Let's go to the park!

People come from miles around to visit our little park in town. This is where I held our "family reunion". Immediate family only. This year 28 showed. Poor weather plus some illness kept the numbers down.

But, everybody loves our park.

No dogs allowed. :(  Boo!

Gearing up for a family get away to WV to visit some cousins. No aunts/uncles are left. My older sister told me the weather is going to be gorgeous. I just hope certain family members do not make the evenings unbearable with their drinking and ruin things the next day with their hangovers. If they are hungover - they stay at the motel.

We have one branch of the family that insist we stay with them. We did once but we are not at all comfortable doing that. We have to have a motel. We did agree to eat there. Such wonderful hospitality. I feed everybody that comes to my door also. Four legs or two.

Annual Labor Day picnic at the park

This little one loved playing in the ice water. That was even BEFORE he burned his hand. The grill you can see off to the top right of the photo. It is a stationery grill that the park provides. I almost stopped him. I saw him walking up to the back of it with his hand out-stretched and yelled "Too hot!' He looked at me and the hand made contact. I prayed the grill had cooled enough. It had not.

Tears ensued. Possibly one tiny little blister. There was an ice pack handy and he held onto it for the rest of his day. Well, later he rode the rides some more. It was quickly forgotten. I am going to ask his mommy about it today.

He is freaking adorable. But in a kind "I know I am cute so I can get away with it" mentality. He plays it to the hilt.

I had 28 people show. The youngest was a couple of months old, my oldest sister (1944) was the eldest there. One entire branch backed out - my sister claimed "depression" -  her son said she drank too much the night before. She said it was because she buried her "best friend" twenty years ago that day (her son's father) and I call baloney (a.k.a. bullshit) on that.

She then went on fb crying that nobody ever returns her calls, that she has nobody to talk to, blah, blah, blah. I ignore the drama, messaged back that we missed her and told her a bit about what her grand-daughter did that was adorable. I learned long ago not to take her bait.

I took her grand-daughter on her very first merry-go-round ride. The little girl wanted to ride that thing from then on. She became SO excited each time she saw it. It was so sweet. She is 14 months old.

I helped to raise my niece and nephew so I take advantage of any time I can spend with their children. She played shy with all of us at first, but by the end of the picnic that girl was all over everybody and all smiles. She was deliriously tired, for sure. You could see it in her glazed eyes.

Me. I too, was exhausted. I wanted a new pair of feet. Ibuprofin this morning, but not for a headache. My legs (calves mostly) ache, my back aches, my arms ache - and my feet are inconsolable. 

Legs hurt from walking, back hurts from loading and unloading, arms ache from  holding babies as I am not used to it and feet - well the feet. They take the brunt of it all, don't they?

I got nothing

My days are the proverbial "groundhog day". Still training my schools on using the new filter. So, I thought I would share the above photo courtesy of my niece. She and her brother hiked the Shenandoah National Park this past week-end. Or, a part of it. I have not heard an update from them since they got back but it looked like they had a nice time from the pics she posted.

I do have on little blip update on the filter. That issue where an administrator was surfing p0rn at a school district and I notified my manager. (Again, it may have been a student using his computer). It has stopped. The reports show nothing more from him that is suspicious in nature.

However, my manager has told me nothing. Zip. Still has not even mentioned to me that he received my e-mail. So, I will never know if my manager spoke with the tech person at the school or if they spoke to the superintendent at the school to stop the incident or if it was just a fluke and it all stopped on it's own.

I have no idea what I should do if I see this type of traffic again. Sheesh. Some management, huh?

Feeling so tired....err, BLESSED!

I can barely move. My head aches a little. I have a kitchen full of dirty dishes. (I do not return to work until Thursday and I have no plans in between!)  I am exhausted. But it is a happy, content exhausted.

Yes, my lower back hurts - but I did ask for help. My daughter and her beau unloaded the car for me last night when I could barely get myself out of the car and into the house.

I was at the park from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.  http://www.newphilaoh.com/html/tuscora_park/index.html

The morning and early afternoon were okay temperature-wise but it became very, very hot in the afternoon sun. There was a breeze that kept us cool earlier in the morning/afternoon  - but either it disappeared or just turned hot along with the air temperature.

The pool was a BIG  hit. As were the rides. Not so certain if the grandparents did okay. I know my sister wanted to visit more but she had her two grandsons and they were all GO, GO, GO!  :)

We had three precious babies under the age of one.

We had two toddlers.

We had four rowdy young boys.

I had all my sisters and one brother (with  pieces and parts to their families) show. I had 32 total. Two brothers rarely show at family functions. That is okay. I am going to try to get to them and visit soon. I love them and miss them dearly.

I am so full of thank full thoughts right now. I don't want to sound sappy.

The nephew that I am very close to (1977) brought his family. By close I mean I cared for him A LOT when he was young and he and I grew very close as we grew older. Many times I wished for him to find a girl and happiness. Well, that girl finally came a long. He met a girl who already had a little boy. He just turned 7. His imagination astounds me. They recently had a little baby girl. (her picture is above).

My sister (his Mother) is a sweet thing (when she is sober) but she has been out of the picture a lot during his life. There may be some regrets and resentment between the two of them but they are very close and I respect (and love) that they are.

She told me he never has left the little baby with ANYBODY before. Well, except for the baby's mother of course.  His girlfriend had already retreated to the pool with her seven  year old boy. They had forgotten towels. I lived just over the hill and he asked me if he could go over and get towels. I said "Sure!" I had his little baby girl at the time. Wow. You could tell he was so hesitant to go. After much butt kicking from me, he finally went. When he came back he headed straight for me and the baby. She was fine and I told him "Go! Go! Go!" And, down the hill he went to the pool.

He was gone for two hours! My sisters and I had our hands full with the little girl. She was rarely out. This was her second outing. My nephew had given me explicit directions on how to fix her bottle. There were packets of breast milk in the cooler. He had brought a thermos of hot water. A Rubbermaid container to pour the water into so I could heat the packet of breast milk. A portable "point" thermometer to test the temperature of the water and how to assemble the bottle etc..

The bottles I used 20-some years ago were simple glass or plastic things with tops. This one had a plastic bag you had to put into the bottle, fill it up, etc..

I did all of this while the little one was screaming her head off. LOL! Talk about feeling the heat. I chuckle about it now but we were all trying to get her to calm down. Next to being hungry we think the wee little one was just hot and miserable - like the rest of us.

My sister was so proud. She took the baby under the trees and got her settled down. A proud moment for "Grandma".  It made me feel good to know and understand how important it was for my sister to be successful in getting the baby to calm down. And she did it. She came through with flying colors.

By the time my nephew and the rest of his family returned his little baby girl was lying in her little hammock-bed with big bright eyes and completely content. She was minus her little polka-dotted top but they didn't seem to mind.

Nobody got hurt. The children were exhausted and from what I am hearing coming back to me via Facebook is that all were asleep before hitting the bottom of the park hill when they were being driven home. I hope so - I hope that all the parents and grandparents had a welcome respite and quiet drive back home. They deserved it.

The picnic was a success but I am going to aim for end of September next year. Aw, maybe not. Both the pool and the rides will be closed. I'll have to check with family. See if they prefer it that way - the kids won't be "begging" to ride or swim (costs money).  Maybe they will be content with the swings, slides, feeding the ducks, etc.. all free stuff.

Great and Grand

I looked it up. Grand Nephew is just the same as a great nephew. So, I was right all along.

My party is Saturday. My annual July celebration. I have it on whatever day my town is setting off their fireworks. They have a festival in the park (just over the hill from me) for about 3 or 4 days during this long week-end. It is a great time. Sometimes I don't get the chance to get over there, but when I do - I am never disappointed.

So far on the menu, sweet Italian sausage, hot dogs, hamburgs, calico beans, macaroni salad, potato salad, vegetable tray w/dip, cheese ball and cheese tray (I just remembered I need crackers), strawberry frozen, peanut butter fudge, pineapple pudding cake, lemonade, iced tea, pop and beer. Sister 1956 won't be able to make it this year. Drat! She and I just went to a party Saturday so that is okay. She could only go to one or the other (because of her job).

Sister 1954 is excited because there will be some family members she has not seen yet since her release from prison.

I didn't have my party last year because I had my daughter's high school graduation party (remember the sumo wrestling?). That was only one year ago? Good grief!

My daughter's new beau will get the full exposure to family and I think she might be nervous about it. I don't know. She got mad at me last night. I guess I embarrassed her in front of him by telling her to "chill out." She called me on it and accused me of getting an attitude each time company was over. She was stomping around the house trying to force one of the puppies to poop outside. He was so scared he ran and jumped into my lap shaking. (The pup, not the boyfriend).

I think stress is getting the best of her. New job, new beau and all. Me? I bit my tongue with her. I know how hard it is to be the new love interest in some one's home and I refused to make her new beau feel uncomfortable by arguing with her. I let it pass.

I bought my first bag less sweeper. I got the Bissell Healthy Home model. I really like the bag less feature. It was so easy to snap it in and out and to empty it. Once I figured out that I kept putting it back into "brush" mode and that was the reason I was not picking anything up, I was okay. It is much lighter than my previous models.

I am going to focus on outside mowing and landscaping today. I hope. I need energy. My head hurt as soon as I got up this morning. I went to bed too late (vacation days from work) and I suppose that might be the reason. The dogs don't care that I went to bed late, they want to go out at 6 or 6:30. Sooner if they can. I also got myself a brand new hedge trimmer. I have never used one before. I guess you have to supply your own electrical cord? Good thing I have one. My friends spoke of how they cut the cord while they trim. Sounds like it happens a lot. I suppose I will do it, too. I chose the lightest model they had. My arms will be sore enough.

I hate, hate, hate waking up with a headache.

I wonder

This was from a YMCA outing six years ago. My sister worked with inner-city children and brought them to the park near my house back in 2004. I wonder where these kids are now.

The bright orange shirts were for the more difficult children. They all loved getting their pictures taken. I tried to be fair and take pictures of all of them, which meant aiming for the shyer ones that kept getting pushed aside by the bolder and more aggressive ones.

I have a presentation today. I am just not in the mood for it. I am in day five of the realization that I am going to lose my tenure at my job. After 15 years. I have another 15 years (give or take) to go. That will be on a year to year contract.

Moaning and groaning

Ugh. I must be getting old. This was a rough one. Anesthetic headache runs right up there with a migraine. In fact, I took migraine medicine and it didn't touch it. It has finally worn off. I really, really, really don't like Vicodin. It increases my headache ten-fold.

But, I am feeling pretty good now. Sticking to generic acetaminophen. Have not been allowed to take ibuprofen for a week. I will probably stick to acetaminophen for two weeks and go back to ibuprofen if I think I need to.

One will wreck your stomach and the other will wreck your liver. I guess I'll switch back and forth through the years. Pad those pharmaceuticals wallets.

Just taking it easy and trying to keep the critters off of me. I get two weeks off from work. But, I can't drive for the first week. :(

It better not be nice and sunny or I am getting my daughter to drive me out to the parks and woods to get some beautiful fall pictures. Come on sunshine!

Happy 4th of Ju....

NOT how I wanted to start my holiday today!

I found it this morning. Or, rather my cat Teton did. I walked out of the kitchen with my cup of coffee and noticed her sitting on the back of my TV chair staring outside at the open front door. I'm like "What is SHE looking at?" What is up there? I looked. I groaned.

I took pictures. They are tiny little insects. Not exactly certain what, yet. I didn't want to look that long or get too close. Even though I am dreading this discovery, I can't help but be amazed at their ability to build such a beautiful structure. The picture is blurry. That's right. I'm not getting that close and I wanted to snap away quickly and get the H-E -double hockey sticks out of there. Do you blame me?

From the looks of it, they have been at it a long time. I usually only use the front door to retrieve the newspaper and the mail. That is twice a day. Funny that I didn't notice it before. Sigh.

The town festival is going on over the hill in the park. I just don't have any inclination to go this year. I am not having my annual 4th party and I am a wee bit bummed about it, but I have a headache feeling coming on, so I imagine it is probably for the best. (Huge fight with daughter the other night, so my mood has been rather sour). I overslept this morning and am beginning to feel sick.

I am headed to my sister's house this evening. Her son loves to set off fireworks. He makes me nervous. I am taking calico beans and my usual cheese ball. I am also taking my headphones to drown out the noise of the fireworks. Where is that mosquito spray? And the Advil.

Gonna go round in circles

Our park will be opening at the end of May for rides.

And it is back to work for me today. I have been off since April 2nd. I logged into email yesterday so that I wouldn't have too much stress this morning. I hate surprises. Back to the grind. Up and down. Round and round. Any chance my co-worker has taken a vow of silence? Probably not.

Where to next?

Just so you know. I did NOT choose the socks.

Swimmingly

Yesterday was a beautiful day for duck feeding and playing in the park. Our park has a great new play area in the shape of a train. Wow! It was fantastic. Today was just as nice. No playing, though. Mowing.

Sunglasses

I am getting a visitor today. Without my sister and niece. Just the wee one. And me. Well, my daughter will be here but "she hates kids". Uh, no she doesn't. You should see her with the little ones. They run to her.

Anyway, we may go to the park. It will be a nice reprieve playing with this one while my calendar is full of scheduling senior pictures, college visits, SAT tests and the like. Oh, the time. The time does fly.

When folks say that, I laugh and say "It's been the longest (insert age of daughter here) years of my life!" Now it is all coming crashing in around me. I am trying to apply the brakes. Can you smell the burnt rubber? My heels are digging in. I am leaning way back. I won't give in without a fight, I tell you.

Oh, I finished the book by William Shatner. Very funny, very good read. I have moved on to a political one. The name escapes me. Google found it, "The Great Derangement" by Matt Taibbi. Not sure if I am going to stick with this one. So far, so good. If the book is anything like the introduction, I'll like it.

Leaf Laughter

I would hold the tree leaves down so he and my grand niece could touch them. They were delighted. How tedious to be so small where almost everything is out of your reach. This is my grand nephew from the Memorial cook-out at my sister's house (his Grandma).

He isn't all that used to me so this was a rare smile that I was able to capture. He would keep a discerning eye on me. Both his Mother and my sister have dark hair and I have blond. He just wasn't real sure about me.

I have one month until my big summer bang. This year it conflicts with vacations and a wedding. Sigh. I have my party the night that my town chooses to set off their fireworks, so that is that. They aren't putting them off until the Saturday after the fourth of July, so it is hard to say who will be available to come and who won't. Last year they put them off on a Monday or something like that.

They also have a big park festival during this time. It is wonderful to go and see all the people and especially the children having fun. They are running the Ferris wheel this year. I won't be on it.