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."