Happy Days are Here Again....Jason is home. At least I guess he is, because there have been no phone calls to the contrary. And the sun started shining about 5 o'clock last night. It is nice to have Jason home safely from South Korea and it is nice to know he and Becky will be a lot closer and can see each other. That is a blessing I am grateful for.
Funny, we depend on others so much for our happiness. We should be able to be happy with ourselves, but maybe that is not how we are made.
Some of us need DOGS and some need people and some need work and some need medication. All we really need is God but we too often forget abut Him.
I know he wants us to have someone to be with and I am glad He has chosen Jason to be with Becky and Becky to be with Jason.
Looking forward to lots of happy days.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Cool Air
Cool Air, what a blessing. I do so take it for granted and when it is gone, I am a mess. Reading past blogs about the hot summers when I grew up helped me know that I am spoiled and should be more grateful for the blessings I have. When the a.c. went out Sat, I knew I could work all day in the cool at the shop and the night wouldn't be too bad. But I dreaded it. After a light supper, I hopped into the cold shower and cooled off, then did what my Gran used to do. I put on my pj's (wished I still wore a gown because it is cooler) without drying off and laid down on my nice clean sheets under a fan with all the lights off. (I had a ceiling fan which helped a lot and she only had a small floor fan that did not run all night. )
Well, long story short, if you don't move around much and start off cool, it isn't too bad. But I would have been up the creek if I hadn't had my ceiling fan.
Needless to say, I was glad when they arrived tuesday and repaired it. Now it is cool and things are back to normal.
Ghost has a favorite spot where the air from a ceiling vent flows gently down on him and when it gets too hot for him, he lays down in the dining room under that vent. Poor dog. Hot as he was, he kept going to that spot and laying down. He did begin to look perplexed when after an hour or so he was still suffering the heat. By tuesday morning he was convinced that my bed was the coolest spot in the house. Now he is again confused by the fact that when he walks by his old favorite spot it appears to be cool. I guess he'll get it in a day or two.
Anyway, that week was the coolest week of the summer, so I guess I was lucky.
Well, long story short, if you don't move around much and start off cool, it isn't too bad. But I would have been up the creek if I hadn't had my ceiling fan.
Needless to say, I was glad when they arrived tuesday and repaired it. Now it is cool and things are back to normal.
Ghost has a favorite spot where the air from a ceiling vent flows gently down on him and when it gets too hot for him, he lays down in the dining room under that vent. Poor dog. Hot as he was, he kept going to that spot and laying down. He did begin to look perplexed when after an hour or so he was still suffering the heat. By tuesday morning he was convinced that my bed was the coolest spot in the house. Now he is again confused by the fact that when he walks by his old favorite spot it appears to be cool. I guess he'll get it in a day or two.
Anyway, that week was the coolest week of the summer, so I guess I was lucky.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Almost There
Well, Old Tom Watson almost made the miracle happen. He lost the British Open in a four hole play off. That was sad. He played so well, and was such a great sport..he obviously really wanted to win when he found himself leading and so close to winning. Now why do I feel bad and sad for him. He just finished second in a major tournament at the age of 59, when most people are finished with competitive sports. Second, that is great..how many men would love to be second in the British Open!!!
But gracious in defeat, that is what I saw in him yesterday. Gracious, but not happy with himself.
If we do the best we can, that is all we can ask. That and being gracious no matter what the outcome.
But gracious in defeat, that is what I saw in him yesterday. Gracious, but not happy with himself.
If we do the best we can, that is all we can ask. That and being gracious no matter what the outcome.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
1977 Duel In The Sun
It was called The Duel In The Sun.
Seems impossible that it was 32 years ago that we had the unique opportunity to see the British Open Golf Tournament at Turnberry, Scotland. It is being played on that same course this year. Bill woke me this morning with the news the Tom Watson is leading the opening round..early on. When we lived in Scotland we decided to take a trip to see the Open and Bill had a friend and co-worker visiting the office that we knew would love going. So we piled into Bill's Halliburton car and Bill, Amy, Gerald and I set off to see the tournament on the other side of the island.
As we traveled un-familiar roads, we kept seeing yellow signs ,with a mark on them, appear as we neared curves and it seemed that the more marks there were, the sharper the curve. Also, it seemed that if there were four marks, there would be four signs. So as we approached a 4 marked sign, we were all nervous. Suddenly we neared a marker and knew it would be a doozie of a curve as it had 5 marks. As we passed the fourth marker and approached the fifth, we had to laugh. There was the fifth sign and it said, "You have been warned".
A complete British understatement.
But, I digress.
As Amy and I were not too excited to march along the course with a sea of on-lookers, we took up residence on the stands at the 18th hole. We sat there and watched golfers come and go and the stands fill up. Bill and Gerald had decided to follow the trail of Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus on the way to the championship. That was a hot duo and followed by what seemed like millions. Anyway, Amy and I were quite pleased with ourselves that we were perched comfortably watching the final hole unfold.
As we were sitting there, we decided we needed food and drink and I probably needed to find the facilities, too. So I left her holding down our seats and I departed the stands. People were sitting on steps by this time and it took a real effort to get down and people looked at me as if I were nuts. Little did I know!!
As I began my trek back to my seat, I encountered a burly gentleman with official looking badges and he told me I couldn't go back up. I informed him that I had a seat and my daughter was waiting for me and I had been there for hours. He shook his head and told me that the capacity for the stand was filled for the day. I told him, I had been there and had a seat so I would not increase the number if I returned to my place. He shook his head sadly and pointed the way back down the ramp and stood his ground. Being a good visitor and not wanting to make a bigger scene (or get dragged off by the coppers), I retreated to under the stands where I located Amy by her shoes and yelled up at her to throw down my purse.
Oh, Lord. I did not know...neither golf etiquette nor the profundity of the moment.
As I was yelling at her, I did realize it got very quiet. But not until I felt the full fury of a gazillion eyes staring down at me did I realize that the great Arnold Palmer was at that moment lining up his final putt in the entire tournament. Now, nothing is more sacrosanct that a golfers putt and no one even breathes then. In fact, I am quite sure a person would refuse to admit the angel of death at that moment. Oh, well. I was safe enough. After all, I was on the ground with all of Scotland to run to. Amy was stuck in the stands, trying not to acknowledge me. I am pretty sure she was not aware of the enormous faux pas I had committed, but she did recognize that something was not right.
She grabbed both purses and fled the stands while I was complaining loudly to anyone who would hear me that I had been unfairly dealt with. Well, not very loud..mostly under my breath.
We decided to walk down to the approach to the 18th green, as we knew that Bill and Gerald would be along when their players came through. That was a foolish thing to do. Have you any idea how many people were hoping to see the great Tom and Jack that year? They were at their peak and just everyone who liked golf and many who could care less wanted to see them. But we found a spot and established a foothold. Lo and behold, we saw Bill and Gerald approach with the massive hoard. They were on the other side of the course from us, but we resisted yelling and jumping and waving at them. Then we all stood back and listened to the roar of the crowd as the players approached the green. I believe they were tied and the winner would be determined by the final putts. It was as still as death and we all stood like statues and didn't breathe until we heard explosions from the stands. When the dust settled, Tom Watson had won the British Open. It was quite a day and I almost saw it.
And for all of that, he won a massive $17,000. That's right..Seventeen thousand dollars. Times have changed.
Seems impossible that it was 32 years ago that we had the unique opportunity to see the British Open Golf Tournament at Turnberry, Scotland. It is being played on that same course this year. Bill woke me this morning with the news the Tom Watson is leading the opening round..early on. When we lived in Scotland we decided to take a trip to see the Open and Bill had a friend and co-worker visiting the office that we knew would love going. So we piled into Bill's Halliburton car and Bill, Amy, Gerald and I set off to see the tournament on the other side of the island.
As we traveled un-familiar roads, we kept seeing yellow signs ,with a mark on them, appear as we neared curves and it seemed that the more marks there were, the sharper the curve. Also, it seemed that if there were four marks, there would be four signs. So as we approached a 4 marked sign, we were all nervous. Suddenly we neared a marker and knew it would be a doozie of a curve as it had 5 marks. As we passed the fourth marker and approached the fifth, we had to laugh. There was the fifth sign and it said, "You have been warned".
A complete British understatement.
But, I digress.
As Amy and I were not too excited to march along the course with a sea of on-lookers, we took up residence on the stands at the 18th hole. We sat there and watched golfers come and go and the stands fill up. Bill and Gerald had decided to follow the trail of Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus on the way to the championship. That was a hot duo and followed by what seemed like millions. Anyway, Amy and I were quite pleased with ourselves that we were perched comfortably watching the final hole unfold.
As we were sitting there, we decided we needed food and drink and I probably needed to find the facilities, too. So I left her holding down our seats and I departed the stands. People were sitting on steps by this time and it took a real effort to get down and people looked at me as if I were nuts. Little did I know!!
As I began my trek back to my seat, I encountered a burly gentleman with official looking badges and he told me I couldn't go back up. I informed him that I had a seat and my daughter was waiting for me and I had been there for hours. He shook his head and told me that the capacity for the stand was filled for the day. I told him, I had been there and had a seat so I would not increase the number if I returned to my place. He shook his head sadly and pointed the way back down the ramp and stood his ground. Being a good visitor and not wanting to make a bigger scene (or get dragged off by the coppers), I retreated to under the stands where I located Amy by her shoes and yelled up at her to throw down my purse.
Oh, Lord. I did not know...neither golf etiquette nor the profundity of the moment.
As I was yelling at her, I did realize it got very quiet. But not until I felt the full fury of a gazillion eyes staring down at me did I realize that the great Arnold Palmer was at that moment lining up his final putt in the entire tournament. Now, nothing is more sacrosanct that a golfers putt and no one even breathes then. In fact, I am quite sure a person would refuse to admit the angel of death at that moment. Oh, well. I was safe enough. After all, I was on the ground with all of Scotland to run to. Amy was stuck in the stands, trying not to acknowledge me. I am pretty sure she was not aware of the enormous faux pas I had committed, but she did recognize that something was not right.
She grabbed both purses and fled the stands while I was complaining loudly to anyone who would hear me that I had been unfairly dealt with. Well, not very loud..mostly under my breath.
We decided to walk down to the approach to the 18th green, as we knew that Bill and Gerald would be along when their players came through. That was a foolish thing to do. Have you any idea how many people were hoping to see the great Tom and Jack that year? They were at their peak and just everyone who liked golf and many who could care less wanted to see them. But we found a spot and established a foothold. Lo and behold, we saw Bill and Gerald approach with the massive hoard. They were on the other side of the course from us, but we resisted yelling and jumping and waving at them. Then we all stood back and listened to the roar of the crowd as the players approached the green. I believe they were tied and the winner would be determined by the final putts. It was as still as death and we all stood like statues and didn't breathe until we heard explosions from the stands. When the dust settled, Tom Watson had won the British Open. It was quite a day and I almost saw it.
And for all of that, he won a massive $17,000. That's right..Seventeen thousand dollars. Times have changed.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Hot Hot Hot
Oh, my..it is hot. When it's hot, I get lethargic and cranky. When I should be grateful for air conditioning, I fuss about the few minutes I have to spend in the hot car until it cools off.
Then I see the guys working on the roads and the people mowing lawns and the mail men and I am grateful that I work indoors and have an air conditioned car. I remember the days when we didn't have any a/c and then the great days of swamp coolers when you were cooler and everything stuck to you and smelled musty. But it was great. Then when we married we bought a window unit that was a real air cond. What a deal...we were in hog heaven. Until I forgot to clean the filter and it froze up and no cold air came out until you thawed it out. Got pretty warm by the time that happened. Central air...that is the ultimate. Wonder what they will think of next. I am sure there will be something even better that central air some day. Can't imagine what it will be..but hope to see what they think of next.
In the meantime...I am grateful for my cool air. Very grateful.
Then I see the guys working on the roads and the people mowing lawns and the mail men and I am grateful that I work indoors and have an air conditioned car. I remember the days when we didn't have any a/c and then the great days of swamp coolers when you were cooler and everything stuck to you and smelled musty. But it was great. Then when we married we bought a window unit that was a real air cond. What a deal...we were in hog heaven. Until I forgot to clean the filter and it froze up and no cold air came out until you thawed it out. Got pretty warm by the time that happened. Central air...that is the ultimate. Wonder what they will think of next. I am sure there will be something even better that central air some day. Can't imagine what it will be..but hope to see what they think of next.
In the meantime...I am grateful for my cool air. Very grateful.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Seeing Eye Dog
I went to have my macular degeneration evaulated last week and thankfully, it seems to be about the same. But my vision has changed a lot and they said I needed new lenses. Because I have those fancy glass frames that have a magnet to hold sunglasses and I really need the sunglasses, I told them I would have them use my old frames. They are really expensive so I didn't want to buy a new pair when these where only a year old.
BAD IDEA!!!!!
For about 30 hours I have been without a way to see. Then I found there is about a 2" deep area of vision. If I get at just the right place in front of me, within that 2" bracket, I can see well enough to make out letters. I am not sure how accurate I am, but it was better than not seeing at all. My eyes were really sore and tired this morning, so I know it is time to get the glasses back.
I would gladly buy a seeing eye dog for someone who had no vision. It is awful to have people guide you around and keep you from falling off curbs and stuff.
Now, I am finished...enough is enough and I am ready to pick up my glasses.
BAD IDEA!!!!!
For about 30 hours I have been without a way to see. Then I found there is about a 2" deep area of vision. If I get at just the right place in front of me, within that 2" bracket, I can see well enough to make out letters. I am not sure how accurate I am, but it was better than not seeing at all. My eyes were really sore and tired this morning, so I know it is time to get the glasses back.
I would gladly buy a seeing eye dog for someone who had no vision. It is awful to have people guide you around and keep you from falling off curbs and stuff.
Now, I am finished...enough is enough and I am ready to pick up my glasses.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA
What a great day..a day to remember where we came from and what price was paid so we can enjoy our life today.
When I was a kid, during WWII, fireworks were not available, so we improvised. Dad would go to the river and cut big cat tails (a swamp or river plant that have a long thing brown thing growing on top of a sturdy stem among green leaves) Then Ed, next door, would soak them in kerosene for a week and on the evening of the fourth we would stick them in the ground in some pattern and we would light them and watch them burn. That was our fireworks.
After the war, when you could buy fireworks again, we would get lady fingers for me, black cats for the bigger guys and also cherry bombs. Hated those things, you would throw them on the street, and they would pop. Now you had to throw them hard and since I wasn't too big and strong, I would have to ghrow them pretty close to me to get them to bang. Problem with that is they would throw off sparks that would hurt when they hit you. Never got the hang of those things. We also had rockets and roman candles..those were Mother's favorites. Needless to say, lots of people had serious injuries on the fourth and many had minor injuries. It was good when they outlawed many of those things.
My kids loved bottle rockets and I understood why people who had shake shingles didn't like them, because we had shakes and always had to really watch it to be sure they didn't land on the roof. Finally those were outlawed and everyone was sad but the firemen!
Today most people just watch the big sponsored fireworks...but some peoples children have not grown up and love fountains and smoke bombs and black cats. Ah, well...none of that for us this year and I don't think Ghost will be sad. I will enjoy the fireworks at the stadium from my front porch and the beautiful fireworks and music from Boston and Washington DC.
Happy Birthday, America...long may you live in freedom.
When I was a kid, during WWII, fireworks were not available, so we improvised. Dad would go to the river and cut big cat tails (a swamp or river plant that have a long thing brown thing growing on top of a sturdy stem among green leaves) Then Ed, next door, would soak them in kerosene for a week and on the evening of the fourth we would stick them in the ground in some pattern and we would light them and watch them burn. That was our fireworks.
After the war, when you could buy fireworks again, we would get lady fingers for me, black cats for the bigger guys and also cherry bombs. Hated those things, you would throw them on the street, and they would pop. Now you had to throw them hard and since I wasn't too big and strong, I would have to ghrow them pretty close to me to get them to bang. Problem with that is they would throw off sparks that would hurt when they hit you. Never got the hang of those things. We also had rockets and roman candles..those were Mother's favorites. Needless to say, lots of people had serious injuries on the fourth and many had minor injuries. It was good when they outlawed many of those things.
My kids loved bottle rockets and I understood why people who had shake shingles didn't like them, because we had shakes and always had to really watch it to be sure they didn't land on the roof. Finally those were outlawed and everyone was sad but the firemen!
Today most people just watch the big sponsored fireworks...but some peoples children have not grown up and love fountains and smoke bombs and black cats. Ah, well...none of that for us this year and I don't think Ghost will be sad. I will enjoy the fireworks at the stadium from my front porch and the beautiful fireworks and music from Boston and Washington DC.
Happy Birthday, America...long may you live in freedom.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Wishing a very happy 13th anniversary to Tim and Amy.
It seems they have been married forever as they are as close to soul mates as you could ever find. It is nice to see a couple so happy. I have been blessed with a good husband and a good marriage and it is sad when one is not right or goes wrong. But grounded in Christ, they are able to work past any difficulties and build a solid relationship that is big enough and strong enough to encircle the needs of many lives. They grow each day to be able to serve more people with their love and that is a beautiful thing to see.
No, they are not perfect...but pretty much as close as humans can get to forming a perfect union.
So, just wanted to wish them a happy day and let them know I am thinking of them.
Shalom, Tim and Amy Enjoy your day
It seems they have been married forever as they are as close to soul mates as you could ever find. It is nice to see a couple so happy. I have been blessed with a good husband and a good marriage and it is sad when one is not right or goes wrong. But grounded in Christ, they are able to work past any difficulties and build a solid relationship that is big enough and strong enough to encircle the needs of many lives. They grow each day to be able to serve more people with their love and that is a beautiful thing to see.
No, they are not perfect...but pretty much as close as humans can get to forming a perfect union.
So, just wanted to wish them a happy day and let them know I am thinking of them.
Shalom, Tim and Amy Enjoy your day
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