Jan 24

Grandma, I need a …..

The phone rang last night, and Papa said it was for me.  I answered, and D2 told me that GD1 needed to talk to me.  She is the 4 ½ year old, and she first visited us by herself when she was about 18 months old.  We’re buddies, but she’s growing up, and I’m not.

She said, “I need a bathrobe.”

I said, “What color would it be?”

She said, “Purple.”

I said, “Smooth or fuzzy?”

She said, “Fuzzy.”

I said, “Zipper or buttons?”

She said “Zipper.”

I said, “OK.”

She said goodbye.

D2 told me she didn’t understand exactly what the problem is.  GD1 has a purple fuzzy bathrobe that I made her sometime back.  Apparently, GD1 was sitting around in the robe, looked at it, and asked, “When did I get this, when I was 3?”  When the answer was affirmative, she said she needed a new one.  D2 says that the sleeves are a little short, and it doesn’t touch the floor but is otherwise in good shape.

I went to the store today and bought enough fleece to make 2 robes, one for each of my granddaughters.  At least I’m not out of things to do!

Jan 23

Missing spoons

It’s been clear to me for a while that I am missing some spoons.  The pile in the drawer in really small.  I’ve complained, asked everyone to return the missing spoons, and whined like a champ, to no avail.  I just counted, and there are 36 knives, and only 23 spoons.  23?  I’m no math wiz, but that means that 13 spoons are missing.  13?

Now some of you might wonder what why this is so important.  I wonder about that too.  Although I’m not a child of the depression, I was raised by some.  Many of my friends are, or have been older than I and, they, along with older in-laws and outlaws have heavily influenced my thinking.  Perhaps that’s it.  Or perhaps, the fact that I really never had a good set of flatware until a few years ago is the reason.

My mother-in-law bought me a set of some nice Oneida.  When this arrived, I put all my old, unmatched, dime store stainless in an ice cream bucket in the basement, and 4 place settings in our camper.  I subsequently purchased more of the same pattern, and I have sure enjoyed having matching flatware on the table.

So, I did a search on the wonderful, reliable internet.  The pattern is discontinued, go figure. The only teaspoons I can find in my pattern are sold one at a time, for $2 to $5 each!  They are $4.99 from Oneida.

I’ll have to think about this.  Perhaps I’ll go back to whining.

Jan 22

Gray Monday

I think I said once before about my Dad’s colored days.  Today is definitely gray, but I’m not in a gray mood.  I got the garbage and recycling out, straightened up a shelf, decided what books to give away and/or sell, started the wash, made the bed, and shoveled the drive.  We had only about a half-inch of snow, but I like it shoveled off, then we don’t get so much in the house.

I have a busy week planned, and perhaps I’ll actually make some headway on some of my projects!

Jan 20

Much Better

Well, my sinus infection is much improved, meaning that I feel better–not that the infection feel better.  Working on redesign of all my web pages, again, or still.

Jan 17

Today is the first day of……

It’s Wednesday already and I’ve accomplished nothing this week.  To understand why I say nothing, I think I’ll analyze what I have done.

  • Doctor’s appointment
  • 2 trips to the drug store for the prescribed medications
  • Ripped on to the computer, cataloged and stored the CDs we bought over the weekend
  • Put out the garbage
  • Cooked two dinners
  • Three very long naps
  • Put away all the things from the car after our trip
  • Ran dishwasher, twice
  • Screwed up the template to this blog, twice, changed theme, 3 times
  • Requested links from performers to Jerry’s site
  • Loaded photographs to a couple of galleries in Papa’s pictures, notified some people who might be interested
  • Moved my “to do” pile from one side of the desk to the other, dusted, moved it back
  • Cataloged medical expenses, did paperwork for medical claims
  • Backed up my computer and Papa’s

That’s enough, now I know the problem.  I expect to have something done.  Nothing I do is ever finished.  It’s just a series of ongoing tasks that never end.  I’m not sure if knowing this makes me feel better or worse.

On a brighter note, the doctor said I had lost some weight, even over the holidays.  Just not enough.  Well, I guess I’ll have to try harder.  Sista is trying a commercial program, I’ll be watching to see how she does.

Jan 16

What’s wrong with the theme

It’s a contest.  I’ll say nice things about the person who can tell me how to fix the screwed up post display.  If something isn’t screwed up, I already figured it out!

Jan 16

Perrysburg, Ohio Festival

We’re home again.  Papa and I had a smooth ride home from Perrysburg, Ohio Sunday morning.  The weather forecasts weren’t pretty and even though the ride home was short, we were concerned.  When we reached the State line, radio reported that I-75 had been reopened at the Rouge River Bridge.  We just looked at each other and Papa kept driving.  Really, we had no problems, saw no cars in the ditch, and no ice.  I guess our timing was good.

We enjoyed the show put on by Larry Efaw in Perrysburg.  Attendance was pretty good, it looked a little higher than in the past couple of years.  A nice tribute was done on Saturday evening in honor of the original promoter of the show, the late Bob White.

Bob’s daughters and some of his grandchildren were in attendance.   Bob’s daughters and some of her grandchildren were in attendance.  The family gave attendees a folder with Bob’s photograph and some remembrances in it; and a selection of tapes, cd’s and/or records(!) that Bob made over the years.  We got a LP!

D1 and GS2 arrived home without incident on Monday.  GS1 is installed for his next training at Great Lakes Navel Training Center.  They had a good visit, and enjoyed the proceedings at his graduation from basic training. Granny had to go to the doctor Monday.  My cold/sinus infection/curd is not gone yet.  Added medication, great.

Jan 11

Early Friday

Today is an early Friday for Granny.  If I just had everything done.  D1 and GS2 are leaving at noon, to go to the Great Lakes Navel Training Center for GS1’s basic graduation.  They are joining up with D2 and her family on the way.  Papa and I have some other plans for the weekend, if I can ever get ready.  We’re planning to go over to Great Lakes to see GS1 later.  He should be in training there for a while.

D1 is hoping to be able to leave GS1 a laptop and his cell phone, but isn’t sure how much room he’ll have and what he’ll be allowed to have.  Of course, she’s taking all his Christmas presents and some goodies for him to eat.

I’ve got some paperwork to clear up, and some volunteer work to finish, then I can get ready to go to Perrysburg for Larry Efaw’s bluegrass show.  I hope you can come, see you there!

Jan 09

We’ve Got Work To Do

We have a small collection of toys that have been used by my “little” grandchildren during their visits for the past few years.  Some were purchased at yard sales and discount stores.  But, the best two toys were given to me.  A lady with a maturing family posted about “two large bags of toys” that she could no longer use.  Usually, I give things away, but I replied to her that I could use the toys for my grandchildren when they visit.  I’ll be darned if I didn’t get the bags, just for picking them up.  Among the toys in them was a good as new Wendy doll, and a small electronic toy that says the letters and numbers, sings and makes lots of loud noises.

What’s the free stuff all about?

If you’ve never heard of Freecycle, it’s time you did.  I’m familiar with the Yahoo Freecycle Groups.  Join the group, and you may post items you are willing to give away.  I have actually given quite a few things to people who can use them.

There are a couple of  down sides with these groups, one is the frequent posts asking for things.  The other is even more annoying to me.  There are people who run flea market booths or continuing yard sales who reply to every post offering something.  Usually these replies are , “I’ll take it all, can come right away.”  They don’t have any real need for the items, except for the commercial value.

Now, this is a semantics issue.  If I post an item to give away, because I don’t want it in the landfill, and it’s usable—why do I care if the person who carries it away will sell it for a profit?  After all, I could sell it if I wanted too.

The answer is even more complicated than the question.  I wanted to help someone, but not someone ambitious enough to make a profit selling used items?  Then I’m saying it’s not about the landfill, but about me feeling warm and fuzzy, with no more effort than sending an e-mail.  I could cart everything to the Salvation Army, but they’d profit also.  Perhaps their profit is OK, because they help people with it?  Do I just dislike the idea that someone is getting something to sell for nothing, even though I don’t want it anymore?  Do I object to the underground economy, when we pay an income tax bill each year?  If I ever figure this thing out I’ll let you know.

Oh, about Wendy.  Wendy is Bob the Builder’s sidekick.  If you’ve missed Bob the Builder, I’m sure you don’t have any contact with preschoolers.  Bob builds, has a nauseating up-beat attitude and can solve any problem; he’s not as sickening as Barney, but close.  Wendy is mentioned in the theme song, right along with all the equipment.  The Wendy doll is nauseating, too.  She says, We’ve got work to do!”, among other ambitious phrases.  She makes a sound that represents a paint brush on a wall when you move her arm.  She’s happy to be helping, included, and working.  In fact, she has much in common with the average 2-4 year old.  They love to help, but aren’t as much help as they think they are.

The kids have sure enjoyed the Wendy doll.  Even though Wendy makes me sick, but I like part of the idea behind her.  It’s that girls can do anything–even build.  The problem is, she’s a helper, and organizer, and even the preschoolers know that Bob is in charge.  I can’t find a Wikipedia article on her, like I can Bob.  And, she gets the short-shift in Bob’s article.  Now, there’s a reason to be mad!

Jan 08

Looking Back

I was just cleaning the food off my floor, and thinking of the past years.  Strange, huh?  GS1, his mother, and his brother came to live here about 11 years ago.  He was thin, cute and smart.  (Grandma’s talking.)  We watched him play football and do some other activities.  I did a lot of wash, and cooked a lot of glop in a big pot.  He grew too tall to measure on our special spot on the wall.  He graduated last year, and he entered the Navy on November 8th.  We’ve been missing him around here, a lot.  I was just looking around to make sure I had all the articles that mentioned him in my file, and I found this article from the Daily Tribune.  GS1 is the one who got the purple heart award. We’re very proud of this young man, very proud.