Happy Veteran's Day!

My husband pointed out to me that I should have perhaps waited a day to thank the rescue personnel. I really do think I just get too enthusiastic sometimes...

I appreciate our Veterans and think that they should be remembered more than a couple of times a year. Me and the kids used to volunteer at the VA Hospital about 2 hours away. Veterans Day, Christmas, and Valentines Day are BIG days at the VA. So many people show up with gifts and food- it's really great. Even performers come for Veterans Day. But, the rest of the year, the vets might as well not exist. The volunteers try to make them feel special every day, true. But, many of the vets expressed to me that they felt like the recognition on the one day was more for the people doing it than for them.

I wasn't sure what they meant at first, but it was explained, and seemed pretty evident after- the folks showing up, many of them were doing it to make themselves feel good. Or they were campaigning. Or trying to win a bid. Or a scholarship. As soon as the program was over, so many of them were "outta there!" like scalded cats.

At first, I thought the vets were just being fussy, but I watched how they were talked down to- you know, like some people do with children- speaking very slowly with false cheerfulness & with their eyes belying the fact that they were disgusted and thought the vets were really less than they were.

Though, the ones who truly cared, the vets really thought highly of. The little old ladies who came every week with toiletry baskets or coffee. The folks that went room to room to just talk with the vets or bring magazines.

We thought about relocating closer to the VA so we could volunteer more, but expenses are much higher there. I hated not being able to keep it up. We did it for nearly a year. And yes, it was in the patient library. The kids learned the organization really well and could direct the vets to the books they were looking for. The vets really loved the kids. There was a mutual respect there.

You know, as the holidays draw closer, we are reminded of people we'd forgotten through the year. We try to make up for it with cards or gifts. All the times we put off calling or writing, or even texting come to mind. But, why are we here? For personal gratification? That's the reason we usually put off visiting or letting somebody know we care- we don't have time because we do not TAKE time. See, time will waste and time will flow by like the James River and we are left with nothing to show for it but being the best at quoting scores, news, or reruns. To take time, we must step into the river and embrace the chill. We must for a moment give up our personal preferences for something lasting and substancial.

I hear the "but I don't have money" thing as often. And I'm a bad one for it myself. But, it costs no money to call for most people on nights and weekends. It costs no additional money to send an email. It costs what, 35 cents? to mail a letter. How much would it brighten your day to recieve something besides bills and catalogues in the mail?

Let us try to remember our veterans throughout the year. A kind word goes a long way with them. "Welcome Home" and "Thank You" are ones that the vets I know have really appreciated. And they are surprised by them. Isn't it nice to give someone a pleasant surprise?

You don't need me to tell you what these brave men and women have to go through. Most have joined the service to help keep our country free for all the rest of us. And I won't even go into what the media has done to them over the last 4 or 5 decades. But again, I will say "Thank you and Welcome Home" and thank you and thank you again.

God Bless America and God Bless our Troops!

Writing Days

I love this picture. It has this quality that makes you relate to it somehow... I'm weird, I know.

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Well, amazing, but I took some time off from school just to write. And I have a pretty decent little story going, praise God. 5 minutes talking to a Muse and voila! (all you writers out there will know exactly what I mean.)

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Today is Veteran's Day. Please take the time to tell one of them "thank you". It really means a lot to them and it's the least we can do. I kindof wish they had "Rescue Personnel Day", but I guess we can tell those folks thanks any time. They deserve a day of their own, in my opinion. But, since they don't I'll take this opportunity to say....

THANKS!!! To all you wonderful Veterans and Rescue Personnel! You are GREAT!!!

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Um... well, since my husband was exhausted today, I was able to write for hours. My wrists are not happy about it, and I'm having difficulty not being in the head of a cat- yes, a cat is one of my characters. Something new for me, but my old hag- oops, I mean creative writing teacher- said, "write what you know". I didn't get it at the time, but I do now. I mean, really. How much does one know when one is in 11th grade. All the stories would have been about evil teachers, bullies, and part-time jobs- oh, wait, didn't 90210 kind of fit in there? I never did watch that show, but the commercials were awfully lame. (ooh, that's none of it so very nice, but that's how it seemed to me back when I was a young person. Sorry, Mrs. Ma'am, but you made me read the Catcher in the Rye and I still cannot thank you for that.)

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Kid A wrote and read most of the day, too. And Kid B wrote, did art, and read. We have Sunday and Monday for our weekend. We do school on Saturday, see. But, all the stuff they did today on their own will count, too. I try to be fair, no matter what time or day it is. They both did good work today. I was very proud of them. And they're at the age where they understand about letting Mommy write without a messload of interruptions. Plus, they usually like the stories, so it's extra incentive.

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Oh, the last two mornings, the mountains in front of my house have looked like molten gold. The sun shining across the ridges acted like beautiful stage lighting, the hollows all a deep blue and the last leaves glowing crimson against the backdrop of the crisp blue sky. The bare trees looked almost black and seemed to be reaching toward the light, and the wind was softly, softly blowing. Making the leaves on the ground dance and the ones still on the trees sigh.

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I took pictures of it with my cell phone and as soon as my husband shows me how, I'll put them up on here. Something I have to do with this kit that came with the phone...

Anyway, pray for me. I have a special request that is a REAL challenge for me. Actually, I have a few challenges I need prayer for... ;-) as anyone who knows me well will say "Amen, sister!"

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Family and Other Features will return soon. Really!

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Well, happy day to you all. May God bless each one of you in exactly the ways you need and in some ways that are just sweet of Him. He's wonderful! :-)

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ttfn

Rose

"Who put the Rifle on the Potato Salad?!"

"Who put the rifle on the potato salad?!" That's the kind of question we hear when family comes to call. ;-) See, it was my husband's birthday. His family came up with food, cake, and presents. When the deviled eggs came in squished, one of my daughters had to explain to her aunt that a box was on top of them out in the car. The aunt then exclaimed that the eggs were on the potato salad. Who put the rifle on the potato salad? What were they thinking? Heeheehee. That's life around here- just a little kooky. I wouldn't have it any other way.

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Birthdays for me and my husband are usually kind of nuts. Tonight I got yet another phone call offering condolences for my Dad passing away. Problem is, he's still very much alive. It's been a little weird. I couldn't find any obituaries on the net for anyone with his name, so I can't imagine how that got started. I made sure I sent him an email telling him what I think about him. Not because of being weirded out by faulty death info, really. Not at all.

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Determined to stay positive this post, the author steers rapidly away from the subject of the media and politics...

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So, back to the birthday. It was really a nice visit. One of my grandbabies was there and he's Ever so cute. He loves his Grandpaw and all of us. He's got a really sweet disposition. My husband had asked for this power saw and they gave him a hacksaw for a joke. Later bringing in the power saw and the aforementioned potato salad offender. He was sooo surprised. He didn't think he'd get any gifts, but he got binoculars, too. He's looking forward to hunting now that he's got proper equipment for it.

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Well, after a fun filled evening, we relaxed by watching mysteries on Hallmark. That, SciFi Friday, and Food Network are what I'll miss most about cancelling cable. But, these days you gotta cut whatcha can. A lot of things can be watched online now, anyway- I just don't think Good Eats or Iron Chef are on that list... Ah, my priorities these days...

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I'd better get to story and Bible time with the kids now. We're trying something a little different so as to have time for all the Christmas crafts, pray for me- I need it. School takes up a lot of time, and so does homeschool- but that's different since it's enjoyable. I'll do another family installment soon. For now, you get this one:

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My Dad

My dad is not dead.

I know I've already told about him on here already, but I guess I failed to mention the fact that he's alive. I am thankful that he has touched so many lives that people were genuinely sorry to see him go, but that was in an alternate reality or something, ok? Here, in this one, you get another chance to let him know while he's still with us that you care. Really, that's what we should do: with all the uncertainties in life - let people know what they mean to you. You might not get another chance.

so, to all my kith and kin- I LOVE Y'ALL! You are great! Every one of us is quirky in our own ways, with unique strengths and weaknesses. And every one of you are just simply wonderful! May God BLESS you!!!!

ttfn

Rose

Family

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And so, the pictures are of Lewes. The dog in the second picture, I have mentioned before. Yes, that's Tinker. The biter of legs, high jumping, fanged dog from you-know-where. Tinker is not biting the kids pictured here, because they were Tinker's boys. Family. Rick and Tim to be exact. Um, the pictures are courtesy of my family over at Facebook. THANKS!! I don't have a single picture from when we were young 'uns. So, for that I'll visit Facebook. I get a headache trying to navigate that blasted site- every time.

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So, I thought I'd tell some about my family in the posts to come, only I have no idea where to start. I reckon I'll start with Dad's side of the family since they're pictured here. To be fair, I should start with my Grandpa, so I'll add one more picture- not from Lewes... One moment please.

Done, ok.

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Grampa Stan. He was a quiet man. (hee hee) He could really sing and had quite a deep voice. He used to sing at this place called Bobbits and it was like the singins that we go to over at Ivanhoe. Mostly Gospel and all the local musicians, anyone could get up and sing which was really cool. My first public appearance (heeheehee) was singing For Those Tears I Died with my grampa Stan. They sang a lot of Gaither stuff, too.

Grampa was a serious kinda guy. He really loved his Mama (maybe I should've started with her...). He was short-ish like one of my brothers. He was of Lithuanian/Polish heritage. He was a first generation born-here dude and he was in WWII. I'm pretty sure he met my Gramma at the USO.

Grampa expected kids to be respectful and respectable. He did not drink. He worked 3rd shift a lot. His dad was a coal miner in PA after he and Nana got married- he's the one from Lithuania, she was from Poland.

Ah, Grampa used to read the Reader's Digest Condensed Books and he'd look like he was asleep, but would laugh when you said so. He taught me how to do cryptograms when I was 4. That was really cool. He didn't mind if I climbed up in bed with him and Gramma and read or did a cryptogram. He worked word puzzles and different kinds of things like that, too.

He was a member of the Sportsman's Club. I went swimming there. He loved the river. He'd take me for walks by the river and tell me not to be afraid about the tide washing me away. See, the river near their house was only accessable at low tide. High tide the whole beach was gone and the water was up at the road. To me it looked like a long way down. I'm pretty sure he liked to fish.

Unfortunately, I was pretty young when he passed away, so I don't know too much about him. Plus, he was a pretty closed kinda guy. He was always saying things that I didn't quite get like "don't look a gift horse in the mouth". I hadn't gotten a horse... He died just a short while after his mom did. He got Gramma a place at Lewes just before he died- I think he knew he was on his way out. He loved God a lot and I think he was looking forward to seeing him.

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Well, it's time for me to take an asprin and have early morning art class. For some odd reason the kids are singing "oh, dem golden slippers"... Happy weekend to all!

Update on the baby:

Her name is Sparrow, she's 9 months old and has MRSA and Pneumonia. Her dad has to leave for Iraq again in January. Please keep praying for this baby and her family.

Blessings!

Guy Fawkes' Night or Bonfire Night

Remember, Remember

The 5th if November

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot.

I know of no reason

Why Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

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(image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Happy Guy Fawkes Night, all! Or Bonfire Night if you wish. Great story, btw. I highly recommend doing a search and seeing what you think about ol' Guy and his friends.

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The way we see it, Guy's story is guts in the face of persecution. Also, all religious persecution is bad. So, we go out in the dark hours of the night and have a little bonfire and do a coffee "cheers" to the folks who stand up against tyrrany. And no, I don't really endorse blowing anything up to make a point; as I said- read his story and draw your own conclusions. We had fun with it. No, we did not make a straw effigy, though we did burn some straw. And this year since we have more than one neighbor, we had to keep things pretty quiet.

"...no, officer, we're just up really early..."

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The election somehow turned into a civil rights thing and I really thought things were totally equal like my whole life. Weird. Though I will say two things:

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1. All the people who voted for McCain are not haters. They either thought he was more qualified, liked his politics more, or really liked Palin.

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2. McCain's concession speech was one of the best political speeches I've heard in a long time and the best concession speech I've ever heard. We all cried. It was like this beautiful reminder of how great this country really is.

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I'm for praying for the salvation of all our leaders. Yep, I said it. And I think that we really should- it's smart; more productive than fussing; and it's scriptural.

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And that's enough of that. School is still draining. I wish I could do college like homeschool. I'd be studying about things that interested me and that were relevant. And Honestly, I get it already about the Vietnam Conflict. Too many weeks on the same subject is only beating a dead horse. I will say, though, that the text is more fair than most.

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Interesting the FCC's new rules that only apply to conservatives. I can see them telling NPR that for every hour of liberal programming they have to have an hour of conservative programming. Or other stations that for every hour of smutty programming, they have to play an hour of good, clean family programming. Every hour of secular music has to be balanced with religious music and all genres get equal air time. Yea. Right. Interesting how so many rules and laws only apply to certain people. Remember, Remember the 5th of November... ;-)

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Um, so God, (yes, God) provided the money for our power bill. Very nice there. And a few dollars for groceries. Praise the Lord!!! :-) And get this- I'm considered "underclass" so according to my textbook, I should be a Democrat, hopeless, have stupid kids, and no books. Yet, I'm a Republican (though my party needs serious HELP), I have more books than I can count, and all of my kids are gifted. Hmm. Oh, and I'm one of the most hopeful people I know. Go figure. Stereotyping bad, ugh. (trollspeak- not a stereotype since trolls are fictional...)

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Well, this sounds kind of negative. But, you spend 5 weeks dredging through the 60s and 70s and see how cheery you sound! ;-)(heehee) Didn't Carter come into office with the Dems controlling both houses? PLEASE do NOT replay the 70s!!!!!~~~~shudder~~~~~~

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I wonder if a Constitution Party would ever be on the horizon? The "fringe" parties don't seem to do so well, but it'd be refreshing for some folks who were Constitutionalists to find their voices. Argh! I am so done with politics. But I guess it's understandable being an election week...

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Well, all- have a happy day.

2 prayer requests:

1. A friend of mine with 2 young kids has to have radiation treatments for the next 6 weeks.

2. A little baby is in the hospital with a bad staph infection- a friend of my husband's sister's child.

THANKS!!!!!!!

God Bless America!!!!

Rose

Meanderings of the Overstudied Mind

This is main street in a town near where we live. The main street where I grew up is one way and has a slower speed limit- but then it is a tourist attraction.

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Ok, I think Solomon was right: much study is a weariness of the flesh. Good gracious- how much negativity can be packed in the pages of required reading?!

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I also need to um, put something I said in perspective. You see, my Aunt Judi had these kids that probably would have qualified for sainthood had they been um, well the third qualification... Anyway, besides Mom who I don't think ever had a worldly bone in her body, the guys and me were going through a worldly phase when we were vacationing in Lewes those summers. By today's standards, we'd have been considered pretty tame- but with such full-of-the-Holy Spirit and unspoiled-by-the-world kids as Aunt Judi had, that's why I said I'd not have the kids hang around with us. I dread to think how long it took her to undo the ickiness I brought with me when I came to visit her home when I was a teen. If I was Catholic, I'd still be doing pennance.

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Ok, so after 6 hours of school tonight- college-I think I'm going a little crazy. I'm singing weird songs that sound like some kick-back from the 1940s and I have all this nervous energy. Problem is, it's 4:30 in the morning. Even homemakers need a vacation. And for the last two weeks ("two weeks...") The Eve of Destruction has ben going round and round in my head. Along with alternate verses that I'm sure Barry never thought of. I'm being as crazy (and loud) as my brother Jake and it's freaking the cats out. Probably the neighbors, too...

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So, last night we star-gazed with one of our dogs. Orion was there- he'd been hiding behind the ridge- and so were a few shooting stars. It was really nice. Coveralls make all these freezing excursions seem like summer- without all the bugs and spiders.

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I haven't put my husband in the spotlight yet because he doesn't like it. He's really cool. And he's a Veteran. I don't think he'd mind me sharing that. God bless our troops and our vets!

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Childhood memories... the boys used to watch Kung Fu movies on Saturdays and I'd read in there with them after chores were done. Then, during the week, the boys would practice what they'd learn. They were great at jumping off rooves (spelling intentional) and flying kicks. I tried the roof-jumping thing, but I never did learn how to land properly. Then we'd often start a fire and roast things in the back yard.

We really did have a lot of fun adventuring when we were young. We all 3 had great imaginations, so we didn't need much to entertain ourselves. My eyesight was too bad to do some of the adventurous things they did- like exploring some of the "rich people's" houses. I was kind of klutzy (eyesight again) and would have gotten us caught. So, I'd hang out in their back yards looking at the flower gardens or fish ponds while the boys explored. Of course, once Mom found out that was the end of that- kind of... ;-)

Sometimes we'd go up to Main Street- which shut down promptly at 5- and climb up on the rooves of the shops. Such fun. We'd pretend all sorts of things- from super heroes to super burglars. But on none of our forays did we steal anything. Mom had taught us better than that.

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Mom was this really amazing example. She was never judgy and she was always lending hope and encouragement to the downtrodden. I really admire that. I loved the few years she was able to be a homemaker. The peace and stability she gave us was wonderful. And even when she was working, she always tried to be there for us and any of our friends who needed a caring mom. She always saw the best in people. A rare trait it seems, but a very good one.

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Well, today continued the Walnut Harvest. I think it must be easier to get them out of their hulls by running over them with the truck, so tomorrow I'll try that. We have a mess of them gathered with more in the upper yard to get still.

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We had a couple of the neighbor kids try to sneak up on us tonight for some reason. I reckon they must think we're vampires or something. After we went up to two of them, then others came with them to the house. They were all nervous- almost like it was a dare or something...

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Perhaps because we have a dog with the disposition of a ceberus; we seem to never go outside until the sun is setting; and we're often armed. I learned that all of the neighbors thought my husband was the only parent of three teens- possibly because I play so much with my kids... And him- they were worried that he was a "Still in Saigon" kind of guy. Not real sure if that is shining a light or being a blessing... But...We're nice to our neighbors when we see them and we visit the elderly on our road often. Hmm. Oh, and my daughter playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata (a traditional vampire tune in the movies) very late at night has probably not helped our image. I've been outside when she was playing and it really carries. Heehee. Too funny.

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Well, good morrow to all.

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Rose