Beneath the Wraps

             I don’t know how many times there have been dogs that have wandered into our yard.   Somebody’s pets at that.   Some have had collars.   Two had even come with names.   Only one had come with a phone number.   Weird thing was it was for the animal shelter in Roseburg.   I personally would not be thrilled to have to drive up all the way to Roseburg to fetch Bonnie for instance knowing that she had been found in my neighborhood in Myrtle Creek.   But we do have tags attached to Bonnie’s collar.   One of them has her name and a phone number that will contact her owner. Duke did not even have a collar on him when he showed up in our yard.            Whenever lost pets wander into our yard we will try to keep them there and pray for the owner to come find it before Richard calls animal control – which is always his solution.   But Jaime and I said to give the owners a ch...

            Today a sister had asked why we call each other Sister so-and-so and not address first names.  I understood her question.  There are some sisters who have such beautiful names that are often lost in the shuffle when they are addressed by their last name. I do think that you get used to addressing a person one way and may have a hard time making your mind remember to call them something else.  (For instance for years you may have been calling the neighbor lady Mrs. Loren twenty years later you are expected to call her Amanda.  Huh?) According to  this site , the title “Brother” or “Sister” is a sign of respect which I understand but I do not think of calling a person by first name is a sign of disrespect.  It is more intimate and familiar.  I like hearing people called by their first names.  But I do get the respect of the title just as addressin...

   Every Summer my mind seems to be displaced from my body.   I am so sleepy ALL OF THE TIME.   It’s not healthy.   Every Winter my mind always believes it is later than it is because the sun sets BEFORE 4:00 p.m.   What’s up with that?   Temperatures change and send me into a coma in the summer and a stupor in winter.   But changing the clock from one time to another does not help with my sleeping habits either.   I have NEVER had good sleeping habits.   I have allergies all year round.   Spring has always been the worst though I have experienced a runny nose, itchy eyes and sinus problems in summer and winter as well.   Can’t we just keep the temperatures of fall for the entire year?   None of the weather record highs or record lows.   No snow, no fire, no comas. Please keep the   sunrise and sunset at reasonable hours and so forth. ...

            In addition to making cards Richard has taken up another hobby: repairing watches.   He buys broken watches at yard sales, estate sales and second hand stores.   Often they just need a new battery but sometimes they require a backing or strap.   He fixes them up to running and donates them to a homeless shelter.          On Thursday the shelter handed him two large bags of broken watches.   Jai and I have joined his cause and made the watches a family project.   We have sorted the watches into piles of “ probably just needs a new battery ” to “ no straps ” “ straps only ” “ backings ” “ without backings ” and so forth.   I have decided to wear a new watch each day – just to make certain that it is working.   Problem is I find that I haven ’ t looked at it often enough.          I had set a green watch aside as one I might ...

            Just over a year ago a couple moved into the house next door.  I remember family members working on the roof and house trimming and paint.  They spruced it up nicely.  We were really excited to have them move in.  I remember them watering their lawn on a daily basis.  I thought they had money as they could afford to do that.          Ally played with a girl that Jai and I had been introduced to just over a year ago.   I was under the impression that Jeremy was the father of the three children but that they all lived with their mom.   However when Biff and Clair moved in it appeared that Holly was living with Jeremy and Amanda.   Amanda also had another child.   They also had two huge dogs which reminded me of wolves.          The dogs would bark up a storm every time they were let into the back yard.   Jeremy and ...

                 Richard had decided to buy me a 12 X 12 scrapbook with extra pages as I had enjoyed scrapbooking. This purchase was made at the time when we still lived in West Valley.  8 ½ by 11 always seemed more practical for me though I had made up four or five 12 X 12 scrapbook albums when I was single.  After I had married I had made a couple of pathetic attempts of scrapbooking in order to preserve the memories of my new instant family – but I had given that up after Jaime was born.  I didn ’ t have the room I needed.           Before we had even moved to West Valley Richard had given me a CD set to download to the computer. The program allowed me create scrapbook pages on the computer. No longer would I have to spread out photos and lay them out for placement and seek for stickers or die cuts to go with whatever themes.   I could see benefits for both. The pages I print from the computer...

             I scanned several photos with the intent of mailing them all to Ryan’s family.   I thought his kids might enjoy looking at them.   There are quite a number of photos and postage will be costly – unless I send just a couple of them at a time.   Thus I started with four random photos and a message to his family to keep an eye on his ever changing hair (or lack thereof) for Ryan has had a head full of hair similar looking to Sideshow Bob (from the Simpsons) and has also been completely bald.   He has gone through a blond stage.   Dreadlocks.             We had an unused scrapbook in our yard sale.   It was not purchased and I have recently decided that I will place some photos within and send it out when it is full.   I will start with Ryan’s 14 th birthday.           Richard and I had been married just over a...