My Trip to Iowa, Flight, Awards and Wedding: Part 1

I haven't blogged in a while. I think I have been in shock with so much happening politically and personally. It's like I have been given so much material that I can't do anything with it. The next few blogs will be a series about my trip to Iowa for my sister's award covering the week in Alison, Iowa culminating in the wedding of the year.

Joshua and Syd have been engaged for a year and were planning on getting married in Crowley Louisiana at the Opera House. About 6 weeks ago Joshua came to the hospital and with waving arms tells me that "nothing has changed" which is my indication that EVERYTHING was changing. He tells me that he and Syd are still getting married but that it was going to happen in Iowa at the Hart Family reunion the first weekend of August. I said what I always do in this type of situation "OK" and then I waited for the plans to change again. They didn't and I am actually very glad....but that is for another blog. I waited for a few weeks and then let my family know. Unfortunately all of my kin have non refundable tickets to Lafayette in September so going to Iowa was out of the question and they are still coming in September to meet my new daughter-in-law and to celebrate my 60th birthday a few months early.... again something for a future blog. About 4 weeks ago I hear from my sister Barbara who informs me that my sister Patti is getting a huge award with her Rotary and that we need to be there to support her. I totally agreed until I realized that I would have to fly. In an airplane(not on my broom). Those of you who know me realize that despite years flying on a helicopter on Life Flight I am terrified of strapping myself into a seat and trusting the pilots, mechanics, and airport security to get me to my destination. The flight was uneventful but I will admit to changing my status from Dallas to Chicago to first class. I figured if the plane was going to go down I wanted to be in a bigger seat with a glass of champagne in my hand. It cost me about a dollar a minute to upgrade. The seats were somewhat bigger than coach but still uncomfortable however the lunch was great. I had lost about 35 pounds and expected to have lots of room. Not so, but at least my ass didn't stick thru the sides of the seat. I met my sister Barb at the airport and we were ferried to Davenport, Iowa by a friend of my niece's. Originally Jenny was going to pick us up and we were going to spend the night in Aurora visiting with my great nephews. Jenny called a few days before departure to let us know that her husband's grandmother died and they would all be in Davenport. It took some serious planning on her part but we got to Davenport without problems. I am so grateful to my niece and to her husband Brandon because without them our surprise to Patti would not have been possible.

July 4, 2011... Remembering the Past

Flags, cookouts, family, red, white, and blue, potato salad, parades, games, celebration, happy, remembering, West High school, Jack Sherrick Dancers, the mule that could count, walking with mom to the stadium, bleachers, cotton candy, fireworks, OHHHHH.....AHHHHHHH, BOOM, covered ears, sparklers, Joshua in Iowa with Aunt Patti...dressed like a cowboy, Becky in her romper with the red panties her hair in ponytails and ribbons, homemade ice cream and brain-freeze, short-shorts, suntans, iced-tea, innocence, patriotic, loving life, knowing freedom, Lafayette, fireworks sold on every corner, hotdogs, hamburgers, The Declaration of Independence, hands over hearts, salutes, the Star Spangled Banner, live, love, hope, America proud.

Weiner Wagger, Congressional morals, Anti-Semitism and Israel

A few days ago A. Weiner (D-NY) claimed his phone/ twitter account got hacked and someone sent a picture of a man in underwear to an 18 year old woman. Weiner obviously thought that we are idiots and would believe that. Well we are not idiots. Let me amend that and say the maybe the people in New York who voted for him are idiots BUT the general population in the rest of the country knew that he was lying. First clue... he didn't get the FBI involved. His wife is supporting him at present BUT keep in mind she was an aide to Hillary Clinton and we all know what she put up with. Anthony you are an idiot. You opened yourself up to blackmail, humiliation, and worse you shamed your new wife. I am aware that many past and current politicians are guilty of moral turpitude. What amazes me is that we as voting public are willing to condone that behavior by continuing to vote for those asses. In my lifetime I knew that JFK was a womanizer, Nixon was a liar, Carter had "impure thoughts", and Clinton used the Oval office to get blow jobs. John Edwards, Mr. Squeaky Clean, may well do jail time ultimately because he couldn't keep his pants zipped... well and he was a power hungry liar too. It has to be that the power reduces politicians to their own personal gutter level. What is worse is that there doesn't seem to be any remorse except that they got caught. Republicans and Democrats alike are out of control. The problem, again, is that we put up with it. Boys will be boys . These out of control, gutter rolling, muck loving congressmen and representatives need to go home and never return to Washington. We need men and women who follow the law, are morally upright, and who represent those in their home states and not themselves. Both Houses should not tolerate this type of behavior and should demand resignations not only for all illegal activities but for acts of moral lassitude.

The sad thing about the whole Weiner affair is that he is a firm supporter of Israel. I think we are going thru the beginnings of a wave of anti-semitism throughout the country. Next November in San Francisco a law will be on the ballot opposing circumcision. The argument for the ban states that a decision cannot be made by parents because it's a man's choice and cannot be made for religious, cultural or social reasons. Circumcision is not just a Jewish decision but has deeps roots in the bible. Genesis 17: 6,8,10 states "I will make you exceedingly fertile, and make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you.... I assign the land you sojourn in to you and your offspring to come, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting holding. I will be their God... Such shall the covenant between Me and you and your offspring, every man child among you shall be circumcised. In the Jewish community there is currently those who don't agree. But the fact is that Gentiles and Jews alike circumcise their sons. As a nurse with 35 years experience let me tell you. I am hugely FOR circumcision. I won't go into the slimy details but what I have cleaned from under foreskins would make you gag. Yuck... be that as it may, what is happening in San Francisco is not just about foreskins it's anti-Semitic and it's so obvious that it is frightening that people ARE NOT screaming about this. The proponents of the ban have produced a comic book featuring a blond, blue eyed(Aryan type) hero named (get ready for this......) FORESKIN MAN who rescues a Jewish baby boy from the evil mohel set out to remove the foreskin. At the end of the "comic" book is a picture of a menorah on fire(ala KKK and the burning crosses) and the menorah appears to be made out of bodies. Have too many years passed since the Holocaust? Where is the huge public outcry about this?

God told Abraham in Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them who bless you and curse him who curses you and in you all families of the Earth be blessed.

I support Israel.

Mom's Day 2011

I think about you Mom but it hurts less than it did. That doesn't mean that I don't think about you often, because I do. What I mean is that the pain of your passing is less acute. I still catch myself thinking that I need to call you and tell you something and it catches me up short when I realize that I will not hear your voice at least in this life. I have friends that I talk to and I keep up with my sisters but it's not the same. I think that there is nothing that takes the place of the MOM connection. Joshua is getting married and since he doesn't have a grandmother from my side he has elected to bump Barbara into the Grandma role. She says that she is thrilled but you know what... I wish you were still here to see your "toad frog" get married. I remember at one of Barbara's kids wedding.... Joshua was withdrawn and really sad. He finally told me that he was upset because he knew that you would never see him get married. You will have missed both my children's weddings. When Becky got married I carried a baby picture of her and one of the both of you in my purse, it just didn't seem fair that you weren't there. I miss not being able to share my children's important milestones with you. I hope that as I age I do so with the grace and acceptance that you did. I miss you mom. You gave me so much love and I miss that more than anything else.

Potty Etiquette or Being 59 in a Public Bathroom

I remember the days when my mom would make me stand up on the toilet lids of a public bathroom and squat over the john. I was 3. I am now nearly 60 and I haven't squatted over anything in more years than I can count. Arthritis, weight and bad knees have made me adjust to the lessons my mama taught me. For years I carried a small spritz bottle of Clorox and water and I would just spritz the seat to clean it and sit down to meditate. I had to stop that habit when a year or so back after I had cleaned the seat, sat down, took care of business and two hours later had the worse butt rash. I, being slow on the uptake, didn't immediately equate the rash with the Clorox solution. It took a second round and me waking up in the middle of the night with the worse burning butt you can imagine. I still didn't realize what was wrong with me till I used a mirror to view my backside and low and behold there was a red rashy imprint of a toilet seat on my butt and the back of my legs. I am only so tall and my backside is of a size that when I squat over the toilet, I still come in contact with the seat so I figure I might as well be comfortable and I sit. Now I wipe the seat down use the paper thingy over the back of the toilet and hope for the best. Now to the women who think nothing of peeing all over the seat and leaving the mess: you are classless, tasteless, and taught manners by zoo keepers. When you flush(that's assuming you do... and often you don't) take a glance at the seat and WIPE YOUR MESS. I happened to use a public bathroom the other day and they were out of paper thingies and I swiped without checking closely as I was already at the cross-the-legs point and I sat down and hit the only spot I missed. Man I just hate that. I was already feeling pee cooties scurry up my nether regions. The woman who just left that john was still out side washing her hands(go figure... she will pee on the seat but washes her hands) when I loudly said "I wish to hell people would LEARN not to pee on the seats or else clean up their mess" followed up by " I sure hope the woman who was here last doesn't have any DISEASES." She left in a huff and when I got out another witness laughed and said "Well you told her". My solution is to never use a public bathroom but with age and lack of control(I am just sure I have had a Kegal stroke... but that is for another blog) I have to go when I have to go.+

The Growing and Saving of Food by a Dummy and Ho-Ho's

I hope that in years to come my grandchildren will be reading my blogs and I hope that they enjoy what is written and don't ask their parents why I wasn't committed. I am not paranoid, I just watch the news and realize that we are facing some hard times and that food may be scarce or so expensive that choice may be limited. I filled up at the gas station the other day and paid over 3.60 a gallon. Today the price is up to 3.87 at the same station. I have seen grocery prices rise as well and it scares me. I want to be able to buy all the Ho-Ho's I want so something has to give financially. Thus I decided that I will grow some of my own food and since Ho-Ho's don't grow on bushes I figured I would have to grow fruits and vegetables to save money for a Ho-Ho emergency. There is a lot of things you need to do and know to grow vegetables and fruits. I don't know any of it so I enlisted my friend Faye who has great experience in such things. My son put in two 5ft by 15ft raised beds for me. Faye came over and we went shopping for seeds, plants, trees, fertilizer, and garden tools. I had no clue how to hoe. I know now and have the sore muscles to prove it. I learned that you have to have multiple pepper plants because some are male and some are female.. and you can't tell by looking so you plant a few and hope for the best. I learned that you have to have two of most fruit trees for the same reason. You have to water, feed and weed said beds to nurture your plants. In preparation for my (I'm sure)bountiful harvest I needed a plan to save everything. I plan to to dehydrate, can and freeze and of course I don't know how to do any of those things. I ordered a dehydrator and then realized I needed a Seal-a-Meal. I have time to order the pressure caner, water caner, the jars and the lids. I now have about 6 books on canning, freezing, and dehydrating. I have planting guides and print outs on the making of compost. The plants are in the ground and Demi the Wonder Dog and I visit at least once a day. So far all are still alive but the smallest pepper plant doesn't look good. I know that you aren't supposed to name the things you eat but the petite pitiful pepper plant is named Pedro. We have wildlife around here and I was worried that my plants would get eaten so Stan put a small fence around the beds. I am digging a hole for my compost both brown and green, in layers according to my papers. I am using store bought food stuff now but next year I will have my own, homegrown fertilizer. When I started this I just figured dig a hole, bury a plant, watch it grow and eat it or save it for later. This living off the land is just a tad more complicated. Everyone that has had experience in dehydrating is just so very, very enthusiastic so I figured if I can read a knitting pattern and make a sweater just how hard could this be. You cut up food, stick it on the pans, put it in the dehydrator and 12 hours later you have dried food. I was up the whole fricking night. I started at noon yesterday with 2 fresh pineapples and 6 bananas. I soaked the little banana circles that I cut in fresh lemon juice so they wouldn't get brown and put them on the trays. I cut up the pineapple and put those on the trays. I had 4 trays of food and visions of just bags and bags of dried fruit. At midnight I was still watching over the dehydrator. I was afraid to go to sleep for fear of a electrical fire or over drying. Finally after 12 hours and still sticky bananas I went to bed and set my alarm for a hour. Then another hour and another hour. At 4 am I finally was able to remove the product and seal it up in my new seal-a-meal bags. First I had to figure out how to use the Seal-a- Meal so I practiced on chicken legs. Easy peasy. I took my fruit(which was very tasty if I do say so myself) bagged and sealed it and went back to bed. All in all it has been a learning experience and I have learned a)not to anticipate how much I will have,( to avoid crushing disappointment) b) I need practice, and c) the return on my investment may take a while. The following pictures will take you thru my journey thus far:

Compost prior to going into the ground. Food for the veggies until next year.

Two of my fruit trees. I have lemon, peach, lime and satsumas

My little plants. Note the fence that Stan gave me.

I started with six bananas and two pineapples (okay... i know the yellow things are lemons. I used my pineapples)

put them in this lovely dehydrator Sealed the produce in my new Seal-a-Meal

and ended up with 2 bags of fruit that I could eat at one sitting.

COST:

Equipment and supplies for Josh putting the beds in 250.00

Plants, Trees, gardening supplies, and tools 150.00

Fence and hose 125.00

Dehydrator 140.00 Seal-a-Meal(and extra bags) 100.0o

My expression at 4 am in the morning when I realized all I had was two little bags PRICELESS

Stan did casually mention to me that we could have bought a hell of a lot of food for what I spent so far. Start up in any new endeavor is always expensive. I am not daunted in the least. I am asking for the caners for my anniversary present so I didn't list them. All joking aside I really believe that in the near future we will need to be able to grow and preserve our own food. I just hope I have a few years to work out the kinks!!

April 8, 1977 Happy Birthday Josh

I am amazed at you this year. You have learned life skills that I never thought you would even be interested in learning. Shows what a mom knows. When I saw you yesterday with your (as Becky calls it) "man belt" on with all the tools around, it it struck me as how much you have learned. I have always said you could do or be anything you want and you are proving me right with your multi-talented livelihoods. You are such a study of opposites. During the day you are wielding a hammer, nails, screwdriver and all sorts of "man" tools and during the evening you are gracefully demonstrating dance to children. You are impacting the life of your students at night and you are learning construction during the day. You remain driven by your faith and hold to the fact that Jesus is your King. I am proud of you. I love you unconditionally. Happy Birthday Joshua this year and many more.