Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Quiet!!

Wow, what a difference a few hours can make. This morning my DD and GB's (grandbabies) left for Chicago to spend some time with my SIL. He has a couple of days off and DD needs to go to her pharmacy. I find it strange now to not hear the children in the house. They have only been here a week but they are an integral part of our lives already.

DS the younger has suggested that I am experiencing some seasonal depression. I have suspected that to be part of my problem, but it feels worse than usual. Retirement may be a larger component than I would like to admit. I have decided to make an appointment and look into the situation. I would very much like to get some energy back as I am currently accomplishing very little.

I did spend some time outside this morning. About 11:30 this morning I went out to check the mail; of course it wasn't there yet. So, I sat in the sunshine and waited for a while to see if the mail carrier would come. She did, but she was going the wrong way. When she stopped here later on she explained that the brakes went out on her car and she had to turn around at the beginning of the route and find another vehicle.

Is anyone else having trouble deciding who to vote for next week? I think my mind is made up one time and then I hear more information that makes me question my decision. There are so many things wrong with each of the candidates that this will be a decision based on who I think will do the least harm in office. I hate to think about casting a vote this way. I much prefer voting with confidence in my candidate. Not good. Any other opinions out there? And then, it has gotten to where I hate to answer the phone. The political calls have come as early as 7:30 in the morning and as late as 10:00 at night. Aaaargh!

Friday I am heading down to DS the elder's home to help with Halloween. DD and DS are going to take the children out together while I stay at his house and hand out treats. Now, should I take a costume along? I have a couple of choices in my closet, depending on whether I can find them or not. Somewhere I have my old Mother Hubbard outfit, a witch' dress, a pioneer widow outfit and a tavern wench outfit. If there are any opinions, get them to me before Friday. I can use any help I can get.

We finally had a nice day here. The temp never reached 50 but the sun shone all day long. So nice! That's all for now!

TTFN
Ginny

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Wee Hours Ruminations

What on earth am I doing up at 3 in the morning? Beats me! Can't sleep, again. I was just sitting here and looking at the wedding photos posted on my DS and DIL's website and reliving their wonderful day. It has been a very strange week with babysitting and then DD and the children coming to our house for an extended visit. Things are certainly different around here. I think it is a little much for my mom at times. She escaped to the city with my sister today for a little grownup time. My DH seems oblivious to the chaos, bless his heart. Thank goodness he doesn't mind as they really didn't have any place else to go. They will be making a trip back to
Chicago about once a week to visit my SIL.

The house is way too quiet right now. I turned off the television and the only sound I hear is pretty much no sound at all. Wait, I do hear the ticking of the clock on the wall. Not that it is keeping the correct time or anything, but DH can't let go of it. The longest it has kept the correct time lately is for about 5 hours. I hate to think of all the batteries we have gone through.

I have been in a funk lately. It is a struggle to even get dressed each day. Maybe I am missing work? Nah, I don't think so; but I do think I need to set a purpose for each day. I have so many things I want to do, and no motivation to get going on any of them. DH and I have been talking about the things I want to get accomplished here at home. I want to get my craft room sorted out, get rid of the excess furniture in there and set it up to be a really usable space. I also want to get the wall and ceiling of our bedroom repaired, new paint in there, and redecorate. So far though, not much of anything is happening because I can't get going.

DD and SIL closed on their old house Friday. That means everything should be go for the closing on the new house in a few weeks. It is nice that most of the worry about all that is taken care of. Now they just have to focus on moving into the new place. Yahoo!

If I repeat myself occasionally from one post to another, I hope you'll forgive me. When I named this blog "Ramblings" I really meant it. I would have to go back and re-read every post each time to make sure I wasn't repeating. LOL! Maybe that is why so few people come here to check out the blog? Who knows?

Maybe tomorrow I'll make more sense...or not!

TTFN
Ginny

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Home...at last!

Yea, I am home again. I love spending time at my DS and DIL's home, but it is nice to get back home again, too. Wonder how many days it will take me to recover from caring for the little ones? If it hadn't been for my DIL I would never have made it through. She spelled me when I was feeling over my head and I love her for that, (I love her anyway, she is a very special woman, but agreeing to let the little ones and I stay for several days is above and beyond!) My DD is homeless now for about 3 weeks. Their old house will be someone else's as of tomorrow afternoon. Then they can focus on their plans for the new home. So, for now, DD and the little ones are here with us.

My cats, Oreo and PeeWee, are crabby with each other tonight. There is major growling going on. It happens occasionally but I hate it when it does. I had hoped when we got Oreo that she and PeeWee would be buddies. PeeWee and our previous other cat, Peanut, got along great. Peanut was my "baby" in a very real sense. I found him as a newborn preemie under some plastic on our garage floor. There were three kittens in the litter that was born to a first-time, very young cat. The other two kittens had died and it was assumed that the last one had also. When I found Peanut and took him in the house my husband told me to take him outside and let nature take its course; the kitten would die and I would be depressed about it. I couldn't do it; I couldn't just let him die without at least trying to help him. It took two weeks or more of every two hour feedings, warm damp cotton ball cleanings and lots of TLC, but he did survive! It was a miracle in my eyes and the vet felt the same way. Peanut lived for eight wonderful years. He was happy and reasonably healthy almost the whole time. During his last year, he began having breathing problems. The vet took an xray and was amazed; Peanut had survived his whole life on only one half of a lung. Apparently his lungs never fully developed due to his prematurity. But until the last 6 months or so of his life, you would never have known it. When I said he was my baby I meant it. The only mother he had ever known was me. He even developed a habit of sucking on my thumb. My children thought it was really gross and more than a little bit weird. I asked the vet about it and she said that some cats would do that if they were bottle fed as kittens. It had something to do with not getting the mouth to skin contact they would have had if nursing on their mothers. My kids really hated it when I called Peanut my "hairy" son. LOL. He was a character and I loved him very much. When we had to have him put down just three days after my DD's wedding, I wanted to find another kitten who needed me as soon as possible. On Saturday that week I went to a cat rescue facility and Oreo and I found each other. That was over five years ago. I have never regretted finding another cat so soon after losing one.

Wow, if anyone actually reads this blog they will know way more than they want to about my idiosyncracies. (I don't know if I spelled that word right, but I love using it! LOL) I think I have shared enough for tonight.

TTFN (Ta ta for now, British I think)
Ginny

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Reminders

I am writing this post at 2:39 am. I have just finished full day number one of a 2-3 day stretch of taking care of my two youngest grandchildren. God is reminding me of His wisdom in giving me my own children at a young age. I am EXHAUSTED!! So, you might ask, "Why aren't you asleep at this time of the night?". I don't know. Here I am, wide awake and asking the same thing. I know I am tired, but...here I sit. Hmm, just heard a noise that I can't explain. Sounded a little like a growl but it can't be as I am at DS #1's house and they have no animals. Okay, I'm just going to forget it as it hasn't happened again.

Thank goodness I am doing this at DS's. Their two girl's are such a help with the little ones, at least when they aren't in school. And my wonderful DIL takes over for a while when I am feeling over my head. DD and SIL are moving out of the house they sold and should be finished in a day or two. DD and the children will be coming to spend some time with us until they can move into house #2; hopefully in mid-November.

Oops! I think I fell asleep for a second there. My mind just went completely blank. Now that I am awake again, I forgot what else I wanted to say. LOL, (well quietly out loud anyway).

I find myself missing Mom's dear little doggie, even here at DS's house. When the kids drop food on the floor, I find myself thinking about her being our floor cleaner when the kids would drop it at my house. She was always on duty to make sure nothing stayed on the floor longer than a few seconds. I bet my mom is having a hard time still. My cat, Oreo will be doing all she can to help Mom through the tough times. She (Oreo) thinks she needs full-time one-on-one attention and if I'm not there Mom is the chosen one.

I try not to focus on my daily aches and pains, but it is really tough tonight. My knees are killing me! My little grandson is not quite 17 months old, but outweighes his older sister. Carrying him up DS's stairs to put him to bed reminded me why I lost 50 pounds. My body can't handle any more weight. See, more reminders. I guess I chose an appropriate title for this post.

Finally, I bought my new sewing machine! I compromised with DH and got one that isn't quite as expensive as the one I really wanted. I cannot wait to start sewing on the quilts I intend to make. I found a couple of patterns for squares that even I should be able to do. Buying the fabrics should be fun! I want to do bright, pretty colors for my girls and something really fun for our little guy. The one quilt I really liked has only two different blocks of three strips each. The pattern comes in the way you turn the blocks. It is sort of like a super-simplfied version of a log cabin block. Okay, just heard the noise again. I am pretty sure it is a mechanical one, but I can't imagine what.

I guess I will close for now. Thanks for stopping by!

TTFN
Ginny

Friday, October 17, 2008

More Sadness

Yesterday was another day of sadness. My mom's little schnauzer doggie had to be put down. Misty was almost 14 years old and was still in pretty good physical shape. Until recently, she bounced around like a puppy. But she had been prone to spells that resembled an anxiety attack. Over the last couple of weeks these attacks became a constant thing. The veterinarian agreed that her quality of life had gone and we did it out of love for Misty and for the memory of the wonderful pet she had been. I was with her until the end. It was very peaceful and I was able to see the Misty that had been missing for so long. She will be remembered with much love.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

The Wedding

Here is a photobook I created with photos from the wedding. Enjoy!
Click to play The Wedding
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Sunday, October 12, 2008

Somehow We Made It

Somehow we made it through the funeral yesterday. I have to admire my sister-in-law. She was a rock through everything; in fact, she spent a lot of time comforting others. The ceremony was special and everyone was very touched when Bob's niece and brother-in-law played a violin solo. Bob was very well thought of in his city and touched the lives of so many people. I am feeling strange because I have been so close to tears, but unable to cry.

After the funeral I drove down to my oldest son's place to spend a few days. We went to my son's MIL's place for lunch and then the girls (DIL, her mom, and her sister) and I worked on digital scrapbooking. I love introducing others to the joys of digital. They loved it! We are going to try to meet every month or so and work together. I guess maybe we have a club. Wonder what we should name it? What about "Family Scrappers"? I kind of like that one.

Tomorrow I am going to my DD's place and play with the little ones while she tries to get more packing done. I love playing with the little ones. They are growing so fast! My only GS (grandson of course) is going to be a dinosaur for Halloween. DD sent me a video message of him in his adorable costume. I can't imagine a costume that would suit him more. The video shows him running around the room with his big tail swinging back and forth. Looks just like a baby dino playing. It was so CUTE!!

I find myself feeling a little jealous. DS and DIL have the ability to download unlimited amounts of "stuff". I am grabbing digital scrapbooking freebies like crazy. I have to limit myself very carefully at home so I don't go over my alloted 12,000 mb's in any given 30 day period. It is tempting to upgrade my service with the satellite company but DH would have a fit! LOL

Well, I guess I had better get to bed and rest up for my day with the little ones tomorrow. They sure can wear a body out! But it is so much fun I love it anyway.

TTFN
Ginny

PS: I forgot to mention something. Last February we went on a cruise in the Caribbean. I won $250 playing bingo and used it to buy a very pretty tanzanite necklace. When I was so sick in June I remember taking it off and putting it on the table next to the recliner. For several months I couldn't find it and I just knew it was gone. I figured it fell off into the little waste basket and burned or maybe vacuumed up. That made me feel sick all over again. Well, yesterday I was looking for a necklace to wear to the funeral. I decided to wear my diamond circle that DH gave me for Christmas but couldn't get it fastened due to arthritis in my fingers. I went looking in my necklace case for one with the magnetic closure and pulled the only one I could see out of the case. It was my Tanzanite!!! It isn't gone!!! Now, when we girls go on our cruise I can spend the money I had saved to replace it on earrings to match! Unreal!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

My Heart is Breaking

My heart is breaking...we have lost a member of our family today. My brother-in-law passed away today. My sister-in-law, I can't even imagine what she is going through right now. I can't even find the right words right now.

Bob, I know we didn't get to spend a lot of time together, but I always thought you were a really terrific guy. Our family was very lucky to have had you as a member. We will all miss you so much. God speed!

TTFN
Ginny

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

I DID IT!

Well, I got started anyway! I am finally going through all my clothes and getting rid of things that don't work for me or fit. What a mess it will be for a couple of days, but it will be worth it. I have a really hard time getting rid of things; especially if they are in any way sentimental. When I am done I will have only the clothes I wear most of the time and a few key pieces. I may add a couple of new things occasionally but only if they fit well and I love them. Poor DH, he will have to live in the mess for a little while. But it will be nice to have it done! Then I can redecorate my bedroom. It still has the same paint we put on the walls about 35 years ago. There is some damage to the ceiling that occurred during the four years we didn't live in this house and a little damage on the north wall as well. I want to get both of those things fixed and get the whole room repainted. I am actually getting excited. When this is done, I need to get my craft room fixed up. It may be time to switch out my craft room to the little room at the top of the stairs and use the bigger room that it is in now for a bunk room for all the grandchildren.

DD is coming with the children at the end of the month for an undetermined length of time. They still are having trouble finding a house to buy. No one wants to accept a bid with a contingency written in. They ask for it because they are afraid the sale of their house could fall through. It isn't likely, but they would like to have all bases covered. I am going down to my oldest son's home this weekend for some quality time with them. My DIL has been wanting to learn digital scrapbooking for a while now. I haven't done as much lately as I would like but when all the wedding photos from last weekend are in I will finish up the wedding album.

Well, I guess it is time to get to bed. I have "things" to do tomorrow and I have been staying up way too late. Night!

TTFN
Ginny

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Post-Wedding Blues

Okay, I admit it. I have post-wedding blues. It has been a week since my DS got married and I still want to talk about it but everyone else has moved on. I stll want to revel in the beauty and sacredness of it all. I still want to re-live every detail and how wonderful it was. How do you get past this when your last one is married and you know it will be a LONG time until the next wedding in your immediate family? (I am thinking grandchildren and my oldest isn't even 8 yet!)

I went to another family wedding yesterday. It was my husband's step-niece whom we love very much. We were very honored to be invited as they had to keep their guest list small and they chose to include us. The couple had chosen to get married outside in a local state park. Yesterday was the most gorgeous day we will probably have this fall. Warm enough for the wedding party to be comfortable in their strapless dresses (only the girls, only the girls, LOL). The sun shone warmly and there was no wind. It would have been perfect if we had been able to get there in time for the ceremony. Talk about a comedy of errors. In order to get to the park we decided to ride the free ferry across the river instead of going around the long way. Because of the perfect day the lines for the ferry were long. We didn't get on until the third trip which was making us miss the 3 pm ceremony. When we finally got across we didn't have too far to go to reach the short way to the ceremony site. Would have been wonderful and we actually could have made the ceremony because they started quite late. But, of course, it didn't work out that way. Nope, that would have been too easy. When we got to the turn off for the road into the park, it was on a section of road that was being repaved, on a Saturday. We wanted to turn on the road anyway but they made us go around the park and enter from the other side. We did miss the ceremony, but they were still taking photos when we got there. Oh, well. The dinner was wonderful but we didn't stay for the dance. DH had to get up early to milk cows and I was getting a headache. But the bride and groom were so happy and I am glad we went.

The blisters from the other day are still killing me. I sure hope they don't get infected! I really have learned a lesson that I should have already known.

I am looking forward to DS and new DIL getting back from their honeymoon and sharing their photos of it!

Let's see, what is coming up? Next weekend I am going down to Illinois to visit my oldest son and family and maybe even DD. Then it is only a little over a month until my mom, my sisters and I go on our "girls" cruise to Cozumel. I am looking forward to that!

Okay, rambling over for today. I am going to rest my feet for a while and do some laundry. Y'all have a great day!

TTFN
Ginny

Thursday, October 2, 2008

What Was I Thinking?

So, yesterday I got to do something I haven't done in years. I got to go to the World Dairy Expo in Madison. My DH and the other farm guys are busy working in our fields or the neighbors. My little way of helping is to go to the Expo and collect information that they might be interested in. I had forgotten what a lot of walking and carrying it can be though. It wasn't too bad while I was there. There are so many interesting exhibits that you can walk a long way without realizing it. Today, I realized it!! All that walking on the concrete took a toll on my legs and feet. I am hobbling along a little bit today. My knees are sore and my hips are a bit stiff. But, oh, did I have fun. The exhibitors at the Expo are wonderful! I learned a few things I didn't know and I hope you don't mind me sharing some of it.

Did you know that there are fly predators? I didn't either. I was walking along and saw a booth on controlling flies. There was a bag on the table that was clear in back and I couldn't help picking it up. Was I ever surprised when I realized the inside of the bag was crawling with all these tiny little "things". It almost looked like super small ants. Turns out they are actually a member of the wasp family and lay their eggs in fly larvae. That kills the larvae and reduces the population of flies. It was so neat! I couldn't help thinking that the guys on the farm would love to hear about these predators.

My favorite booth used to be one of the AI (artificial insemination) companies. They had a jar of empty semen straws on the table and you picked one out. The times I tried it I pulled out straws that were good for 10 straws of frozen bull semen. Now, the people at work just couldn't understand why I was excited about that. When you live on a dairy farm your livelyhood depends on the calves you have to replace the cows as they age. The 10 straws of semen were worth $150 and that was money that could stay in our account. I did okay! We still have some cows and a bull on our farm that came from those straws. So, weird yes, but worth it? YES!! This year I entered the same company's drawing for $200 worth of frozen semen. Wish me luck!

Now, I didn't do all this walking, talking, and hauling just for the guys. There are rewards for me, too. My "wages" for doing all this is the goodies that are handed out at the booths. I am happy to get pens and pencils. They last us pretty much until next year. But that's not all I got. I brought home a photo of myself taken at one of the booths, a cap, a t-shirt, a flashlight, a cow shaped stress ball, a cow shaped paper clip holder, cheese, candy, key chains, coloring books for the grandchildren, and much more. I had so much fun!!

Today I THOUGHT I had a doctor appointment and got spiffed up. I even wore a new pair of shoes. Trying to be stylish, I wore them without socks or nylons. Big, big mistake. I have at least five blisters on my feet and they hurt! It really doesn't help that I misread the day of the appointment and it isn't until next week! LOL

Okay, enough whining, I am going to sign off for now. Take care of your tootsies everyone!

TTFN
Ginny