Memoriam

As church began this morning, I glanced over at my mother. She was scribbling some numbers on her bulletin, I looked at her quizzically. She looked up and murmured "Dad would have been 92 today."

The brother got married a few weeks ago. It was a lovely celebration of love and family.

Both these poignant moments reminded me that memories are blessings. . .

• Grampy assisting with our math homework during Thanksgiving break.
• Picking strawberries (into our mouths) with the cousins.
• Cardboard sledding.
• After dinner conversation-not the content but the company.

Today I am thankful for the memories I have and the memories I'm making.

A post with a dinosaur

Wednesday, October 6th I went out to NYC to visit the sister. Since she had to work, I amused myself on Thursday and Friday.

Thursday, I went to the American Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I got up and rode the train into the city with the sister and then she ditched me at Grand Central (j/k after giving me very detailed and accurate instructions, I would have to be extremely moronic to get lost) so she could go to work while I took the subway to Central Park west. 

Nature

There is a delight in the hardy life of the open.

There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm.

The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased; and not impaired in value.

Conservation means development as much as it does protection.
~Theodore Roosevelt (Roosevelt Memorial rotunda)

 While waiting for the museum to open, I sat on a bench on the grounds and people-watched while having some coffee & a scone.

The above photo is the statue of Theodore Roosevelt that stands at the entrance of the museum. 

To the right is a photo of a mosquito 75 times it's actual size.

Manhood

A man's usefulness depends upon his living up to his ideals insofar as he can.

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.

All daring and courage, all iron endurance of misfortune-make for a finer, nobler type of manhood.

Only those are fit to live who do not fear to die and none are fit to die who have shrunk from the joy of life and the duty of life.
~ Theodore Roosevelt (Roosevelt Memorial rotunda)

This tree was started growing in 550 A.D. and was cut down in 1891. I can't remember where the tree was growing but I do know it was somewhere in the United States.

My favorite part of the museum was the animal dioramas.  They were amazing!

And I couldn't leave without a photo of some dinosaur bones...

Youth

I want to see you game, boys, I want to see you brave and manly, and I also want to see you gentle and tender.
Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground.
Courage, hard work, self-mastery, and intelligent effort are all essential to successful life.
Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike.
~Theodore Roosevelt (Roosevelt Memorial rotunda)

I was very impressed with Theodore Roosevelt. So impressed in fact that I purchased a biography on him at a bookstore on Friday. 

Day 4

Day 4 was a driving day. We drove from Picacho Peak in Arizona to San Diego, CA.

View Day 4 in a larger map

Highlights:

• We stopped for lunch at Yuma, AZ.

• It was very, very HOT!

• There were gigantic dairy farms along the interstate. It was bizarre to be surrounded by desert and all of a sudden there would be a huge field of the greenest hay -- everything was irrigated there.
  
  
• We drove close enough to the Mexico border to see border fence.

We found a motel in San Diego and that evening we went to Encinitas to visit my mom's aunt & uncle.

Day 3: Part 1

After spending a pleasant evening with friends in El Paso, TX and a delicious breakfast at IHOP, we headed to up to Alamogordo, NM. Mom lived on the Air Force Base there but we were unable to get on it due to security.

We then headed over to White Sands.




It had rained the night before so the sand was slightly damp.


My self portrait. :-)


I thought this looked like a frozen lake & ice fishing huts -- what can I say I have lived in the upper Midwest my entire life! BTW - that is our car at the bottom of the sand dune.



Mom at the top of the sand dune.

View Day 3 in a larger map

Day 2: Cloudcroft, NM

One of the purposes of this road trip out west was to visit some of the homes that mom lived in when she was a child. Grampy was in the Air Force so my mom's family moved around a lot.

When they first moved to New Mexico they lived in a cottage at Cloudcroft, NM. As the name implies, Cloudcroft is up in the mountains and as we drove up the mountains it started pouring. It poured so hard I had to pull over because I couldn't see far enough ahead of the car to drive safely.

This is the the view while we waited for the rain to abate.



The tunnel we drove through to get up to Cloudcroft.



The view on the way back down.



Posing in the rain . . .

There was so much water these waterfalls formed along the roadside.

View Larger Map

I'm home!

We actually arrived home last night. I spent the day doing laundry, making lists, and pulling my mind away from its vacation mindset.

My plan for the next couple days is to recount our vacation. So here goes . . . Day 1.

Honestly, Day 1 was mostly driving. We did stop just outside of Oklahoma City (on Route 66) at Pops.

Pops is a gas station, gift shop, diner and ultimate "soda ranch." They have delicious chili burgers.


And over 500 soda flavors . . . I had a Nehi Peach. It was YUMMY!


We picked up a six pack of a variety of flavors to bring home with us.

After supper, we traveled on to Canute, Oklahoma (just outside of Elk City) and camped at a KOA.

View Day 1 in a larger map

Family time

This weekend I, my mom, and my grammy (who is visiting from Texas) are going to a family reunion -- the family of my grandma's grandparents.

I was talking to Grammy last night about who was going to be there. She told me she had only met a young cousin of her mother's . . . so it should be interesting.

Tomorrow, I will be having lunch with Grammy . . . yea!

On this day . . .

Long ago (I was five and darling then) I was in the hospital with my face pressed up against a glass window to catch a glimpse of a new baby that had arrived. I didn't know what to think about this little bundle who was about to change my standing in the family as the only girl-child -- my sister.

She's . . . well let's just say a little bit older today. I can honestly say I really don't mind sharing the girl-child position with her . . . anymore. :-)

Happy Birthday to the SISTER!

Love,
Your Sister

Eh

I honestly can't say this has been the most productive day.

I started out with grand plans and great intentions. I have a list of things I wanted to get done -- none of which were excessively difficult nor time consuming . . . and yet not a single item on my list was completed today.

It all started at noon when I opened my front door to see if my mail had arrived. It had but so had a package. A package I had been waiting for for a week!

It was the mp3 player I had purchased with some of the Christmas money I got from Grammy.

So the rest of my day was sucked into the mp3 player universe. I charged it up during my lunch break. Then during my afternoon break I perused my "free" download selection to find a few tunes to add. This evening has been spent figuring out how to download, upload, and all other manner of loading.

But I am -- now, at this very moment -- listening to my new mp3 player.

Oh, and I called the brother -- so I guess today was pretty productive.

Time flies

This week is going to fast! And keeps going faster.

But tomorrow I will be going out to the farm for some quality sister time. And by quality I mean -- I become the teasee of the family. :-D

I am also going to make up the dough for the rolls for Thursday and mix up some cinnamon rolls. Yummy!

Starting the countdown . . .

Only four more days until the sister is here for the Thanksgiving holiday!

Only eight more days until the brother is here for the Thanksgiving holiday! That seems like a long way off but I think the time will go by fast.

I just hope it slows down while they are here!

Tomorrow it will be 3 days and 7 days!

Yea!

5 ways I am blessed

1. God is taking care of my finances

2. I have a comfortable place to live

3. I have friends who I enjoy spending time with

4. I work at a job I wake up each morning wanting to go to because it is challenging and fulfilling

5. I have a family I love and with whom I keep in touch with whether over lunch or through e-mail

He's gonna kill me . . .

Ah, the young mischievous cutie. I say mischievous because he has that grin on his face while the rest of the picture shows him relentlessly annoying the sister.

::head shaking::

He was a cutie though. Still is. Although this grin is rare.

And today the brother is one year older.

And still younger than me!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Love you!

Picnic

Yesterday we had our church picnic a the park.

There was a lot of good food! And a lot of good fellowship!

Funny face there is my mom . . .

After the food . . . the games . . .

with the younger ones . . .

the older ones . . .



















and everyone in between . . .

:-)

Grampy

July 13, 1922 - July 3, 2008

Just a little push . . .

Last night, as I was driving home from the grocery store, I came upon a father and two sons riding their bicycles up a long hill. They boys were really pumping to make it up the hill. About halfway up the father reached out his hand and put it on his younger son's back and gave him a little push.

To me that was a very endearing moment.

Don't we all a little push sometimes. A little help along the way. I am blessed to have people in my life that can give me that little push every once in a while.

Shopping list

With my new thrifty lifestyle, I have to rethink how I go shopping.

My mom and I are going shopping tomorrow and I am sitting here trying to make a list of things I need. Then prioritizing those items by how much I need them.

We will probably go to Sam's. Although this is a great store because of the bulk savings, it is easy to talk yourself into buying much more than you need. So you end up spending more anyway!

I am planning out exactly how much I can spend and I AM going to stick to it!

Another good thing about going shopping tomorrow . . . it will get me away from the internet. I have been gorging myself on it. I have gotten caught up on all the sites that I have missed since my service was suspended.

Next week I am planning on regulating my usage better.

One good thing . . . I have "talked" to the sister a lot this week! (Maybe not so good for her!) :-)

On the right foot

Well, I had a pleasant weekend! It was busy too! Friday I did dinner and movies at a friends house. Saturday I had to work for a few hours but then a friend and I visited with friend of ours who was in the area for the weekend.

That was great -- we got to catch up on each other's lives and visit with her kids!

Yesterday, of course, was Mother's Day and I had dinner with Mom & Dad after church.

I even started out the week right getting up at a early enough to get some yard work done this morning before going to work and now I'm going home to mow my lawn.

I hope I can keep my momentum up for the rest of the week!

5 things

In the spirit of the sister's birthday, a 5 things post dedicated to her . . .

5 things I love about my sister:

• Her creativity

• Her smile

• How great a friend she is

• Her practicality

• Her sensitivity
  

You look like a monkey . . .

• 301 years ago today the Kindgom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland became the Kingdom of Great Britain.

• 222 years ago today was opening night of the opera The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart in Vienna, Austria.

• 145 years ago today the Battle of Chancellorsville (Civil War) begins.

• 115 years ago today the World's Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago.

• 77 years ago today The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City.

• 63 years ago today a German newsreader officially announces that Adolf Hitler has "fallen at his command post".

• 52 years ago today the the polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public.

• 30 years ago today the first unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail (aka "spam") is sent.

• 27 years ago today the sister was born.

Despite the fact that I am sure I wasn't entirely happy about it at the time, I have completely gotten over that and know that I would be lost without her today.

Happy Birthday!