Sweet childish days, that were as long as twenty days are now. ~ William Wordsworth

It won't be long, little boys.

The back yard will become your paradise.

The Mason Bees will become your friends.

The porch's wind chimes will become

the music you play by.

The holly and snowball and laurel will shade you

from the sun.

And you'll be free

to be.

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can. ~ Danny Kaye

Life is God's greatest gift to me.

For those of you who enjoyed the entry about memories of being a kid in the 50s and 60s, I thought you might like this entry that I dug up out of my archives.

Feelings are much like waves, we can't stop them from coming but we can choose which one to surf. ~ Jonatan Mårtensson

Confession is good for the soul, right? Right?! Well, I am going to confess something right now and it's really rather embarrassing because you're going to think, "What a dork!" Or has that word gone out of circulation? I don't keep up much on groovy sayings since "Far out!" and every sentence starting with "Man..." went by the wayside.

You who've been around here a long time know how I get...frustrated, I guess you'd call it...about the small amount of comments my posts usually generate. How I'll mumble and grumble about feeling like I'm sitting here writing to the four walls. Mostly in jest, tho, because as I've also said, this blog is mostly for me and my grandboys...the journal of our journey together thru life. So if no one feels too compelled to say anything, that's ok. Fine. Not a prob.

So...(cringe, blush, squirm)...I'm going to embarrass the living daylights out of myself here, confessing what I'm going to confess...

I went back to WOW a little while ago to see if Sandy or Pam might've written an update on how things went on this week's 'maiden voyage' of their new blog. Very well, it seems. And then I scrolled down to my BON day and saw a few more comments had been left since I'd come by the other day. So.... (squeeze eyes shut)....I....um....printed each and every one of them.

The last words I'd ever use in describing myself would be as narcissitic or as an egoist. I am just as unsure of myself as the next person is in any given situation.

But...ohhhhhhhhhhh! If I could ever, ever tell each and every person who commented on WOW and on my blog entries what their words of kindness and encouragement mean to me...I don't have the words for that many emotions. I don't.

Copying those comments off doesn't mean I'll sit here and pour over them and gloat and think,
"Oh, man, I'm the greatest!" No, no, no. They'll be put away in my grandmother's desk drawer for the days when I feel like the crummiest writer in the world, for the days when I wonder, "Why do I even bother?" For the days when I come here so tired and frazzled my brain is running on fumes. When I need a little bit of encouragement to know that on my day of glory as a BON, these people really liked me! They really, really liked me! (Even Sally Field has her moments of self-doubt, too, so I am in good company.)

Thank you...all of you...from the bottom of my heart.

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ~ e.e. cummings

Ooooooooooooh! I love what ee cummings said there. Yes, it takes courage to grow up, even more courage to write about it and let the world know what kind of a kook you are. Like me.

Here's an interesting unique intriguing meme I found at Karen's blog this evening as I was scrolling down her page. I've been trying to fit some visiting in this weekend, and trying to send emails off to everyone who gave me so much bloggy love on Wednesday. Since I woke up at 12:30 am and finally gave up and got up a little after 1 am, I have made a good dent in my Inbox. If I somehow missed you, I do apologize. Anyone who's been around here for a while knows I seem to have a love/hate relationship with Blogger as far as getting my comment notifications sent to my email account. Drives me nuts but, hey, that's technology for you! Perish the thought the world's computer systems ever die and we have to go back to doing things with pen and paper. I am so out-of-touch with my handwritten signature any more that when I actually write a check or address an envelope my hand looks weird to me as I'm writing the letters. But then I'm a little bit of an oddball anyway. So, what's new.

Oy.

I need to get back on track but please bear with me. I spent something like 7 hours working on my income taxes today and I have been up 19 hours so far so I'm getting a little punchy. I must report we're getting something around $3600 back, I think it is. I'm so noodle-brained at the moment I can't even remember. So, what's new.

Anyway.

This meme I started telling you about is called "Picture This". What you do is go to your My Pictures file, open the first folder, count over to the 10th picture, publish it, and write a story about it. Hmmmmmmmm. Well, I actually keep my photos...real photos...in My Documents. I keep my images that I use to illustrate my blog posts in My Pictures. So what do you get from me this evening? These cute little kitty cats. I'm not even sure why I chose them originally. They've been hanging around in My Pictures for quite a while now. I am totally left-handed. I do all kinds of things backwards from the right-handed world. Thinking rates right up there at the top of the list. Left speak?! Oh my...wait 'til you have a face-to-face conversation with me. "Would you put the ketchup in the dryer for me, please?" I don't know how my family has survived living with me...I am a very disturbed person.

So...I have no real story. Sorry. But I thought the cats were cute.

As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it. ~ Buddy Hackett

Doing the laundry this morning told me something.

I usually end up with more spaghetti on me than in me.

Thank goodness for Shout!

Every man's memory is his private literature. ~ Aldous Huxley

I am so, so tired this evening. I probably shouldn't even try to write anything because I don't think my worn out brain can function that well this evening after playing trucks on the floor most of the afternoon with Dylan and Cooper and building Lego towers most of the morning. Dear Hubby and I went out to dinner at DeNicola's to start off the weekend in a relaxed mode so I'm sitting here with a bellyful of their delicious spaghetti, feeling stuffed and mellow and more and more sleepy as the minutes tick by. It's not going to end up being a very late nite around here for either one of us, but then few rarely are.

I read such an interesting entry at my young friend (I just went back and deleted 'very' as one of the words I called her...since at 26 I felt pretty grown up) Jaggy's this morning, all about how much the world has changed since she was born in 1983. Well, I was born 30 years before that, in 1953, and if she thinks the world has changed a lot in her lifetime...like Dear Hubby says, "I could tell her a thing or two about a thing or two". So I got to thinking about it and I went and found this site that provided me with quite a bit of history as to what was happening way back then. Now I feel even more old and more tired than I did when I sat down.

Oh well.

So I decided I'd write a list of a few - probably very few at the speed my brain cells are banging away in there - things I can think of on a personal level that have fallen by the wayside since 'mid century' of the 1900s:

1. Penny candy. At the Dime Store in my hometown there was a HUGE table filled with all sorts of penny candy. And some were even 2 for a penny! And some were even three for a penny...but they were pretty rare.

2. Transistor radios. At least I don't see transistors anywhere anymore??? Or am I not observant? Oh, the lazy hot sunny summer afternoons where I'd lay out in the grass on a spread-out towel in a 2-piece bathing suit, getting a tan, sipping Kool-Aid on ice, my skin slathered with a combination of Baby Oil and iodine to speed up the tanning process. My transistor was ever-present, tuned to the popular AM stations, singing along with the likes of The Beatles, The Turtles, the Mamas and Papas, Neil Diamond, Simon and Garfunkel. And will any of us of my generation ever get the lyrics of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" figured out?!

3. School air raid drills. I think only children who grew up in the Cold War era where nuclear war was an ever-present threat can appreciate the shivers of fear that would dash up and down our spines and cause the hair on our neck to stand up every time the drill siren would blare. At my school we kids were shepherded down into The Dungeon, an old basement area that was used mainly for storage and old tumbling mats. As if anything would've "saved" us. My Dear Hubby's memory of those drills was being told to hide under their desks with their heads cradled in their arms. Sheeeeeeeesh.

3. Nifty binders

4. PeeChees. Do they still have those???

5. 45 records played on portable record players...and the little plastic chips you could fit inside a 45 to make it playable on a record player/stereo spindle

6. Old A&W rootbeer stands where you placed your order on speakers and they'd deliver the food to your car

7. Drive in movies --- oh, those were the BEST!!

8. At least in my part of the country - the Pacific Northwest - the courtesy of calling adults "Mr." or "Mrs." We were allowed to call a few adults in our neighborhood by their first names if our parents were friendly with them...otherwise, the parents of my friends were "Mr. Jones" or "Mrs. Jones". And if we got in trouble at school, we got in even more trouble at home. Disrespect to teachers was unthinkable, let alone allowed. And if we really misbehaved, we'd get called up in front of the class and get a swat with a wooden paddle right where it was deserved. And rarely, in my time, did that ever happen. Classrooms were orderly, peaceful, and quiet places of learning.

9. Nylon stockings with garter belts or 'panty girdles', I think they were called. The early panty hose were a joke, too...you'd wear them a time or two and the elastic was such poor quality they'd stretch out and slide down your waist.

10. This is rather personal, but definitely was something we girls had to put up with...sanitary napkins with sanitary belts. Nightmares. I will never forget the deep embarrassment of my first period and my mother demonstrating to me how to use one. I knew the Facts of Life already but even so....yuck! One of the happiest days of my life so far was having my hysterectomy and realizing I was free!!!!!!!

Well, 10's a good round number to stop with, I think. If you have any thoughts on the subject or any memories of your own you'd like to add, please feel free! I'm sure there are zillions of things that have slipped my slippery mind tonite and I'd love to hear some of your memories.

Right now, this tired ol' granny is heading for the Land of Nod......

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in. ~ John Muir

My Dear Hubby asked me to send off a sympathy card to someone he knows who lives on Meadowsong Road. Isn't that a beautiful name? And I've been to this gentleman's home and the name truly befits the setting. If I lived some place like it I don't think I'd ever feel the need to leave.

For those of you who are newly arriving here, I know Sandy and Pat mentioned my marriage of long duration. I thought I'd put a link here to the story of how we met, just to let you know why I'm still so crazy about The Man I Love. And this link here will fill you in a little more about the woman I am and how I look at and think about things.

Yesterday was one of those the grandboys and I observed thru our big front windows...blustery winds, whiplash rain. It's barely 3:30 am as I write this but it sounds peaceful out there this morning so maybe we'll end our week together taking a nice walk later on. I need milk and I'm stymied over what to have for dinner tonite. But that is nothing out of the ordinary around here.

Childhood is the most beautiful of all Life's seasons. ~ Author Unknown

We have two new residents, actually, in our home. Not one goldfish but two. Our neighbor Azizollah who was born in Iran has been celebrating his New Year and goldfish in his culture signify Life. He and his wife had bought a couple and now that the New Year is over they offered to give them to the grandboys, as they do a lot of traveling and figured the fish needed a home where someone would care for them.

Care for them?! Oh, yeah.

It's a wonder these two little fishies have survived since they showed up on the scene yesterday afternoon, they have been shown so much love and attention. If one grandboy's face hasn't been peering down into the bowl with his nose practically touching the water, the other one has. I had the bowl on the table yesterday and Dylan and Cooper spent the rest of their day here getting 'acquainted'. They named them Spot and HoHo and showed their new buddies their favorite toys. Dylan sang "The Alphabet Song" to them. He'd go over periodically and ask, "Hey, HoHo Spot...how you doing?" When we went for a late afternoon walk over to the fire station Dylan hollered to Papa who was downstairs in his den, "Papa! Will you keep an eye on HoHo Spot and make sure they're doing ok?" Of course Papa said yes. And the interest hasn't waned at all today. Today they got to feed them.

Oh...and which one is Spot and which one is HoHo? The one with spots is HoHo. The pure gold one is Spot.

It makes sense to a 4-year-old.

Words of Wisdom

Two fellow bloggers in the blogosphere, a stepmother/stepdaughter team named Sandy and Pam, recently came up with a wonderful brainstorm: creating a site that is dedicated to blogs of substance. Not "Mommy Blogs". Not blogs dedicated to giveaways and contests and filling their pages full of ads and music. But. Blogs. Worth. Reading. Blogs written by people who put a little thought...or a lot of thought...into what they post on their pages. Blogs written by people who care about the written word. Blogs where, once you've sat down and read two or three entries or maybe a full page of what's written, you go away thinking. Not necessarily entertained by it, but content that you might find yourself quietly pondering over thru the day.

Here is a link that will take you directly to this new blog. Listed there will be "Blogs of Note"...and I am so pleased and proud to say that mine has been selected to be featured today, the 24th. I have also created links here to three fairly recent personal favorite entries of mine but you are welcome to read and browse thru my archives as well. The three are:

http://missykrissy2005.blogspot.com/2009/11/you-can-never-go-home-again-but-truth.html

http://missykrissy2005.blogspot.com/2009/12/i-tell-you.html

http://missykrissy2005.blogspot.com/2010/02/privacy-state-of-being-free-from.html

The ones I've chosen are of three different topics, all dear to my heart. The first is about 'home' and what it means to me. The second is one of many poems I've written, many of which are scattered thruout my blog. The third is about parenting. I am a woman long past the days of raising my own two children, both of whom are in their early 30s now, but I am one of those 'new breed' of grandmothers, a stay-at-home grandma, who provides day care for their grandchildren and has a very active hands-on role in the nurturing and raising of the next generation.

Now comes the hard part...introducing myself to you. How does one go about describing oneself, since our inner selves that we know and see isn't exactly how the world perceives us? I'm 56. I've wanted to be a writer since as far back as I can remember. On good days I'm an extroverted introvert. On bad days, an introverted extrovert. I have never written the great American novel but that dream hasn't totally wilted away inside yet. I am a published poet, if you consider one poem worthy of that. I've self-published many of them here. Between my original blog which I put to rest a few years ago and this one, I have written something like 1600 blog entries. I have been blogging for 5 years and it is the best part of my day, on those when I find the time after the grandboys are gone and the dinner dishes are done, when I sit down here at my grandmother's desk and let the words start pouring out. Blogging is my life blood, my sanity saver, my sanctuary, my place to meet with friends. But, most importantly, it is my living legacy to my two grandsons, somewhere they can come back to in the future and read about their grandma as a real person, beyond the grandma they know who loves them to the point of distraction.

So...welcome, those of you who've come over to visit from WOW! I hope you find 'my place' one you'll return to, that you'll find me worthy of this wonderful honor Sandy and Pam have bestowed on me.

I will close with these words penned by Anais Nin. They're in my sidebar, but this is how I truly feel:

"We write to taste Life twice, once in the moment and in retrospection." ~ Anais Nin

Spring

Spring blossoms float.
They waft lazily on the breeze,
shimmery in the sun fog

on our cool-morning walk.

You see them.

You say,

"Snowflakes, Grandma!"

and you lift up your arms

with your face turned up to the sky,

twirling in circles.

The flakes kiss your eyes.

Your delighted laughter

bubbles out.

And I stop

and I smile

and hold this moment

close

in my heart.

Happiness is never stopping to think if you are. ~ Palmer Sondreal

I am so glad I'm my father's daughter. If ever there was a man who was happy almost all the time...or one who never complained when he wasn't...that was my Dad. I found myself thinking off and on thru the day yesterday, "There's a reason why today is special," but I was busy enough it was more of a fleeting thought and I never had time to really dwell on it. As I lay down to go to sleep, tho, it came to me...it was 4 years ago yesterday that my Dad died. Where oh where have those four years gone?! But even after suffering a devastating stroke in March of 2005 that left him completely paralyzed on the left side and rendered him basically helpless, the man would rarely give in to the 'glooms'. And when it was time for him to go, he slipped quietly in to eternity. Towards the end he was sleeping a lot and one afternoon when I went to visit him at his care center and found him awake I asked him, "What do you dream about when you're sleeping so deeply?" He told me, "About back when you and your brothers were little." That made perfect sense because, in our family history, that was our happiest time as a family. The major sour note in it all was he, the eternal optimist, was married to my mother, the eternal pessimist. But that's a whole 'nother story. Suffice it to say I'm thankful my Dad's happiness gene thrives within me...most of the time.

Boy, I certainly got off the track on this one, didn't I? I'm supposed to thank Vanessa, a lovely young lady who recently stumbled across my blog and has a very fascinating one of her own, for this happiness award. And I do thank her. The many awards other bloggers have given me these past five years have all been deeply appreciated...it's an honor to see you've been considered worthy of one, considering the bazillions of blogs out there in cyberspace. Vanessa's list of the 10 things that make her happy is worth the reading...I hope you mosey on over there and see for yourself.

So...what makes me happy? I'm rather limited by time this early morning to go in to much detail, but here my list goes in no apparent order:

1. My faith. Without God in my life, it really wouldn't be worth living. There are those who would disagree with me, especially anyone who's never loved God. But be careful how you judge us Christians...how can you argue with me if you've never experienced it yourself?

2. Hearing my grandsons play and giggle. I don't even have to explain that one.

3. Dear Hubby and the life I've had with him these past 36 years...I have been truly blessed and I know it and appreciate it.

4. My children. I couldn't ask for two better.

5. Reading. My mom told me when I was a little girl, "If you have a good book to read you'll never be lonely". Truer words were never spoken.

6. Gardening. There's nothing I enjoy doing more than spending a quiet day working in my flowerbeds with bumble bees keeping me company, house finches trilling in the trees, a soft breeze blowing thru my hair, the wind chimes tinkling, the warm sun on my back, and my hands deep in the dirt. Bliss.

7. Music. I couldn't have survived this far in life without music.

8. Walking. Especially with the grandboys and especially with Dear Hubby. My favorite place to walk? Endlessly on the beach at Road's End.

9. Dandelions. If I had a dollar for every one my grandsons have given to me, I'd be a rich woman. But I'm a rich woman anyway.

10. Living. Life is an endless palette.

Thank you, Vanessa, for giving me the opportunity to sit here this morning and start my day off counting my blessings. A day can't start any better than that.

The fire is the main comfort of the camp... -- Henry David Thoreau

(I got this amazing photo here)

My Dear Hubby is an amazingly intuitive man. He has a keen sense of knowing when I'm reaching the end of my rope and am in need of some 'me' time. Or at least some 'down' time. Where no one can reach me. No one can interrupt me. I'm left alone to enjoy a day in peace and quiet. Sometimes those days are ones where I'm left at home alone...but those are so rare I hardly even know what that feels like any more. So when he suggested we take a drive up into the Mt. Hood National Forest and go for a campfire/picnic yesterday, I was all for it.

We left at 6 am and traveled up the Columbia River Gorge highway, heading east to The Dalles. We watched the sun come up as we drove along. Hardly another vehicle on the highway. Once we got east of Hood River the Columbia was as smooth as glass...the play of Nature's lights did tricks on the mind and the eyes. You couldn't tell where the shoreline began and everything shimmered in subtle shades of mauve and lavender. I saw a couple of pelicans, sea birds I've never spotted before so far upriver - about 160 miles from the ocean - floating peacefully in a sheltered cove. As we reached The Dalles and headed south into north central Oregon, the rolling hills of fruit orchards, the contrast of green grass and bleached-out stubble from winter grass and grain crops, the dips and swoops of the highway as it meandered thru the landscape, began to ease the stress in my shoulders. I could feel myself begin to relax. I knew I'd been stressed and tired...but until that moment I hadn't realized how much.

We turned off on to a gravel road. One of probably thousands I've traveled on thru the woods and desert with Dear Hubby the past 36 years. We saw deer run across the road. We saw a Canada goose perched on a rock outcropping...probably protecting a nest. Hawks glided lazily above. We eventually found the spot we'd had a similar campfire/picnic at several years ago and set up our day camp. We got a big, warm campfire started. I sat down to read and keep the fire burning, and Dear Hubby took off with his longbow for a 'walkabout'.

It was a little cool at first but as the sun began to creep steadily higher and shone down on me thru the pine and fir branches, I took off my coat and soaked in the warm rays. I got lost in my book, listened to a woodpecker high in a tree overhead tap-tapping for his breakfast. And before I knew it, Dear Hubby was back. We started a big pot of coffee on the Coleman stove. We roasted hotdogs on the fire. We had a lovely feast.

Another walkabout. A book finished, another started. Time to pack up and go home. Another beautiful drive down the Columbia, back to Portland and reality.

As we sat in the living room last nite Dear Hubby told me, "I've taken a lot of trips and done a lot of things with different friends thru the years but I've never enjoyed any of them as much as I enjoy spending a day like today with you."

The first day of Spring.

Love still blooms.

Don't Mess With Me!

My son sent these to me. I thought they were too cute not to pass on:

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible. The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah". The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?" The little girl replied, "Then you ask him".

A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like." Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."

A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to "honour" thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?" Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, "Thou shall not kill."

One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head. She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?"Her mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white." The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, "Momma, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?"

The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture."Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grownup and say, 'There's Jennifer, she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael, he's a doctor.' A small voice at the back of the room rang out, "And there's the teacher, she's dead."

A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, "Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face.""Yes," the class said" Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position the blood doesn't run into my feet?" A little fellow shouted" 'Cause your feet ain't empty."

The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray: "Take only ONE. God is watching." Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had written a note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples."

Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork. ~ English Proverb

My Dear Hubby overheard this conversation:

Someone was telling a friend that he'd lost 18 pounds since he'd begun running a few weeks ago. His friend, who is quite...rotund...said,

"When I got on the scale the other day it talked to me."

"What did it say?" the first man asked.

"One at a time, please!"

was the answer.

Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once. ~ Lillian Dickson

(Artwork "Roses" by Shayna Bracha)

Dear Hubby told me this morning that someone we knew had died...he'd heard the news at church last nite. She was a lovely woman named Betty, the mother of a very dear friend of ours, and someone we'd known for over 30 years. She'd been in frail health the past few years with heart ailments and had suffered several small strokes. She could still sing along with hymn books but to try to make conversation was difficult for her. The mental wiring between her thoughts and being able to verbalize them had gotten short-circuited. And yet her warmth and love and concern would radiate out of her. Words were the least of her worries. Her sweetness and joy spoke volumes.

Because she'd been literally housebound the past few years her church attendance was sporadic at best. It took quite a bit of effort for family members to get her ready, to get her in to the car, and then navigate her wheelchair around the crowded church. Dear Hubby would talk to her every now and then when he'd call to speak to her son but I hadn't seen her for at least a couple of years. But...a couple of Sundays ago...I happened to look over my shoulder and who was being wheeled in but Betty. It was too close to the time for the service to start to go say anything to her but something told me not to leave without speaking to her after church was over. So...after the closing prayer I went back to where she was sitting and said hello. She looked at me rather confused and said, "I'm sorry!" and pointed at her head, so I got down more at eye level and said, "It's me, Betty. It's Kris." The light dawned on her face and she grabbed a hold of me and patted my hand, laughing and telling me, "Oh, yes! Yes! I know you! So glad to see you!" I was so very glad to see her, too. Our history went back a long way.

I can't say the news of her death came as a shock. But it sure brought home to me the fact that when you say goodbye to someone, you might truly be saying goodbye. I am so glad I listened to that prompting, telling me to make sure I spoke to her before I left. If I hadn't and I'd heard the news of her passing I would've had regrets the rest of my life.

We get so caught up. We get so busy. We see someone or think of someone and let that opportunity slide by without acting upon it. I don't always succeed at acting upon those promptings but I try to do the best I can...like sending notes or cards of encouragement if someone comes to mind. My beloved Aunt Gin -- I can never talk about her without calling her 'beloved' -- was a perfect example of someone who heeded those promptings. I knew of many times when she'd stop by and visit a housebound church member. Or bake a pie for someone and drop it off. But it wasn't until she died and I inherited her journals that I found out just how much and how often she actually did these things. Not bragging...just writing about how she'd picked a bouquet of roses out of her garden and thought Sister Addie might like them so drove over and took them to her. The countless dinners she cooked for people. The amount of money she and her husband spent each year sending - anonymously - probably hundreds of kids thru the years to Youth Camp. The list of charitable causes their estate left money to after she and her husband died would put even Bill Gates to shame, when you take it in context. She was a marvelous role model. I miss her more than words can tell.

1999 was a very difficult year for us. If it hadn't been for cards and phone calls from people who were concerned about us, who told us they missed us -- we'd left our church for a while -- and told us they loved us...well, who knows where we'd be now? It doesn't take monumental effort to let someone you know that you care for them or are thinking of them...just an e-card saying "Hello! Have a nice day!" I have these beautiful words listed on my sidebar but they're well worth repeating here, too...because they're so true:

"If only you could sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet, how important you can be to people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person." -- Mr. Rogers

The hardest work is to go idle. ~ Yiddish Proverb

I'm trying really hard lately not to be consumed by guilt when it comes to my blog. But I don't seem to be able to find the time to come here as often or for as long as I used to. Why life seems to be even busier than normal, I dunno...maybe because this week has been consumed by mostly 12-hour days of taking care of the grandsons has something to do with it! But I'm not getting around to visit or comment much, either.

That really makes me feel guilty!

Because most of my face-to-face friendships are on hold, too.

Those have been for 4 years now, ever since I began caring for the little ones.

I know it will be sooner than I can imagine and life will be quiet and I'll have so many hours on my hands I won't know what to do with them.

But now is not that time.

12 More...

1. How old is the oldest pair of shoes in your closet? Am I the only woman in the world who prefers going barefoot? I have 3 pairs of shoes...walking shoes, a pair of dress shoes for church and special occasions, and slides. The dress shoes are probably 5 years old. Still look brand-new because they see regular use -- just not hard use. I go thru walking shoes on a regular basis.

2. Did you buy Girl Scout cookies this year? If so, what variety? I rarely ever buy them because I hardly ever see Girl Scouts selling them...maybe I miss their fundraising times of year or shop way too early? I usually do my grocery shopping at 7 in the morning. Anyway, this year I did come across some and bought a box of the mints. This came after hearing of a bunch of Girl Scouts whose money box had been stolen from them in front of a store! Now, how low is that?! Rotten thieves!

3. Do you know how to ballroom dance? If not, would you like to? Nope, and I'm not the least bit interested in learning.

4. Were you a responsible child/teenager? Way, way, way too responsible. Sometimes I wonder how I survived my teen years with my marbles still intact. In some ways, I didn't. I suffered an emotional breakdown at the age of 18 that I had to work thru all on my own. I guess I could've ended up resenting all the angst in those years for the rest of my life, but I put it all to practical use and learned many valuable life lessons from them. Most importantly, to try to let my own children enjoy their youth as much as they wanted to.

5. How many of this year's Oscar-nominated movies did you see? None. And I don't even know who won.

6. If you're going to have a medical procedure done, such as having blood drawn, is it easier for you to watch someone else having the procedure done or have it done yourself? I worked in hospitals for several years so hospitals, doctors, procedures don't intimidate me in the least. Either way, having procedures done or watching them being done doesn't bother me at all.

7. What is your favorite day of the week and why? Saturday. Even tho I'm rarely alone, it is the one day of the week totally my own.

8. Do you miss anyone right now? Always and forever my beloved Aunt Gin. For someone who wasn't related to me by blood -- she was Dear Hubby's aunt -- we had a special bond like none I've had with anyone else on earth.

9. Do hospitals make you queasy? I pretty much answered this one in #6 but no...they don't make me queasy at all.

10. At which store would you like to max-out your credit card. Not that you ever would, you responsible person, you. Powell Books here in Portland!

11. Are you true to the brand names of products/items? Campbell's Soup. Outside of Tomato, every other kind I buy is Campbell's. Don't ask me why. If someone blindfolded me and had me taste two different brand soups I probably couldn't tell you which one was which but it's a mental thing. And I say this referring back to when I could taste. Even without the sense of taste it STILL has to be Campbell's!

12. Which is more difficult: looking into someone’s eyes when you are telling someone how you feel, or looking into someone’s eyes when he/she is telling you how he/she feels? You know, neither one is difficult for me. I like honesty, pure and simple, whether it's the getting or the giving. I've had to deliver some pretty hard messages to people and I've received some, too. Just tell me up front. And I find most people appreciate up-front honesty in return.

Button? Button? Who has the button?

When I was a little girl my mom had a quart jar shaped like a little bear with a hat on its head. It's where she stored her buttons. On rainy days...boring days...I'd sometimes take down the jar and play with them. Not that there was much I could do with them imagination-wise, but I liked sorting thru them and making piles of similar colored ones. Most were ordinary but some, like the little lemon-shaped ones of yellow or brass ones, were a bit more unique. I don't know what happened to that jar. I wonder if it's still at my father's home where my stepmother lives, stashed away in 'his' room of belongings he'd brought along from our family's former life when he married her. I think the odds of ever claiming any of that old stuff is history now.

Another childhood memory of buttons was playing "Button? Button? Who has the Button?" during inside recesses on especially rainy days. That, and "Heads Up Seven Up", I believe the other game was called. I'm dredging the names up almost 45 years after they happened, so bear with me. I grew up in a small town along the southern border of the Olympic Rain Forest in Washington State so we had a lot of indoor recess days.

Which brings me to the obsession I seem to be observing on a lot of blogs now with blog buttons? Does everyone have a blog button? What is the need of a blog button? I'm a complaining old fuddy-duddy, I know, but I find a long list of them in a sidebar very distracting. But, like all other blog 'fads' that come and go, it seems to be the 'in' thing right now. Not for me. I'm not a follower. My blog will remain button-free. Sometimes I think it will remain 'entry' free...I seem to be going thru a bit of a no-time-to-sit-down-and-think phase in life right now. But I plug away when I find a chance. Too many things on my plate right now to focus here. But that's ok. Or so I tell myself.

Ancient Words

The amazing choir and orchestra at my church performed this song yesterday.

It's beautiful.

Gotta love that George!

A couple of years ago for a Christmas present our son and daughter-in-law bought us a big George Foreman grill. I love it. My only complaint is it's hard to clean but the many great meals I've prepared on it more than make up for it. But, even so, it'd be wonderful if he could design one that's fully immersible.

Dear Hubby and I eat practically no red meat outside of wild game. When we get a hankering for burgers I prepare them with ground turkey. Tho I can hardly remember what turkey tastes like, I do remember it being pretty bland when it came to using it for burgers. But I've come up with what he and our daughter say is a very tasty solution. I use Masterpiece Honey Teriyaki sauce with sesame seeds as a marinade, pouring about 1/4 cup of it onto a pound of thawed ground turkey. Then I mash it all in, mixing it thoroughly, and let it marinate all day. I cook them for approximately 6 minutes on the grill, adding garlic salt and Johnny's seasoning salt to taste - well, what I think would taste good to the other two - then doctor them up on buns just like I would regular beef burgers. They're juicy and tender and very good, from the compliments I've gotten on them. And so much healthier!

If the shelves are dusty and the pots don't shine it's because I have better things to do with my time...

I've had one of those weekends where it doesn't seem like I've done much but when I sit down and start thinking it over, I did more than I thought I did! Birthday shopping and grocery shopping. Curtains washed and rehung. The back porch swept off and empty coffee cans collected for Dear Hubby to take to work tomorrow...they use them for storing paint. Vacuuming. It was an absolutely glorious day here yesterday so Dear Hubby and I drove out to the archery club he belongs to and enjoyed the beauty along the Columbia River...all the waterfowl, everything in bud or greening out. I got 100 pages of a book read. Then we stopped at a little store/restaurant on the way back into town and had dinner. Just one of those perfectly simple days. I even found the Peter Gabriel CD I've been searching for!

Our friend Roger came over on Friday and built a whole new stair case off the back porch. He did a wonderful job! He put an extra tread in the middle to make them more sturdy for little legs running up and down. Next on my agenda is to call around to get estimates for the back gates that need installing. I am getting so psyched about having a safe place for the grandboys to play! One of the reasons I've always taken them on long walks is to get them outside in fresh air and give them something new to look at. But over the winter Dylan has grown from a toddler to a 60-pound 4-foot-tall little boy and Cooper must weigh close to 30 pounds now. I realized the other day as I was pushing them and some groceries home from Walmart that our days of double-stroller outings are pretty much a thing of the past. Plus, now that Cooper's been walking almost a year he's not the least bit interested in riding in the stroller any more. About the only time he'll even consider it is if his parents forget to pack his shoes. Or we can start out on a 'big boy walk' where he's walking alongside and can get into the stroller when he's tired. He amazed me the other day by walking close to a mile and a half, all on his own steam. And he took a 3-hour nap that afternoon!

For the longest time Dylan was almost mute. He wouldn't say anything but the barest minimum of words, even tho he observed everything with the deepest concentration. You could see the wheels turning inside that little head of his but nothing would get him to talk. That finally changed maybe 9 months ago and ever since then there's no turning back. You can hardly get him to be quiet. The other day I took him with me to the bank and as we pulled up to park in front of the house my neighbor Sharon's aunt and uncle from Yakima were just arriving. Dylan barely knows them...they show up every few months for an overnite stay on their way to the beach...but that didn't deter him. He rolled down the window of the truck and stuck his head out. "Hi! Hi!" he called, getting their attention. "I'm Dylan and this is Grandma but Papa and Cooper are in the house. It's just me and Grandma out here!" Then...out of the truck he goes, chattering a blue streak. Music to my ears.

A Touch of the Green.......

1. Do you prefer even or odd numbers? Any particular reason? I like the number 5. I just like the way it looks on a die cube. No particular reason. No special date or anything else it represents for me.

2. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being "not at all" and 10 being Carly Simon-worthy, how vain are you? Maybe a 2? I dunno. I'm very comfortable in my skin but I spend no money on beauty products. I hardly ever get my hair cut. And the amount of time I spend in front of a mirror is just long enough to make sure I look presentable to the outside world.

3. Which of these Irish stereotypes do you identify with most? Proud? Talkative? Inquisitve? Love to party? Hot-tempered? Inquisitve in the sense of wanting to learn information about whatever I'm interested in, not inquisitive in a nosy sort of way.

4. How lucky do you consider yourself? I don't believe luck comes in to it at all. I feel very, very blessed by making wise choices, hard work, and a belief in making the best of all situations.

5. What is the subject of your favorite post that you've written? I've posted several, but my poetry because they come from the very heart and soul of me.

6. Describe March weather where you live in three words. Very, very unpredictable.

7. How apt are you at detecting blarney when you hear it? (Smooth talk, flattery) Oh, very good. I can't stand it, it's so phony.

8. How "green" are you, environmentally speaking? I'd say I'm quite green. I do very well with recycling and I'm teaching my grandsons the importance of it, too. I try very hard to use only natural ingredients in my gardening..."Poop tea" is about the best fertilizer out there, and it's all organic.

9. What is your favorite song this week?" "This Old Man" as sung by my grandson Dylan.

10. You are walking along and see a coin on the ground. What denomination does it have to be before you will stop to pick it up? I'll pick up anything. It all goes in the grandboys' piggy bank. I once found a money clip with $10 in it.

11. Complete the sentence: "Every time I look outside my window ...." I feel a deep sense of peace.

12. What was the #1 song on the day you were born? "Oh, My Papa" by Eddie Fisher.

"Don't buy the house, buy the neighborhood.” - Russian Quote

We're in the process of getting the outside of the house child-proofed now that Dylan will be 4 in a week or so and Cooper is fast approaching 2. Dylan...remarkably...finally...has mellowed out and slowed down. Cooper is showing indications of the Terrible Twos but he idolizes his big brother and tends to mimic him so maybe his twos will be a little less hectic. He can have a ferocious temper when not getting his way and he's also a very busy little guy...but so far all he's done has been tempered by observing his brother. Let's hope for my sake that continues, ha!

So...we're having new steps put on our back porch on Friday, leading down into the yard. They'll be broader and have a much more sturdy hand rail for small hands to grasp on to...not so steep as the old stairs. I'm calling around today to see about having gates put on the east and west sides at the back. We have fences on three sides that belong to all the neighbors but have never had gates to completely enclose it. Now we will. And I'll put a couple of locks on them so busy fingers can't flick the handles up and make escape possible. Dylan's already talking about taking trucks out there and swimming in their kiddie pool and helping me garden. I'm going to let him plant the flower boxes and make those his responsibility for keeping alive. I can't wait to get outside and garden!!!!! I have sorely missed my 'zen' time these past few years since I began doing day care for the grand boys. Now I'll be able to putter and they'll be able to play...we should all be happy campers.

One thing that's going to be a challenge is getting the many feral cats in the neighborhood to quit using our back yard as their bathroom. Once upon a time cats used to cover up their poop. Not these cats. They mess everywhere and just leave the piles. I'm hoping that having a lot of people activity out there will encourage the cats to go find another yard to hang out in. Do any of you know of a good cat repellent?? My neighbor Sharon has a horrible time with them pooping all over in her vegetables, too. We'd heard cocoa pod shells were good but that didn't seem to do a thing for deterring these wild critters. They're many generations of cats that have been breeding since the original mother was bought by careless neighbors maybe 15-20 years ago. And the current 'popular' female is enormously pregnant again. Sigh.

I go to Facebook. I go away from Facebook. Currently I'm there again. And every time I go I find someone new. Yesterday when I was browsing thru my hometown's alumni page I came across a girl I remembered from way back when and sent her a message. She responded and we're planning on keeping in touch. And I retyped in the name of my maid of honor who I lost contact with 33 years ago. This time she popped up. Her name is so unusual I'm hoping this is the right Rhonda! I sent her a message this morning so my fingers are crossed. I'd love to 'find' her again. We were planning on becoming roommates and then Dear Hubby entered the picture and the rest is history.

And so it's Thursday. It's supposed to be nice. The boys and I will be heading out early. Yesterday's 5-mile walk really helped in loosening up the sore muscles in my hip from my klutzy fall the day before. Dear Hubby's back to riding his bike to work, an 18+-mile round trip. Old age?! Never heard of it!

Ouch!

This is not a week worth blogging about so far, outside of yesterday. As I was helping my son take the boys out to the car at the end of the day I misstepped and caught my toe on one of the porch steps, loaded down with Cooper in one arm and the big backpack/diaper bag on the other. I knew I was going down so I tossed the bag off to the side, then tossed Cooper a few feet out of the way just as I was hitting ground. He ended up tumbling over totally unharmed but screaming bloody murder. Me...well, I managed to hit the ground and roll so I was unharmed too outside of some very sore hip muscles on the right side. And bruised dignity. But I was able to get right up. At 56 I'd say that's not too shabby...pays to be in good health and physically fit, I'd say. The muscles? Nothing that some Advil can't take care of.