Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category

Update - The Broker

August 18, 2008 | Uncategorized

You may or may not remember, but last year Papa George saved the local park in Tuna from a big faceless corporation who wanted to install a cell tower right in the middle of the park amongst oak trees that are hundreds of years old. A cell tower would have destroyed the visual beauty of the park and made it not that much of a park, really.

Because Papa George is who he is, he was able to work out a deal for a small nearby church to rent a portion of their unused parking lot to house the cell tower thus providing the cell tower a more suitable home and the small church some much needed funding for their food pantry.

George reports that the cell tower was finally installed and that the church is now able to provide groceries for 50 families every Monday. This is a congregation of about 50 people feeding 50 families every Monday. I think that is amazing. And I’m so proud of my Papa George and they way he goes about quietly ministering to people behind the scenes.

Here’s a picture of Sean in the park (without a cell tower in the background) enjoying some retro space age playground equipment.

And for your reading convenience, here’s the whole story from last March.

The Broker

My father-in-law George is a sweet and gentle man with a heart as big as the ocean. He never raises his voice. If he’s really really mad, he might say “damn”. That’s the only way you know he’s really mad because he doesn’t raise his voice. And let me add that in the eleven years I’ve known him, I’ve only heard him utter that word one time. Truly, he is a servant of God who looks after widows and orphans in their distress. But don’t mess with him.

A while back George took his car to be washed. When it was done, he got back into his car to find that a roll of quarters was missing from the glove box. George went inside and spoke to the manager and politely asked for his quarters back. George is not a big guy. With a head of thick silver hair and a cane, he’s not an imposing presence. I’m sure when the carwash manager saw George, he figured he would blow him off like a ripe dandelion.

The manager all but said I don’t have your quarters old man and why don’t you scram. But George wouldn’t budge. George said that was fine, that he would just hang around and talk to all the customers until he got his quarters back. In about ten minutes the manager handed him his roll of quarters. George thanked him very much and went on about his business. George brokered a deal for everyone to do the right thing without causing a stink and that’s a quality in him that I really admire.

Across the street from my in-laws house is a park that covers one city block. It is filled with big gnarly twisting ancient oaks which shade the 1950’s space age inspired playground equipment, a basketball court, a picnic area and lots of open space to run and play.

In the middle of the park is a large granite stone that is engraved with the message that the park was donated to the children of Tuna in 1947 in memory of Janis by her mother. I don’t know what happened to Janis or how old she was when she died, but it’s touching to think of all the children that have played in that park under the shade of those trees, whose children now play in that park and even grandchildren, Sean included.

Recently a big cell phone service provider came through Tuna and decided that a good place to erect a cell tower would be smack dab in the middle of the park, leveling most of the ancient oaks, leaving only the margins of the park and thusly rendering it no longer a park for all intents and purposes.

In exchange for obliterating the park, the generous BCS (big corporate schmucks) were willing to compensate Tuna with rent of about $1000 a month. It is my impression that the Tuna powers-that-be were salivating at the thought of all that money pouring into the city coffers and maybe even the idea that they would no longer have to maintain the park. And certainly the dumb people of Tuna would go for that. The notice of their intent and the date of the hearing was surreptitiously buried in the back of the local newspaper. Unfortunately for them, not much gets by George and he was on the case.

George was the only one who showed up at the hearing. When BCS saw the sight of an unassuming elderly man leaning on his cane, they probably figured they had a ripe dandelion in their sights. But like the car wash manager, they would be wrong. George stood up and made his case on behalf of the children of Tuna. And whatever he said, it was enough to convince the board to kill the issue. For the time being or until they figured George had forgotten about it.

Across the street from the park is a building that used to be owned by the Baptist church which moved to a new and larger location several years ago. The property is currently owned by another religious organization whose primary purpose is to house a food bank for the needy. After the meeting, George visited with the pastor of the church/food bank and told him that if he were willing, he could rent his parking lot to BCS for over $1000 a month, income the food bank sorely needs. Within a few days, the deal was inked.

Thanks to George’s brokering skills, BCS will plant their cell tower in an unused parking lot, the food bank will earn some much needed income and the giant oaks will continue to shade the children of Tuna as they play in the park and little Janis will continue to rest in peace - a win-win-win-win deal for all parties.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9

Another 5 Minutes

July 12, 2008 | Uncategorized

Chances are, if you enjoy parenting blogs, you are already familiar with the wildly popular site, 5 Minutes for Mom.

The lovely ladies who run 5 Minutes for Mom have started several new 5 Minutes sister sites and one of them is called 5 Minutes for Parents.  They asked Stephanie Precourt, who is a crazy lady, to be the managing editor. Stephanie has 3 little boys and a little girl on the way, writes for four different blogs – AND THEN took on the role of managing editor.  See? Crazy. Or highly efficient and emotionally stable.  Just thinking of juggling all that makes me whimper just a little.

Anyway, Stephanie asked me, along with some of my favorite bloggers,  if I’d like to be a contributing writer to the new site called 5 Minutes for Parenting and of course I said yes.  You can go here to meet the other lovely ladies and then you’ll see why when I had a chance to be in such fine company I couldn’t say no.  I won’t have a post up until the end of the month, but in the meantime there is already some good stuff up to read.

Go check it out and put in your Bloglines and Google Readers. Pretty please.

 

 

Liquid Time

June 28, 2008 | Antique Childhood, Uncategorized

Have you ever looked at your child and seen your own face? And maybe your child doesn’t look so much like you, but there is something that he does, some little expression that he makes that is unmistakably yours.  And just for a split second, the thread that has stitched all of humanity and history together is brilliant and visible and eternity suddenly makes sense.

Last year, when I was in Illinois visiting my parents, a neighbor brought over some old Super 8 movie footage that had been hiding in a closet for 40 or more years. On it were scenes from a birthday party from when her girls and I were little, maybe four or five years old.

 

There wasn’t but a few seconds of me on the video, but seeing myself at that age, especially now  that Sean is that same age, was something beyond eerie.   It was like watching liquid time being poured out into my cupped hands, spilling over the sides and slipping through my fingers.

 

In watching myself as a 4-year-old, I realized that like me, Sean wears every emotion on his face — twitches, twists and puckers that telegraph every thought and feeling. 

 

And so I asked God, why did you make him so much like me, unable to hold his cards to his chest?  He will never be able to negotiate a car deal or even a nickel off on a garage sale item.

 

I thought of that old Super 8 film yesterday as I sat on a park bench, watching Sean as he came barreling down a slide.  The wind blew the hair from his face in just the right way and he wore a familiar expression of unfiltered exhilaration.  But instead of a boy on a slide, this is what I saw:

 

 

   

 

A whole lot of time has been poured out since I sat on the hood of the family car with my brother on a windy day in the early 60s and I haven’t been able to hold on to a single drop.

And I haven’t even wanted to.  Until now.

Now, as I sit on a park bench watching a little boy who looks something like me zip down the slide with the wind in his face, I want to catch every drop and drink it up.

 

Blogging: The Next Best Thing To Prozac

June 6, 2008 | Uncategorized

First the scientists discover that dark chocolate and red wine are good for you and now blogging!  Sign me up to be a guinnea pig for those studies! My friend Jeremiah, who actually IS a scientist, sent me this link from Scientific American about why blogging is good for you. 

Have a great weekend y’all!

The Exception

April 25, 2008 | Uncategorized

Okay, I am happy to admit when I am wrong.  Here’s a teen who should write a book. She’s a college professor teaching math and physics and in her spare time, she is looking for a non-invasive method to test blood sugar.  If she is successful, she will become the patron saint of diabetics.  Her book is one that I would buy and read. 

Product Review - Lands’ End Swimming Suit

April 17, 2008 | Uncategorized

I got my Lands End swimming suit in the mail today and I love it with all my heart. And I’ll tell you why: It fits and it is comfortable and it stays put. Although it doesn’t tell me I’m funny.

 

I bought a couple of inexpensive swimming suits last year and spent all summer, tugging and adjusting and they just never fit and it was aggravating.  In addition to all that good stuff, this suit is really really cute –definitely not a matronly grandma suit, yet appropriate for someone my age.

 

I found that the suit is true to size based on the measuring guidelines that Lands End provides. I did however go up one size in the bottoms and am glad I did.  I ordered a second suit today and decided to go up one size on the top also just because I like more room since I have to pull it over my head.  I wish they would make a suit with a front zipper just because I always seem to get the top stuck under my underarms when I’m pulling it on and I can’t pull it down and it gets stuck and then I cry until someone comes to help me.  Of course I’m the same gal who crawled under her car to retrieve her gas cap instead of just pulling forward, so it could just be me.

 

Someone commented that she had always wanted a Lands End suit but could never justify spending that much money on herself and I really resonated to that point. I felt exactly the same way, because let’s face it, they are not cheap. But now that I have one? I wish I’d never spent a dime on any other suit and just gotten one good Lands End suit. My friend Gigi told me two years to get a Lands End suit and did I listen? No.  (Gigi! You were right!)

 

So then, the super lucky winner of the Lands End swimming suit of her choice is diXymiss who takes cools pictures and writes ineXplica, even though she disparaged my Betty Boop figure in comments.  I’m pretty much over it. Oh I kid. I went to high school with mean girls, I’m used to being disparaged. 

 

Congratulations diXymiss!   I wish you many sunny summer days at the pool. 

The Storm

April 10, 2008 | Uncategorized

Last night, around 3am, tornado sirens sliced through the darkness like a buzz saw, whirring and whining in their circular way. “GETUUUUP!  getuuuup!  GETUUUUP!  getuuuuuup!” they screamed.

An old tree outside my bedroom window strained against the wind and creaked and groaned in pain.  Its heavy branches clawed at the roof.  Rain randomly drummed the windows in an odd and uneven rhythm.  Lightning lit up the room and then just as quickly darted away as though trying to stay ahead of the thunder that growled deep and low in the distance like a hungry lion looking for something to devour.

But even before the wind and sirens had issued their warnings, I was awakened by another alarm, not whirring and shrill but silent and still.  Not off in the distance, but deep within me — an alarm so ancient and primal that it resides in the marrow of my bones, handed down from Eve.  It is an invisible hand that pulls a mother up out of her sleep like a puppet.  It is an invisible someone who whispers in her ear “getupgetupgetup”.   No matter your child sleeps in a room down the hall or on another continent, the shapeless, voiceless nudge of mother’s intuition warns that danger is afoot and urges, “Get up! Go! Don’t delay!”

I snatched my wedding ring off the bathroom vanity and hastily screwed it on my finger over a resistant knuckle.  If all we own were to be carried away by the wind in the darkness that night, that was fine, but my wedding ring is the one material thing I would grieve.

I made my way through the dark house to Sean’s room, dodging flashes of light as I went.  As I stood over him, the sirens began their plaintive wail.  Somehow, I had been expecting them.  I pulled my boy from his bed. He was heavy with sleep. I hoisted his warm little body up on my shoulder and turned on the flashlight.  “Mommy, what’s going on?” he asked, still asleep as I carried him into the small windowless bathroom.  I sat on the edge of the tub twisting my wedding ring, praying for mercy and rocking my boy. I was grateful that he was just down the hall and not a continent away. 

When the sirens stopped, I carried him back to my bed, because that night, even the room down the hall seemed too far away.

We lost a few small limbs and that was about it.  Not everyone escaped storm damage. Just a block away, it appears a tornado raged down the street, taking out trees and tossing them onto roof tops and cars.  One of our neighbors has to retrieve their trampoline from the roof of their house.

Is This Thing On? Test… Test….

March 31, 2008 | Uncategorized

Okay then. I switched hosting services and apparently my blog is propogating, so you may want to avert your eyes.  I don’t even know what that means. 

Not everything is in place yet – comments don’t work and the archives and categories links don’t work either.

Stay tuned.

Hello Out There

March 29, 2008 | Uncategorized

Hi y’all. Just want to thank you for your sweet words and kind comments and all those prayers you have lifted on Sean’s behalf this past month.  You might expect your mom or your grannny to pray for you, but people you’ve never seen before? Amazing.  And it fills my heart up to the very brim. 

My blog is still not completely on the rails.  Comments are not coming through to my email right now, so the only way I know if you’ve left a comment is if I check in on my blog and then as many of you know, I like to respond to what you’ve said and chat you up and bug you and that’s harder to do as it stands. Just wanted you to know that.  I will resume bugging y’all when the email is fixed. 

I currently have five large bottles of ketchup in my pantry and I’ll tell you why on Monday. Oh I know.  The suspense is probably killing you, but try to carry on.

Fun Was Not Had By All

March 26, 2008 | Uncategorized

My blog was down all day.  It was not a fun day what with all the hand wringing and brow mopping and rending of garments.  But I probably had more fun than the folks who were trying to fix things.  I fix broken things by jiggling them and then jiggling harder and if that doesn’t work then I slam the lid several times.  It makes my rational and methodical husband cry.  

One of the things we’ve had to do to make things work is remove all the photos.  Once we figure out what’s going and get it fixed, maybe I will put some of them back up.

But (crossing fingers) - I’m back!  But not with a new post.  Read the one I put up yesterday and pretend that yesterday is today.  Unless you are reading today, then today would still be today and not tomorrow. In which case you don’t need to pretend.  Think of it as a blonde version of daylight savings time, but with reading material.

And The Winner Is….

March 20, 2008 | Give Aways, Uncategorized

Marie who writes the blog PractiGal! Yay Marie! 

Olivia chose Marie’s suggested title “Make A Wish” as the winning entry in the Fabulous Photo contest.  Congratulations Marie, your book is on the way!

There were so many great entries, it was really hard to pick just one which is why I handed that task over to Olivia.  Thank you everyone for playing along!

I’m going on spring break and will be back another day.

Birthday Party, Round 4

November 16, 2007 | Uncategorized

When I was a little girl and I had my birthday, it was a birthDAY. You got a little cake, maybe a toy, maybe a few extra privileges and then the next day, back to reality, back to scrubbing floors and waiting on my ugly stepsisters.

Photo Temporarily Unavailable

Sean?  He has a birthMONTH.  It’s a social season.

The party circuit kicked off earlier in the month when my parents were visiting. We had cake, we had presents, we had fun.

Then, the day before his birthday, Sean’s best friend and her parent’s came over with a very cool present and took us all to see the entertaining Bee movie.

Then on his official birthday, the two sets of surrogate grandparents brought over four of their grandchildren.  More presents and more cake and more fun.  Because I’m an idiot (don’t tell Sean I just used that bad word) I got all the little children high on cake and THEN gave them those New Year’s Eve style horn blowers.  The man pictured above paid $1 to each child to buy their horn blower back. Bargain.

Next week when we gather with the other grandparents there will be the giving of thanks and the feasting on the turkey and multiple pies. And then - you guessed it - cake and presents.  But no horn blowers.

Watermarking

October 4, 2007 | Uncategorized

You may or may not have noticed that I have taken down most of my photos.  I am in the process of watermarking them, which is no easy task given the flakey temperament of my computer these days.  However, after reading this post, I decided it was something that really needed to be done sooner rather than later.

So far I have done one.  If you can spare a moment, take a look at it please and let me know how it looks in your browser.

UPDATE: Thank you all very much for your help!  Looks like it’s working.

Computer 20, Antique Mommy 0

October 1, 2007 | Uncategorized

You know what? I don’t really like computers and they don’t really like me.  Truthfully, I have issues with anything that plugs in.   I seem to have some sort of magnetic field around me that destroys any electronic device within one mile.

In August, my lap top died.  So we went out and bought another one and I was so happy.  I had dreams. Dreams of writing and computering and being productive.  But this new computer, it is a big piece of poo.  And frankly, I don’t know if it is IBM ThinkPad, Lenovo or Vista or me but all combined none of it works worth a flip.  This machine makes dial up look zippy.  I have had more problems with it than I could list here or that you probably want to hear about, although I’m really in the mood to whine right now.  All that to say, since we brought this new computer home, every ounce of creative mental energy I have has been spent cursing in my head – cursing IBM, Lenovo and Bill Gates. Sometimes I change up the order.

So then.  In about five minutes this pile of plastic crud will be boxed up and returned from whence it came.  After that I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but I’ll think of something.

In other news, I’m taking the Love and Logic parenting course and I gotta tell you, it’s working.  I wish I’d taken it several years ago.  Anyone else out there taken this course? If so, leave me a comment and tell me about your experience.