week, was gone.  The sun was shining brightly and it was 55 degrees!!!

I did manage to get myself in gear at 2:00 this afternoon, and made it up to Wal-Mart to get a new shower curtain liner--the one I had was opaque from all the lime, got a new filter for my air cleaner, 2 jugs of Diet Pepsi and a gallon of milk.

I was practically dragging by the time I got home.

Then--to top off my day, Dar stopped in at 6:00, just as I was about to fix myself a sandwich, sit down and watch the news.  More drama about her son and grandchildren that are living there.  Drama about her work place.  Drama about her Dad.  She was in a hyper state.

I scared her outta here at 7:00 so I could finally get my supper.

John and Maizey stopped in at 8:00.  He was limping badly and in a lot of pain.  The cast he had to wear is an air cast.  You SIT down, pull it on, lace it up and then inflate three bladders, placed at three different points on the cast.

Yesterday, he STOOD up to put it on, pressed his foot down hard in it and inflated the bladders.  Because he had put all his weight in the cast, when the bladders inflated, they kept his foot clamped in there like it was in a vise.  It hurts worse now than it did when he started with the whole problem.

I asked him if he had read the instruction manual BEFORE he put on the cast.

Of course not.
<men can be such idiots>

"I read it this morning and realized what I had done," he said.

He brought me about 2# of sliced ham, so I couldn't get too disturbed with him.
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I'm hoping I sleep well tonight so that tomorrow I can get the utility area cleaned and the humidifier emptied and cleaned up and put away.

The weather man made a promise today that are done with snow and winter.  Temperature expected to increase all week and be 70 on Sunday.  

We Michiganders are hoping.  We love snow and winter, but not in April!!!

Here and There

I haven't been very good about posting AND I haven't been very good about reading all your posts either.  I will try and do better--next week.

I should be done with John's genealogy tomorrow.  I found a newspaper clipping(s), that he told me about his Uncle who was killed in a fall at the paper company up in Munising, MI.  He is going to be surprised and happy because he told me that every time he gets up in that area, he goes to the Library and looks at reels and reels of microfiche, but never could find anything.  I also found out something about his great grandfather that is not very nice.

John told me that his grandma and her other siblings had been adopted.  Not true.  Yes, they were adopted, but not INTO the family, but taken away and adopted by other family members.  I found a newspaper account of the fact that his Great Grandfather deserted his wife and children.  Then his wife died and when he came back to Michigan, there was a warrant for his arrest.  Before the police could get him, he abused two of his daughters--John's grandma being one of them.  "They" took the children away and his grandma, at age 15, had to go and live in an Industrial School for Girls, until age 18. 

Her younger sibs were adopted by her mother's parents and aunts.  When the Great Grandpa got out of jail in Detroit, he went back to Calgary, Canada where he was born many years before.

I hope this isn't upsetting to John.  The sins of the grandparents do not reflect on him!!!

So strange and something I do not understand--as an only child for so long and now my only sib is my sister----Wednesday night, I handed him a paper and pen and asked him to write down his sisters and brothers and the years they were born, or if he didn't know that, how old they are now.

He could not remember all of them!!!!!  His parents had 13 children in 23 years.  Three of them died as babies--he remembered about that, but he had a hard time getting the names in birth order.

I can't imagine living with that many siblings!  How would you ever get any time with your Mother?  With an alcoholic father, absent a lot of the time and his mother having to work....................it makes me sad for this little, old guy.

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

I had a strange and weird situation yesterday and today.

I am starting a new pattern test for Chris.  It is a vest, an unusual vest.  She got the yarn for it when she was here in September.

It is Knitting yarn #2 weight--very fine yarn.  What we have is a variegated Mohair yarn, but Chris wanted me to test crochet it in a solid color.

Yesterday, I went into Brighton to JoAnn's to find it. We had purchased the original yarn there.  I couldn't find any with that weight, so I asked a saleslady, who I have dealt with before and who is ALWAYS very snotty!

"We don't have any.  NO ONE uses that weight yarn anymore!"  and she walked away from me like I was some sort of idiot.  I looked around some more and DID find that weight by the same maker as the variegated yarn and in the right color.  I grabbed 6 skeins of the color.  It is expensive.  $44.46 for 6 skeins!!

I e-mailed Chris a picture and she responded back that she wanted me to do the test, not on this Mohair type of yarn, but just a regular acrylic, because while testing, if I had to rip it back, the Mohair is a pain.

I had to go back into Brighton today to get a couple of inkjet refills to print out John's book, so I stopped at Michael's to see if they had the yarn.  I took the JoAnn's yarn with me, thinking that if I could buy the non-mohair at Michael's. I'd take back the yarn to JoAnn's (the stores are next to each other).  

I looked and looked--up and down the yarn section aisles--two times.  Than I found a saleslady working in that section and asked her.  She replied,  "We don't carry that weight yarn anymore.  No one seems to use it," in a much nicer manner than the lady at JoAnn's.  Then, just to be sure, she got on her walkie-talkie and asked someone else if they still had some back in the storage room.

Nope.

Why I find this strange?  I have several skeins of #2 weight yarn in my stash.  In pink, blue and white.  I use it for the special baby afghan I make for people.

So, when I got home, I jumped on-line and....Mary Maxim's and Herrschners do not carry it either.  The only place I could find it was on the site of the brand of the yarn we got AND, it doesn't come in anything except Mohair.  

I just hope I don't run out of the yarn before the test vest is done or I am in deep doo-doo!

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I guess I am getting too old to keep up, nowadays.  It seems there is always some favorite something I want and it is no longer manufactured!

I plan on finishing up my bedroom spring clean tomorrow (she said with good intentions.)

My Life--Right Now At Least

Wednesday:
Cleaning the bedroom:
https://youtu.be/c7rsEa0cOhw

Thursday:
Doing a genealogy for John.
You know what happens when I get into a genealogy.
All other chores fade into the background and out of my mind.