tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734128791514151132024-03-05T21:18:58.114-06:00HickMamaWalking with God.... watching out for manure.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger223125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-41638993375561383122014-08-19T09:58:00.001-05:002014-08-19T09:58:36.048-05:00Rosie the Chicken<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: x-large;"><strong><em>For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live. - Ezekiel 18:32</em></strong></span><span class="p"><br /></span><span class="versiontext"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-large;"><strong><em></em></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">So I have this chicken…</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV70hOzXUqRJdGHltoZiUWaKEAK8FA7Ogl6uE-Ly5ZW8ho_rOofy8ZMpN3T99MoKkJXf5OS5-pd1gI7wWtcq-Lt8_izGGXhpP6-vloE8z8JLHwtL3I5BrjtX71rSzwtx2yfFYrSVA1lsSz/s1600/IMG_4658.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV70hOzXUqRJdGHltoZiUWaKEAK8FA7Ogl6uE-Ly5ZW8ho_rOofy8ZMpN3T99MoKkJXf5OS5-pd1gI7wWtcq-Lt8_izGGXhpP6-vloE8z8JLHwtL3I5BrjtX71rSzwtx2yfFYrSVA1lsSz/s1600/IMG_4658.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">My dog is a known lover of chickens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His name is Lucky, but occasionally he turns
into his alter-ego, El Diablo, and kills and eats one of my chickens that has
gotten out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or my ducks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or random bunnies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s a meat eater by nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s no fault of his own that they are
delicious. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So we keep the dog separate from the chickens at all
possible moments and keep the chickens’ wings trimmed to minimize their flying
over the fence and into enemy territory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">But…</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">A couple of months ago I noticed we had a regularly out
black hen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her morning trek takes her
over her own fence, across the backyard, over the dog’s fence and into his pen,
where she looks for a morning snack of june bugs that have drown in his
swimming pool overnight. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Several times
we’ve come home to find the chicken and dog in the dog pen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So far, El Diablo has been ignoring the
deliciousness of said chicken. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">This morning she was perusing the selection of my garden and
its fallen tomatoes and was selecting her breakfast from bugs under the oak
tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our chicken reminds me of the hen from the children’s book
Rosie’s Walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our dog is the fox.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the book Rosie takes quite a perilous walk
about the farm with the fox always hiding in the bushes watching the chicken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Our chicken is brave.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And bold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And perhaps a little oblivious.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">Just like Rosie...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So that shall be her name.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-43073251534967242182014-05-05T14:44:00.000-05:002014-05-05T14:44:51.298-05:00RA, TP, and Hydrocortisone Cream<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-large;"><em><strong>“Keep your love for one another at full strength, because
love covers a multitude of sins.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1
Peter 4:8</strong></em></span></div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKVB4Okh94OghXmcTDCNjVetAEr4SN2LEqQDGmgLjqC4nfH3mEHe-lLCSfZWPKxtPvCPlfZGrOts-zBVT72BczFkNs9kk8nvZ3CkmIDBkoiYTpsLPl4BlNEsyU_vu1A8Fo6z02aehw5KKX/s1600/IMG_3120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKVB4Okh94OghXmcTDCNjVetAEr4SN2LEqQDGmgLjqC4nfH3mEHe-lLCSfZWPKxtPvCPlfZGrOts-zBVT72BczFkNs9kk8nvZ3CkmIDBkoiYTpsLPl4BlNEsyU_vu1A8Fo6z02aehw5KKX/s1600/IMG_3120.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">In celebration of Mother’s Day this week, and a lack of
progress in my book writing endeavor, I have decided to reactivate my blogging
in hopes my writing will bring enjoyment to someone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone??<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus, I need to chronicle these stories in
case I forget in my old age. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, as stated before, I grew up thinking I never wanted
children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And some days I’m still
right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no lovey dovey feeling
when they handed me my first writhing child, but as luck would have it they’ve
grown on me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good thing, huh?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I blame endless entertainment as the bond
that holds us all together. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">About a month ago, one of my children, who will remain
nameless to protect the innocent, had a serious case of the RA*.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In babies, they call it diaper rash, but
since he hasn’t seen a diaper in eons, I’m calling it the adult version:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>red, chapped, whatever you want to call it,
it’s not good!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">This was not the first time inadequate wiping had reared its
ugly head, so I had showed him previously my face wipes that he could use to
help clean himself up if he suspected the job was too much for toilet paper to
handle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re the cheap face wipes
from the dollar store, but they contain aloe and are better than dry paper on
an already tender crack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they won’t
set you on fire like baby wipes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Not that I know personally.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Okay, maybe I do…</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Maybe RA runs in the family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Said child had complained at bedtime of pain, burning,
overall agitation, and restlessness due to the RA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried everything I knew to help make him
comfortable, but nothing was working.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
finally suspected stalling tactics to keep from going to bed, but when he came
to me the third time flopping around and actually crying real tears, I knew
there was more to the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I asked him what he’d done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He said he’d used some wipes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Which wipes?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">These….<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Clorox wipes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So child ended up taking a shower about 11PM, got
reslathered with the A+D ointment, and finally stopped being hysterical and
went to bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Nobody died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">But good advice would be not to use Clorox wipes as butt
wipes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just saying. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">*****</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">We went out of town last weekend and stayed in a hotel for
two nights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the morning after our
first hotel stay, I have this conversation with the same child:</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“Boy, that new toothpaste of yours really works!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My teeth even feel clean this morning!” he
says.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“I know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got a
whitening one this time and it really cleans your teeth good.”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“I don’t think I even need to brush my teeth this morning,
they’re so clean!” he says. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“You still have to brush your teeth.”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“But they’re still clean!” he says. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“No, really, you still have to brush your teeth.”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">(Goes into bathroom where father is brushing his own teeth.)</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Overheard from father, “Hey, let me see that….<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s NOT toothpaste!!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And what was it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Hydrocortisone cream.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">That’s why I love them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because they make me laugh! </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">*Red ass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s what we call it in my house, although we usually use the
abbreviation.</span> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-78090407095715600532013-07-05T13:53:00.000-05:002013-07-05T14:15:44.915-05:00Roy's Wheat<strong><em><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." - Galatians 6:7</span></em></strong><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Turns out that the side effects of too much sleep, inhaling
too much smoke, and eating just plain too much on Fourth of July makes the
Fifth of July National Cranky Mother’s Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, I need a diversion, or a time out, or both, and maybe a nap. </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I decided to write this instead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">My stepdad, Roy, died when he was 36 years old of alcoholism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More specifically: cirrhosis of the liver
caused by chronic alcoholism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe
that’s exactly what the death certificate said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Odd that I still remember that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
can still picture the document.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was,
however, the best stepdad I could have asked for and he loved me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of my favorite childhood memories
involve Roy and his family and all the stuff we used to do together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Lately, I’ve had several dreams about Roy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I have weird dreams all the time, but not
usually involving people I know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they
are about actual people, I can really get upset over them because they seem so
real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, a few weeks back I dreamed
I ran into Roy in a grocery store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
was buying dog food and wearing his red baseball cleats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kept telling him how much I missed him and
that I hadn’t seen him since he died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
just kept acting like he had no idea what I was talking about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I woke up nearly in tears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This November 20th will be 17 years since he died.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Now back to real life….</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Roy’s family was full of farmers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His dad raised pigs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His sister raised cattle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had horses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We picked pecans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We fished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We always lived in town, but Roy would plant wheat in our yard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Usually out by the alley behind and around
our redbud tree in a little patch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was always shocking green compared with the rest of our grass and I liked to
pick the heads of wheat when they finally matured.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember hulling out the wheat seeds and
sprinkling them around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then one year his family raised a whole field full of
wheat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember playing in the back of
an old farm truck full of wheat, running the seeds through my fingers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also remember we ground some of the wheat
with a hand grinder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t remember
what we did with the ground wheat, probably fed it to the pigs, but I remember
my hands hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">So, when I think of wheat, I think about Roy.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Three years ago, I had a couple of wheat plants come up by
my back porch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Must have been planted by
the birds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I thought of Roy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was my first wheat crop:</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I don’t know why I kept the seeds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nostalgia, I guess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I thought I’d plant them and didn’t,
but they’ve been in my laundry room ever since.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I ran across them every now and then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And I thought about Roy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">This year I am the same age that Roy was when he died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not a drinker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now that doesn’t mean I never tried a beer
when I was younger, or that I didn’t send my husband to the liquor store for
whiskey when I was sick of coughing last winter, but I’ve never acquired a
taste for alcohol.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I even choose the
grape juice at communion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have Roy to
thank for that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Living with an alcoholic
for 10 years of my life pretty much snuffed out any alcoholic fantasies I might
have harbored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I find myself
suspecting all people who drink of being alcoholics and wondering if it might
kill them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What would their children do
without them?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How would they die?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a car crash?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In their sleep?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would they kill someone else?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do their family members know how serious
drinking is?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do they?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I get through holidays, family gatherings, stressful times,
relaxing times, and most generally every day of my life with nothing harder
than lemonade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why can’t they?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why couldn’t Roy? And they drink in front of their children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was one of those children.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">He’d still be alive today if it weren’t for beer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Cases and cases of beer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">This year I have 11 wheat plants that I’ve found in my
yard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll probably collect their seed
heads yet again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time, though, I
think I’ll plant them in my garden area for next year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Roy’s life was cut short by his habit, but the
seeds he sowed into my life are evident every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope I’m as patient, kind, involved, and
hard-working as he was, or at least I hope my kids see me that way, because
that’s how I saw Roy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw though that
Roy had a character flaw that was a dark shadow on all things about him that
were good, and I couldn’t fix that about him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I hope my children see nothing but sunshine when they think of me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Am I in a better mood now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Probably not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my focus is on “reap
what you sow”, so I vow to be less cranky and maybe try some sunshine!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thanks for the therapy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope I didn’t drive you to drinking!</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-65322583854241630502013-04-15T11:27:00.000-05:002013-04-15T11:27:29.211-05:00My Garden<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My garden has things I did not plant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things I try to keep out of the garden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is full of sunflowers, mint, and children.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I am planting hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We dream of ripe tomatoes, cucumbers from the vine, and
potatoes deep beneath the soil.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We search for the perfect plants at greenhouses near and
far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We choose them by how healthy they
look. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the ground is not good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So the plants wither.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We add compost, manure, leaves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We till and hoe until we think there is not
one weed left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But we always miss one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And from one come many.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the plants die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We water, water, water, but it is never enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pray for rain. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then the rain comes and the potatoes rot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cucumbers yellow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tomatoes die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let’s plant something else say the children.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So we plant flowers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is too late in the season to expect that any vegetable will grow
before it gets too hot. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then we water, water, water, but it is never enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then it becomes a water fight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then it becomes a slip and slide.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then we are muddy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then we all have sunburn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And the flowers die.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But the sunflowers, mint, and children grow.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-28504346655293272732013-04-05T13:36:00.000-05:002013-04-05T13:36:27.990-05:00It Happens!<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"><strong><em>“What goes in must come out.” – motherhood proverb</em></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Today we’re going to talk about poop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> (Sorry if the lovely photo distracted you into thinking this would be a lovely post, but I thought a picture of the subject would be totally tacky.) So i</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">f you don’t like talking about poop or
reading about poop, read no further.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Sorry you had to read poop three times already.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Wait, that makes four….</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, I consider myself the undocumented Poop Queen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a husband, two children, four cats, one
dog, twelve chickens, three ducks, a horse, a pony, two hamsters, two fish, two
geese, and a regularly irritable bowel, I’m surrounded by it every
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">No, really...</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">My yard is full of it!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And there are things you learn about it over the years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like “Don’t lick your lips while mowing the
pasture.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things like that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I actually think I could write a whole book containing
nothing but poop stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any publishers
willing to take me up on that out there?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Let me know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll start writing
it in the bathroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would probably be
a blowout!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sorry…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">So, last night we had a funny poop story involving a
complete stranger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, he’s not now,
as we have sufficiently bonded over poop, but I’m still laughing about the
whole incident today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So here it is:</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">We were at the YMCA and a new guy was working the desk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d seen him once before but hadn’t talked to
him yet, but he seemed like a jovial kind of guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One that borders on hilarity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My soccer team was finished swimming and
after getting dressed in the men’s locker room, my son comes out and tells us
that someone has pooped on the floor!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
proceeds to describe the evidence in terms of length and girth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tell him to just go and tell the new guy at
the front desk and he’ll take care of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I add that describing the evidence was NOT necessary!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">So I watch as my son goes to the new guy and tells him
what’s wrong, complete with hand gestures like he’s measuring off his latest
catch at the lake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m mortified that my kid is
describing the turd, but I notice a slight look of panic on the new guy’s
face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> And i</span>t makes me laugh. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">After all the kids are carted off by their parents, I go up
to the new guy and say, “Hey, good luck with that turd,” and give him a wink
and a smile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah, that’s the kind of
person I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In case you didn’t know by
now. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">The new guy launches into an ADHD frenzy about how he’s new
and the other guy is new and they have no idea how to handle the
situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They don’t know where the
cleaning products are, they don’t know what to do……</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">So I say, “Here’s what you do:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just go tell the lifeguards there is a turd
in the men’s locker room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re used
to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fish those things out of the
pool all the time!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told him it was
called Turd Alert. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">A look of relief came over new guy’s face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was obvious he was NOT a parent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would have never been so terrified of such
a bodily product if he were. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Things I’m laughing about today:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is the new guy’s name?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I figure we are now poop buddies or
something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did the lifeguards have to
clean it up for him, or did the cleaning crew walk in to find a “present”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have I started an official title for such an
incident at the Y?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, what kind of
person just poops on the floor and doesn’t tell anyone?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Oh wait, that’s another story…... </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">One day, many moons ago, we were all outside having a grand
old time doing something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of our
kids disappeared into the house for an inordinately long period of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought I should go check on him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I hear a yell from the bathroom the minute I enter the
house:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Be careful!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t step on it!!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">“What??!!??” I say as I walk closer to the bathroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And then I see it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There on the kitchen floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“I prayed that Jesus would come and take away my mess!!” he
said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“But Jesus didn’t come!!”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I don’t think I’ve ever been so disgusted or on the verge of
busting out laughing so bad before or since.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I told him Jesus wanted me to know he was having trouble
with that and that’s why Jesus didn’t clean up his mess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">But really, maybe he should have called for a lifeguard!</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">May all your bodily functions make someone else’s day
today!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em></em></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>PS - this is my second blog post under nearly the same name. Sorry, but I can't think of a better one for it. I'm open to suggestions. Here's the other </em></span><a href="http://hickmama.blogspot.com/2011/09/it-happens.html"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>'It Happens</em></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><em>!</em> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-25417376500262390372013-03-27T14:02:00.000-05:002013-03-27T14:03:20.326-05:00CSI: The Holey Shower Curtain<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><strong><em>"No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes." Psalm 101:7</em></strong></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Occasionally we have an unsolved mystery here at the
house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Real whodunits since no one ever
fesses up to committing the crime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
told you of how I’d become the <a href="http://hickmama.blogspot.com/2012/03/csi-special-dental-unit.html">Toothpaste Detective</a> a while back and now I’ve
had to broaden my scope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m now Captain
Bathroom!</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">You see, most of our crimes occur in the bathroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From mystery pee spots on the wall, to
walking in hours after someone has been in the bathroom to the water in the
sink still running, to the child in the bathtub who has no towel to use when he
gets out because someone stole it, we have a litany of bathroom offenses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most punishment for noticeable offenses falls
back to the known repeated offender, who admittedly may not be the offender at
the time, but I think it sends a message.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Plus it evens out the workload in case they might be in cahoots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they clean the toilets for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our most recent bathroom crime: The Case of the Holey Shower
Curtain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have one child that showers and one child that bathes, so
when I stepped into the shower one morning and found the plastic curtain had
finger shaped protrusions all over it, it wasn’t hard to discern a
culprit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Said culprit was brought to the
crime scene, asked to confess, and told to never do that again or suffer the
wrath of Captain Bathroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Said culprit
was agreeable to all terms of his verdict and we’ve lived with protrusions on
the shower curtain for weeks without further incidents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Yes, I could have replaced said shower curtain, but I
thought leaving it for a while might be a visual reminder to his conscience in
case boredom strikes in the shower again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wash yourself and GET OUT!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How
many times do I have to say it? </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So last week, after a late night at soccer practice and a
messy bathtub from bathing baby ducks, I commanded my usual bather to shower
after his brother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All was fine and dandy
and it was business as usual until I stepped in the shower the next
morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Here’s what I found:</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtye22fEDmW-JBG7l1-UvEM2zbLD581QSy5hJ-nLl9nBE8lhvPC2bw2EOEhiHdPgHyuEkSlI9PYhb_Uqj-3bf0LSvHPF8YspdGIsg08gH0DWlSI8XecUtQmzp69U3C-1pfkZlMewxuWEWS/s1600/IMG_9022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtye22fEDmW-JBG7l1-UvEM2zbLD581QSy5hJ-nLl9nBE8lhvPC2bw2EOEhiHdPgHyuEkSlI9PYhb_Uqj-3bf0LSvHPF8YspdGIsg08gH0DWlSI8XecUtQmzp69U3C-1pfkZlMewxuWEWS/s640/IMG_9022.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Now where the simple protrusion had once been there was a
distinct hole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I called the two primary
suspects to the crime scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both
entered a plea of not guilty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But since I have one
showerer and one bather, and one honest-to-a-fault and one liar, I could pretty
much tell you who did it without even asking them.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">The incriminating evidence was as follows: </span> </div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">The showerer had already been read the riot act on poking the shower curtain and swore he’d change his ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">We’d not had any repeat occurrence of a maimed shower curtain until the appearance of the bather.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">And bather just happens to have a history of innocence when all fingers point to him. </span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I sent them to their room to decide between the two of them
who had poked the hole in the shower curtain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After much deliberation, the prime suspect comes in with the verdict. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Since your finger fits in the hole, YOU must have done it!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I had flashbacks of the OJ Simpson trial: If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">And so the mystery of The Holey Shower Curtain
remains just that,</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;"> and Captain Bathroom is still on the case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the looks of things, my investigations
may never cease!</span> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-87834304980438201442013-02-18T23:08:00.000-06:002013-02-18T23:14:51.638-06:00Cat Attack<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-large;"><strong><em>“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Romans 12:15</em></strong></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNQFbNCnq0TSOZFHkuZBAXXdefJF0s7Y_7iNrWBFr9Gtl9EP0fYLiiDpzPGv-ubdv6p5oojzJBiDXQLQILhhSIHdTDjM0kC2nDbOeAHVxi5gIWlYAjh-csziWEVX5_IU2HwF8W7LcSAhO/s1600/IMG_8067P.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNQFbNCnq0TSOZFHkuZBAXXdefJF0s7Y_7iNrWBFr9Gtl9EP0fYLiiDpzPGv-ubdv6p5oojzJBiDXQLQILhhSIHdTDjM0kC2nDbOeAHVxi5gIWlYAjh-csziWEVX5_IU2HwF8W7LcSAhO/s640/IMG_8067P.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Remember the <a href="http://hickmama.blogspot.com/2012/04/orange-kitten.html">orange cat</a>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He’s grown up nicely into a very sweet loving kitty cat that I love
despite his color and has provided us loads of entertainment with his sweet
gestures of flopping down in front of where ever we may walk wanting us to rub
his belly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s also started a little
game with us called “Sneak into the House”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">It all started about a month ago when we had a little cold
snap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kids wanted to bring him
in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Okay, it was me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
thought his little kitty paws might be cold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, I let him wander around the house and he found a
wonderful spot called “Under the Bed”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He could hide just behind the dust ruffle and then when he noticed I sat
down on the floor right on the other side of the dust ruffle to play with him,
he could sink his claws right into my bottom causing me to holler and my son to
almost wet his pants from laughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was quite the little game we had going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ha ha, hee hee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then he found that if he moved to the exact center of Under
the Bed, no human arm could reach him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Well, it had been so long since we’d had a cat in the house, I’d
forgotten about flushing them out from Under the Bed with the broom handle, so
we just let him be, thinking he’d come out when he was ready.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">We thought he’d come to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But he decided to go out the other way and see what adventures he could
find in the rest of the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What he
found was the Hamster Cage!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">We found him with front paws wrapped completely around the
hamster cage, and his kitty nose pressed in desperation up against the thin
bars that separated him from his prey, and a look of unfathomable luck upon his
face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had to practically pry his
claws off of the cage and sent him back outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And then he had to live with the fact that we keep tasty cat
treats in a cage in a nice warm house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And it was just too much for him to live with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">So, for the past several weeks we’ve occasionally found
Sunny hiding under the bed waiting for the right moment in which to unleash his
Master Plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lying in wait, I believe it
is called.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">He’d only made it into the room with the hamsters a couple
of times, but was quickly discovered and ushered back to his natural outdoor habitat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sunny practiced his murderous skills several
times in the past few weeks, picking off several birds that have visited my
bird feeders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s left their lifeless
bodies on my front porch as a sign of things to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk0HG0C_nPmmRJIAWXqRnrvq892el98SurCMNjnsT5SG8bqNEJ9nma8NX-sojR8Uf6mbrole7CxLXHHm-JL1BaeZPqBu1uvDvGVzBkz0oIf5jUs7uV5WvKid1pPgQ9RaQQA0MSVYOjCghF/s1600/IMG_8516.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk0HG0C_nPmmRJIAWXqRnrvq892el98SurCMNjnsT5SG8bqNEJ9nma8NX-sojR8Uf6mbrole7CxLXHHm-JL1BaeZPqBu1uvDvGVzBkz0oIf5jUs7uV5WvKid1pPgQ9RaQQA0MSVYOjCghF/s640/IMG_8516.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Or maybe affection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Depends on who you ask. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And so it was tonight that Sunny decided to finally unleash
his Master Plan for either liberating the hamsters or having a tasty
treat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I had left with the children to return two friends to their
home, and the hub sat at the kitchen table working a Sudoku puzzle and reading
the newspaper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sunny apparently sneaked
in the laundry room door when one of the four children was exiting the house to
get into the car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my mind, he
probably went straight for the center of Under the Bed to wait for the perfect
moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So while the hub was enjoying an otherwise uneventful quiet
moment to himself, Sunny pounced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
jumped on the top of the hamster cage, ripping it from its perch on a stand by
the window, knocking a hamster bedroom insert completely away from the cage
itself, and exposing a large gaping hole through which he would retrieve his
snack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately his plan did not
include the hub grabbing him by the scruff of his neck, spanking his bottom,
and depositing him back outdoors so quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Pine pellets and hamster bedding slung all over the floor,
it wasn’t surprising that the hamsters had escaped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The elder of the hamsters has been out at
least on one other occasion since we’ve had her and she tends to run in a
circle around the cage until the humans show up, but the other hamster is young
and new and really doesn’t care for humans that much in the first place, so she
decided to make a run for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">The hub said he could see her hiding behind the cabinet
peeking at him, but as soon as she noticed he saw her, she would run to another
spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hamsters are robo dwarf
hamsters, which the lady at PetSmart said meant “fast”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hub confirmed this definition after
having several misses in catching the baby hamster before snagging her back
into her cage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I returned after depositing the excess children at their
home and found the hub at the table reading the newspaper and working a Sudoku puzzle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told me of all his action while I was out
and I thought I would die laughing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
didn’t find the experience as funny as I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Probably a classic case of: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Guess you (didn’t have) to be there!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">The pine pellets and hamster bedding still remain
on the floor.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">He’ll probably laugh
tomorrow when I have to clean them up!</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-26593994266213347762013-01-21T15:13:00.001-06:002013-01-21T15:14:47.676-06:00The ADD Apple Tree - Part 2<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: x-large;"><strong>“Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill
made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luke 3:5</strong></span></div>
<o:p><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><em>*Continued from <a href="http://hickmama.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-add-apple-tree-part-1.html">The ADD Apple Tree - Part 1</a></em></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so it was that in November we started chiropractic
treatment for toe walking, postural issues, asymmetry in the chest area, and
skeptically, ADD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At our first
appointment, the nurse took several x-rays to assess my son’s spinal alignment
from head to pelvis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is what we
found.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C2bHm9A06tw/UP2tqMyICFI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/4v275Q1tlhU/s1600/IMG_8513_1P.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="518" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C2bHm9A06tw/UP2tqMyICFI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/4v275Q1tlhU/s640/IMG_8513_1P.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, his head was on crooked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His neck jutted to one side and his head had
compensated for it in order to keep the eyes level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7TNDnKCaTnc/UP2twQpBvUI/AAAAAAAAAuY/jk4s9PruQIQ/s1600/IMG_8514P.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7TNDnKCaTnc/UP2twQpBvUI/AAAAAAAAAuY/jk4s9PruQIQ/s640/IMG_8514P.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">Second, his spine looked more like a meandering path than
the straight column it was meant to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m no radiologist and even I could see something wasn’t right!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And third, one leg was almost an inch longer than the other
due to his hips being out of alignment as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He was a chiropractic cash cow!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
say that, but our chiropractor uses a sliding scale based on the age of the
child and for my son it was $12 per visit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First he wanted to see him three times a week, but I told
him that wouldn’t fit with our schedule.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We only had two free evenings as it was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So we went twice a week for a few weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then down to once a week for a few more weeks and we are currently
sitting at once every two weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It all
depended on how well his adjustment “holds”, i.e., how much bone cracking he
had to do the next time we came in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the first day, we noticed that his chest looked more
symmetrical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the first couple of
weeks, I noticed he seemed more relaxed when walking and his toe walking had
improved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And after about 10 treatments,
my son said, “I think this chiropractor is affecting my brain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it is making me smarter.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The chiropractor said proper spinal alignment
would cut down on the amount of “static” in his brain, therefore making it
easier for him to function.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And in this time period, his schoolwork has included
learning all the states and their capitals of the Northeast, Southeast, and now
the Midwest, along with landforms and other state facts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has started long division and is doing 3x3
multiplication, all without extra effort or struggles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He still forgets things at school, like his lunchbox, or
maybe a homework page once or twice a week, but he usually remembers them the
next day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More importantly, he knows
what he forgot the moment I pick him up off the bus, instead of getting home
and relying on me to figure it out for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I check on him with his teacher through email and she agrees
that he’s come a long way this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
said he’s doing a good job staying on task, doing what needs to be done, and
keeping track of his papers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
ecstatic that I don’t constantly have to remind him anymore to get his stuff
together or do better or stop playing with his pencil in class, and I haven’t
had him bring home any papers that he has bombed just because he wasn’t
listening when the lesson was covered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All in all, if you know anyone who is struggling with the
decision to medicate their child due to poor school performance or ADD, I would
recommend at least giving the chiropractor a try.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is certainly worth $12 or $24 a week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who knew my kid was so crooked?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He HAS to be feeling better!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Plus, I probably never would have gotten him married off if
we’d have left him with that crooked spine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
:) </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">We see Dr. Warren. Here is their website - <a href="http://standridgechiropractic.com/">http://standridgechiropractic.com</a>.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><em>*This ain't no paid advertisement.</em> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
</div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-38673464902541948462013-01-18T23:06:00.000-06:002013-01-18T23:23:41.721-06:00The ADD Apple Tree - Part 1<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-large;"><em><strong>"There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off." Proverbs 23:18</strong></em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Let’s talk about ADD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Attention Deficit Disorder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lack
of attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inability to focus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Executive order problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forgetful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Being scatterbrained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Social
ineptitude.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Impulsive.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">These words, among others, have been used to describe my
child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The apple doesn’t fall far from
the tree, I guess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I won’t say which
child, but really that’s only because the other one hasn’t gone through the
official “diagnosis” process and probably never will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see, my children are borderline ADD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">As am I – admitting it is the first step, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I take all these labels personally, as if it
is MY fault, although my husband admits he was a bit of a daydreamer as a child
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re fighting genetics! </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, my kids have been plagued since beginning school
with not conforming to the rigors, expectations, and distractions of the public
classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teachers complain, principals
call, and recesses are taken away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
are square pegs trying to be shoved into round holes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have been told for YEARS that something is WRONG with my
kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I began to believe it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I began to nitpick every time they forgot their lunchbox at
school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I freaked every time they forgot
a homework page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began questioning
whether or not they had a learning disability when they failed to retain
information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Weekly, I would make a
mental tally of all the times I’d had to remind them twice about something and
it began to add up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Maybe there WAS something wrong with my kids! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, even though the teacher would start telling me about all
the problems she’d had with HER son every time we talked about MY son, I
decided to take her advice and consult with my pediatrician.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(It should be noted that my husband was not
in agreement, but he did fill out his “parent” survey paper on behaviors and
social interactions.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The teacher
submitted her papers as well and the pediatrician said, “I’m seeing some
tendencies of mild ADD.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then she turned
into the teacher from the Charlie Brown cartoons and pretty much said, “Mwah, mwah,
wah, wah, mwah, mwah.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I did take
from the conversation was “…9YO on a controlled dangerous substance that you’ll
have to register with the Bureau of Narcotics to be able to pick up at the
pharmacy….. appetite suppressant, so you may want to LOAD UP at the Chinese
buffet on the weekends.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I asked what we had to gain my medicating him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She said he would have more learning
opportunities and would be able to be more successful in the classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I told her, “Keep in mind that he is a straight A student
and is already in Gifted and Talented.”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">She then had a puzzled look on her face and said, “Well
then, in your case, not a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
typically see patients who are in peril of being held back in school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s the prescription.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you don’t want to medicate him, don’t
medicate him.” </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">At this and other doctor appointments throughout his nine
years, I’d mentioned to the doctor that he was stiff, asymmetrical, and walked
on his toes a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We actually took him
to the doctor because his left ribcage was protruding farther than his right in
his abdomen area and the doctor laughed at us and said it was totally normal
and sent us home without a charge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
will be important later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, in shock from our controlled dangerous substance
discussion, I began to research alternative methods for treating ADD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I say “research”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Google was my laboratory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My friend, who has a slightly autistic son
whom she homeschools, had told me she’d started giving him a cup of coffee in
the morning before starting his school work and that it really helped him to
focus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So caffeine was where I
started.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Based on internet calculations, I determined that my child
could safely consume up to a half a caffeine pill as an alternate to the
prescription drug.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I called my pediatrician,
jubilant that I’d found something common that I wanted to try before trying
medication.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She quickly shot me down,
telling me she did not recommend caffeine for children his age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wait a minute….<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
would prefer a controlled dangerous substance over caffeine?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I got a second opinion from my pharmacist who said she would
ABSOLUTELY try the caffeine pills over the prescription drug.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that was good enough for me! </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I told the teacher that I was not willing to medicate him
and that I would be giving him caffeine pill every morning before school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that was the end of that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She never commented on his lack of focus for
the rest of the school year, and he ended up with high Bs and As as his final
grades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">During this time too, we took him to a pediatric neurologist
for the toe walking who didn’t see any immediate concerns, but wanted to do a
sleep-deprived MRI, just in case, and had him evaluated for physical therapy
due to stiffness with his gross motor skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Naturally, the physical therapy office wanted to sign us up for six
months worth of appointments for which I would receive an immediate 15%
discount if I pre-paid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">None of these appointments gave me the warm fuzzies!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I quickly cancelled all future appointments, relying on my
gut instinct.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I gave it one more
try and took him to the orthopedist we’d used twice with his brother’s <a href="http://hickmama.blogspot.com/2011/09/answered-prayer.html">broken arms</a> because I felt like he would shoot me straight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He assured me that nothing was physically
awry in his feet or legs, but it would be up to my son to fix the way he walks
and carries himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said we could do
all the physical therapy in the world, but that if it wasn’t a problem for my
son and he continued to walk on his toes, he would undo every bit of progress
we would make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He looked right at my son
and said, “It’s up to you, buddy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mom
wants to help you, but Mom can only do so much.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said regular exercise, stretching, and
sports activities would help with his stiffness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We continued to play soccer and swam during
the summer.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And then summer was over, and he was back to his old tricks,
but with a new teacher in a new grade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She is quick to communicate with me her concerns, which I
appreciate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Better than going along
thinking everything is hunky dory and then one day having a bombshell dropped
on you that your kid has been having a problem for six months and this is the
first you’ve heard of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not that I’m
bitter…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, she had some serious concerns about his ability to
handle this grade’s school work and his ability to focus in the classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She said it was causing him unnecessary and
undue stress in the classroom and at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And so, I contacted the Special Education Services office at
my school system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told them I wanted
him tested for a 504 plan under other health issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told them I wanted him evaluated for
modifications in the classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
told they would have a meeting and then decide if he needed to be
evaluated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">This was during the week of Fall Parent/Teacher Conferences.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’d started playing Fall Soccer and had
met a nice family on the sidelines in which the dad was a chiropractor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His office was in Tulsa and his wife talked
to me about chiropracting on numerous occasions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now, let’s get my opinions of chiropractors out of the
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was not a fan of
chiropractors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d had spinal
manipulations all my life, but I always went to a D.O. instead of a
chiropractor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My family just saw D.O.s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began to think that chiropracting was a
racket when I worked for the government and had a co-worker who would get out
of work assignments on a regular basis because “she had to go to the
chiropractor.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Say that in a whiney
voice.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I wouldn’t say that I thought
they were a bunch of quacks, but that wouldn’t be far off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So we’d met this chiropractor, and I’d talked to his wife on
the soccer field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, one of the
ladies whom I do exercise classes at the Y, out of the blue, says to me one
day, “Hey, is your son still having trouble paying attention in school?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because we’ve been taking my grandson to the
chiropractor and now he’s off his medication and everything.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Weird.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Two chiropractor coincidences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Then we had our Parent/Teacher Conference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We went all through the meeting with the
teacher telling us what behaviors our son needed to work on and what he does
typically in the classroom instead of his school work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet his grades remained high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My husband and I were feeling beat down and
destitute and without a clue as to what to do next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I asked the teacher, “If he was your kid,
what would you do?”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">She said, “Off the record?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(I agreed, but I guess it’s on the record now….)</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">She said, “Now this is going to sound weird, but I’d take
him to a chiropractor.”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">The hub and I looked at each other like “whoa, that was
weird,” and we left with the distinct feeling that someone was trying to tell
us something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I made our son a chiropractic appointment the
next day, the day before his 10<sup>th</sup> birthday, and the same day the
school decided he wasn’t bad enough to be evaluated for a 504 plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">*To be continued………………….<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-48613860322221295202012-09-13T13:40:00.001-05:002012-09-13T13:42:13.709-05:00Life Compliments<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-large;"><strong><em>“You are the light of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matthew 5:14</em></strong></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJfy-dWt8R1lhqPXIlBw05dEiNTY6Lg__7_M-Wc_OMfZnMmcxuegCcmpssXQ-JNq6zpb2gtmDN5UBMGpm7DWVmN9WbpldAOcHfl1fbF6DFavYT_NmEUbbHTwSgFSsjZbThvSJMb9qmIz3p/s1600/IMG_6865P.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJfy-dWt8R1lhqPXIlBw05dEiNTY6Lg__7_M-Wc_OMfZnMmcxuegCcmpssXQ-JNq6zpb2gtmDN5UBMGpm7DWVmN9WbpldAOcHfl1fbF6DFavYT_NmEUbbHTwSgFSsjZbThvSJMb9qmIz3p/s640/IMG_6865P.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Have you ever received a compliment that you think might stick with you the rest of your life?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got one from my friend Jill once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was one of those terrible chain mail-like emails where you had to list three people and then give them each a compliment, and then they had to list three people, and so on and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t remember who I listed, but I remember what Jill said about me:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“She always does the right thing.”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">That was one of the nicest things anybody has ever said about me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, I’m sure somebody’s told me I had nice hair and meant it, or that I’m a good cook or whatever, but those compliments don’t have staying power for me because they are minute to minute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One minute with the window down and my hair wraps itself around my head like a turban.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One minute too long on Facebook and I’ve burned the macaroni. </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">That compliment said something about my character and my character is something I think I can keep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It said that I was fair and that I had others’ intentions at heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It said that even though sometimes the road might be rough, that I would choose the right path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved it and I love Jill, who coincidentally always does the right thing too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also share the same gift of “telling it like it is”, so if you ever need an intervention, you know who to call!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Well today I received my second life-sticking compliment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was from a near stranger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His name is Larry and he’s stepped on my toe in Zumba before, but besides that we’ve had limited contact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We smile and say hi, but I only just learned his name today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">He said: “You seem like you’re always happy and really enjoy life.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I told him that I do, and then he proceeded to ask me what I did for a living, and I told him I’m a Lady of Leisure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He seemed surprised by this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he tried to get me to go back to school to get a degree, and I told him I already had one, and then I had to spill the rest of my work experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was impressed with my litany of qualifications and tried to convince me I needed a job (like I need anyone else to remind me I have NO money).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay, substituting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still have substituting!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">But his opening comment stuck with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">“I’m happy and I enjoy life.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Or at least I seem that way to others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for the most part, it’s the truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though I have days where I think I’m getting the shaft, or that the whining will never end, or that it will take an act of Congress to get something done, I’m mostly happy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Even when I burn dinner, or I’m cussing the sewing machine, or the dog won’t stop barking in the middle of the night and I have to go out to the barn with the broom and chase him around, I mostly enjoy the process.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So how do others see you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do they tell you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you agree?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes it takes a stranger to make us see ourselves a little clearer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And hopefully we’re happy with what we see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The funny thing is, my impression of Larry is the same as his impression of me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He seems like a fun person to be around every time I see him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s never without a smile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He dances in Zumba like no one is watching (which we’re really not because we’re all concentrating too hard on not falling down ourselves).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he acknowledges people every time he sees them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I learned today that he’s a retired high school teacher and I’ll bet he was a great one!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">He taught me something, didn’t he?</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-58803089592191518722012-08-20T12:30:00.000-05:002012-08-20T12:30:03.582-05:00Being Related<span style="font-size: x-large;"><strong>..."Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." Mark 5:19</strong></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQedZvlwZ6eKDHNIZFJg_dCgP-czY5LSIRNNUFwlqsaciaPTpGcHdPjAwNyczEMKLGjKLdr5KpabMjh8J_w6ikz_JFJKelcn978rHmgtLySd1U7P-VDQk-3SI_6WWUcyFjy-UD29WaYnDl/s1600/IMG_6319.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQedZvlwZ6eKDHNIZFJg_dCgP-czY5LSIRNNUFwlqsaciaPTpGcHdPjAwNyczEMKLGjKLdr5KpabMjh8J_w6ikz_JFJKelcn978rHmgtLySd1U7P-VDQk-3SI_6WWUcyFjy-UD29WaYnDl/s640/IMG_6319.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">We took a trip to Portland, Oregon over the summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was amazed at their greenness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was wowed by snow in July.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was aghast when I returned home to 111 degree temperature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, what has stuck with me, besides a secret longing to move there and never have 100 degree summers again, was how me and my distant cousins were definitely all RELATED.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">My great-aunt Norma (my mom’s dad’s sister) had come to Oklahoma to visit several times throughout my life, as had my great-uncle Don, my cousin Kari, and my cousin Erik.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, they have another “kid” I’d never met.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His name is Mark, and he’s 50, so he’s hardly a kid, but the last time he’d stepped foot in Oklahoma was in 1973 before I was born. </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">He told stories of putting a toad in my grandma’s drinking water and how she was going to beat his butt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We exchanged grandma stories and related quite well, right off the bat.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Did I mention that I run a small toad farm here, and that my kids love <a href="http://hickmama.blogspot.com/2011/03/leaping-lizards-or-toads.html">toads</a>?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH65c2J58B8xksSsbKlS0s0vuc_qjU5O0aiC4Eqbx_aTRXcbDNyjLAu5yCX9UVpVdFhRJrO6AyfWA2R35sS6U3E76fW8IoRH6m6oGKfdhj_lfF75veYe4IAYGJU8eSIg0EbdEHxEFLw4WS/s1600/IMG_6677.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH65c2J58B8xksSsbKlS0s0vuc_qjU5O0aiC4Eqbx_aTRXcbDNyjLAu5yCX9UVpVdFhRJrO6AyfWA2R35sS6U3E76fW8IoRH6m6oGKfdhj_lfF75veYe4IAYGJU8eSIg0EbdEHxEFLw4WS/s640/IMG_6677.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Mark’s family and mine took a trip out to Multnomah Falls and hiked all the way to the top.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the way through the pedestrian tunnel we bought bags of rainier cherries that we stowed away in the minivan and then returned to after our hike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all sat out in the parking lot with the windows down blowing seeds out our mouths like uncouth cannons into the parking lot the exact same way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I said it was like we were all related or something!</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">And then he said those fateful words that led me to believe that some ties must be genetic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told my kids, “You betta check yourself, before you wreck yourself.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tell my kids this all the time, but I hadn’t yet said it in front of the Oregon folks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told Mark that I tell them that all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said, “Those exact same words?” and I said yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Funny how an affinity for Ice Cube quotes could be common halfway across the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coincidence?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think not! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRAOh6A_feW4k6R3wFomgoWwpbUxgK1SRZMirDL11rSNi4DSWsuUo9jH_mv2TTzw1VLQdirtxkG8LyIfC73LWSK9PPwDcHG46TUXxzQzP2ZGX12fuP4Ed64kYmVSl2958pBLiuplHitHSb/s1600/IMG_5824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRAOh6A_feW4k6R3wFomgoWwpbUxgK1SRZMirDL11rSNi4DSWsuUo9jH_mv2TTzw1VLQdirtxkG8LyIfC73LWSK9PPwDcHG46TUXxzQzP2ZGX12fuP4Ed64kYmVSl2958pBLiuplHitHSb/s640/IMG_5824.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So then the other day, I was out rinsing off the crystals we got at the <a href="http://hickmama.blogspot.com/2012/06/great-salt-plains.html">Great Salt Plain</a> with the hub and I wondered if they’d lost their saltiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I licked one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tasted just like a rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My husband looked at me like I was nuts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">A few weeks later, I was sitting out at the picnic table with the hub going through the crystals and our youngest son came over to see what we were doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He picked up one of the crystals and licked it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again my husband rolled his eyes and looked at us both like we were nuts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Then a couple of weeks ago, my dad came to visit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were sitting at my kitchen table showing him the crystals we’d dug up when he picked one up and licked it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I died laughing because that made three generations of rock lickers!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good grief!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My stepmother was quick to note that SHE did not lick the rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I said it must be a Taylor thing. </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So the next time you’re thinking “why did I do that?” you might look no further than the people you’re related to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">And for the record, I don’t lick ALL rocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that’s an entirely different syndrome altogether and I am (so far) undiagnosed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Hug your family today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ll need them to blame later!</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-46373429533850867812012-07-09T14:23:00.000-05:002012-07-09T14:23:12.746-05:00Necklaces and Joyce Meyer<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-large;"><strong><em>“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1 Peter 4:10</em></strong></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrShTu3tCb-IMYBqoGoh0OHHMy3c9UaMQsqR8Y3yr2PCku7XfhD74ony2_LfEAaadM3RWD6L7yIzF9IoN1WkB8CznZ4A_2PJvQM1aWKxVoh_SncTzE5eEdkajGq370hmjxChg-lEPZA32J/s1600/IMG_6075_1P.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrShTu3tCb-IMYBqoGoh0OHHMy3c9UaMQsqR8Y3yr2PCku7XfhD74ony2_LfEAaadM3RWD6L7yIzF9IoN1WkB8CznZ4A_2PJvQM1aWKxVoh_SncTzE5eEdkajGq370hmjxChg-lEPZA32J/s640/IMG_6075_1P.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ok, so I made this necklace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have a lot of selenite crystals (as you can imagine) from our days at the <a href="http://hickmama.blogspot.com/2012/06/great-salt-plains.html">Great Salt Plains</a>, so I’m trying to figure out what I could do with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also had some nice rocks that were picked up by my children at the Gem Dig at the Tulsa Zoo and even more from the panning station at Silver Dollar City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have a rock habit that we just can’t shake!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I caught a show on PBS the other day about wire wrapping and hammering wire and such, and like with all shows I watch on TV, I thought “I could do that.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I tried it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It almost killed my fingers, but it worked out pretty nice, I think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the hub was impressed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">And like all good Facebook friends who try something new and succeed, I posted a picture of my accomplishment.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">My friend from church said, “I need that…. Seriously.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I thought okay, I can do that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s my first try, and if she likes it that much, then it’s hers!</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So then I’m flipping through the channels last Friday night and I run across Joyce Meyer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I’m not a regular watcher, but I occasionally try to keep up on my televangelists to dispel rumors and such.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve watched her a few times and found her to be an interesting subject.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I need to read up on her and figure out more about her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, moments into my running across her on TV, she says, “If God tells you to give something away, it is no longer anointed for you!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I said, “Holy cow!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think she’s talking about my necklace!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then she tells a story of how she had a bracelet that she really liked and felt compelled to give it to a friend, but then she had remorse over giving it away and hounded the friend about how much she liked it until the friend said that God was telling her to give it back to Joyce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then she never wore it again because it had lost its luster to her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She said she kept it as a reminder that God had used that bracelet to teach her a lesson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">So then I was thinking that I for sure had to give that necklace to my friend at church!! </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I wore the necklace to church on Sunday and everyone gushed over it and I told them I made it and yada yada yada.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then I ran into my friend and told her it was really her necklace because Joyce Meyer had told me that I had to give it to her!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">She was confused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’m sometimes confusing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I told her the whole story and she thought it as bizarre as I did, but said I should wear the necklace until the end of the service, and then she would get it from me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She hugged me, and thanked me, and then we took our respective places – me in my pew, and she as a song leader. </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And that would be the end of the story, except for the fact that our church has all sorts of fascinating little tidbits of information in the bulletins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They list the elders and upcoming events and ushers for the week and such, and they also list the week’s birthdays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And guess whose birthday it was?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My friend’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I gave her the necklace at the end of the service and told her I couldn’t believe it was her birthday!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told her THAT was even a little bit too weird for me even!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">And I think I heard God laughing…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Again!</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-85994555728848947272012-06-12T12:16:00.008-05:002012-06-12T12:27:00.778-05:00The Great Salt Plains<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGkm7C4CM-qVTHa03CYtLfmXzoL77dfxYWnenldCafk2064_OPiRpTa8jJoNmAJYHh1WlNV5es7AkT150eXPBwlivg22MAuCuDbG3hJ1RuJbHIwi1-0A59W6W1jPX1XPCINr838VW4MBvu/s1600/IMG_5826.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGkm7C4CM-qVTHa03CYtLfmXzoL77dfxYWnenldCafk2064_OPiRpTa8jJoNmAJYHh1WlNV5es7AkT150eXPBwlivg22MAuCuDbG3hJ1RuJbHIwi1-0A59W6W1jPX1XPCINr838VW4MBvu/s640/IMG_5826.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><strong><em><span style="font-size: large;">"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." Matthew 5:13</span></em></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Dvlc4kYFk9fOoomzvocjjrD9uQB82LS1-o6HRpGEo-bJsqxdzWhiyS59MDCy_6YgY-PplElLAzqBc_qzDg6VVZerLK2h_hykBsTEeZJaveCwlE49RabKlL8IV3gcb7N4a_LVlb4y0rcc/s1600/IMG_5795.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Dvlc4kYFk9fOoomzvocjjrD9uQB82LS1-o6HRpGEo-bJsqxdzWhiyS59MDCy_6YgY-PplElLAzqBc_qzDg6VVZerLK2h_hykBsTEeZJaveCwlE49RabKlL8IV3gcb7N4a_LVlb4y0rcc/s640/IMG_5795.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div></div><span style="font-size: large;">After driving approximately 267 miles from home, with a detour to Ponca City to see the <a href="http://www.marlandmansion.com/">Marland Mansion</a>, and another stop in Enid to see <a href="http://www.leonardos.org/">Leonardo's Discovery Warehouse</a>, and find a hotel room since the Little League World Series was in town, we finally made it to the <a href="http://www.travelok.com/listings/view.profile/id.3204">Great Salt Plains of Oklahoma</a>. Unfortunately, we had no idea where we were going and went east when we should have went west and ended up on the east side of the lake where there is actually water. There wasn't a whole lot of scenery in the area. Apparently the wheat harvest is just getting started. </span><br />
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<div></div><span style="font-size: large;">We asked several people where to dig crystals by the lake, but they'd only heard of it and had never been there themselves. Okay, we drove 267 miles and these people had never been there? Anyway, we found a bathroom and vowed to press on and find the salt plains before sundown. We also conveniently found a water hydrant outside the bathroom with a hose so we filled up our two water containers with lids that we had in my trunk. </span><br />
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<div></div><span style="font-size: large;">Things you need to know #1 - you'll need jugs for transporting water, possibly long distances, so you'd better have a lid for it unless you want a wet trunk. </span><br />
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<div></div><span style="font-size: large;">The outside of the bathroom also had a map of the lake area, so we figured out we were on the wrong side of the lake. We were approximately 20 miles from where we needed to be. And we were burning daylight! </span><br />
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<div></div><span style="font-size: large;">Thing you need to know #2 - The digging area is located on the west side of the lake, west of Jet, Oklahoma. There is a dirt road cutoff that we took that takes you to the salt plains. There is a large sign on the right-hand side of the road for the cutoff. 3 miles on dirt road, 1 mile on pavement. My car can take it!</span><br />
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<div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-PSwwABgX-dgqm9vaups2J_odQ4Twg6eRTVGJ_5NMsnb4eg59g3uj4i98aCxNIMyXdfReawuDl66Ydh8Yq6aoYrgjMbN03y5I3OLpPiA9CA0xLy2MT-kBdSe8p-ethQ-mbVm6KPi0Sdi/s1600/IMG_5827.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-PSwwABgX-dgqm9vaups2J_odQ4Twg6eRTVGJ_5NMsnb4eg59g3uj4i98aCxNIMyXdfReawuDl66Ydh8Yq6aoYrgjMbN03y5I3OLpPiA9CA0xLy2MT-kBdSe8p-ethQ-mbVm6KPi0Sdi/s640/IMG_5827.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div></div><span style="font-size: large;">We finally arrived about 8:00pm, but I'd forgotten my camera at the hotel and so there is no photographic evidence of our maiden entrance into the great salt plain. I will tell you, it looked a lot like this. Only I was totally freaked out driving out into it. There were no other people there. The bathroom and "scenic" overlook greeted us at the gate and then let us out into the white plains ahead. It was probably a quarter-mile to the parking area from the gate/bathrooms and it was completely white and sandy. To me, it felt like we were driving out onto ice, or snow, or water, none of which I am a fan of driving out onto. I felt a bit claustrophobic or something. </span><br />
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<div></div><span style="font-size: large;">Then we arrived at the designated digging site and our excitement was only briefly squelched when all four doors of my car were nearly ripped off their hinges from the constant wind gust we experienced while we were there. I instructed the children to "hang onto your doors" and then we tried again. This time, no doors were nearly damaged. Unfortunately, I had to pop my trunk and the wind tried to take off with it too. It bent the hinges of the trunk so that it closed funny until we got home and my husband took a board to it. Now it is as good as new. Well, close.</span><br />
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<div></div><span style="font-size: large;">Things you need to know #3 - It may be quite windy out on the salt plain. Hang onto your doors, even if it doesn't sound windy to you from inside the car. </span><br />
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<div></div><span style="font-size: large;">We dug about 30 minutes before the sun turned a deep red color that was warning me to get the heck out of there before it was pitch black. So we heeded its warning and vowed to return in the morning.</span><br />
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<div></div><span style="font-size: large;">The hub was so excited. He said he'd never done anything like this in his life. I told him that made sense since this was the only place in the world you could do anything like this. </span><br />
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<div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucu1XhXZ3INH2wo4bl2V7yIgkkFvAtKMjTHJkWKMVCB4DJ_WZcLFWdAMQgnjnU_-zIZADo4zw5j2YBi2-sVJAri8ukEJ0IFBdrnMax8cCAa2GWyF4AwSHLZ-nxkcc76KtlEvKZefo5Ppq/s1600/IMG_5800.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucu1XhXZ3INH2wo4bl2V7yIgkkFvAtKMjTHJkWKMVCB4DJ_WZcLFWdAMQgnjnU_-zIZADo4zw5j2YBi2-sVJAri8ukEJ0IFBdrnMax8cCAa2GWyF4AwSHLZ-nxkcc76KtlEvKZefo5Ppq/s640/IMG_5800.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is us the next morning. We arrived at 8:00am. We were the last ones out on Saturday night, and the first ones in on Sunday morning. We began to wonder if very many people visit here or not? Anyway, that's the hub and children up there with visual examples of our water jugs, and our digging gear. We wore pool shoes and brought along regular shoes to change into after the digging was over.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Things to know #4 - you'll need a shovel, and possibly a change of clothes/shoes. Oh, and sunscreen, definitely going to need sunscreen! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZBmVhQErYMoEDWhd52N7p4JQ1SWHKgbaazY-vy9eMAQLEzrHM3G8j9cUyIS5TCGzCs-2uw0xCyC_W1QEYylBj_uTQlGNnkyerDXiziCGt8kDfTEDHC4VFX6FbZ0X8ZYuz1kyRaavS_st/s1600/IMG_5810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZBmVhQErYMoEDWhd52N7p4JQ1SWHKgbaazY-vy9eMAQLEzrHM3G8j9cUyIS5TCGzCs-2uw0xCyC_W1QEYylBj_uTQlGNnkyerDXiziCGt8kDfTEDHC4VFX6FbZ0X8ZYuz1kyRaavS_st/s640/IMG_5810.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yes, the wind was blowing 999 mph on Sunday too! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPgw_lWKxfgsD8H3dDpoCb5S6fD7DzP9HavpJlVKSgkKfbLYas1J9w_JwcGP-jcNTXjLytL4F1eCcSI7jD7T0HqWT_SRIWh7wCqalgqf9Av405hCBhbERu4Fg9e7XDaIZnnUu9_xahifzT/s1600/IMG_5803.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPgw_lWKxfgsD8H3dDpoCb5S6fD7DzP9HavpJlVKSgkKfbLYas1J9w_JwcGP-jcNTXjLytL4F1eCcSI7jD7T0HqWT_SRIWh7wCqalgqf9Av405hCBhbERu4Fg9e7XDaIZnnUu9_xahifzT/s640/IMG_5803.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Obviously people had been here before, but it really is quite deserted. We felt like we were at the end of the earth or the surface of the moon. I wonder why more Hollywood Armageddon movies aren't filmed here? Apparently the military used it as a test bombing site during WWII. There is a sign when you first go in instructing you what to do if you find any leftover bomb paraphernalia. *Call 911!!*</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPHQYxAIZ6oXfywy5MJ9PBzoy1KAuC8X1aNfJ09QsS86y5wlMa0nhtYLonr6FPd_pALjDxysBENlkXYipKtiH9WkMFSFfC1uQ82wFZISssiF98S8Bh-xOibQ022A4zJ1qoxkZLQGx6xOnO/s1600/IMG_5812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPHQYxAIZ6oXfywy5MJ9PBzoy1KAuC8X1aNfJ09QsS86y5wlMa0nhtYLonr6FPd_pALjDxysBENlkXYipKtiH9WkMFSFfC1uQ82wFZISssiF98S8Bh-xOibQ022A4zJ1qoxkZLQGx6xOnO/s640/IMG_5812.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">The salt plain is also home to the Least Tern, whom we saw several times. Kind of like a killdeer, but smaller and faster and tougher. Most killdeers I know make there homes in cemeteries, where there is at least grass. These guys have NOTHING! I don't know how they do it. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD4u_g1ylD8C9en4PvlK44bXXhv1tsb5yxKTeXJiLMd3i80LjPlL0a175wTLRP4FqJzQh5n7GUvCwggQYs1zCLt34rt3_b36J3EYvjTrXUzODPZPyr374khHFsyprrqRrM36JePul-n3Hs/s1600/IMG_5816.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD4u_g1ylD8C9en4PvlK44bXXhv1tsb5yxKTeXJiLMd3i80LjPlL0a175wTLRP4FqJzQh5n7GUvCwggQYs1zCLt34rt3_b36J3EYvjTrXUzODPZPyr374khHFsyprrqRrM36JePul-n3Hs/s640/IMG_5816.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> It goes without saying, but it is very salty - hence the name, I suppose. Salt crystals actually form at the top of the abandoned holes after the water evaporates. I was apparently the only one in the family that was fascinated by this because.... </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUMfg-aLTFSON_3SyeIfYUbk2-1pHEjHkm2qstnC2x8oDgmHFEO6j9tl24J1oqa0RW3z_5lsjnkRvXXu5udkouGhjr5xwYsAEF0QgYPjnQapMIkicjJK7hnkjsJ1RlFKc5BEzHwY1VOy-T/s1600/IMG_5811.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUMfg-aLTFSON_3SyeIfYUbk2-1pHEjHkm2qstnC2x8oDgmHFEO6j9tl24J1oqa0RW3z_5lsjnkRvXXu5udkouGhjr5xwYsAEF0QgYPjnQapMIkicjJK7hnkjsJ1RlFKc5BEzHwY1VOy-T/s640/IMG_5811.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">... the "boys" all headed straight to work. I told the kids, "Stay where we can see you" which by all accounts was approximately 10 miles in any direction. </span></div><div></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8hRjV96auLaBtONMDe-oe2EqEnR7WNunLcwToT3mhOxFZVTpPF0NzvjTrzMs3H9KkqzLhg0STDePHblkNzDWVDHW7V0VACXjzayjIcSAgx6lhCA9QjuM9YqPWAp_uMfdJpuvP_Cn4s0yh/s1600/IMG_5818.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8hRjV96auLaBtONMDe-oe2EqEnR7WNunLcwToT3mhOxFZVTpPF0NzvjTrzMs3H9KkqzLhg0STDePHblkNzDWVDHW7V0VACXjzayjIcSAgx6lhCA9QjuM9YqPWAp_uMfdJpuvP_Cn4s0yh/s640/IMG_5818.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here they are digging the hole. It is just sand, so it goes pretty quickly. The hub decided the best bet was to find the clay "bottom" and start there. He had quite a bit of luck with this theory. </span></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf5IiTJGxPr5MMD9WerbOhghJXEv6Dywgo9mFyWVoH0gkSqX05V4J-HMYLzmqMCqVMnB6pe_cZtRJkcfsyEAWyjT2bb-9rKcoZnxq1wRQ2nD791A1GLY2TCticse59LSwKsWzEqYnQiCPo/s1600/IMG_5821.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf5IiTJGxPr5MMD9WerbOhghJXEv6Dywgo9mFyWVoH0gkSqX05V4J-HMYLzmqMCqVMnB6pe_cZtRJkcfsyEAWyjT2bb-9rKcoZnxq1wRQ2nD791A1GLY2TCticse59LSwKsWzEqYnQiCPo/s640/IMG_5821.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0d3MpVpAz1ne2C4fdTOHxzjUWKP632iJBtGqmippxKTpGWYLVzneIl2W9bjz004aXGn3B38ch7LA-9wT1jPV_WqENc_h0Uag1e90W1QQsG1FY6xGKIj82GjNbRy-rgVLk5bnvMcDbXa6x/s1600/IMG_5822.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">After digging the hole, we filled it up with water and then started scooping through the sandy soup with our hands. If you find something hard that almost cuts your finger off, then you've found a crystal. We worked for about 2 1/2 hours this day and finally..... </span></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpkqGj-NcRrgb_PJM-ckEMDPrtCi1C350GxHkMmx1nD5EpApjVM1jHXaeNy-wMYkWjqdNIKYpkaHMc-Ea8RKGcpIFhnVBJYQQulfduI4tU0hXcgKwpoZybmDMAvlqtbqys4Ga8VgZJxj1M/s1600/IMG_5820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpkqGj-NcRrgb_PJM-ckEMDPrtCi1C350GxHkMmx1nD5EpApjVM1jHXaeNy-wMYkWjqdNIKYpkaHMc-Ea8RKGcpIFhnVBJYQQulfduI4tU0hXcgKwpoZybmDMAvlqtbqys4Ga8VgZJxj1M/s640/IMG_5820.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">More people showed up! Some were ill-equipped. Some dropped their buckets and they immediately flew right to Kansas. Some probably had their doors ripped off like I did. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHfxtXTd263sSZRY9G4Hhu35xMtBGSwnWQjegjFVrPfxjaBwc-o2ArNNpwNJmv-SdcQUbprJOTSVZIDYE48OrmFe-DoZlLxt3-Zaln01gmZKG-IM6zab3Vp3r6TaSV8gLnqyEBpK68slv/s1600/IMG_5824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHfxtXTd263sSZRY9G4Hhu35xMtBGSwnWQjegjFVrPfxjaBwc-o2ArNNpwNJmv-SdcQUbprJOTSVZIDYE48OrmFe-DoZlLxt3-Zaln01gmZKG-IM6zab3Vp3r6TaSV8gLnqyEBpK68slv/s640/IMG_5824.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And this is what we found. Singles, clusters, all shapes and sizes. Selenite crystals! And no fingers were even lost in the process. </span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">When we got back in the car and began to dry out. Even my jeans began to crystallize from all the salt on the ground. I was glad that I'd asked for a late check-out from the hotel and that we could all go back and take a shower before we headed home. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Things you need to know, #5 - You're going to need a shower. Sand is not my friend. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">I suspect that our ease and success of finding so many crystals in such a short period of time was based on the fact that we were there relatively early in the season. The Great Salt Plains open on April 1st and I suspect are quite picked over by October when they close. So, if you're planning a road trip, here's my advice:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><ul><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Secure a hotel room in advance (just in case the World Series is going on or something).</span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Take bags for dirty clothes.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Take large sealable containers for water.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Take small containers for rinsing/transporting crystals.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Don't forget your shovel and spade.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wear clothes you don't mind ruining (although miraculously it appears everything came out of the clothes we wore) .</span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Take extra shoes, sunscreen, and water to drink.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Make sure you go to the west side of the lake instead of the east, unless you need water and don't want to drive all the way back to Jet. </span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Fuel up before that last strip of highway through Nash and Jet. Gas was 30 cents higher there per gallon than in Enid! </span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Get ready to get dirty!! </span></div></li>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">The kids are already asking when we can go back. I am not a road warrior by any means, but I suspect we'll visit again. Probably not this season, but perhaps when we run out of crystals. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now, what to do with them all???</span> </div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-52703004095699808072012-05-29T11:57:00.000-05:002012-05-29T11:57:21.098-05:00The Duck Quilt<em><strong><span style="font-size: x-large;">"Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?" Ecclesiastes 4:11</span></strong></em><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFgmm0JkxN7lYEa0xiEagzofcjjsthqEmcdLjF5Z0BrvlcqmNNHT_pJDZlE7a8C826HZ0gZf2lURPlRcL5IGKQm-LNdFOT30FeRzi81eYXr-tkUAQ_jn7597mMkhZikAB3XLYp_9V72EL/s1600/IMG_5421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFgmm0JkxN7lYEa0xiEagzofcjjsthqEmcdLjF5Z0BrvlcqmNNHT_pJDZlE7a8C826HZ0gZf2lURPlRcL5IGKQm-LNdFOT30FeRzi81eYXr-tkUAQ_jn7597mMkhZikAB3XLYp_9V72EL/s640/IMG_5421.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">My Granny Donaldson gave me this quilt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She called me one day, sometime before I got married in 1997, and said she had something for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was quite the quilter and had a huge quilting machine in her house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was less than impressed with the duck quilt, considering I’d seen some of her other creations, but I remember her telling me “I thought it might keep you warm.” </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Granny Donaldson died in 2001 at the age of 96.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The duck quilt never found a prominent place in my house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a bit manly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doesn’t really go with anything, and the 20 ducks on it are a little too brown and orange for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus, Granny Donaldson is gone now and I’m never getting another one, so I should put it away and save it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But…</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmgLUrwndxeGg7q_KR1bUYVf7LvYQmKFkIMvx_WJ1fmRaucm3JPPz-RxIHx7S6-grGBAsj99L51rE7LoWtIxYMmwidButVpzf9U0PgFOQhGyWtJMoJy8YFiWVtZinOi2sf9Igj8MavLiFB/s1600/DCP_4417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmgLUrwndxeGg7q_KR1bUYVf7LvYQmKFkIMvx_WJ1fmRaucm3JPPz-RxIHx7S6-grGBAsj99L51rE7LoWtIxYMmwidButVpzf9U0PgFOQhGyWtJMoJy8YFiWVtZinOi2sf9Igj8MavLiFB/s640/DCP_4417.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 2007, we experienced an ice storm here in Northeast Oklahoma that caused horrible damage and power outages and constraints on normal folks that I wish not to live through again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trees literally exploded with the weight of the ice breaking enormous branches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Standing out in front of our house the next morning, we thought we were in a war zone for all the explosions of trees around us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our power was out, but the husband had secured a generator from his workplace for us to use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_BPU26BoPn3Lhk0JY7aZis9DjwMXT02yH3Ltwe5TAVoiuTunjU92RCaQVd2MecK7nD_bORp6vmfyahEM5QJn8EnEbdZBytoXFlsGobyMDopspGY1ogo0DNctL-iwp1MHcUjC5OkQwrr9/s1600/DCP_4413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_BPU26BoPn3Lhk0JY7aZis9DjwMXT02yH3Ltwe5TAVoiuTunjU92RCaQVd2MecK7nD_bORp6vmfyahEM5QJn8EnEbdZBytoXFlsGobyMDopspGY1ogo0DNctL-iwp1MHcUjC5OkQwrr9/s640/DCP_4413.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">There was a mad dash to secure a generator if you did not have one, and we provided the cash necessary for our neighbor to buy a large one from a wholesaler who had come to my bank to sell generators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone was desperate!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">We have a wood burning fireplace, so we camped out in the living room for 13 days without power!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the things I did to conserve heat was to place this quilt in my doorframe that leads to the upstairs of our house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember thinking then that “it had kept me warm” just as Granny Donaldson had said it would.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilrqpWIp1iyR_aUQULe1SJL3kFO2KsNlxM5d53umcUeIlczuZxMC3-1dcF019-h2m4X2AggCBKtbz7ql7Pb3fsyUY7BCZjH_X1IiZFt8ZkizOrq37RdvFOnjB0zBOjaJfcfiDC_n8Zck4s/s1600/DCP_4408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilrqpWIp1iyR_aUQULe1SJL3kFO2KsNlxM5d53umcUeIlczuZxMC3-1dcF019-h2m4X2AggCBKtbz7ql7Pb3fsyUY7BCZjH_X1IiZFt8ZkizOrq37RdvFOnjB0zBOjaJfcfiDC_n8Zck4s/s640/DCP_4408.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">It was without a doubt the worst camping adventure I’d ever had and I hope not to do it again! </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Ever! </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And then yesterday, our air conditioner to the upstairs decided to die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While we didn’t have to worry about freezing to death, sleeping was a high priority last night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We camped out, once again, downstairs, but this time we slept in the extra bed and bedroom since we didn’t have to keep the fire going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And once again, I hung Granny Donaldson’s quilt in my doorway to conserve energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I’d say it is working!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The upstairs thermostat is currently reading 81, while we are sitting at 73 downstairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The air conditioner has only kicked on a few times in the past hour, so I’d say the quilt is keeping me cool too!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thank God for two air conditioning units, local repairmen who will hopefully show up today, and a less than impressive duck quilt from someone who knew I would need it!</span> </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-26815687090599688232012-05-11T21:20:00.001-05:002012-05-11T21:25:16.044-05:00New Page - Zack Heroes<span style="font-size: large;">In an effort to support the ongoing artistic endeavours of my 7YO, I have added a page titled Zack Heroes (a name he picked out) and have started him his own artwork blog at </span><a href="http://www.zackheroes.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-size: large;">www.zackheroes.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">. See the page up there by the Home tab? I've posted the hilarious pictures he drew of me in his "About My Mother" book he completed in first grade this week. He's pretty excited about his own webpage. Every 7YO needs their own webpage, right?? Ha! Before long he'll be running this one instead of me!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-56625644828605583872012-05-10T13:18:00.002-05:002012-05-10T13:18:58.273-05:00Brotherly Love<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-large;"><strong><em>“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Honor one another above yourselves.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Romans 12:10</em></strong></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">We always say the above bible verse is my 7YO’s verse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His name is Roman and his birthday is December 10<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Romans 12:10 is HIS verse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he does a pretty good job of loving his brother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">For the most part. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMbsnkgFvbcov63E7BqzNK87IN1c-ntcdNgzyDuYwuAjQEWg32yDAShegzDn5redMDblKc0jOVYIh6GfWPMf01xA1dxbYFCJXvgQvizPYd1u7PtEEvJL5fhdPQpyUXkauJNlVp780UJ6-t/s1600/IMG_5058P.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMbsnkgFvbcov63E7BqzNK87IN1c-ntcdNgzyDuYwuAjQEWg32yDAShegzDn5redMDblKc0jOVYIh6GfWPMf01xA1dxbYFCJXvgQvizPYd1u7PtEEvJL5fhdPQpyUXkauJNlVp780UJ6-t/s640/IMG_5058P.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I told you about <a href="http://hickmama.blogspot.com/2012/04/orange-kitten.html">Mitten’s kittens</a>, and how the orange one showed up straight from Jesus, so it was only fate that we should have to keep that one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But now we have this <a href="http://hickmama.blogspot.com/2012/04/and-then-there-were-nine.html">other ginormous kitten</a> that is older than all the others, who plays, and jumps, and eats cat food in a horribly cute way the others cannot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kids have named him Max and have started petitioning for his adoption as a “family cat” as well. </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">We do not need to keep two kittens.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I repeat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">We do not need to keep two kittens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">We’re full up on cats. </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">No room at the Cat Inn. </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">The litter box runneth over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Which is a whole other issue entirely since they are all outside cats and refuse to potty anywhere but the litter box in the garage so that I have to clean it out!! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">We like to think we’re good parents, but we also like to give our kids a hard time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s part of our master plan of not making it too easy here, so that they will one day want to move out!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we told each of the children individually that they could keep both kittens, but they had to give up their brother.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">The 9YO quickly recounted and said that he didn’t want to keep the kitten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">The 7YO thought about it for half a second and said, “OKAY!!”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Brotherly love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">A beautiful thing!</span> </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-42141182353843486772012-05-02T12:09:00.000-05:002012-05-02T12:09:02.127-05:00Foreign Language<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-large;"><strong><em>“The Lord said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Genesis 11:6-7</em></strong></span></div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Okay, so my husband is Russian, but I took a lot of Spanish in school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I almost came out of college with a minor in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I think I would have had to take one more semester and it didn’t really seem worth going to school any longer for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What good would it have done me anyway, since I married the Russian?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, in college I had had so much Spanish that I had to give presentations in front of the class in Español.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was always self-conscious when speaking Spanish because of my accent – read, hick from Oklahoma – and felt kind of like Sean Penn’s character on Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Dude… Cómo está usted?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">We had a lady in my class from El Salvador, whom I asked if she could even understand me, and she said yes, but maybe she was just being nice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, and my college Spanish classes were taught by a Cuban who’d gone to school in Russia and married a Russian lady and spoke Spanish, English, and Russian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fate, I tell you!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, I am the authority on Spanish in my household, even though I don’t speak it, read it, write it, or even understand it anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Here was the conversation at breakfast this morning:</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">9YO: “What does español mean?”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Me: “It means Spanish.”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">9YO: “No, what does it MEAN?”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Me:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It means Spanish in Spanish.”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">9YO: “That’s not what I MEAN!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does español mean?”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Me:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Español is the Spanish word for Spanish.”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">9YO: “So what does it mean?”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Me: “It means SPANISH!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the Spanish word for Spanish!”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">9YO:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“So how do you say English?”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Me: “Inglés.”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">9YO: “Ohhhhhhhh!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I get it.”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And to think that conversations like this would have never existed if the tower of Babel had never been attempted!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What would the world be like if we all understood each other?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who would we assume was talking about us just because we don’t understand what they are saying?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What word would I use for “You got me?” besides capisci to sound like a mobster mother?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thank God for differences, and children, and laughter, and entertainment that stems from us all trying to understand each other for thousands and thousands of years!</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-84039146167235143512012-04-30T17:14:00.000-05:002012-04-30T17:14:27.800-05:00And Then There Were Nine...<span style="font-size: large;"><strong><em>"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." - Emma Lazarus, Statue of Liberty, Mittens the Cat</em></strong></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFBCUIe_rNHA969JMFFTpVAqV4uK1fpW57AvnwTGOQBtyPkrr7tMvrBY0KmQqZUR3-pIK0TUYNC1nwusX5oQ2Ky74uwwjBQ7thf_AHHbaf9Vd_B5goyRnDbiDYlQ63P61zoIz0Vo3z7T68/s1600/IMG_4855P.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFBCUIe_rNHA969JMFFTpVAqV4uK1fpW57AvnwTGOQBtyPkrr7tMvrBY0KmQqZUR3-pIK0TUYNC1nwusX5oQ2Ky74uwwjBQ7thf_AHHbaf9Vd_B5goyRnDbiDYlQ63P61zoIz0Vo3z7T68/s640/IMG_4855P.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So my last post about the <a href="http://www.hickmama.blogspot.com/2012/04/orange-kitten.html">Orange Kitten</a> was just the beginning of what becomes a story of strife, rejection, consternation, and adoption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was last Monday night and a teacher-friend’s daughter had just returned to her car from night classes at the local junior college.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What should she find, but a box of four kittens on the hood of her car! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kittens that were too young to not have a mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kittens that were about a week or so old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kittens who were dumped by doofuses who should be sterilized and never allowed to reproduce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Teacher-friend’s daughter has a good heart and takes the kittens home, even though she could have just set the box on the next car’s hood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teacher-friend has another teacher-friend who has had success in hand-raising kittens, so they pawn…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, leave the kittens… in her care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teacher-friend’s teacher-friend feeds the four kittens for three days with a bottle until I catch wind of the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“I have a lactating cat!” I announce. </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And so it was arranged that the other teacher-friend would deliver the kittens to me, just moments before an impending field trip to the zoo with my oldest son, so that I could pawn…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, leave the kittens… in the care of Mittens, our new mother cat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“This is her first set of kittens,” I told them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“She doesn’t know that four more don’t usually show up a week later.”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I had the kids pet the kittens profusely on the way from the school to my house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That way they would at least smell like us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their eyes were matted and their fur a bit unkempt, but maybe Mittens wouldn’t suspect they were dumped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">We plopped the four new kittens in the box with the five existing kittens and left for the zoo. </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Hours later we returned to find Mittens happily snuggling with all NINE baby kittens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently she has a heart for adoption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’d considerably cleaned up the kittens as well and everyone appeared happy and satisfied about the situation as evidenced by a pile of sleeping kittens.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And the story would end there with “and they all lived happily ever after”, except for this one kitten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s bigger than all the others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve named him Bubba due to head size and have been fascinated with his behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He swats and plays and gets the other kittens in headlocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His ears stand up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s getting teeth and he administers the bunny-kick to all his unsuspecting siblings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone else lays there like a slug.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No teeth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Folded ears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thinking “WHYYYYYY?????” when he grabs the in a choke hold. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9HySOiJN7H_hL8_ymxywKZ6ELkNFXzb6TW8_4m7GQ6ZyvqC1FMb3dxwvVdkJ6EFaRRWQen_EydPmEWPA2iohnqnStBKHiX975Zu_aACPmHrXj5eIqnWAtOURgQrnQJpOKymHKvsy7hn8h/s1600/IMG_4866P.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9HySOiJN7H_hL8_ymxywKZ6ELkNFXzb6TW8_4m7GQ6ZyvqC1FMb3dxwvVdkJ6EFaRRWQen_EydPmEWPA2iohnqnStBKHiX975Zu_aACPmHrXj5eIqnWAtOURgQrnQJpOKymHKvsy7hn8h/s640/IMG_4866P.JPG" width="548" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">So, not only did the doofuses dump the kittens, they didn’t even keep the litter together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s three from one litter and a bonus kitten!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two mama cats without babies now, somewhere out there.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihC77hBHQZisWAKc0jj3MyS48hu1AyWLm1WVZhXjOnIgsMbvDvxEtFZOiBaGG35j_6bRJM3q4ekiskKLtM71JycqCRN0PsefNrLw732DO-jPldMY1zAtM6Aegz7j0yYxEXLETcNbmWsl1-/s1600/IMG_4859P.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihC77hBHQZisWAKc0jj3MyS48hu1AyWLm1WVZhXjOnIgsMbvDvxEtFZOiBaGG35j_6bRJM3q4ekiskKLtM71JycqCRN0PsefNrLw732DO-jPldMY1zAtM6Aegz7j0yYxEXLETcNbmWsl1-/s640/IMG_4859P.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Thankfully, through the magic of Facebook and a few mushy photographs, most of the kittens are already spoken for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still have a couple that I may end up giving away as parting gifts at Bunco, or perhaps as an end-of-season prize for soccer, but if there is anything to be learned from this, it is this:</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">God gives animals a heart for the innocent, wayward, and helpless, so surely that is a part of himself he has instilled in us as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">We would all do well to heed the advice of Bob Barker and “have your pets spayed or neutered”. </span></li>
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></ol><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">And maybe our doofuses too!</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-11282347827550756892012-04-20T10:26:00.000-05:002012-04-20T10:26:18.805-05:00The Orange Kitten<span style="font-size: large;"><strong><em>"Happy is the home with at least one cat." - Italian Proverb</em></strong></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I am not a fan of orange cats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not that I think they are any different from any other color of cat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just don’t care for orange ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I believe there are enough stray cats in the world, that should I go to choose another cat, I should be able to find one that is not orange in color.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Orange cats are also known as “blonde” by my 7YO.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Second in line on my Cat Color Hating Scale is a calico cat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not a fan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably because of a black and orange calico cat name Kiki that would not let me pet her when I was a child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So the 7YO’s cat, Mittens, had been killed by a car late last summer and a cute little mostly gray kitten had shown up at the neighbors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(She undeniably had peach colored calico mixed in with her gray fur, but I was willing to ignore it because she was a nice kitten.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The neighbor didn’t want her, so I said I would take her home with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 7YO promptly named her Mittens and she became his own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Fast forward to about a month ago.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I’d thought about getting Mittens fixed, knowing she was borderline on the preferred age of six months to have her spayed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But was she getting fatter?</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">The 7YO noticed first that she had “milk suckers”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I could still take her in…</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Let me just say that nothing riles up the pro-choice/pro-lifers at this house like an unexpected teenaged cat pregnancy.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">How could we not let her have the kittens?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And so, our ignorably calico Mittens has been ballooning up over the past several weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kids couldn’t wait until she “pooped out her kittens”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had already begun petitioning to keep one of the kittens as a “family cat”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">“If there is a blonde one, can we keep it?” my 7YO asked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“I don’t really like orange cats,” I told him.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Why would you say that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they grow up, they get all shiny and nice, and they look professional!” he told me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Professional cats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">What will they think of next? </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And so the days had been accomplished that the cat was either to have her kittens or explode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Yesterday morning, she wasn’t waiting at the front door to be let into the garage for breakfast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She wasn’t in the garage at lunchtime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got to thinking that I hadn’t seen her all day and I’d been home for most of the day.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I checked with the neighbor lady who said she hadn’t seen her either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I decided to check the barn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On my way out to the barn, I peeked my head under the roof of the well house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was Mittens and her kittens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Four little dark blobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">But wait….<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">She moved her front paw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there… what did I see?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>...but another blob that was undeniably ORANGE!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiphMiXdrJ9tMs7lXWSWxdev74nONc1O2sc5r4grCCQDBX7xjFkYbG6iHrunc0JHLOTr6CFoGddAgpQm6daAZPTljBx405mq6fOZSN87BZKHL7ypfeUxLGTYCkEglT98gL_dIWE9yv8zxMt/s1600/IMG_4704.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiphMiXdrJ9tMs7lXWSWxdev74nONc1O2sc5r4grCCQDBX7xjFkYbG6iHrunc0JHLOTr6CFoGddAgpQm6daAZPTljBx405mq6fOZSN87BZKHL7ypfeUxLGTYCkEglT98gL_dIWE9yv8zxMt/s640/IMG_4704.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I could almost hear God laughing! </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I kept the secret until the kids got home from school. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My 7YO was so excited that he “happy cried”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We relocated Mittens and her kittens to our back porch so they would be protected, and the kids could pet the kittens every day to keep them tame so that their fate of leaving this house to go to a new one will be as expeditious as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">My 7YO then prayed, “Dear Jesus, thank you for my blonde kitten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is just want I wanted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s my FAVORITE!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> In Jesus' name we pray, a</span>men.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It looks like we’ll be keeping a kitten, doesn’t it?</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-43923371853897457222012-04-10T10:25:00.000-05:002012-04-10T10:25:34.459-05:00Grandma Hazel<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-large;"><strong><em>“Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2 Corinthians 5:6-8</em></strong></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfsY-EYZj2IS2H0ImDHLLfEMm2Al-Cijb8xO9sxqJ8PhGE9BjI_E1S2cNzIiwEhgjIRQ4_T9RvTvKMKr2-ZIOY0xlTXhliiGmuiMzjw26WaQvcuxiWfqPjpGFO2rC6J9XhWWdrhEuDsz5/s1600/IMG_4406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfsY-EYZj2IS2H0ImDHLLfEMm2Al-Cijb8xO9sxqJ8PhGE9BjI_E1S2cNzIiwEhgjIRQ4_T9RvTvKMKr2-ZIOY0xlTXhliiGmuiMzjw26WaQvcuxiWfqPjpGFO2rC6J9XhWWdrhEuDsz5/s640/IMG_4406.JPG" width="492" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">My Grandma Hazel died on Saturday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Went home for Easter, I suppose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I woke up Saturday thinking that she would probably die that night because the next day was Easter, so when my Dad called about 6:30 pm, I really wasn’t surprised at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We lost Grandma Hazel a number of years ago, really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dementia took her from us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She wasn’t who she used to be, who we really remembered as our Grandma.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Several years ago, before she entered an assisted living facility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The family had an auction of all her personal effects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Family members got what they wanted out of the house, but the rest was auctioned off to the public. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyday common crap really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing really special.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I had wanted pictures from her house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d heard for 30 years that she had pictures of my brothers that died in infancy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found them hiding in a chest of drawers along with a lifetime of pictures of people I knew and didn’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pictures are a high commodity to me, as I don’t have as many as I used to due to my house flooding while I was a teenager several times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also took pictures of my cousins and other family members, leaving behind the vast majority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish I’d taken more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder what happened to the rest of the pictures now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably got thrown away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Anyway, the skull up there is a treasured reminder of Grandma Hazel to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is an ashtray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess you put your cigarettes in the glasses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why would a skull need glasses?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why would Grandma Hazel have an ashtray?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She didn’t ever smoke that I knew of. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always assumed it belonged to my Grandpa Taylor who died before I was born. </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">This ashtray sat on an end table beside the couch where Grandma Hazel always sat with her crochet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’d watch Days of our Lives just about every day, and was hardly ever without something to crochet in her hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can remember her holding me on her lap while she crocheted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She taught me to crochet when I was five.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And where did she keep her crochet hooks?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here in the back of this ashtray.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69RLXj3nqcmgdqRwEIChY4C_j2pAa19BYuyft7_vpy8a1DEvT_EhGh21OhVawf2L6Gozfv7JeCU_Xk4hlzB8S26QoBQ5Qd4fODZWJJ6zE6bsA3Lq0g5SkCrdvH51wc_nOK-b1UTBR1tCU/s1600/IMG_4407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69RLXj3nqcmgdqRwEIChY4C_j2pAa19BYuyft7_vpy8a1DEvT_EhGh21OhVawf2L6Gozfv7JeCU_Xk4hlzB8S26QoBQ5Qd4fODZWJJ6zE6bsA3Lq0g5SkCrdvH51wc_nOK-b1UTBR1tCU/s640/IMG_4407.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So when we went through the house to see what I wanted to take, I purposely left the ashtray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely someone other than I would want it for sentimental reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my aunts probably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">The day of the auction came, and I went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not because there was really anything in particular that I wanted, but because I wanted to see how it all turned out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grandma Hazel had a huge Budeweiser picture of Custer’s Last Stand behind her stove my whole life and we all thought it might bring quite a bit of money, even though we all thought it to be hideous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another leftover from Grandpa Taylor, I always assumed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some man bought it because his dad had had one just like it in his barber shop when he was a kid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He paid $500 for it and felt compelled to make a speech after.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said, “This is going in my house, and it ain’t EVER coming out!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Glad he liked it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">As I walked around, I saw more stuff that had been stuffed away in closets that I remembered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was looking through boxes when, lo and behold, there was the ashtray – the head, as I call it – crochet hooks still sticking out the back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess no one else waxed nostalgic over the skull like I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it was up for sale!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To strangers!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to have it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t just go stealing it out of the box.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The auctioneers had all the stuff inventoried.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the money from the auction was going towards Grandma Hazel’s long-term care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if this ashtray was worth more than that Budweiser picture?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How was I to know?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So I hung around waiting on the box to come up for sale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the meantime I bought her sewing cabinet for $20 because I didn’t want furniture dealers to have it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bought a little dilapidated wooden bench that always sat beside her bed, and I bought a pair of ceramic chickens that always sat up on a shelf in her kitchen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Better for me to have those things than people to whom they only had resale value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And probably little of that!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So the time comes for the box that contained the head to be sold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was in a line of six boxes that contained all kinds of stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two boxes of mason jars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One box full of old quilt squares.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And a few cardboard boxes best described as miscellany.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I even tried to kind of hide it in the bottom of the box under a doily, but auction goers are pretty undeterred by such things as a doily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One lady even looked at it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">The auctioneer announced that we would be bidding for “choice box” in this round.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tension mounted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was sure everyone there was interested in MY box.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had worked out in my mind that I’d try to get it for five or six dollars, so I wasn’t just going to go crazy!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bidding started and I had some stiff competition, but when my final bid of $5 was topped with one for $6, I stopped just as I’d promised myself I would do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other lady had won.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The auctioneer asked her which box she wanted and she took…</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">The big box of mason jars. </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>Whew!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still had a chance!</em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I assumed we’d be bidding on our choice of boxes again, but the auctioneer announced that we would be “cleaning up” this lot!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I’d be bidding on the rest of the boxes all at once!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More tension!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Bidding started again, and I stuck true to my decision and only went up to $6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this time, it was enough!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d won the whole lot!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Junk boxes and all!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">A lady standing near to me came up and said, “Did you really want those mason jars?”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“No,” I said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I only wanted this,” and I reached in the box and pulled out the head.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">She laughed and said, “How much do you want for the jars?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“Three dollars?”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“Sold!” she said, paying me, and quickly carted off at least part of my loot.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Later, I made a couple of lap blankets for Grandma Hazel to use while she was in managed care, but even those have been returned to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some junk just keeps coming back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">It’s funny to think how we all treasure our personal effects so much, but yet what would be left after the auctioneers come through?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those things we think of as being sentimental to others, might not really be what they associate with the person at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And to think that something purchased for only $3, net the mason jars, could become one of my prized possessions!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Here’s to all my memories of Grandma Hazel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll be sharing more in the weeks to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May she rest in peace with the Lord until we are all reunited, and may her memory live on forever in our hearts.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-73747434975684204622012-04-05T10:25:00.000-05:002012-04-05T10:25:01.862-05:00Fishing Adventures<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-large;"><em><strong>"As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen." Mark 1:16</strong></em></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieWlrckZZZKRdhzBCw7CHIyRleSCA6x0aNR_lIu5wS3G450FG23T0EHduSDvSx3MU5TF-NSwe53usainr7YOCfVA6MHHg6QiIvF1UkQ45T7EEgl6zYZhv4XSGt3gf6T7SwZwnNKXN_hCG-/s1600/IMG_4028P.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieWlrckZZZKRdhzBCw7CHIyRleSCA6x0aNR_lIu5wS3G450FG23T0EHduSDvSx3MU5TF-NSwe53usainr7YOCfVA6MHHg6QiIvF1UkQ45T7EEgl6zYZhv4XSGt3gf6T7SwZwnNKXN_hCG-/s640/IMG_4028P.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We have a new fishing hole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually it is quite a large pond on an acreage containing lots of cows that we have to climb the fence and walk quite a ways to get to, but we have permission.</span><br />
</div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">No, really, we DO have permission. </span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It has been verified by an old man named Jack who thought we were poachers or something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What would we be hunting?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cows?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And all we had was a BB gun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not likely to be very successful in the poaching world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Anyway, after threatening to call the Wildlife Department on us, he verified with the owners who, sure enough, knew us and had given us permission to fish there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">After our interrogation ceased, we continued about our merry ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is a pictorial of our fishing fun spaced out over three or four days in the past couple of weeks.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikGDciR9SM3vK8xHTn14T2lmO3e_M57o7dHMdY4kdcFyjpVI3cbezYJe1WW-VMzH5Qt0PF5TydPYLI5aXQLHfT2iroo1AcJAJl7Q_-mPks4ZHjLMslFw1AlJiEV20jN1hG6-tjX0ZJX6SF/s1600/IMG_4032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikGDciR9SM3vK8xHTn14T2lmO3e_M57o7dHMdY4kdcFyjpVI3cbezYJe1WW-VMzH5Qt0PF5TydPYLI5aXQLHfT2iroo1AcJAJl7Q_-mPks4ZHjLMslFw1AlJiEV20jN1hG6-tjX0ZJX6SF/s640/IMG_4032.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This is what we're looking for. Sunfish. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIEsiKN1wEeF9uqDIPoP1DOegDM1L_y2knZF5ubOk92RLMBpZ8OjmctT6zuggw-eYtjaBHdRHuckaqTiVJ5FgnIyeUXMGuqhxNDNPG_rV8agjN8ltgSWyNDu2MQ0sqI-yivks1j-ireax2/s1600/IMG_3936.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIEsiKN1wEeF9uqDIPoP1DOegDM1L_y2knZF5ubOk92RLMBpZ8OjmctT6zuggw-eYtjaBHdRHuckaqTiVJ5FgnIyeUXMGuqhxNDNPG_rV8agjN8ltgSWyNDu2MQ0sqI-yivks1j-ireax2/s640/IMG_3936.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The hub bought the boys a Red Ryder BB gun again motherly advice. Apparently I'm the one who was supposed to obey. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje6ee-ceH_1wUDBu9oPBpO3BXuBKIN_LWE2jWHesb6YUQ0q5qCTqhsG9iWy1Iyn11fI7HHhdRacKwMe-j6l2bUnSmy7HACMU4j108kpIzbvgDpaOSe6z7Jk6U1tAhanbw1v5kAEZrWSYQ1/s1600/IMG_3938.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje6ee-ceH_1wUDBu9oPBpO3BXuBKIN_LWE2jWHesb6YUQ0q5qCTqhsG9iWy1Iyn11fI7HHhdRacKwMe-j6l2bUnSmy7HACMU4j108kpIzbvgDpaOSe6z7Jk6U1tAhanbw1v5kAEZrWSYQ1/s640/IMG_3938.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This was the first time my 7YO had gotten his hands on the gun. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjENgFqHXqLm3H3kN5CvdLBSk0IRfUC_QlhE7-rm7DtpXQgDARtgKUGfZSrYybWsROjEsI1v1fQDUBkGsbo53f2J-izRcG8ySelY3HpZn9T6eTFSMfbUxqYVOEyDWIkEtl1Mwgj0uLhx_3U/s1600/IMG_4063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjENgFqHXqLm3H3kN5CvdLBSk0IRfUC_QlhE7-rm7DtpXQgDARtgKUGfZSrYybWsROjEsI1v1fQDUBkGsbo53f2J-izRcG8ySelY3HpZn9T6eTFSMfbUxqYVOEyDWIkEtl1Mwgj0uLhx_3U/s640/IMG_4063.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">My husband found this in the woods and brought it to me. Romantic, huh?</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was lured to the far side of the pond where I saw some ducks. Turns out they were plastic. No wonder ducks fall for it! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGnyU-PWNe2IhlFj9KY1rOfeD3_1AmaEe7AXbVr4ikvKqI8zF7c0AMqu02InSn41pQqEjIrpEA1sxg1L361p2PSM2kTQIu6rVln3NQGaXW1_ulCmgJ88rK1C1SwFmHwRR8tnGx6K_OcmGp/s1600/IMG_4081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGnyU-PWNe2IhlFj9KY1rOfeD3_1AmaEe7AXbVr4ikvKqI8zF7c0AMqu02InSn41pQqEjIrpEA1sxg1L361p2PSM2kTQIu6rVln3NQGaXW1_ulCmgJ88rK1C1SwFmHwRR8tnGx6K_OcmGp/s640/IMG_4081.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This one must have hit an iceberg.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The kids found a "make your own cow" puzzle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And frogs. I won't even tell you about our run-in with a cottonmouth or how my little one stepped on a garter snake. And took 10 years off our lives! </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyq9kMAW6cxXxZcvKgUm7MqbQHP1ly6mCGT593U64hKBJQWTPHxjmj5IKNTtpAgkWxhgR-HZ7aU8LZRpg88bFHf-e9LB4T6PqSHW_GN7vFZmMXBRLTmTywgg5T7FL0hn7NOWAwNYbtnHoR/s1600/IMG_4266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyq9kMAW6cxXxZcvKgUm7MqbQHP1ly6mCGT593U64hKBJQWTPHxjmj5IKNTtpAgkWxhgR-HZ7aU8LZRpg88bFHf-e9LB4T6PqSHW_GN7vFZmMXBRLTmTywgg5T7FL0hn7NOWAwNYbtnHoR/s640/IMG_4266.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The hub borrowed this boat from the neighbor and we carried it all the way across the cow pasture. I guess it was worth it from the looks on their faces. </span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">And finally on our last trek out, we caught a decent number of fish. 16 in about 30 minutes. And some were actually visible with the naked eye. Still can't figure out what this one is. Is it a striper bass? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hope you're fishing for memories today and I hope you catch some big ones! </span> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-25520324840439449812012-03-14T15:04:00.000-05:002012-03-14T15:04:51.834-05:00CSI: Special Dental Unit<span style="font-size: x-large;"><strong><em>"A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will not go free." Proverbs 19:5</em></strong></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjyF_oVufxF6PNSQB4EB4QI4ht95HHkYuq2l_YJt2YYtavDM_lzs5Tspg-OBDcoACooeTZwLlLvXJ5g0EkSiQKbs9_1MuOrxqG6COqEF5nefmiJl38K1uwKZpR2-i7b_i-qIGSMDWN_7Bo/s1600/IMG_4044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjyF_oVufxF6PNSQB4EB4QI4ht95HHkYuq2l_YJt2YYtavDM_lzs5Tspg-OBDcoACooeTZwLlLvXJ5g0EkSiQKbs9_1MuOrxqG6COqEF5nefmiJl38K1uwKZpR2-i7b_i-qIGSMDWN_7Bo/s640/IMG_4044.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>Click!</em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’d sent my 7YO to go brush his teeth and after he shut the door, I heard the click of the door lock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now it might not be weird for people to lock bathroom doors in your house, but it is around here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, with my boys, it is weird if they even shut the door at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just be prepared, should you ever come to visit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, I knew something was up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I hear water running and all the usuals of teeth brushing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, that click…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">He comes out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Did you brush your teeth?” I ask.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“Yes.”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“Did you use toothpaste?”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Yes.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><em>Shifty eyes.</em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“Let me smell your breath.”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">He uses watermelon toothpaste so sometimes it can be difficult to discern whether or not he’s brushed his teeth or eaten a piece of candy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">He breathes in my face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hmm…</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“You didn’t use toothpaste!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now get back in there and brush your teeth again.”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“Yes, I did!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You just couldn’t smell it!”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">A retort!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not his usual defense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Must employ elevated tactics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Well, let me smell your toothbrush!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><em>Evil mother eyes.</em></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Busted! </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">His mouth turns up into that little upside down grin that says, “She knows!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“Uh huh!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now get back in there and brush your teeth!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And do it RIGHT this time!”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Often I feel like my own private investigator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel like I’m both the good cop and bad cop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel like I live with a bunch of criminals just waiting to break Mommy Law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And now it seems they do so and then lie to me about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Will they proceed from not using toothpaste and on to a life of organized crime?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Or will my detective work moments serve to build a conscience that will speak to them when I’m retired?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Will I ever be able to retire??<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Just another day in the life of the Toothpaste Detective.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hope your pearly whites are minty (or at least watermelony) fresh today!</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-23301188312477865302012-03-07T10:13:00.000-06:002012-03-07T10:13:59.701-06:00Tiny<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF0hnir3TjXcQ6jWYgV7M-7l5IUXPTdOKM7Sa8fz_wItzdnr5xY5_Pskaz6KPG3D1EGlWNLfV0FLGXX7GRopR1AfAbLNVxm1-3zU2d2mosuHBYnV9_T4dvVh1Cq0p2BQMWcZvIcY2B7Ldb/s1600/IMG_3532.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF0hnir3TjXcQ6jWYgV7M-7l5IUXPTdOKM7Sa8fz_wItzdnr5xY5_Pskaz6KPG3D1EGlWNLfV0FLGXX7GRopR1AfAbLNVxm1-3zU2d2mosuHBYnV9_T4dvVh1Cq0p2BQMWcZvIcY2B7Ldb/s640/IMG_3532.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">We bought a King Cake for Fat Tuesday a couple of weeks ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It came with the baby above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kids and I strategically placed it in Daddy’s piece of the King Cake, and my 7YO almost spontaneously combusted with anticipation of Daddy finding the baby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">He told him, “Daddy, next year instead of a King Cake, just buy us jelly donuts, okay?”</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">But, oh, that is only one family story concerning a tiny plastic baby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Picture it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Commerce, Oklahoma.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1978.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was two and staying with Nanna in her mobile home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mom calls Nanna to check in on me and hears me crying in the background.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Nnnnnnaaaannnnnnaaaaa…..<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ttttiiinnnnyyyy!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I said through exaggerated sobs and cries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">My mom asked what was wrong with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">“Oh, that S.O.B.-ing Tiny is missing again!” said Nanna, according to family tales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only she didn’t use the acronym.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Now Nanna was a Sunday school teacher for at least 50 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What was it about Tiny, and occasionally me and my friends as children, that would make Nanna stoop to such language?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(We always thought it was hugely funny when we could get her to say bad words.)</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Well, as you can see, Tiny was, well, tiny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And apparently I had quite the affinity for these tiny babies when I was little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I held on to Tiny with all my might.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But inevitably, I would misplace Tiny and then it became quite a challenge to find Tiny due to his size.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I can empathize with the search for Tiny as every two weeks a missing library book usually reduces me to the very last synapses of my nerves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There will eventually be a wing at the library dedicated to my family’s honor, paid for with fines for missing library books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, the family got wise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They went to the Dime Store and bought a whole package of Tinies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*Is that spelled right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or is it Tinys?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What kind of grammatical rule applies here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, now whenever Tiny went missing, they could slip me a new Tiny!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Genius!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the patting themselves on the back ended shortly…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I wuddn’t no dummy!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew they’d slipped me a new Tiny!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Or at least I figured it out when I found OLD Tiny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then I had two Tinies!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we had to keep track of TWO Tinies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then FOUR Tinies!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was an ever growing problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tiny survived all of my childhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still had a couple up until adulthood, but alas, they are buried somewhere along with other items of my childhood, like prom dresses and old boyfriend pictures that didn’t get flooded, in some of my mother’s storage items.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m pretty sure sometime in my life I will once again run across my favorite Tiny, who was embossed with his own set of underpants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">But until then, learn from my Nanna’s mistake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For one, don’t give inch-high plastic babies to a 2YO.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re choking hazards, you know!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if you do, have a plan in place that does not include exponentially increasing your grief should Tiny go missing!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, whenever I see a baby from a King Cake, to me he will always wear his full title of “S.O.B.-ing Tiny” due to his tendency to become lost and causing people to lose it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hope you’re not losing it today!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Happy Wednesday!</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-91673391333474139002012-02-27T13:49:00.000-06:002012-02-27T13:49:16.825-06:00A Skating Good Time<span style="font-size: large;"><em><strong>"So come on, come on, and do the locomotion with me!" - Kylie Minogue, 1988.</strong></em> </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQuYSbo_RXNL0VwryZ7xPxRMY9cgp8AyBB7FLGO2a74DmLOCK5mOtL5J3Qco1EpjzHxUQjG13tYwXW41FWUx-GCUibWrWdvrxIDlMJDIa2pAQN4sOReCmu8T793mLlEW5BVpugovVm6Tpc/s1600/IMG_3488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQuYSbo_RXNL0VwryZ7xPxRMY9cgp8AyBB7FLGO2a74DmLOCK5mOtL5J3Qco1EpjzHxUQjG13tYwXW41FWUx-GCUibWrWdvrxIDlMJDIa2pAQN4sOReCmu8T793mLlEW5BVpugovVm6Tpc/s640/IMG_3488.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">My boys were invited to a skating party a couple of weekends ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hated to even tell them where it was because the oldest one had tried skating once before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it didn’t go well. </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">And that brings me back to my memories of the Miami Skating Rink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent many an afternoon there at skating parties, or church parties, or just because Nanna was sick of taking us to the swimming pool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or maybe we were too sunburned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just know I have a lot of skating rink memories. </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Of course the biggest deal of skating is trying to find the perfect skate and then get them on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Miami, they were a kind of beige leather with brown laces that you would eventually wrap around the top of the skate and your leg several times so that you wouldn’t trip on your own ties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had orange wheels and stoppers if I remember correctly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">The laces and wheels perfectly matched the brown and orange shag carpeting that made up most of the skating rink and its lovely round benches that were parked in front of the lockers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was about a two inch drop to the baby blue painted hardwood floor of the actual rink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The floor was warped and if you made it about half-way around, there was a dip big enough to give an unseasoned skater the thrill of going dangerously fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just when you thought you had your balance on the wheels of death, they would turn on the disco lights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was an actual mirrored ball that hung in the center of the rink and I hated that thing!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the patterns of light fell and spun on the rink, it would mess with my mind and make me fall down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah, that’s what it was!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I mostly stayed on the carpeted areas, trying to make it from round bench to bench.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every once in a while, I would get brave and try the slick surface of the concession area where there were booths to hang on to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inevitably, I would brave the rapids of the rink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it always seemed that just as I was getting good at it, they would clear the floor for a couple’s skate, or limbo, or the choo choo train thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kylie Minogue’s Locomotion still plays loudly in my brain when I think of the skating rink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I secretly can’t believe I still remember who it was by!)</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">And then there was that inevitable trip to the restroom where it was nearly impossible to maneuver in the bathroom stall, precariously perched on one leg with the skate stopper down, trying to take care of business without<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>rolling out the space at the bottom of the door or off the toilet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I don’t want you thinking that bad skating skills run in the family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My dad’s brother, my uncle Bill, was quite a skating phenom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was the classic disco skater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was at the skating rink a few times when he was there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was probably a little old to be there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably all of thirty or so, but he could do twists and turns and spins that nobody else could do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not even the weird guys who worked there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, it has always been a prerequisite that you must be only slightly on the edge of morality and normalcy to work at a skating rink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">So back to the kids’ birthday party invitation…</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I told them where it was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They said they’d try it only after I told them if they didn’t like it, they didn’t have to skate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, they never took their skates off until it was time to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">We get there and they have these handy dandy walker looking things that make it look like a place for geriatric skaters, but they really work!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Uh, I mean, they look like they would work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay, I’ll admit that after making it around ONCE without falling, I grabbed a walker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And even though it was about two feet too short for me, it really did help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a while with the walker, I actually made it around FOUR times without killing myself or my tailbone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">My husband had a different technique.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would carry the walker and only put it down if he thought he needed it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was hilarious to watch!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">But what neither of us did was continually fall on our rears like one dad there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was nearly my inspiration to stop while I was still ahead.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">AND, after putting it off for quite some time, I finally had a less than exciting trip to the restroom still on my wheels!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">A good time was had by all!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many new skating rink memories were made including the lights of death, countless falls, and some slightly inappropriate music for the 7YO crowd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And of course, there was the one guy there who was an ice dancer in another life who could turn around backwards and actually HELP little kids who’d fallen get back up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">My only defense was to crash myself before I crashed into them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Keep on rolling!</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773412879151415113.post-50602162281885763582012-02-08T14:11:00.000-06:002012-02-08T14:11:11.540-06:00Immigrant Legacy<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-large;"><strong><em>“Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Exodus 23:9</em></strong></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy86FQIIjIBgens2-rbZ8gpHsxYCu0AaTjH6j8Lzfak7PFg7_pSZNyS2hj4YMcY4RPgqB1Rh8qpbq8OyOYFeVJuRuj1cc1T-gpovhKH6HEIdVATNKyqNvSJ66mEYF1F7tcTUFCjQZ0chbO/s1600/Hans+Foss+family+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy86FQIIjIBgens2-rbZ8gpHsxYCu0AaTjH6j8Lzfak7PFg7_pSZNyS2hj4YMcY4RPgqB1Rh8qpbq8OyOYFeVJuRuj1cc1T-gpovhKH6HEIdVATNKyqNvSJ66mEYF1F7tcTUFCjQZ0chbO/s640/Hans+Foss+family+.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">You never really think about the legacy you’re building or the place you’ll hold in family lore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s all about the here and now, living in the moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But today I’ll reflect on the past and project into the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps I am becoming an existentialist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Or maybe not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I had to look existentialist up!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, my uncle sent me the scanned photo up there the other night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hans and Hulda Foss - my great-great-grandparents on my mom’s side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The boy in the middle is my great-grandpa, Alvin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is flanked by two of his brothers – Harris on the left, and Clifford on the right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, I know, Clifford doesn’t seem like a nice little girl’s name, but that was the custom of the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why did they do that???<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clifford lived to be over 90 and liked tractors, so it must not have affected him too much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Hans and Hulda immigrated to this country from Norway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They came by ship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not sure what their initial reasons were, but probably freedom, a better life, you know, typical immigrant ideals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then there were a lot of begets, and eventually I came to be, but the Norwegian tie has always been remembered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My uncle’s name is distinctly Norwegian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My grandpa can speak a few words of the language and has always held an affinity for all things Nordic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I, myself, have tried my hand at making lefse. </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ok, so fast forward to yesterday…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">The hub says the last time he talked to his dad, his dad mentioned he wanted to come visit, so would I mind (once again) looking up what paperwork we needed to do to get the ball rolling on a visit?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today I spent the morning perusing the Department of State’s website looking at forms regarding a visitor visa application.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">But if it were only that simple…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">When his mother wanted to come visit in 2006, she didn’t have enough “ties”, as determined by the consulate office, to sufficiently prove that she would NOT immigrate to this country, so she was denied a visitor visa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We contacted our State Representative and got a nice “too bad, so sad” letter from the consulate office, but there was nothing else we could do on the visitor visa road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>BUT… since my husband is a US citizen, she did qualify for a green card which would allow her to visit and immigrate to this country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Logic is not a strong point for immigration procedures, I have found.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had to go through the entire process (and paperwork) of getting her a green card just to come visit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">She stayed five weeks, hated it, and promptly returned home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve not tried to get her to come back over and really don’t know how that will work since her green card is in limbo since she didn’t immigrate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will she ever immigrate?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Any who, we’re hoping the hub’s dad has more “ties”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It all depends on the opinion of the consulate officer who is conducting the interview.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My father-in-law has traveled extensively, most recently to India, and has always returned back to Russia, so we’re hoping this makes a difference. </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So all this foreigner-immigration stuff has got me to thinking about the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Someday I’m going to be somebody’s great-great-grandma.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there’ll probably be a picture of me somewhere with my kids and husband.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the story will be “she married a Russian, and that’s why you’re part Russian.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And maybe they’ll like fur hats, and maybe they’ll like nesting dolls, and maybe they’ll try making borscht.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">And maybe all my paperwork will not have been in vain!</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2