Tuesday, March 29, 2016
I've Only Seen This Twice
For the most part, I find commercials to be confusing and/or annoying. This one truly does bring a smile to my face:
Monday, March 28, 2016
Puzzle Pieces
My neighbor lost her husband a few
months before we had moved in. He
enjoyed putting jigsaw puzzles together,
and had left the earth with a garage-full of 1,000 piece puzzles. Recently she has gone through his puzzles to
donate to senior centers and individuals and has asked Jenna and I if we would
like to take some for ourselves.
The first puzzle that we did worked up
rather quickly. Along with Roland, we
worked on the puzzle for three days before it was finished. Jenna asked if we
could glue it together and hang it in her room.
And so we did.
Not all of the puzzles have worked up
for us as quickly. Thus far, it is the
only puzzle we have glued. One we didn't even finish. A couple were missing pieces. A few were missing pieces before Jenna and I
had taken them. Some pieces fell to the
floor as we worked on them. I think some
may have been swept or vacuumed up.
I think often there have been puzzle
pieces missing from our own lives.
Sometimes we just can't seem to find where the piece goes. Sometimes they are swept up around us and we just
can't find where they have gone.
Sometimes we become so obsessed with finding a certain piece that often
we may overlook others. May we assist
others in finding their pieces so that we in turn may find our own.
This
weather is definitely puzzling
Jenna asked if Roland and I would fill
some plastic eggs and hide them in the backyard for her. But the backyard was wet still. This entire week we have seen sunshine only
about six hours - but not in a row.
Thursday after 3:00 and Friday after 4:00.
We hid the eggs in the front room and
kitchen. I hid them the way my parents
had hid them - in plain sight. Only the
eggs they hid were the hard cooked eggs we had dyed the day before. I don't recall ever having dyed eggs with
Jenna myself. She has always spent that
activity with others - except for this year.
I grew up on the messy drop
solution. Today my sister uses shaving
cream and food coloring for her kids - which evidently is an activity they all
enjoy.
Last
year we tried this activity with Jenna.
It appears that rain and snow continue
in Salt Lake City. The weather appears
to have pleasant on Saturday. Not here
though. Easter was wet for the most
part. When the sun finally did come
out, the wind was blowing enough to make
it feel really cold out.
Miss being with my granddaughters
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Thoughts for Easter
Jenna
asked if Roland and I would fill some plastic eggs and hide them in the
backyard for her. I look at her height
and think she is too old for this. But
then I think: We did this for the boys at
the time Ooki lived with our
family. Although I included scriptural
references and thoughts to give meaning to the activity as Easter is not about
eggs or bunnies but new life in His Resurrection.
To keep with the true meaning of
Easter, I leave you these thoughts:
Saturday, March 26, 2016
The Sun is Taking Its Spring Break
Mother nature has interpreted "spring break" to be a week without
sunshine - a break for the sun.
Ever since we moved here, I notice that
the rain in Oregon is quite different from the rain in Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake rain is soaking wet. You're drenched the second it hits you. Oregon rain is moist - like having a
humidifier running outdoors. Often I
don't even know it is raining by touch or by sight. I can hear the rain dropping into pipes or
puddles.
My sister posted pictures of the snow
that Mother Nature sent them starting their spring. Right below her pics, a commenter had left another photo of her tree in blossom against green grass which she had taken the day before.
I don't think the
schools in Salt Lake go on Spring Break until next week. Jenna's birthday is coming up, and the
schools were always out whenever she had her birthday.
We could never plan for what kind of
weather we'd be having on her birthday.
Her friend's birthday falls six days after Jenna. Lindsey's parties could be planned according
to the wither on Jenna's birthday.
Seriously. Whatever the weather
on Jenna's birthday, Lindsey's was
exactly the opposite. Jenna's birthdays
were usually cold and dreary. Lindsey's
mom would invite half the neighborhood over for an outdoor barbeque. Sometimes it was actually quite hot outside.
There were at least two birthday
parties we had planned for Jenna indoors that came with great outdoor
weather - although one had been postponed to almost the end of April. On those years, Lindsey's
birthday party was held indoors due to the pouring rains. As we will be holding Jenna's birthday in
another state this year, and neither she nor Lindsey will be attending the
other's party, I wonder if Lindsey's mom will remember to take the weather into
account. I'll have to send a reminder.
Friday, March 25, 2016
Drop Kick That Blonde Spider
Recently I had a dream that I was
cleaning around the house when I noticed a plastic bag with a collage of items
inside. I was startled to see a rather
large spider crawling toward the top. Of
course I freaked. This was not any
ordinary spider - it was one that would be displayed at a zoo or museum because
of its enormous size - 2-3 times larger than the tarantula. And dirty blonde. It was creepy.
I thought by sealing up the plastic bag,
I would have better control over the fate of the spider, but it managed to
escape - which of course made it more scary.
Though it appeared to be larger than many rodents, it moved quickly and
I didn't always know where the spider was.
The spider I dreamed was more blonde (not as much brown) but the size is about the same. Too many pictures to wade through. I still have chills. |
It's not something I could scoop into a
glass and set free. I knew in order to kill that thing, I would have throw a
dictionary on top and proceed to stomp on the dictionary and still would be too
scared to lift the dictionary back up for fear the spider would still be alive.
If I left the dictionary in place I would not be able to sleep - wondering how
long it would be before the spider found the strength to move the dictionary
and wander off.
It seemed I was experiencing this
spider-turmoil all night long. There was
a point I questioned as to whether I had dreamed it or if it was real. Of course it was a dream - and it probably
wasn't even that lengthy of a dream. I
wondered if maybe it wasn't/isn't symbolic of the relationship I am currently
experiencing with my eldest daughter-in-law (Biff's wife) who has managed to
turn herself into Roland's ex shortly after giving birth to my currently
youngest granddaughter.
The blonde spider may be symbolic of the
turmoil that I had felt at the time I had the dream (back in December) or
stirred up anger I have toward bullying and irrational behavior. I want that blonde spider out of my life.
As I copied to post, I read this thought from the blogs that I read. Thank you, Debbie Crews.
What about Pamprin?
It’s not that I favor Francis
over Pamprin or that I feel that I know her better. Truth is, I
probably have more memories (both positive and negative) of Pamprin than I do
of Frances. It’s just that as Frances and Jenna share so many physical
features and personality traits as mentioned here:
Jenna
does not share the same laugh, which I'm grateful for. Frances had an obnoxious laugh. It came out as a really loud cackle. I don't remember Pamprin ever laughing
although she did smile a lot. Randy,
Pamprin and Jenna (each the youngest of their birth moms) all have dimples on
their faces. Biff, Frances and Jenna
(each the eldest of their birth moms)
all have brown eyes
Our visitations were supposed
to be every other week with both girls. I don’t recall them staying overnight
more than just once a month – maybe ten times out of the year? Their
mom was crazy in the head and had come to the point of actually believing her
lies.
Before the courts granted
overnight visits, there had been the first few visitations when I thought
Frances was the one who acted like a brat - doing whatever she felt like doing
and never minding us.
We had taken the girls to a park where Ooki was meeting with other foreign exchange students for a Halloween themed event. Frances joined in with all of their activities - including taking pictures with the students who were well over ten years older than her. She didn't care. Perhaps it was just the age.
We had taken the girls to a park where Ooki was meeting with other foreign exchange students for a Halloween themed event. Frances joined in with all of their activities - including taking pictures with the students who were well over ten years older than her. She didn't care. Perhaps it was just the age.
Pamprin was a spoiled brat that often got her
way – especially whereas her mother was concerned. She would milk any given
situation if she knew it would earn her attention as mentioned in this post
I had dropped off five of my children to a summer event. Jenna wasn’t even walking at the time,
and I didn’t wish to supervise the girls at the activity while trying to watch
Jenna in a crowded area. Pamprin evidently twisted her
ankle while attempting to ice skate.
I was called to
pick her up and I remember her brothers pushing her out in a wheel chair. She
had a devilish smile on her face which reminded me of a spoiled rich girl who
gets satisfaction in bringing others down – though Pamprin didn’t
really intentionally put down others, she had the desire that everyone pay attention to her at all times
Then came a time when Frances
would visit by herself. Pamprin
didn’t want to come and so her mom would make excuses. Frances wanted to spend
time with her brother, Tony (the only one of the three boys allowed to be
present for a long while - another sore subject which I won't go into) and getting to hold her sister.
I
was okay with Frances coming by herself.
It was less confrontation with just her than when her brattiness (sister) painted pictures for
her mother that simply weren't true.
Truthfully, there isn't much I remember about our visits with Frances
only.
Then
came the time that Frances no longer wished to visit. Fortunately it seemed that their mom could only brain-wash one of them at a time. Perhaps Frances was physically sick – but I
think most of it was psychological. She
said she had fibromyalgia – whether she really did or not, I don’t know. Every time we saw the girls they
always had something. Often
there were allergies that changed with each visitation. Granted, both girls were on meds –
generally from different doctors. I remember a time when Frances was taking a pill to put her to sleep and another one to wake her up.
It
wasn’t long before Pamprin became the responsible one – the most mature of the
three of them. She was only eleven. Frances
holed up at her mother's house for a year claiming she was home schooled. I don’t know who supposedly home schooled
her. I am very certain that
it wasn’t her mom.
Pamprin actually enjoyed her
visits with us. I was under
the impression that she didn’t want to leave.
She was very cute with Jenna,
pretending to search for her while playing hide-n-seek. She would loudly ask, “Is she in the
washing machine?” as she lifted the lid.
Jenna
would be laughing so hard that it was quite obvious where she was standing, but
Pamprin would play the game.
I
have memories of the two of them coloring and applying make-up to one
another. Pamprin was with
us one Easter and we took her and Jenna to an Easter egg hunt and a Dr. Seuss
birthday party. Pamprin had learned to
make animal balloons and utilized her talents to make balloon animals for
several of the patrons at the Dr. Seuss event.
Both
girls read to Jenna and fed her, but Pamprin and Tony were the only two of the
five sibs who would change her diaper.
Pamprin
enjoyed singing, and perhaps Jenna picked that up from her. I enjoyed her visits more when Frances
had stopped coming.
Frances
was the only sib who didn’t help with putting Jenna’s fort together. Whenever we did see her, she wasn't at all
active. She always seemed in a slump
that she didn't appear to even overcome.
She reminded me of Eyore from this post
I have managed to find Pamprin on facebook. I haven't requested a friendship with her, but do occasionally look at her wall and wonder how she and Frances are doing. I don't know if we will ever reconnect.
I have managed to find Pamprin on facebook. I haven't requested a friendship with her, but do occasionally look at her wall and wonder how she and Frances are doing. I don't know if we will ever reconnect.
Thursday, March 24, 2016
By Appointment Only
Recently I was contacted by the
American Red Cross to donate blood.
Roland gets contacted every two months - like the American Cross has
preprogrammed for automatic dial. With
me, it really is a matter of desperation.
Roland's blood type is in the rare percentage that can be used on
babies. I don't know who may have ended
up with my blood. Somebody who needed it
- but not in major quantity.
The last time Roland had been
contacted, he learned that there would be a blood drive at the local high
school. He told me about it and had actually
made appointments for both of us. Or at least that was my understanding.
So when I was contacted, I told the
caller that I already had an appointment.
Two days later I was told there would no longer be a drive at the high
school, but that I could donate in Canyonville that day or at the Elk's Lodge
her in Myrtle Creek today. Thursday is
Roland's late day, and so I did not think that would work for him, but he
thought he would be able to do it during his lunch hour. Say what?
As I recall, it was a dreary day when I
received the call and I didn't particularly want to drive to Canyonville in
that kind of weather. So I set up the appointments
for today. I just couldn't remember what
time.
Thus I drove there this morning and was
told that my name had not been added to the list and that the list was full and
they would not be receiving walk-ins.
Too bad. Somebody didn't
communicate very well. Meanwhile they
lost two others that had come as walk-ins and lost two unable to keep
appointments.
Four chair/beds were set up for donators.
I think the same amount of booths for screening. Unfortunately for all of us, this particular
chapter seemed to be quite understaffed - even for those that did have appointments. Too bad.
The two men that were there looked capable of finding my veins right
away (which seems to be a challenge to almost everybody who has poked me)
I guess we'll have to try again later. I
know that blood is needed. Apparently
even blood like mine.
Breakfast For Dinner
Missionaries appreciate not only meeting
the members, but having someone cook dinner for them - or at least I did. Depending on the area, I suppose there are some meals that can get
tiresome for missionaries. Spaghetti
seems to be a huge staple. Missionaries
seem to get their fill of pizza in the ward I currently reside. In my mission, the meal that was overdone
always included fried chicken and some unidentified vegetable that had been
boiled beyond recognition.
Serving chicken was so overdone that
before my mission ended, I was certain
that I wouldn't care if I ever ate chicken again. And I think it was seriously
a couple of years before I willingly ate it again.
Roland always likes to do something
different for the missionaries - something original that they (the
missionaries) don't get very often.
We've had Hawaiian haystacks (we've actually had other members tell us
how much the missionaries raved over that one), steak, meatloaf and one Jenna's
favorites: breakfast.
Although we weren't signed up to feed
the missionaries until last night, Roland thought we should time ourselves the
night prior just to see how long it took to make it all. We had blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage,
bacon, hasbrowns, assorted muffins and juice. Elder Campbell gave us the thumbs up. The meal was quite a success. Jenna missed having French toast, but really
. . . that was a lot of food.
We used paper plates and cups but not disposable pans or serving dishes. The sink was quite full like would be on Thanksgiving. I haven't yet finished the dishes.
We used paper plates and cups but not disposable pans or serving dishes. The sink was quite full like would be on Thanksgiving. I haven't yet finished the dishes.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
A Month For Celebration
On the first week of March, many
public libraries sponsor children's programs and have birthday parties in honor
of Dr. Seuss. My eldest granddaughter
celebrates her birthday the date after Dr. Seuss celebrates his.
Stakes and wards from around the
world will celebrate the anniversary of the Relief Society organization. Some have birthday parties complete with food
and programs, others offer workshops and uplifting instruction.
St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in
honor St. Patrick, as a holy day of obligation,
and a celebration of Ireland itself.
Easter jumps around landing in either March or April. This year it will be the last
Sunday in March.
Both of my brothers were born in
March. We would celebrate their
birthdays each month - often individually, but sometimes together. I remember one year we met at Patrick's house
when Corey happened to be in town performing.
Roland's daughters happened to be visiting that weekend, and we took
them with us.
Before the party started, I
mentioned that Frances also had a birthday coming up. Both of my brothers were happy to hear of it,
and attempted to take the attention of themselves and give it to Frances. That's actually all that I remember.
This year Ellen gave birth to her
oldest. He shares his birthday with my
brother (his grandfather)
Yesterday was my cousin, Michelle's
birthday.
Today Frances turns 22. Happy Birthday wherever you are.
according to Frances' mom, [Frances] is the one who painted this in May of 2009 |
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Mending the Broken
Yesterday morning was overly
dark. It was cold and raining. It mirrored the emotions of my heart
I had heard a quote from a TV show
that got me thinking. The quote was
something to the affect of, "sometimes things get broken and sometimes
broken things just can't be fixed"
There is a number of
tangible items that have had to be discarded as they have either gone beyond
repair or just don't seem worth the effort.
How blessed we are that we are God's children and are worth the effort
of not being broken - though for many of us some trials have made us question
our worth.
Earlier in December, my eldest
daughter-in-law chose to not only defriend me on facebook, but block her
account as well. Less than two weeks
later, she sent a friend request along with a mountain of apologies and
excuses. She said that her new meds were
to blame and made the promise that she'd never again unfriend me.
I did believe in her apology for her
flippant behavior. But even before she
and Biff wed, she seemed to have a personality that could turn from hot to cold
within the manner of seconds. I'll
admit, I do not know her very well, but
I do see her as having unstable behavior.
At least she is seeing a therapist or psychiatrist of some kind - unlike
Roland's ex who refused to go back to anyone who may offer any criticism or not
agree with her every word. At least she
is trying - or so I'm told.
I accepted her friendship request
knowing full well that I may be blocked again sometime in the future. The future has arrived. Not only has she blocked herself, but managed
to block Biff as well. How
dare she.
Thus far there hasn't been a response
to the texts or voicemails that I left for Biff. If she managed to take his phone away, I
don't know how to communicate with him - unless he lets us know how we can make
contact with him.
Before she removed us from her
account, Biff called to explain about
his latest - but unfortunately familiar predicament. We have two granddaughters who were born in
August. They share a month, and Jeanie
can't stand that her daughter has the same birth month as her cousin. They are two weeks apart and her claim is that everybody in the family
loves Devin more than her Ali. According
to her, nobody in Biff's entire family has showed support (which is so not true
- or it's been because of Jeanie's incredible mood swings and nothing to do
with Ali herself. Talk about stepping on
egg shells - egg shells with rattle snakes in them!)
I don't know how many times I've been
down this road of emotional turmoil and flippant behavior. I was so hurt and distraught in
December. But this time, in addition to
the hurt and heartache, there is
anger. I have been down this road with
Roland dealing with his deranged ex. I
had another unstable friend who displayed childish behavior with her
defriending and blocking and changing her mind again until finally I said,
"You know what? I've had
enough!"
Jeanie's behavior is so identical to
Roland's ex and to Hitler and Satan. We
don't know our own granddaughter and probably never will just as Roland and I
don't know Francis or Pamprin. Their mom has used them as leverage to manipulate
and control others. Jeanie is doing the
exact same thing with Ali. Alienating Biff
from the family (or at least trying to) and Ali from Biff.
Both women are cookie cutter molds out
of the Grimm's fairytales where there is no hero - only a large fire breathing
dragon who has that time of the month all month long - except for that occasional
few minutes of remorse. But it doesn't
last. Sybil goes away and another
personality takes over.
Through God's mercy today's trials can
become tomorrow's testimony - should I allow for that. Right now this part of me feels broken - a
part that cannot/will not be fixed. Not
in this lifetime anyway. I hope I'm
wrong. I hope I live to see Roland's
girls and my granddaughter Ali and I hope that their moms' issues may be
resolved. But as of now, I need to put
all these negative emotions behind me and allow my focus to be elsewhere. I would like this heavy weight lifted while
I'm still on earth and of sound mind. My
time isn't God's time. In my mind, it's
already been too long.
If we still lived in Salt Lake, I
predict our situation would be worse than just facebook. I know I would see Devin at least twice a
week - more often than Ester and Ali put together. Not because I'd choose it that way, but
because I am actually a priority for Carrie and Randy and have been with all
three of my boys. But I'm not a priority
for my other two daughters-in-law - or at least that is how I feel. Jeanie has had interfering health and Rochelle seems to be afraid of forming bonds or just prefers spending time with her family and childhood ward members.
The healing between Jeanie and I is going to be long and slow if at all.
The healing between Jeanie and I is going to be long and slow if at all.
Sunday, March 20, 2016
The Highway to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions
There are some months when I seem to be
full of ideas and others when my mind is a blank - or I'm just not
motivated. My blog posts become feast or
famine (at least in my mind) but unfortunately some of my ideas don't get
written out - or they just don't seem so important once I see them on
screen. Or else I just haven't come up
with the right words STILL
I often experience times of
frustration - like when I hit a key that somehow changes the placement - and I
feel helpless at not being able to change it back. On January 21, I posted an
entry called "Judge not " I don't know what buttons I pushed to bring
it to March 13 - but there you have it . . . again. And yet, maybe somebody needed that post to land
at the top because perhaps there is some hidden message that might speak to
them that maybe they wouldn't have waded through otherwise. I'm rationalizing . . .
We came out to Oregon on spring break last year. I thought we would take this year's spring break to return to Utah for a visit. But our finances upset that plan.
We should be in Utah right now. The plan was to leave Oregon yesterday and arrive in Utah today. Roland never did ask for the time off. On the bright side, we won't be spending Easter traveling in the car (we wouldn't have been able to spend it in Utah)
I had chosen March 19 to March 28 as Jenna is off from school. Instead of spending time with family members, Jenna and I will be packing boxes in hopes that we will seriously be closing on our house this week (or maybe right after she returns to school) Roland wants to be ready to go the day that we close. I think we can take our time, however. We have yet to give our thirty day notice to those that we rent from.
Not looking forward to moving again. But I am looking forward to taking a bath (the house we are in does not have a tub) and a few other perks that we may have. Mostly hoping that we can see a lower cost in living. Then perhaps we can save up some money and return to Utah for a visit.
We came out to Oregon on spring break last year. I thought we would take this year's spring break to return to Utah for a visit. But our finances upset that plan.
We should be in Utah right now. The plan was to leave Oregon yesterday and arrive in Utah today. Roland never did ask for the time off. On the bright side, we won't be spending Easter traveling in the car (we wouldn't have been able to spend it in Utah)
I had chosen March 19 to March 28 as Jenna is off from school. Instead of spending time with family members, Jenna and I will be packing boxes in hopes that we will seriously be closing on our house this week (or maybe right after she returns to school) Roland wants to be ready to go the day that we close. I think we can take our time, however. We have yet to give our thirty day notice to those that we rent from.
Not looking forward to moving again. But I am looking forward to taking a bath (the house we are in does not have a tub) and a few other perks that we may have. Mostly hoping that we can see a lower cost in living. Then perhaps we can save up some money and return to Utah for a visit.
Saturday, March 19, 2016
The Food is Spectacular - Better than its Unnecessary Punctuation
We haven't been here for even a year, and have already
seen drastic makeovers. Dairy Queen/Tommy's from this post
Another restaurant change has been the recent transformation
of Patty Ann's.
Sadly this restaurant
closed just shortly before or after we arrived.
Patty Ann's was a landmark in my mind. We would stop and take pictures with the boat
or building or picnic benches.
At the beginning of the year the signs came down. The benches disappeared. New signs went up. Mid Town Grill.
notice the apostrophe in TACO'S |
Yesterday Rolland decided he wanted to leave the house to
take his lunch. So we went to Mid Town
Grill which recently opened. I don't
know how it compares with Patty Ann's as I'd never eaten Patty Ann's food
before. The Mid Town Grill food was
delicious. I can't imagine that Patty Ann's tasted better, really. Though I had heard that the food there was good and the prices looked reasonable from my point of view.
They advertise a four time winning clam chowder. They are not kidding. It is definitely the best clam chowder that
I've ever had. All of their food was
good. I had ordered Baja tacos and
Roland ordered the fish and chips. I
traded one of my tacos for one of his breaded fish. Everything was so yummy.
So if you're ever in Myrtle Creek, you will no longer be
able to see the boat from Old Pacific (or Highway 99) but you will see the sign from above
If you want home cooked food, I promise that your pallet
will be pleased.
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