Success!

I circled my head in red. We had 125 show up for our first annual reunion. Not all are pictured because some just would not co-operate. The day started out pouring down the rain in torrents. It ended up humid and muggy and hot!

We ran behind in time. We skipped the adult games altogether. Folks were more interested in the auction and the 50/50 drawing.

I discovered that I was pretty good at auctioning items. I have a big mouth and can be very friendly after working the crowd for a couple of hours. We did a silent auction, but the few last items I actually auctioned off. Much more money can be made this way because I can really milk it.

On a more serious note, I had a very disturbing close call at jury duty today.

The case was dismissed. The defendant chose to take 40 years in prison w/out parole. The stories listed here do not tell of his dastardly deeds, but as the judge was telling us the story he almost began to cry. The girls were 7 and 8 years of age. They were sisters and they were raped. He didn't go into detail. He said to just be thankful that we didn't have to sit through this trial and I am. So very, very thankful.

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A bitten dorsal fin

This is another shot from my nephew's collection. I am not posting my own because I am on a new computer. Well, new to the household. I am setting up a spare PC to use in case mine fails. It was purchased in 2003 and Dell will not issue a warranty for it anymore. Yes, I purchase the extended warranty on my computers. Yes, I work on computers. I know what can happen and I know that I don't want that much down time when the hardware fails.

So, on this new computer I have Internet access, but no personal pictures. But, check out the dorsal fins on that shark. I asked my nephew about it and he said he hadn't noticed. Since he posted 92 photos from Sea World, he was probably just clicking and uploading. He said he would look at the photo and get back to me.

At the reunion motel we will have plenty of devices with Internet access. Most of the younger crew's cell phones are equipped with all the bells and whistles. Service may be tricky in the hills, though. My daughter is taking her new laptop. She gets bored easily at these gatherings. Still, it is great because I am the type of person who has to know "right now!" and she looks stuff up for me in a flash.

When somebody is talking about a movie and they say "Who was that guy who played so-and-so?" I run and look it up. The other day my sister sent me an e-mail asking me "What was the name of that movie where the skinny girl dies in the end?" What?! I laughed and replied exactly that: "What?!" I mean, can she give me a little more information? I guess we were talking about a certain movie one day, but I'll be darned if I can think of what she means. This morning I woke up and thought "Passengers" with Jane Hathaway. Maybe that is the one she is thinking of. If you have not seen it yet, I don't want to spoil it - but she does NOT die at the "end" of the movie.

I'll be seeing her today and riding in the car with her to WV so I can find out if that is the one she is thinking of. Speaking of movies, I watched "The Life of David Gale" from my Netflix choices. Not my favorite movie, but it was a mystery.

I have to go and roll my cheese balls into the chopped walnuts, now. About everything else is done and ready to roll. Ah, I need to put my name on my lawn chairs. We were laughing because we told folks not to put just "insert our last name here" on their stuff because ALL of us just about have the same last name! LOL!

Update on the pooches: they are growing like a weed. Their legs are double the length as when we first brought them home. No more pot bellies, especially Chong. He is getting lean and lank. I have to remember to take my camera outside to take a small video of him running. Cheech still does the little hop and run (he is a bit bow legged) but Chong runs full tilt. His ears are flat back against his head and he is off and running like a rocket. We are pretty sure they are rat terriers, now. Check out the picture at this site of the 5-week old pup. Ours look(ed) exactly like that shortly after we obtained them. Adorable.

Family Fun

Photo courtesy of my nephew (1977) from San D!ego's TorrÉy P!nes State Reserve.

This is a family week-end for me. First I want to say that I am extremely blessed with family. Gobs of family. My Mom was an only child and she had 8 children. I was the eighth. I thanked her one time for "not stopping". She thought that was hilarious. It's true. After me she began sleeping on the couch. I always tell folks she stopped at perfection. My siblings laugh and say "Yeah, right!"

When I was little, folks would ask me "Are you Catholic?" I always just said "No" and wondered what to say next. Awkward silence. Ooookay. Now days if somebody asks me that I will say "No" and have a twinkle in my eye, a big smile and maybe wink at them. LOL!

We are filling up 10 rooms this week-end at a motel in WV Saturday night and a couple of rooms on Sunday night.

My niece and nephew are in San D!ego for vacation (coming back today) and then will join us this week-end. They had wonderful weather. I was so disappointed when they closed the Sea World in Ohio. It was such a shame. I didn't like it when I was younger because next door was an amusement park and that is where I spent my time. The fishes were boring to me. But, once I had my daughter and my niece (who loves sea critters) Sea World was a great treat for us. We went every year until they closed down. Maybe it was just too cold up here to keep it comfortable for the critters, I don't know.

But, back to happier things. My family. The only one who will not be present is my sister that is still in prison in Marysville. (The Mom of the two out in San D!ego). Ah, well. She usually only ruins family gatherings anyway. We keep hoping for change. I typed up a letter for her yesterday where she is asking the judge to re-consider her release for the fall. Fingers crossed. We used to like it when she was put away because of the gatherings being ruined. It may sound cruel to some folks, but you have to realize that we have been putting up with this for about 30 years, now.

Here's hoping that your week-end is blessed and fun-filled, too!

It is not plantar fasciitis

One of the photos on the web that helped me decide to see the doctor. The little purple branched 4-fingers is where I have my pain. The fluorescent yellow/green is where I would always feel my plantar fasciitis.

Well, the photo, research and I was really tired of the pain pushed me to call. 45 days. It had gone on long enough. At first I believed it to be plantar fasciitis. A few weeks ago I began to suspect that perhaps there was something more to this pain.

I had plantar fasciitis before and this was turning out to last a lot longer and I began to get shooting pains into the heel even while resting. And that burning feeling was just not usual for plantar fasciitis. To me that sounded like nerve damage so I began to investigate on the web.

I made an appointment with my dr. They got me in that day. This was good because my schedule is pretty tight these days, especially with jury duty hanging over your head. When I called for an appointment I was thinking to myself " Jury duty could be tomorrow, won't know until after 5 p.m." How do you tell a dr.'s office I may or may not be able to make your appointment? When you are calling in pain to get in a.s.a.p.? I'm sure they would understand, but I didn't need to worry.

Building a relationship with your doctor and staff is very important. I did not fully realize this before because I didn't need doctors when I was younger. I've been darn lucky.

Anyway, she diagnosed Tarsal tunnel syndrome. I see an orthopedic surgeon next week. Wow. They actually picked one of the only free days I had on my August calendar. LOL! Not really, but it feels that way sometimes. It is pretty full.

I am resting the foot as much as possible. Taking ibuprofen when I feel that I need to and will be applying ice packs as I can. No jury duty until Tuesday (and I may not even have to go then, I call the evening before for further instructions). So, that leaves me free for the reunion! I took today and tomorrow as vacation days and next Monday. Tuesday also, if I don't have jury duty. I see the surgeon on Wednesday. Don't let that word fool you. I won't be having surgery. Not anytime soon. I will try everything before I take that step. Pun intended!

They are growing

By leaps and bounds. This photo does not show how long Chong's legs have become. He runs so fast and if I lay on the ground he runs either far away from me or he is right on top of the camera, so there are no photos today of his legs.

Here is how I spent my first day at jury duty (written at noon):

Jury duty - first day

I thought I was getting there early. There must have been 40 people seated in the hard church pew benches before me. It was hot outside. I parked 6 blocks away in the church designated lot.

My foot hurt before I began. I walked up a flight of steps. My heel was pounding. My head was too.

The hard church pews were full. About 10 people were standing around. I walked over to the window. They said to have a seat and wait. Reminded me of the old joke "Pull up the floor and sit down."

I saw a lunch room with empty chairs. "Can we grab chairs out of there?" "Yes."

I grabbed one, and a couple of other folks did too. I sat down. Sigh.

We waited there about 30 minutes when a gentlemen told us to get in line and sign in.

We did.

Then we were taken downstairs outside to another building, went through a security check where almost every person was setting off the alarm. I breezed through, but the poor officer that had to go through the fifty compartments of my purse was not pleased.

I walked up three long flights of steps. By this time my foot was really hurting and my head had begun to ache.

At the top, I found a seat on a hard church pew bench. I took out my book. They had recommended bringing reading material. I could not look up as the lights were far too bright. I thought I might be sick but nobody had mentioned to us where the restrooms were.

People kept coming out of doors and looking around for somebody that they never seemed to be able to find.

The would call names and nobody would get up. Did they have the correct list?

I finally took a migraine medicine tablet, drinking from a water fountain next to me.

After 40 long minutes, we were ushered into a court room. There stood a gentleman with a yellow suit and a pink tie. No lie. Well, okay the suit was kind of tan color, but it was really a yellowish tan.

The gentleman introduced himself as a judge, apologized but said the case had been demoted to a misdemeanor this morning and our services would not be needed. He did however, go through a complete definition of what a juror is and what their responsibilities are.

He was very nice and the information he gave us was very good and quite interesting.

The case was a customer had written a check for services in the amount of $2500.00. The check bounced. He was being charged for passing a bad check and for receiving stolen goods (in this case - labor services).

The judge told us to go home and check back on the date that was given to us on a little piece of paper when we got our jurors badges. We turned in our badges and were free to go home.

I stopped back in to the original office to get my work slip signed and I will call back on Wednesday night to see if I am to report Thursday for duty.

Wow. Now my headache is a dull ache, I am hoping the ibuprofen I just swallowed will alleviate it. I do not do well having my routine upset and today was definitely out of my normal routine.

I'll get some good lunch food into me and take it easy the rest of the day. I am in the cool air conditioning and the chicken (one of my favorites) is steaming along nicely. Yum. I can smell it.

~ Back to 10:00 p.m. time.

We watched "Role Models" tonight. We chose the uncut version instead of the theatrical one. So, it was very raunchy. But there were also parts where we laughed out loud. It did have it's moments even though it was a little bit too raunchy for me. It was worth it to see the four main characters dress up as the Kiss band, with little Bobb'e in Demon make-up.

Goat head

Another species from the fair. Just popping in here to say "hello". I'm not much in the mood to write anything. In pain. Tried soaking my feet in Epsom salts tonight. It took the burn away, but it has all come roaring back after doing a few household chores. Ugh.

Have jury duty tomorrow (or will be interviewed for selection). We shall see.

If things go my way, I will be off Thursday and Friday in time to prepare my food contribution for the reunion.

And if things REALLY go my way, I will have Monday and Tuesday off to recuperate.

Pig pots

I saw these pots right outside the pig barn

I thought they were cute. And appropriate. It has been a very busy July for me and my family. I have done a lot of walking (both at work and around the area). A lot of get-togethers. My heel is beyond hurting today. I will take more ibuprofen but have come to accept the fact that I am going to have to consult my doctor. Drat.

I was hoping it would go away but since I won't stay off of it, I cannot expect it to heal. I need somebody to heel the heal. Heh, heh. I am off and walking again today. I said that I would make a flower arrangement for the auction at the reunion and I am off to Pat Catan's to pick up some new material. My daughter has ALWAYS wanted to take puppies into the pet center so we plan to do that today, too. I know. Not good for my foot but I promise to stay off of it tomorrow. No, scratch that. Grass needs mowed.

I called last night to see if I need to show up for jury duty Monday morning. Nope. I have to call again Monday night to see if I show up for Tuesday. What an ordeal. This is going to put a bit of a crimp into my long week-end out of state for the reunion. I'll have to hitch a ride with my brother back to Ohio if I need to show up for jury duty on Monday the 3rd. I got a 2 week stint. Great. My first call to civic duty and it lasts two weeks and surrounds perhaps the second biggest week-end of my summer. Double drat. I'll need to squeeze the doctor in there one day if I can.

I am not one to call her (my doctor) and beg for pain pills. I'd rather ride it out and get to the root of the problem, get it fixed and get on with my life. Especially after witnessing what pain medication can do to a person (co-worker). She went to a doctor in Columbus yesterday to see if she qualifies for disability. I certainly hope so.

Hot and boring

The pig looked hot. The pig looked bored. I felt bad for a lot of the animals. So many had fans on them. The 4-H members freeze water in big 2-liter bottles and put them in the rabbit cages to help to cool them down.

The puppies are growing fast and furious. They are full of mischief. Whoops a big clap of thunder just sent them scurrying to bury their heads in the pillows. I nearly jumped out of my chair. It has begun to rain here.

Showing

My grand niece is three. To properly show the cow, the shower must keep their eyes facing the judge (in the white shirt in the middle) and most showers will walk backwards.

Eye see you

One of the many animal species that I took photos of at the Carroll County Fair today.

I have many, many more photos, but my head hurts (too much sun) and my feet hurt (too much walking) and my face hurts (too much laughing). I am taking 2 ibuprofen, taking out the garbage and going to bed!

Moonflowers are blooming

It is difficult to explain the fragrance of these beautiful flowers. It drifts across the yard. If you are outside in the evening you can catch a faint whiff of something so clean, so fresh and fragrant and they are hard to miss.

The ones on the side of the house have completely disappeared (I guess I cut them back before they seeded) but I have a new spurt of them in the front of my patio. Rather hardy stock.

I didn't even know they existed until I moved into this house and they began to bloom late in the summer of 2002. They are just "wow". They bloom at night and on very cloudy days. Their bloom lasts about one 24 hour period. Then they droop and fall off like big, used, cloth dinner napkins.

My Paternal Grandmother

Holding her birthday cake

Not certain what year. I think the back of the photograph said 86th? Maybe. She went blind long before I was born. She died when I was eight. I vaguely remember having to stand at her knee and letting her feel my face and hair. It wasn't horrible or creepy. Just something I remember.

She was a big tobacco chewer. It was kind of gross with her being blind and all. She usually did not make it to the Maxwell House coffee can that was their designated spittoon. My Mom made sure to warn us kids about getting between the chewers and the cans. I think that is why we stayed outside so much when we went there to visit. Well, that and we were very active kids and it was always summertime when we went there.

Still gearing up for the reunion. This is all descendants of this lady and my paternal grandfather. We are hoping that at least 50 show. I know that some live far away and some are too old to travel. We just have to start somewhere and get this reunion thing going.

Puppies are doing well. Full of energy and mischief. Medicine is running it's course. I am supposed to give my daughter a break this week-end but wouldn't you know her new laptop came today (for college) and she won't leave the house. She needs a break away from the babies. I heard her on the phone with her beau. She is headed out soon.

Hurry, here they come

Cheech (on the left) and Not Chong run towards me

I've mentioned before my Canon has a serious delay while it auto-focuses on the subject. This camera is definitely meant for still life photos. This is about the only picture I could capture that actually created an image of these little hoodlums before they reached me and the little black box that they are so curious about.

The name? My daughter does not like the name Chong. So she calls him "Not Chong". It does cause a bit of confusion sometimes.

Me outside with the pups.

I holler inside to my daughter "One of them pooped!"

Daughter "Which one?"

Me "Not Chong!"

Daughter "Cheech?"

Me "No, Not Chong!"

Daughter "Which puppy pooped first?"

Me "Not Chong!"

Yeah. It's a menagerie around here.

Cheech makes a stand

My daughter is tiring of the adorable puppies. She is finding out they are a lot of work. I took them outside when I got up this morning. Sitting there in the cool morning air, I considered running back inside to feed the cats who could not figure out why I was taking care of the needs of these two rats before them.

I am so glad I didn't leave the puppies for even one second. As I sat there in the quiet, out of the blue trots a golden fox right up my back alley. A fox! I was close enough to know that is what I was seeing. The fox was on a mission. It was getting the heck out of Dodge. As if he had stayed too long after the party and was headed home.

Introducing.....

Cheech and Chong

My daughter said "No, we are not naming them Cheech and Chong." She wants to name the two boys Turner and Hooch or Inky and Dinky. I didn't tell her until she looked into the tote and saw them. I told her I was going to pick up my sister's dog to watch her and she decided not to go with me. I tried. She is very excited to say the least.

Somebody dropped them off. I can't believe it.

That is Sable's big head checking them out. I am not certain if she is trying to mother them or eat them. She had a lot of slobber while examining them. I was a bit worried for them, but so far so good. They adore her of course.

I'm going to need a big one of these...

...upside the head, after today. I said "Yes" about 4 days ago. I was given time to think about it and I have not changed my mind. I am going this afternoon to pick up something(s) and will post pictures later. Hurry, somebody shoot me now.

The bumblebee

Taken five minutes ago outside.

A bee gathers pollen from my fast fading orange flowers. Too bad I didn't have fuchsia flowers. Then I can make up a tongue twister. A firefly flits by my fast fading fuchsia flowers from afar. I have not been near as busy as this bee. I mowed last week and since then my foot really took a turn for the worse. I am still dealing with pain and a very uncomfortable burning feeling. Just so you know, Solarcaine does nothing for this type of burn. Hey, I was desperate and it was sitting out because my daughter got a sunburn.

She went to her first outdoor concert yesterday. Mom warned, advised and nagged. It fell on deaf ears. Daughter has learned her lesson. She said "Never again!"

I watched Seven Pounds. I liked the movie. I knew pretty much what it was about, somebody filled me in. I like a lot of movies that Barry Pepper has been in, I just find it difficult to look at him. He makes me uncomfortable. As does Willem Dafoe. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I just don't like looking at them. They creep me out. After looking at photos of both of them, I think it is the eyes and the mouth. They are similar on each man. I just shivered.

A week or two ago, I watched Tell No One. It was French with English sub titles. It piqued my interest. A romantic mystery with a bit of thriller added to it. My Netflix list is pretty long. I still only get one movie at a time and that suits me fine. Tell No One was in the Instant list so I was able to watch it whenever I wanted to and on my computer.

I am hoping I get to mow tomorrow. Heel be damned. The nest is gone. My brother called and told me he would stop down one evening and take care of it for me. I was sitting here the other evening and I thought to myself 'I have the Hot Shot'. I got it out and the first blast flattened the nest against the wall of the porch. I blasted again. Mind you, one foot was in my living room and I was ready with my front door as a shield. I hopped inside and watched out the window. I actually felt bad for them. Most of them dropped dead on the cement porch below but a dozen or so flitted around the pulverized nest for an hour or two. They can't land, they will also die.

My brother did stop the next morning and scraped it off the wall for me. Yuck.

Speaking of yuck, this story causes my throat to burn with the wretched taste of bile.

Out on the porch

My swinging paternal grandmother and aunt sitting on their front porch. Circa 1943.

Been scanning a lot of old family album pictures in an effort to get ready for the reunion.

It is amazing. I have looked at this album a hundred times and I don't recall most of the pictures. Until you carefully take each one out and scan it (spend some time with it) you don't really take them all in.

I recommend this activity for everybody.

Edit: LOL! Activity being: sitting on the porch with loved ones AND scanning old pictures!

Side view of the blast

Nephew 1977 got a shot of the cannon blasting from the side.

Loud

My nephew 1972 had a friend who brought a cannon to the party. It was sister 1944's house, she is the one who said "Oh, my Lord." I am the one who said "God, I jumped."

More time

A flower from sister 1944's butterfly flower garden.

Less folks at the family get-together means more time to chat with the host and a few others that showed up. Sometimes we get so many folks at these family gatherings it just seems that we don't have time to see and talk to everybody and every now and then you leave feeling like you missed something or didn't accomplish enough mingling.

We had some fireworks set off by nephew 1972. I will post one or two videos in a few days (the smaller ones).

My 1972 nephew's wife made some treats that I have not had before and I loved them. She took the little bent pretzels and smashed them into a semi-soft Hershey's Kiss. Then topped them with an M&M candy. Some she smashed into Hershey's Hugs. Those were my favorites. Of course my 1977 nephew told me today how to make them. He had overheard her telling somebody else and it sounds very easy. I don't even have to open the oven door. Well, perhaps the microwave oven, but I think I can handle that.

I love hot dogs but I don't care if I see another one for a month or two. Blah!

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.

Pretty cat

Here is my nephew's cat, Gato. She had her front claws removed. It was done before he adopted her. She goes outside for long periods of time. Probably to visit her old friends in the neighborhood.

My foot has taken a turn for the worse. That Plantar faciitjusthurts, being the culprit. I've been cranky so I have not felt like writing much.

Top photo is from my nephew's archive.

Cats, fireworks and the visit

The natives (my cats) were restless the other day. I guess I had neglected to "over-feed" them, which I feel that I do from time to time so I make them go a little longer with no food. They were circling me like some wild animal pack and since they could not take their frustrations out on me, they began turning amongst themselves. Kind of reminds me of work.

I had fireworks in my work office on Friday. I have been waiting for this for three years. Three years! What comes around goes around. I ate my imaginary popcorn and watched the show from my front row seat. It was very entertaining. Sick ticket that I am.

We DID get to see my sister, but not without a little scare first. My nephew asked me the reservation number. I had not written it down anywhere. That is not like me. I don't understand why I would not have written it down in my little calendar I carry in my purse when I made the appointment back on May 5th. I worried all night long. I dreamt about it. I did get through on my cell phone to the institute before we left the house and they did give me the number. I was so relieved. Then when we got there, they didn't ask me for it. Figures!

The visit with my sister went very well. It was emotional. I was so out of it from lack of sleep, I may have zoned out from time to time. I am glad my other sister (1944) was there to talk. The sister (1954) who is incarcerated does tend to dramatize her stories. She has sprung a few dandies on us that all of us wonder the credibility of.

Out of 8 children (5 girls) she claims that she was molested by our father. She claims this happened somewhere in the time frame of 1960-1963. We are skeptical of this, but I am aware enough about alleged abuse, to keep an open mind about her claim. I mean out of 8 of us, she is the only one in prison... There were a few more claims (nothing to do with either parent or sibling) and she does keep rehashing them when she has the limelight and a captive audience.

Claims such as: A child given up for adoption in 1974, an abortion in 1981. She and I were very close in 1982. I lived with her in El Paso while she served in the Army. I watched my nephew. She told me so many personal things, I find it difficult to believe that she would not have told me this fact. We spoke of birth control many times. We partied a good bit. We shared many secrets. This is why I am skeptical.

We were not a strict family (especially in religion) in any form. We were very open minded and liberal.

I am the sister who has spent the most time with her. Sister 1956 spent their teenage years together and the in the early 70's they were very, very close. She certainly would have known about the pregnancy and adoption. Sister 1954 was away at college during this time.

It was not until about 10 years ago that she made this claim against our father. I am pretty sure our Mom never found out about this claim. I spent many times with my sister and she never told me about this. She had plenty of chances to. She said she repressed it. I lived with her in 1982, she lived with me in 1987. We went out many, many times.

I have heard her concoct so many stories (about her life) that I knew were not true, you just begin to wonder. My father is not here to defend himself and she can pretty well say what she wants. He was not perfect, he was a horrible family man, he was sadistic and mean when he drank (to certain siblings), but he never made sexual advances that any of the rest of us can recall.

For the record he was kind and caring when he was sober. At least the man that I knew. My Mom has a different view and after so many beatings, I can sympathize with her view. I do believe the mean spirit only showed up under the influence of alcohol. I am not 100% certain about this. As I spend more and more time with sister 1944 I learn more. Driving for long distances in the car is a wonderful place to listen.

Anyway, sister 1944 and I made it through the gates. Or, the security doors. You show your drivers license. They keep it and give you a visitor's tag. You get your hand stamped. You go through one door into a small room. The other door won't open until the first one is completely closed. You go from there across a yard to the reception hall. You sign in and get a small square table assigned to you. About 2 feet by 2 feet. There are three chairs. Sister 1954 must sit in her assigned chair - facing the guards. We can hug. We can go up to the vending machines. We talk and talk and talk. It got very warm in there and after 2 hours the body odor of the people in there began to make me very ill. That and the lack of sleep. We moved outside for the last half hour.

The chairs are not comfortable. They are not the folding chairs you find in an auditorium, but they are the straight back ones you might find in an office for meetings or in the doctor's office. No arms. We squirmed around a good bit. There were about 80 people in this room. They had the doors open. It was very warm that day, and I could not imagine what the place would be like on a hot afternoon.

My sister did say that the big library is air conditioned but inmates are only allowed one hour a week there. Her son sent her a fan. She can receive merchandise via UPS/US mail. He orders the stuff online for her.

She is "into" dianetics this month. I recall reading a book on this subject many years ago. She was always practicing health food, Prevention magazine idolization, and topping it off with drinking binges. Many times after "cleaning up" after she was sent to the big house, I was left with the job of sifting through and pitching her stuff. I would pitch hundreds of dollars worth of vitamins and minerals. Hundreds of dollars.

I told her I would send information about dianetics that I find on the Internet. I am horrible at keeping up my end of the bargain. I must rectify this. She can receive no more than three type-written pages in each envelope. No more than 3 photographs. I can do better.

My hydrangea color

I sharpened the photo up a wee bit, but I kept the color true. This is the color of my hydrangea if I don't add anything to enhance the blue or go the other way to make them pink. Unless some aluminum sulfate is still in the earth left over. This bloom is actually over a week old, hence the ratty edges on some of the petals.

Headed west towards Columbus for the week end in our second attempt to visit my sister. If you recall we were 10 minutes late a couple of months ago and we did not get in to see her. We are going to try to mind the time a little better this trip.

I have never been inside a correctional institute before. There will not be any pictures, we can only take our drivers license with us. Our car keys too, I guess, and cash to purchase a money card.

I ran out of road

On my trip yesterday I took a shortcut to an elementary from the high school. Well, I thought I knew where I was going. I was just driving along, enjoying the beautiful Ohio countryside, snapping away when all of a sudden "BAM!" I ran out of road. Pavement dropped off to gravel in a split second. I wasn't expecting that. I knew then that I was somewhat lost. I found my way, I was going in the general direction, but I do so enjoy new roads that I have never been on before.

It makes up for that dirty, dark, hot and noisy wiring closet that I spent most of my morning in.

The only downfall was I got to the elementary too late. They told me the custodians worked until 2, seems they leave at 1. I got there at 1:12. Drat. They work from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. I guess it is partly to beat the heat because there is no air conditioning in these little elementary buildings.

It's that little green car again, Pa

I think I may have passed this buggy 4 times today.

I believe it was the same family. I passed them once while going to the school. Then I passed them when I went back and towards another school. I needed to check back at the first school and I passed them again, then when I went to drive back to my office, I saw them yet again. I figured I would see them, so I had my camera ready.

This was over a three hour period. It was very hot today. In the closets it felt like it was a hundred degrees. The sweat was rolling down the back of my neck. My only solace was my little car and the air conditioner.

I did have success today, though. Got the elementary buildings connected.

I've mentioned before that we are planning our first family reunion in August. My sister sent me an address of a cousin. I went to add their email address into my contact list. They use "we.serve.the.lord" and I accidentally typed in "we.serve.the.lard". I started laughing and I could not stop. I had tears running down my face. I think I have found my new email address.

I watched "Gran Torino" over the week-end. I had read a book on the Hmong people about a year ago. I don't think I liked the movie or it's message very much. Did he change in the end? Did he stop being prejudiced? He is eating dinner at his neighbor's house and he calls them "fish heads?" Really? I thought it was a little out of character for him to warm up to the family like he did. And calling the black gang "spooks?" and using "gooks" and what was with the slang term "slopes?" Was it a cocaine reference or was it a reference to their slanted eyes? Was he trying to be an Archie Bunker type? I get it in the end. How he handled the situation so that it turned out better for everyone he cared for. But, seriously. Christopher Carley really creeps me out.

Two things I did really like about the movie. I had a '73 Gran Torino (his was a '72) and PBR. That beer ruled in the mid-70's!

Meet Loach

Why anybody would want something that looks like this in their bedroom is beyond me.

She has two of them. One algae eater and some fish. I think they are platies? Beats me. I do not like fish. I especially do not like fish eyeballs staring at me through glass. I do like the blue, though.

My daughter upgraded her fish tank from a 10 gallon to a 29 gallon tank. That was a lot of water. I certainly hope those tanks are dependable. I'd hate to see that mess. Especially where electricity is involved. When the tank was in the living room it sat on the top of the DVD player stand next to the TV and next to her computer setup. Now, that was a lot of electrical stuff.

It just makes me nervous.

Turning 5 today

My blog turns 5 today. Summer solstice.

You can see the imprint of the sumo wrestling mat in my back yard in the photo above. The mat started out farther to the right (where you can see a faint imprint) and steadily moved left as more and more sumo wrestlers jumped on it. I was a bit concerned about them hitting the wires up above, but they didn't.

The mat rested more on the circle at the left before the company came back and picked it up so that left a more definitive imprint.

This photo also shows some of the rain we had last week. It came down in buckets. I did get my gutters cleaned except for that pesky one on the front end of my house. I don't like the way they designed my gutters. I think I am going to have that changed. They are supposed to drain away from the front and all drain at the back. That doesn't work. I end up with a mess at the front corners of my house.

I saw that both vehicles were gone from my neighbor's house yesterday morning and I ran and got the ladder. It is only a 6 ft. and I was able to clean most of my gutters. The one at the front of the house is just too tall for me. Blast it! I am seriously considering buying a taller ladder. Can I get it home in my little car?

Far be it from me to ask somebody with a truck to bring it home for me. LOL! You should know that answer by now.

Why am I like this? I don't know. I just hear a little voice in my head (maybe my Mom's, I don't know) that says "You made your bed, now lie in it!" In other words if I decide to live my life, purchase a house and raise a daughter all on my own, then I should be able to take care of all my house needs and daughter needs ON MY OWN!

Too independent? Maybe. I've been in therapy (mostly in an effort to communicate better with my daughter) and I am even more independent now than ever. The therapist tries with me, really she does, but I am not budging. Not in that area. She gave up asking me about dating. Poor lady. I told her "it isn't for everybody." I am not sure she buys that but I could care less. I just plain ain't interested.

Five years. FIVE years. So what is it all about? I blog for me. I purge the feelings out of me onto this blog. I can go back in time and re-read what I was feeling or doing at any given year, month, week or day. It is very therapeutic. I do write less in my personal journal that I have kept on and off since 1986.

I don't see any end in sight. I love to blog. I'm just trying to keep family and work out of it, but work is really trying at times. I should make a rule to write my feelings about work in my personal journal before writing in my blog.

Refreshing

Iced Tea

It has been very popular for restaurants around here (not sure about elsewhere) to serve sweetened iced tea. I know this is very popular in the south, but 'round here you had to add sugar if you wanted your tea sweet. And that is hard to do once the ice has been added.

I find the sweetened variety too sweet. So, I ask for half sweet and half unsweetened. Works out well for me.

Anymore, I drink water at restaurants. Cutting costs wherever I can.

My daughter drinks milk. Nobody gives free refills on milk and she always drinks at the very least two big glasses.

Of course there are free refills on pop, iced tea and coffee. I am not sure about hot tea. Are there free refills on hot tea? I usually only drink hot tea when I have a migraine. Oh, no. I said the word, didn't I? I have a "free" week-end and I just said the "M" word. Take a deep breath. Forget about it. Wipe it from your memory.

Thunder is still rolling about the Ohio valley today. It's dark and humid outside. I don't know what we have coming. I wanted to clean my gutters. But I want to do it without my neighbor seeing me since he offered to do it. That will be tricky. Is his truck out front? Yep.

My sister has started sending me emails about the first annual family reunion we are planning in August in WV. There will be no electricity at the shelter house. This ought to be interesting. Full steam ahead!

What a mess

I don't like to clean gutters

I don't have a fear of heights. Well, maybe I do. But not six or eight feet off the ground. I don't fear that. I really need to clean my gutters so I guess I'll get the ladder out this week-end. This is my patio during the rainstorm. That's where my daughter and I spent the evening Wednesday watching the storm. Sirens were blaring all over town, but we stayed put.

My neighbor asked me if I wanted him to clean out my gutters? The really bad one was on the side of the house where he could see it. That does it! I'm going to figure out some way to reach that side and clean it. I may have to buy a new ladder. I am considering sitting my 6 ft ladder on a table to reach. Sigh. I know. I won't do it. Dammit.

It was very nice of him to offer, but you have to know me. It was an insult to me. It made me feel inadequate. I thanked him profusely and his offer still stands, but I cannot ask for help from anybody. He said "I work for beer!" I laughed.

I am going to watch very closely. When he leaves (hopefully for a golf outing) I am going to get up there and clean them out. What a mess.

I have a horrible case of plantar fasciitis in my left foot. It came about from doing so much work the week before the graduation party. It flared up and has not let up since. My days have been sheer misery. Hot, sweaty, grimy and in pain. I am certainly not getting the Miss Congeniality award this week.

The neighbors sumo

My neighbors sumo

The party place dropped the sumo setup off on Saturday morning and picked it up on Monday afternoon. Sunday evening I saw that my neighbors were having a get together. They often have about six of their friends over. I walked over and told them to "have at it". And, after a couple of hours and (I am sure) a few beers later, they did just that.

I got more videos and pictures. I hope they had fun.

The mat did a number on my grass but it was all worth it.

Over he goes

It was not as easy as it looked.

The setup

OH. MY. GOD.

"What HAVE I gotten myself into?" was the first thought that went through my mind.

Sister 1956 came up on Friday afternoon to help me prepare for the party. She was a godsend. Come Saturday morning we were on the patio taking a quick coffee break. My neighbor was having work done on the back of his garage. Trucks pulling up in the back alley were nothing to cause alarm. Two very cute guys came around the patio and I thought they might need our cars moved so they can have better access to my neighbor's garage. Nope. They were there to set up the sumo mat. Five hours early!

My daughter was STILL in bed. She said she peaked out the window, saw one of the cute guys and nearly broke her neck trying to get outside before they finished. Yeah. That's my girl.

showers

Sister 1944 at her bridal shower 1968 - me on the right at 8 yrs old

Speaking of showers, it is very cloudy outside. They promised sunshine for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The clouds had better clear out or they will have me to deal with.

We are off to Sugarcreek for meat and cheese. What do I tell family and friends when they ask me about Amish country? NEVER go on a Friday or Saturday. NEVER. Of course everything is closed on Sundays.

So it is Friday and we are off to Amish country. Color me stupid.

weigela

My Mom's weigela bush by the back door to her old house

I should have seen if I could grab some shoots off of this plant. I'd probably need to go in the spring to get them. This shrub has a nice memory of my childhood. It attracts many bees and I give them plenty of respect, they are not my favorite, but it also attracts the humming birds.

I don't recall it having much of a scent but it is pretty and it blooms a lot at one time. Something that stood the test of time. It was there in the 60's and the photo above is from a week ago.

My computer started acting wonky yesterday or the day before, I can't recall. When I would read others' blogs, I kept getting messages from the browser stating that this site was not secure and that the certificate was not certified, blah, blah, blah. I thought to myself "Well, what have they changed, now?" I was also having trouble logging into my web mail. I also thought that my cable company had changed something.

Then, I saw it. As I am smack dab in the middle of scrambling around cleaning, working and preparing for my daughter's graduation party (THIS SATURDAY!) I am keeping a close eye on the time. I get up in the morning. Feed the critters. Get my cup of coffee and sit down, check my e-mail and read a long list of blogs.

Next blog, wait. Do I have enough time? Check the time. Computer says 1:27 p.m. WTF? I am still on my first cup of coffee! I got up at 6:30. (Week of working vacation). September 2004? I hear in my head "There's something strange, in the neighborhood..." from Ghostbusters theme song. Hmmm. I must check into that. Things didn't click for me, yet.

I went to log into my blog to post and I got the message "this certificate won't be available until March 2009...." something like that. THEN it all clicked. I changed my computers' date and time and all is well again. I can read my email without a nasty certificate warning. I can read others' blogs without "this page is not secure..."

But what happened with the time? It must have been wonky for a few days because I have been having problems that long. Hmmm. I must check into that. Sigh. I suppose it is the system's battery. My computer is a 2003 Dell XPS Gen 2.

No movies to comment on, haven't had time to watch any. :-( Nothing to update about work because I haven't been there (YAY!). Just getting ready for the big blast. The sumo setup comes at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. (URL is from the UK). I rented mine locally, but they do not have photos of the setup. I rented the setup for my daughter and her friends, but I am thinking my family is going to get a bit rowdy (after a few beers) and put these suits on.

Weeks ago when I began planning this I even called my insurance company to see if my policy covered this type of entertainment. My agent loved the idea so much she looked into renting something similar for her son's graduation party and yes, I'm covered. She wanted a bull-riding setup but I don't think they carried that.

I was sent some pictures recently from my sister. They are from her wedding shower (October 1968). I was 8 years old. I was always with my oldest sister during this time and there I am in my brown hair, curled up in the 60's flip. She was wearing a faux hairpiece in this style. With not near as much hair as the photo shown. I have two sisters born with gobs of hair and two sisters with much thinner, finer hair. I always liked to think that I was somewhere in between. Not full and curly, but not as thin and fragile.

Well, time's a wastin'. I have the downstairs bathroom to clean up and then we are off to the party place for one last super purchasing spree. If there is time I am headed out to Amish country this evening for meat and cheeses (YUM!). If not, tomorrow morning will work for that trip. The Amish close early.

So far, here is the food lineup:

hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill (my daughter's request)
meat and cheese tray (for folks who stay hours and want to soak up the alcohol.. I mean nibble!)
rigatoni
calico beans
special coney sauce for the dogs
macaroni salad
pasta salad
veggie pizza
relish tray (veggies and olives/pickles)
7 layer taco dip
cheese/nacho dip (my daughter's request)
cheese ball w/crackers
fruit bowl
brownies
lemon bars
chips
pretzels
mints
peanuts
punch
pop
beer

and the cake, of course!

Dancin' in the street

On the way back from a museum today, I was stopped for a bit in traffic while some guy did "the duck walk."

Breathe in, breathe out

Here is a photo of the lake from the get together on Saturday night. I must stop calling it a party with my girlfriends because we don't "party" anymore. We sit around the camp fire and catch up on all our lives. How is your Mom, how is your Dad? Is your nephew still working in Vegas?

The lake and the fire have a calming effect on the soul. Not to mention the calming effect that friends have on the soul. And that moon! My pictures of the full moon did not come out because I had left my tripod at home. It was beautiful because it was wedged between two sets of pine tree groves and had a cloud silhouette next to it.

I am moving full steam ahead with arrangements for my daughter's graduation party. Five days left to prepare. Well, four because Tuesday I'll be visiting with sisters. Sister 1944 asked if I wanted to postpone the museum trip so that I could have more time. I told her that I would probably need a break away from it all by Tuesday and we are keeping the plans.

I have been to this museum before and posted photos. I'll try to get some new and different pics this time.

Onward and upward.

Two by Two

There were two babies inside the house and two babies outside the house. Old enough to be on their own we suppose because we did not see a Mommy raccoon anywhere around. My brother got to weed eating too close to the two living in a huge cement block at the back out of the house and ended up flushing them out of their hiding space.

They crawled around looking for anything, somewhere to go. We turned them around and they snuggled back into their safe block which was nestled underneath a huge trumpet vine. Tucked back in.

The grass was pretty high and there were six of us. We used the weed eaters, we used two push mowers, we used small chain saws, hammers, garbage bags and duct tape. Whew. Two people stopped to ask about the house. We just happened to do this on the day that the town had a block yard sale. People kept thinking we were having a sale.

One poor old man (my brother knew his son and said he was in his nineties) came across the yard from the neighbor's house that was participating in the yard sales and he began looking at the lawn mowers. I softly said to him "We aren't selling anything." Of course he was hard of hearing. He smiled and I repeated myself. "We are just here cleaning up and working today. We aren't having a yard sale." "Oh" and he meandered on his way. Too sweet.

I thought for sure that I would not be able to move this morning. Other than a slight headache at the back of my head, and a little pain in my heel, I am up and moving. I have two parties today (one a graduation and one with friends at the lake). My daughter has 3 to hit today - all graduation. She has it planned down to a science. They are all running at just about the same time frame but spread out enough so that she can hit all three of them.

Not much done in the cleaning phase of my place to prepare for our party, but hopefully I can remedy that in the next few days. Where is the Advil?

Fluff

Here is a seeded dandelion taken from the lake I visited about a month ago.

I started my vacation yesterday. It is a working vacation, except for one museum day. I did pretty well with the cleaning up in the morning, but for some strange reason yesterday afternoon I sat down in my T.V. chair and it was lights out for three hours.

I might still be there if an old friend had not called me. This is highly unusual for me. I am known as the 20 minute napper, if I do nap. Just enough to recharge my batteries. But, where did this three hour nap come from? I do remember waking up once and muting the T.V. All the doors and windows were open to allow fresh air in and I snoozed. I also remember waking up and saying "Enough! I must get up and get stuff done." When that phone rang, it was like "where am I?" "Why am I sleeping?" I was very confused. I was astounded that I had napped that long.

Years ago at work our office hired a wonderful person. He has a master's degree. He spoke professionally and arrived at work at about 5:30 a.m. every day. Still does. He still works the full day, he doesn't cut out and go home earlier than the rest. His field is that of a librarian.

He has been emailing me about things that are going on at our home office. He is very upset and has written some emails to a few of the more professional folks in the education world that might be able to step in and stop this nonsense.

The director (used to be a kid that I helped to show her how to set up a computer) has placed her favorite co-workers in high places of authority. She was heard to laugh and say "This is my baby now, I can do whatever I want."

Things are starting to backfire on her. Employees are in an uproar. The hard workers are not speaking to the brown nosers that she placed above them. Who loses? The clients. The schools will lose. Animosity abounds. We also had a very loyal worker retire recently. She will come back on a part-time basis, but I don't know how that will pan out. I have that sinking feeling (Titanic). I am glad I have a week off. I'll see how things pan out later this month.

I am travelling today. My Mom's old house needs some TLC. I am taking my weed eater and meeting some other family members there. It has been rather cool in Ohio the past few days.

My daughter and I watched "Bride Wars" last evening. I would barely give it a D rating. I was disappointed. I am not certain what I expected. I should have known it was a whimsical movie. I need to stick with the more plot oriented shows. My time is getting precious, especially when I sleep 3 hours of the afternoon away! Gah!

Could be

I think this is the reason I have been mellow, low and weepy

A time for celebration? I think not. At least they had the ceremony at 7:30 in the evening instead of when my niece graduated four years ago in blistering heat.

My daughter neglected to tell me that they were walking onto the field from two separate directions this year (unlike my nieces' ceremony) and I ended up sitting on the wrong side of the bleachers.

My nephew did the photo taking, though. He walked down to the middle of the field to get the photos. Of course there were gasps from the folks in the bleachers as he assembled his camera to an incredible length of over two feet. A man behind us said "It's the paparazzi!" I am almost certain that is what my nephew lives for.

And hey, I think there IS something to this Dunkin Donuts coffee. I am draining every single cup.

In Memorium

Circa 1999

I think this photo was my Mom's last Christmas. We were surprised that she actually wore a silky blouse that my sister(1954) got for her. My Mom was always cold and this material is not much for warmth.

She would have been 89 today. Her last birthday she turned 80. It was a wonderful day. We put a sign up out in front of her house telling the cars to honk to wish her a happy 80th. Oh, she didn't like that one bit. It never occurred to me that she would be offended. She left it out there, but I kind of felt like maybe she was upset. We just got a kick out of all the horn beeping, though.

I cannot look at a 3 axle truck without shivering. My sister (1956) was driving. She was not a seat belt advocate like the rest of us. She still becomes gripped with guilt. We do not fault her at all. Heck, one time I caught my Mom holding her seat belt in my car instead of clicking it locked. I guess she was having trouble getting it to snap so she just decided to hold it. I caught her and made her fasten it. She was like a little kid sometimes.

A coal truck bounced through a stop sign. My sister (1956) laid rubber trying to stop. We really thought my Mom would be okay because she was talking and joking with the EMT's at the accident. "Ruth, how do you feel?" "With my fingers!" my Mom quipped. Does that sound like she would be dead in 28 hours? Blunt trauma to the head.

A 30 minute ambulance ride to the nearest hospital. A 20 minute wait in the life flight on top of the hospital. (I would guess they were waiting for a paramedic). A 20 minute ride to Pittsburgh in the helicopter.

It was a two hour drive for me. All of us got to talk to her except for sister (1954) who was (as usual) in prison. My Mom was not happy. She did not like doctors or hospitals. She only went to the hospital to have a baby. I was her last baby and I was 40 years old. She went in the hospital for a week once in 1972 for dehydration. That was it. She wanted nothing to do with doctors. They wanted her to quit smoking and she just snapped at them that she would rather die than quit smoking. They just shook their heads. She would go for eye cataracts and stuff, but that didn't really count. She took only aspirin for medication.

They would give her morphine for the pain. Her heart would begin to stop beating. They would give her medicine to bring her out of the morphine, then she was in pain. It was a long cycle. Round and round they went until her poor old heart gave up in the middle of the night so they put her on life support. I realized later what they were doing. They were keeping her alive for 24 hours. Any time a victim of an accident lives for longer than 24 hours they have to do an autopsy and an investigation.

She burned coal in her fireplace. She rolled her own cigarettes with bugler tobacco. She was born in a log cabin. She had all her teeth pulled sometime in her 30's. She only wore her false teeth on vacation. Her gums hardened enough to even let her eat peanuts.

She bore 8 children. Her husband became an alcoholic and did not work steady after 1950. She refused to go on welfare. She came close to losing her children many times. She moved many times.

She was raised by her maternal grandparents. Her Mother did not marry the father. When my Mom was 8 her mother married and she was told to call her Mother "Mary." That wasn't even her name. My grandmother's new father-in-law didn't think Lydia was a proper name for a woman so she was to be called Mary. WTF?

Her Mother died when she was 10 giving birth to her half brother. He is still living and resides in Florida. Her father did not know her but tried to kiss her in a car one time. She really got her revenge when she told him "Sure you can kiss me, since I am your daughter." What a riot that must have been. She said he just beat his fists on the steering wheel calling her mother's name over and over again.

What a life. And that ain't even the half of it. This is definitely a book worth writing. I must be careful, though. With 8 children, some are still sensitive about it all. They are talking more about it as the years go by. Sister (1944) just recently told me the story about how she and brother (1942) had to beat our father in the head with a high heel shoe so he would stop beating our Mom. I wasn't even born yet. My father used to tell sister (1944) that he would beat their Mom more when my she tried to go to the neighbor's house for help or to call the police.

They never had a telephone until 1966 because he would get drunk and call relatives in West Virginia and run the phone bill up. I got to see the least because by the time I came along the older siblings were able to stop our dad.

My Mom used to go to the bars with my dad. She left the younger children in the care of sister (1944). She said if she didn't go with our dad he would spend all his money. He always was buying drinks for everybody. At least with my Mom there, she could stop him or the bartender would not do it if he saw my Mom and her look. The other patrons wouldn't accept the drinks either, if my Mom was there to give them a look.

I really have to stop, now.