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MAGNIFICENT UPS AND DOWNS

7/31/2016

THE BALLOON SEEMS TO STAND STILL IN THE AIR WHILE THE EARTH FLIES PAST UNDERNEATH.

Alberto Santos-Dumont

The phone rang early this morning. The man on the line told us his friends had landed a hot air balloon in the grass field next to our shop. ????? He wanted to know if that was okay. ????? We got dressed and dashed around the corner to our land. The closer I got, I could see a huge, magnificent hot air balloon above the rooftops of the other houses in town. Wow! Evidently they had finished their early morning flight and our field was the only open area they could see for a landing spot. Otherwise, they would have to fly about ten miles away and land by the power plant. They needed a big enough place to deflate the balloon and lay it out and then fold it up to haul away.

It was a fun way to start off a beautiful Sunday morning.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL

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SMALL THINGS

7/21/2016

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"Sometimes," said Pooh, "the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."
A. A. Milne

Nothing much happening lately. . . no drama, no excitement, just nice, easey peasey stuff.

I had both Abby and Alec here the other day. After telling the kids to stay out of my office, I overheard Alec pleading with Ab, "Please don't tell Grandma. Please, please don't tell Grandma!" He had decided to download a bunch of his stuff on the computer and Abby discovered what he was doing. Evidently he was very dramatically begging for her to cut him a break.

Actually, I more impressed and excited that he had used his sentences in the appropriate form for his situation (trying to save his bacon from getting a scolding). Loved it.

Today was Alec's last day for summer classes at his Middle School. His wonderful teacher, Steve V. sent him home with an art project that they had been working on. I had to laugh when I saw that Al had cleverly drawn in a character which looked suspiciously like Peter Griffin from Family Guy show. Alec is pretty much banned from watching that program because it is really crude and nasty. But, I have noticed in his art, that he often slips in Peter or Chris or Lois to show us we can't tell him what to do all the time. Anyway, he was supposed to label the picture with words that describe him. I'm not quite sure why he put "perfect" but it was his project and he could put anything he wanted. So there.

So you see, it is the small things that take up the most room in your heart. It's more than some colorful paint on a canvas. It's what is written on it.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL

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I'M WALKING TO THE RIGHT...AGAIN

7/15/2016

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ABOVE ALL, WATCH WITH GLITTERING EYES THE WHOLE WORLD AROUND YOU, BECAUSE THE GREATEST SECRETS ARE ALWAYS HIDDEN IN THE MOST UNLIKELY PLACES. THOSE WHO DON'T BELIEVE IN MAGIC WILL NEVER FIND IT.
                                                                                    Roald Dahl

Yup, again I've started my Texas Two-Step. . . sideways!! You know . . . to the right, to the right, to the right, right, right!

Old Virtigo is visiting me again. Not as bad as it has been in the past. Just enough to be inconvenient and embarrassing. Last week-end we went to Minnesota to see Dan and his wife, Tammy. There are some neat things to see where they live and we went to visit Schnell's Brewery. The grounds were beautiful and there's an old mansion on the property that some Schnell family members lived in until recently. When we went to the beer tasting room, I opted for root beer (which this family invented during the Prohibition when they couldn't brew real beer). Delish!

However, since I get off-balance and dizzy, someone had to hold on to my arm and steer me around so I wouldn't topple over. I tried to get Hubby to carry my purse, since it is so heavy, it kinda made me even more off balance. Nope. Oh well.

That evening we went to the gorgeous Morgan Creek Winery for jazz and drinks. Lots of good times. Dan took a picture of me pretending to pull a cork out of a wine bottle with my teeth (I know, how stupid acting can you get?) and sent it to sis-in-law Nina as a joke.  In the meantime, Nina had texted me, asking how things were going. When I tried to text her back on my FLIP PHONE, I tried to spell out "good. . .jazz and wine".

Okay, I can't text on that phone at all, but this is what I came up with. jawy. Crap! Okay, that wasn't right but I don't have a back button to erase, so I moved over and tried to spell it again. jayx. Crap, wrong again. Finally it turned out . . . jazzamd wine. Close, but no cigar! When I talked to Nina later, I explained to her that I wasn't drunk when I tried writing that, just text-stupid. She laughed when she told me that she thought I was doing it deliberately to look like I was "likkered" up.

The important part about these two events, is that when touring a beer or wine establishment, it is NOT cool to be staggering around, holding on to someone else, or grabbing for railings to keep yourself upright.

Went to the oncologist's yesterday, and everything is going super good. It looks to me like the cancer thing is done and over. My nurse practitioner again apologized for making me take the medicine that plumps a person up. What else can I do? It has to be taken, but I sure am disgusted with it's side effects. Only 3 1/2 more years to go. Whatever.

                                                            GOD BLESS YOU ALL

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I KNOW A HERO

7/8/2016

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LIFE IS 10% WHAT HAPPENS TO US AND 90% HOW WE REACT TO IT.
                                                                                                Dennis P. Kimbro

I know a hero. Or maybe I should say heroine. A few posts ago, I mentioned a lovely young lady who was somewhat caught off guard by a creepy guy while hunting for mushrooms in a desolate area. She learned a huge lesson that day to be prepared in case she was around someone who was questionable in character.

Last week, this girl was just finishing her first day at her new job at the mall. After they closed down their area of the store for the night, she was leaving with a co-worker. As they went out the door of the store, the co-worker's ex-boyfriend was lying in wait, and started slugging and beating the woman. She yelled for my friend to call 911, but my friend had to do something else first. She pulled out her pepper spray that she now carries with her, and sprayed that creep good and plenty. She told me, "I sprayed him until he was rolling around the floor, puking his guts out! THEN I called 911!" The idiot man somehow managed to get away and get to his car, but unfortunately for him, he had sat in his vehicle all evening waiting for his ex-girlfriend to get off work, listening to the radio. His battery was now dead. He couldn't get his car started and the cops nabbed him.

Again a warning to everyone, young or old. . . keep you eyes open and be aware of who is around you at all times.

This same young friend had just taken the new job because at her old job, she was repeatedly being sexually harassed by a young man 4 years older than her. She reported it to the higher ups, but they did nothing. When one of the bigger bosses called her at home and asked why she had quit, she explained. The young man was immediately fired. Soon after, my friend received texts from four other girls she had worked with, stating that the same thing had happened to them by this guy.

I'm really starting to wonder what kind of men we are raising today. Why do some of them seem to be on a power-trip? Why do some of them feel that if they are rejected in any way, they must retaliate violently? Just locally here, a young woman was shot to death by a co-worker who was stalking her. Last year, a young single mom was leaving a grocery store with her seven-year old son, and the man she had finally broken up with approached her and stabbed her to death in front of several witnesses, including her little boy.

Something has to change. But what? How?

Don't think I am picking on all young men. I know a ton of guys who are wonderful and honorable. But the number of really bad guys seems to be getting bigger all the time.

I am so proud of my friend. She kept her head and saved the other girl. Amazing. A real hero. . . or heroine. :)


                                                             GOD BLESS YOU ALL

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HERE'S TO LONGEVITY!!

7/4/2016

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OLD FOLKS LIVE ON MEMORY, YOUNG FOLKS LIVE ON HOPE.
Gayla Reid

Last week, two people I care about very much, celebrated birthdays. My Alec became fifteen, and Sister Karen became (mumble mumble mumble). I'm trying to be discrete here, but the fact is, we are all a year older on our birthdays.

I always thought it was cool that Karen is seven years and seven days older than me. This fact was even more interesting to me the year I turned seven on the seventh day of the seventh month. I must have had "seven" overload that year. Anyhoo, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAREN!

Alec enjoyed several days of fun and surprises. Jenna took Monday off work to spend his actual birthday with him. We took him to the Children's Museum, and did some other stops along the way that he enjoyed. Then on Tuesday, we went to a wonderful place called The Village. This is an incredible daycare/school for autistic people who are ages sixteen and up. Two years ago, a group of parents joined together and bought a beautiful, retired winery and made it into a place where their children and others could go during the day. These people are treated with dignity, friendship, and respect. What a joyful experience we had, seeing what determined parents can provide for their loved ones. It is a dream of Jenna's to start a program very much like The Village for those around us who deserve the same thing.

Another interesting thing happened Saturday night. Jenna decided that we were going to a real drive-in theater out in the country. Now, this place is about an hour's drive from home. When we get there, we find out that FINDING DORIE, the show Alec wanted to see, was being shown after the new movie BFG (Big, Friendly Giant). Okay, so the outdoor theaters today have you turn your radio on to a certain station, and you listen to the audio of the show that way. So we sit through BFG, when Jenna realizes that her battery light has come on. When she tried to start the car, no dice! Yipes! Let's recap. It is now eleven o'clock at night, we are an hour's drive from home, and we have a dead battery. A young man parked next to us tried to jump our battery, but again, no dice. Finally, Jenna went to the concession stand and the management brought out a battery charger and finally got us going.

Needless to say, all during FINDING DORIE we kept the engine running.

I got home at 2:45 in the morning. I'm getting too old for going to kids' movies!

I guess I just want to congratulate both Karen and Alec on their birthdays, and to wish them both longevity.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL

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MAGNIFICENT UPS AND DOWNS

SMALL THINGS

I'M WALKING TO THE RIGHT...AGAIN

I KNOW A HERO

HERE'S TO LONGEVITY!!

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