Long Time Since I Have Been Here!

It has been a long time and there have been many changes, some of them good and some of them not so good, but that is what life is. There are many people hurting and there are some really good things that are happening. One of the good things is Chloe, she is getting some milk now and she has gained some weight. We just keep praying that she is able to keep gaining and that God will just be with each one of them and give them great comfort. Another good thing is that for right now I am not working full time. I work two days a week and am unemployed for three. I have enjoyed some time off and am able to get some things done and spend some time with my dad and getting some of his appointment taken care of. One of our daughter's high school classmates fell off of a roof and has been in the hospital with alot of broken bones and injures. He is young and has a family to take care of. There will be alot of expenses and maybe little or no income. Dad seems to be more settled in with apartment and into more of a content state. That makes it easier for me and my sisters. He is getting to know the place better and his neighbors, so those things help to make him happier. He had an appointment yesterday at the VA to have his hearing checked and to get new hearing aids, so he treated us girls to lunch and we had a very nice day out with dad.

MIXES FEELINGS

Today has been a topsey turvey day. Got up early to get to work because I had this appointed date with the cutest young man at 8:30 a.m. I got to sit in for my younger sister as grandma to her oldest grandson. She was out of town and I was ask to have the privelege to go to his third grade classroom and be his grandma. I had the best time. Lee is such a loving guy and took the best care of me. He was watching for me to come in the room, I waved to him once but he had not seen me since I had gotten my hair cut. I was clear back to his desk before he knew it was me. We ate a snack that the teacher had provided of donut holes, small blueberry muffins, small bagles, juice and coffee. She was young and her grandmother was there with her. You could tell that she was very close to her grandparents and they met alot to her. She was very pretty and had her classroom under very good control and her classroom was very bright and pretty. A very pleasant place for her students.

My boss was not pleased that he did not know I would be gone for one and a half hours. He was also missing one guy because he was sick and another came in really late and he did not know where he was. I had cleared it all with his mother and she was to be there to cover for me while I was gone but they decided to take off and left no one there to cover for me. I had an important date and had covered all the bases but the one of his missing mother.

Next was the guy who was sick. He did not bother to fill in his time card before leaving on Friday. This left me to guess how many hours he had worked on that day. I was to run payroll on Monday and how can you do this when he did not fill out his time card??? I called him twice and then the next problem came up. There was this blink in the electric. Don't know what happened but we lost the internet, which our fax machine comes in on and our telephones. So the guy could not tell me how many hours he worked. Nor we could call out or get calls in. Messy mess on a Monday and trying to run a business. I went ahead and did payroll with a guess and a prayer about his hours and decided to call it a day a little early because there was not any phones to answer or faxes to come in. Just as I was leaving the phone rang!! So we were up and running again.

I finally got home and walked into a mess. Flicka decided that today was her day to lay on the wicker couch and chew it apart. There are all of these little pieces of wood all over the floor, the blanket that we gave her to lay on and this dog that could not wait to get out the door because she knew she was in trouble. "Here, clean up this mess, I was bored, mad at you, and just plan bad today." It was a Monday!!!

There was some good news, Chloe, the premi-twin that was so bad and they thought she would not make it. News came today that she was doing better. I have been watching her mother's blog all week end for news and there was good new today.

Well, so much for this Monday.

Pictures of one of my favorite girls!!! Labor Day week end

Angela and I have the same camera and she is teaching me new things to do with my camera. I am learning new settings and trying to do some new things with it. So here are some of the pictures I got to take of Angela over the week end. She did not really have the time to do it but she took the time so I could have practice and have some pictures of her.

Labor Day week end

This is the fire that Kylie built all on her own with grandpa and Ari watching her while she did it. Then of course there were marshmellows to enjoy and s-mores were also on the menu before heading back home and back to school.




One of the week end projects that was very important was to build Amos and Andy (kittens) a house to live in and be warm this coming winter. So the girls and grandpa took on this project. Do you love their boots?? They get alot of use in Pennsylvania.






This is why the girls had on Terry's old t-shirts, painting!!!





Ari and her painting. She loves yellow and Kylie loves pink, so each painted their sides the color they like best.

Peach cobbler was the cake of choice this year with vanilla ice cream. And 7 candles to blow out.

Then there was the party favors that was good for teasing the puppy with. They were also used by Ari to blow air into her ballon. Great fun!!!!

Kylie and Ari love ballons, so we had a cluster of ballons plus ones to blow up and have fun with.

Kylie turned 7 in July but we always have a Pennsylvania birthday party and they had not been here since the week of July 4th, but we will have a party even if it is late.

What a jam packed week end and we had lots of fun! The four day week end that I had went by like a flash of light.

IT HAPPENED!

I came home from work yesterday and found the door locked!! Flicka was on the inside and I could not get in and when I left in the morning I did not lock the door. So I tried two other doors and could not get in. I did not have any keys to get in and I had to go to the bathroom and the dog had not been out for nine hours. The cell phone does not work at home and so what do I do??? I ended up getting into the basement and going upstairs. Flicka is at the door to greet me and then I see all the messes that she made that day. She had broke one of my favorite vases, took things off the dininroom table, got into the cat food, splintered a stick that she had brought in and left the mess all over, was into a waste basket. She must have gotten enough rest from her trip to Ohio and playing with the other dogs and decided it was time for her to get into anything and everything. I just could not believe all the things she had been into and the mess that she created so I had something to do when I got home. I was so upset with her and that broke one of my favorite vases. I hate to clean up glass and this has splintered all over the place. She knew that she was in trouble and to say the least she was outside and played and played and played. She came in tired. I was not sure I wanted to come home after work today to find out what she might have gotten into today but there was not one thing out of place and the door was unlocked like I had left it this morning. I told her that she would be put in a cage if she was not good.

Ohio

Had a wonderful week end in Ohio with our daughter and family. The granddaughters had soccer games on Saturday and we got to go and see them play. It was so good to see them again. We took Flicka with us and she had their two dogs to play with all week end. She is now sacked out on the couch and hopefully she will be that way for a couple of days. They also have a boxer and they got to play alot outside and the only time Flicka took a break was when we went to bed at night. I will add pictures later. Back to work tomorrow.

Flicka has alot of energy stored up from being home alone all day. We get to see alot of action inside and outside. As you can see from these pictures she has saved it up all day and wants to play as soon as we get home.


Sliding past it and has to get turned around.

Oh, what fun to give it a good shaking and if I bite it, it will squeek, and squeek and squeek.

I can get it, I know I can bring it down, just keep my eye on it.

Attack!!!

I'm going to get it!!!

Stop teasing me and just do it, I'm ready!!!

This is how we spend the first part of our evening. It is a good way to unwind from a busy day at work. To have some of her energy would be wonderful. I wonder if she will play in the snow like this??

My dad and his sister looking at some pictures of their childhood days. Dad was so excited to see his pony pulling a cart. There were not a whole lot of pictures taken when they were young.

Flicka does not eat the cat's food but as you can see she is not a welcomed guest either. This is Amos and Andy. Andy is the one hissing and she will not run. Andy is the one eating and he will run but Flicka does not hurt him, just out for a little running.

Just some of the flowers that are blooming this time of year. The bumble bees work on these and I think that there is a bee in the flower.

When we moved here these were already here. They have been moved several times due to some of the outdoor projects that have been done. I think that they might have a home now. I love the smell of these and how they bloom and bloom and bloom.

A Good Day, August 24, 2009

Flicka is full of energy and after being by herself all day, she was ready to play. Terry gave her a tennis ball and she had lots of fun with it.


This is Terry and Flicka letting me take some pictures with my new camera, so I had a little practice session with them. Flicka is more willing than Terry is to have pictures taken. You can see how happy he is with doing this for me.

This is our pretty girl, Flicka, she was Dad's boxer before he moved. She loves Terry and is doing good at making the change from Dad's to our place. She is a smart dog!

Just an update on the twin girls. They were born last night and the little on that is living weighed in at 1#6ozs. Her mother had a c-section and is doing well. They have had to deal with the death of their little girl and one that is so little and has a rough road ahead of her. She will be in the hospital until probably what would have been her due date. Just pray for each one of them as they face the days ahead of them.

It was a really pretty day and it was not hot for a summer day. I had more peace about so many thing today. Dad was doing well and making adjustments, the babies were born and doing as well as could be expected. Just a nice day!!

This is Rambo. Our son's wife, Laura got him. She told me that she always wanted a small dog. Rambo is all male and does some not so nice things on occation. Laura is thinking about finding him another home. We kept Rambo and Harley for them while they were on vacation. I fell in love with the little guy and he is a good lap dog. He might be coming to live with us soon.

This was my first attempt to get a blurred background and I got that. Not sure how good I did but it is a flower and the flower is upside down and it had dried out and was brown and not the green or white color that is before this stage.

I was working in the kitchen and saw this butterfly floating around out in our yard. My first thought is how the girls (granddaughters) would have loved to have chase the thing all over the yard. Second, was grab the new camera and go take pictures. So I did.

A Huge Change!

Today was the day that dad moved into the apartment! He is 88 years old and of course he was not going to pack up his things and move. We decided to meet at dad's at 8 a.m. this morning. My younger sister and her oldest son, my older sister, my husband and our son all got there about the same time. Of course the men with losts of muscles moved all the big items. Us girls were in charge of remembering all the other stuff. We had the truck and two cars loaded and ready for the first trip an hour after we got there. It took us an hour to get it moved in and set up and put away. Back on the road and getting the second load. This time I was by myself and it all set in as to what we doing. It makes me very sad that this is another change and I am getting older. In another couple of months I will turn 60 which I am having a very hard time dealing with and it has been 9 months since mum passed away and here we are moving dad from the house. Don't get me wrong, I think this is a very good thing for dad, he will be around more people and be able to have a social life, do things and yet have his own place that is alot of room for him and yet he does not have to maintain the place, pay taxes on it, mow grass, shovel snow or anything else that home owners have to do. He is much closer to town, can have his car, meals brought to his door if he does not want to cook, paper delivered to his door, mailbox inside and people his own age around him. It is good but it is another change and I am sad. My older sister is staying there with him tonight to make sure he is able to find his stuff, his meds and get him to go in and out of the building to make sure he understands the different systems. After leaving dad and Sis, I went back to the house to make sure it was closed up and locked up. I cried and left. We will be stopping in to see dad each night to make sure he is adjusting well, and make sure he does not need anything. I am sure he will do well.

August 21, Grandma Warp's Birthday

If Grandma Warp were still living today would be her birthday. I don't remember really much about her birthdays except for the date. She was such a sweet lady and always made us girls shorts and tops for the summer. I can remember she always used the same pattern and made us little tops with matching shorts. The summer time was a time that they always gardened. Their garden did not have any weeds in it. They worked in it alot and it was always well manicured. On the outside row facing their driveway grandma always had gladiolas. She had alot of different colors and she would pick me a large bundle of them. When we had our first home that was one of the flowers that I planted. When I see these flowers, grandma always comes to mind and how she gave me these beautiful flowers. They had many other flowers around their property but those always met the most to me. I had never given it much thought before tonight how weedless their gardens alway were, but I remember going to their place and seeing grandpa out in the garden with a hoe and it always was well groomed. Grandpa and Grandma Warp always bring back very fond memories.

Change Once Again!

Yesterday I took dad to look at the apartment that he would not look at the day before. He really liked it and met the only other guy that lives there. There are seven apartments and out of the seven there is one married couple, dad will have one, and the other five have one lady in each one. I am really happy about dad liking the place and him making up his own mind to move. He will have other people there and around him, he will not have to go out in the winter and get his paper or mail. His mailbox is inside the building. They have church service that he will be able to go to and not have to leave the building and drive to. There are different social things that he will be able to take part in. He will be able to buy all of his meals and have them delivered right to his apartment or he can cook if he would like to. He will not have to have his driveway cleaned out when it is snowing, mow grass in the summer, weed wack, or worry about having a roof fixed or a leak or anything else like that. BUT it is one more change and it is just another way of telling me that mum is gone and things have to change once again. There will be no more Christmas at the house, where will their tree go and all the decorations that we had made for them? The tree turns and my granddaughters love to watch it turn. There will be no more Thanksgivings or Easters there. That was the last part of the farm where I was raised that they had left and at some point it will be sold off. This change is alot harder than me turning 60 in a few months. I am not sure what bothers me about it other than things will change again. I still remember what Christmas was like at one of my grandparents home until they were not able to have everyone due to their health. I can remember where they had the Christmas tree and some of the decorations they had on it, I don't remember the gifts that I got but remember it was at their place and how we did things. We just want dad to be happy, safe, and very comfortable where ever he is. Hopefully he will be all of those things and more.

A Day of Not Making Up Your Mind

Today started out as a normal Monday, can't get moving but the time is still moving, don't want to go to work but the other lady is not coming in. When I leave home it is very foggy and warm already. I am not one to love 80 degree weather, with lots of humidity. Things are going along pretty good until I get an e-mail from my sister. An opening for an apartment for my dad at a nearby nursing home. It is a nice size apartment and it is only one to two years old. They have a common area with tv, fireplace, kitchen and diningroom. They can go out of their apartments and visit with other folks there, watch the birds, read, or play board games. There are activities that they can get involved in, bus rides to places and so on. Talking with dad he felt that it was just to much for him and his dog would not be able to move with him. Terry and I was over to dad's yesterday and his dog just loves Terry and she likes me just fine. We told him that if anything were to happen to him that we would take her and she would be spoiled here just like she is spoiled with him and maybe even more. He would really miss her and not having her with him and I understand that. When mum was living he could not have a dog because it could have tripped her and she had already fallen and broke her hip. The three of us girls had made an appointment to look at the apartment and ask questions. We wanted him to go also but he was not going to go because he was not going to move but we could go and look at it. Well, if he had his mind made up not to move, just why would we all run to see something that he was not interested in. So, we canceled the appointment and headed home. Shortly after getting home, I get a call from dad wanting to know where Sis is because he has changed his mind and is thinking about moving. I'm thinking there is no way she has not contacted the people on the list and it is probably not there already. Dad thinks that it would take along time for someone to snatch it up but there is a long waiting list and it will not last long. Sis will contact the lady first thing in the morning and if it is not gone I will be leaving work to take him to look at it. Alls I can say is "if God wants Dad there, then it will still be waiting on him". Tomorrow will tell. One things is for sure, you can not have Dad make a fast decision, he has to have time to think about this.

One never knows what can take place in one days time.

PEOPLE HURTING

Last evening Sis and I went to the funeral home. A 37 year old girl had been killed. We had grown up with the mother of the girl and the mothers siblings. How sad the mother and father were. They loved their daughter and she was the mom's best friend. She told us that as we went through the line and I thought about my own daughter and the many women that I know who think the same way. We love our daughters and they are our best friends and she lost hers. She looked so tired out and I thought how many sleepless nights she has had since this happened. The hours of standing there and greeting hundreds of people that came to tell them how sorry they were for their loss. I have thought about this family all day and have been praying that God would give them peace and comfort today as they faced the funeral and their final good bye to their daughter. My heart just breaks for them.

Our daughter has a friend who just has lost one of her twin girls that she was caring. She has been going through so much with caring these girls and now one of them has passed away. How do you face all of that. The sadness and the joy of your little girls.

Another family we know their little boy has had an accident that a lawn mower ran over his little leg. He has had so many surgeries and been in so much pain. The mother is caring another child and is spending all of her time in the hospital with the little boy. So far the baby is well.

A friend of the family has just lost his boss to a car accident. The trumoil at the work place of the boss suddenly gone. It makes one stop to realize that life is so fragile, can be here one minute and can be gone in the next. All of these situations there are so many people hurting and needing to have comfort and peace. I just pray that God will grant them His peace and comfort in each situation. I remember how I felt when mum passed away and how much comfort there was when people prayed for us. The peace that was granted to us that she was in Heaven and yes how we missed her and still do but she is with Jesus. There are so many small things that happen to remind me how much I miss mum. She hurt so much and was ready to go home that I would not want her back to be suffering just because I or anyone else missed her, but I miss her so very much. We were at the family reunion Saturday evening and just a year ago she was there and this year she was not.

SUNDAY AT ITS' BEST!!

Just could not get going this morning even with coffee in me. Terry told me it was past time that we left for church so I really had to step it up and get to the car. The weather is cloud, in the 80s, and very humid today. That in it self is not any motivation to get moving. We got to church and with alot of the teens at a week end retreat, we ended up with three guys for class. One of them said how hungry he was. Terry and I looked at each other and just laughed. Last night I ask him if we could go out to breakfast with the teens that showed up today. That was our sign telling us we should take them to breakfast. There is a place about five miles from the church that was open, so we headed there. They were not busy and were waited on very quickly. We paid for all the meals and they were very grateful. It is so much fun to listen to teens talk about all the different subjects that can come up. In that hour of time we talked about school, books that they have to read, girls, parents, what they have to do at their jobs, getting up in the morning, staying up late, parents, how we would cover out SS lesson.

Last night and the reunion. I now have pictures of dad and Aunt Mable together. They had a good time looking over pictures that she had and talking about pictures from her birthday party. There was so much food and so many desserts. Can you imagine the most of those attending were of the age of 50 to 90? A couple of families under the age of 35 were there but it was mainly the older ones. I got some good pictures of cousins and spouses. We had some really good laughs with our cousins and caught up on health problems that some are having. I will post some pictures when I can figure out how to do that trick.

Here is a true story! New camera and when I wanted to view the pictures that I had taken I had a problem with four showing up in the viewer at once. Not able to figure out how to get it back to one picture at a time to look at, I handed it to Terry and ask him to reset it. Do not hand your husband a new camera and walk away while he pokes buttons. He came and told me that he was pretty sure he deleted all of my pictures that were on the stick. I said you did not??? But it was a yes he did!!! Thankfully I had downloaded my pictures that morning to my computer. The ones he deleted were ones that I had just taken of dad and some of my younger sister. Nothing that is the end of the world but there is a lesson to learn there.

Have a good afternoon. I think a Sunday nap is in order now.

Today is Saturday and I got to sleep in! It has been sprinkling off and on all day. The day would have been a really nice day for a book and napping, but being Saturday it means to catch up around here. Plus, we have a family gathering tonight at 6. Have to fix food and that is always such a big deal to me because I never know what to fix. After thinking about what to take all week I decided to make homemade macaroni and cheese. Last night I got some really good cheese for it. When I went to start the white sauce low and behold there was not any butter. This being Saturday I hate to get dressed before I really have to so I ask my husband if he would run to the store and get some. Let me tell you that was not high on his list of things he would like to do. But being the good husband that he is, he did go to the store for me. Really, going to reunions is not my cup of tea but is the only one that I have to go to this summer. Besides I want to take my camera and get pictures of my dad and his sister together. Aunt Mable turned 90 a couple of weeks ago and my dad is 88. There were three girls and three boys in their family and they are the only two left. They are the youngest. Their mother lived to be 94 or 96. I am not a great socializer at these things so I try to put in a respectable amount of time and then head home. I like it when our kids spouses are at things because none of the three of us like the big family social gatherings and we are ready to bolt when at all possible. Dad thought that he should take a pie with him tonight and of course it is out of a box and needed baked. Ihad him come over for a haircut and told him to bring the pie and I would bake it for him. He thought that I should bake it at the last minute so he could eat it warm. The macaroni and cheese need to be hot and the pie is getting done now. I will gladly heat up a piece of pie for him there if he decided that is what he would like for dessert. Must close for now and get my white sauce done. Have a good evening!!!

August 6, 2009

This will be my first posting. Our daughter has wanted me to start a blog for a long time and this evening I decided to atleast look into setting one up. I am never sure about what these things will look like and if I have done it correctly. Time will tell!