Summer Olypmics 2012

Having kids who are 10 and 12 to watch the summer Olympics with certainly brings back memories.  Specifically, the 1972 and 1976 Olympics.  I was 7, and then 11 - and I remember Olga Corbet and Nadia Comanici.  I was too young to register anything about the scariness of the Munich games.

We spent both summers back in Washington Iowa at the United Presbyterian Home visiting my Grandparents.  Reverend W Bruce Gillis and Kathryn McCrery Gillis.  They lived in a cottage on the grounds, we would pull the trailer up to the side of the house, Grandpa had a zip line, a hammock, you could ride your bikes all over - even to go see the billy goats. . . It was great.  I remember complaining alot.  (Hot, humid, bugs) And looking at photo albums and visiting all day long. 

I think more usually it was Lawrence Welk, but it was very memorable to have the Olympics to experience together as a family.  that's why it's so annoying when the girls don't really want to watch, or are texting during the opening ceremony!!!! 

Of course I do have a bonus in that the girls dig swimming, so we get to pay attention to that too. 

   When was Marc Spitz?  That was later, I was older - but that's another memory.  And I was very happy to see that Rowan Atkins was still funny.  He hasn't got the way of Chevy Chase and Tim Conway.  The Black Adder still has it!

Persian Plum

Persian Plum - My first bed sized quilt!  YIKES!!

 Double Pinwheel

 Ohio Star

 Quartered Star

London Roads

Persian Plum, Block #1

Whoa there Colleen O!  Pace yourself!
Block one, done.
Now.
Where'd that enourmous "to do" list go?

July 4, 2012

This year there were no fireworks.  Is that what gave it that just another day feel?  No.  I guess it was my lack of planning anything special.  And the kids are getting to the age where they would rather go hang out with their friends if we don't have something we are supposed to do.  So, my own fault that I feel disappointment in how the day went.

My apologies uncelebrated July 4, 2012.  I do not think we did you justice this year.

We did
* Parade - Park Views 3rd annual little kids bike parade.(I bet it was the last year, as they are not to cool to decorate their bikes,  but were too cool to parade.)
* I got to have coffee with the ladies - for a very short while, but it definitely counted!
* I spent half of the day with my mom.  That was all good.

Then I guess I wanted a family time evening, but I spent it on the couch by myself.  I'm afraid I have to become a tour guide/ hostess to keep everyone entertained enough to stick around, and I just didn't have the energy.

which brings me to today.

Quite the jam packed day coming up.  A early morning decorating task, Cousin Lisa, daughter Sarah and her husband Dave should be coming for a casual visit this morning / afternoon. Nana coming as well.  Errands to do that I'm going to have to move, dog grooming and a girls night out movie.

So, I'd best get planning.

"Oh man, I think I sat on a Payday!" - Cheech? or was it Chong?

How do I know how to do this?  I have a vague memory of trying to save a Cheech and Chong tape in my youth - or did we just take it apart to see what made it tick?  In any event - I saved the day!  The 1974 tape (as predicted) broke and I got to use my SKILLS.  Fixed and saved for . . . . we'll, probably just for me. But Aunties Fran and Jan, Unk Bob will certainly give it a listen at least once.

One More Time... but much LOUDER!

Grr - can't find an old picture to match - so here's one of Dad singing.

I'm re-recording 2 cassette tapes made in 1973, 1974 by WB Gillis Jr and Unk Bob Gillis - sent to Rob Chaz Schroeder.  Bobbi Balek (Schroeder) found them while going through her dad's things, and sent them back to mom (Roberta Gillis (Schepar)) - who I just heard signing  something like the "I'm my own grandpa song".  I wish the audio was better, but it's a labor of love.  It wasn't very good to begin with (no reflection on the musicians) - and half the fun is hearing the laughter/ conversations going on in the background.  Stirring up memories.  OK - sshhh - 45 minutes to go.  I hope they do Irene Goodnight again.  That seems to be the one everybody knows the words too!

Purging, Purging, Purging! Is there light at the end of the tunnel?

Hello! Look - I have a blog!
So spring break is almost over, I've almost finished my utility room purge (which was 1/10 of my to do list, but - I'm only human, and that's just gonna have to be good enough).

The kids had a blast playing with friends and neighbors, I spent time with friends and family - it was a wonderful break!

I feel tanned, rested and ready to start back to work tomorrow.
Spring break.
I highly recommend it.

(OK, I am secretly hoping for a somehow someway snow day tomorrow - I even washed my car in an attempt to trigger one!)

Touching Stories

Just a do-over kind of weekend

Date night gone wrong- thinking YAY - we can stay home this snowy night and watch a movie - we started with Midnight in Paris. Quickly, I started thinking - "ugh, this seems just like a Woody Allen movie. . . Oh, even worse! It IS a Woody Allen movie!" (I used to like them - but kinda like Chevy Chase suddenly not being funny anymore - Woody is suddenly terribly dated.) So then we switch to Contagion - which was just a bit of a downer (good, but not in a date night way). And then I fell asleep on the couch only to awake when it was time to pick up the kids so I can go to bed for real.

This is after Kevin's Birthday on Friday when we decided because it was the first night of swim team we should skip going out for Mexican food; this year we are going to take swim team more seriously! Well, I missed the last minute email saying it was cancelled. By the time we got home it was too late to do anything but say "Happy Birthday!"

Thank goodness we have a backup plan for Sunday! - Granny is going to take us to the Melting Pot for Kevin's birthday. Only I screwed up and didn't make the reservations early enough so we either have to go at 3 - or 8.

Now none of these things are the end of the world. It is just that added to my ongoing problem with the new home-to-work computer connection that - you guessed it - decided not to work this weekend, pretty much all of my plans backfired of fizzled out.

If offered a DO OVER - I would take it.

Social Story for Autistic Children: "Standing in Line at School"

Having a moment

You know, a moment. When you really connect. Had one with mom on the phone this very morning. It had been awhile. Wonderful!

And last night with Caitlin - she had me laughing so hard I was crying. The topic was, well, one of the topics - engaging your brain before opening your mouth versus having your brain connected to your mouth (which is more blurting out what ever your thinking.) So, Caitlin's self described thought process - "Hi! You're fat. I like pie. Kittens are cute!" - which is pretty much how I thought but was afraid to ask - her teenage girl brain operates.

So, tonight we celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. Nana has the girls. Kevin and I are going - somewhere nice. I'm hoping we'll have a moment!

The Summer of Self Sufficiency!

Here's how simple my summer project is NOT!

example:

"put the breakfast dishes away, brush your teeth, get in the car". (portions of this statement were repeated 5 times this morning.) Drop the kids off, return to find one set of dishes left at the table. Stop yourself from just doing it, because it's the summer of self sufficiency! Next pass through the room - decide to rinse them and put them back because "gross". Call your husband at work to explain why he should not put the dishes away if he should come home while you're out. Stew over the fact that he will probably put the dishes away before you can drive home your point with DD1. Simple! Then watch her do it again at dinner.

Happy Mothers Day

Nana is about to come over, we are first headed to Tagawa to buy each other our mothers day presents. Then we will spend the day gardening and bar-b-queing. Oh, I hope it is as idillic as it sound!

And aside (I wanted to post this story on facebook, but it was too long).

An elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, "A fight is going on inside me... it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.

One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

"The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

"This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too."

They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied... "The one you feed."

No Insomnia = No blogging

I figured out why I'm not much of a blogger anymore. My insomnia has been pretty much manageable, in check, since the ending of grad school. Sure I still wake up at 3a.m. like thyroid induced clockwork, but nowadays I just go right back to sleep. In fact, my last blog post was done during a windy night when I couldn't get back to sleep.

So, since I'm here, check-in report: all is well. Very busy at the almost 90 day old job, taking tomorrow off for Abigail's braces on the bottom which is an hour long procedure and I felt merited a mama daughter day.

I am headed up to the comfy couch with my blankie and glass of milk to read "Stolen Lives" - the Parkview Bookclub pick; can't get my hands on "Cutting for Stone" the Mother/daughter Bookclub pick; but did next months already on CD in the car (a great way to use travel time!) That was "the Big Burn" - making history interesting. I think I will do "1776" next - on CD. I started that one a year ago with dad in the hospital. Which brings me to the anniversary mopes of dads passing away. Miss you dad.

I was just looking for an interesting recent picture - and dishwashing, dishwasher, washing hands, etc. were my choices. I actually enjoy creating the First / Then visuals - I have my very own laminator for the classroom. The sad part - no time to do it! I've actually had to delegate this, my creative outlet to others. Don't worry though, I still get to color.

Good night - I have to go post Caitlin's joke on Facebook to help bury my political ones. Sometimes I just can't help myself. - What did 0 say to 8?

Nice belt!

stupid wind. . .

The wind is fierce tonight! And for me, once the eyes are open, that leads to "I wonder if the fires are still going - I need to call Doug and Annie - nah, they're probably under 3 feet of snow - still, I should call - I should wake Abi up and make her read for an hour, that's what I SHOULD do - did I bring home the boardmaker CD? - I need to get those made - Should I get up? - don't be ridiculous, it's just a little wind, go back to sleep!... I need to make sure Caitlin brings a snack to school; CSAPs! - I should have... I could have ... there's no way I'm ever getting back to sleep - stupid insomnia - hey, maybe if i get stuff done now, I can go to archivers!" - If you can't beat it, go with it!

I skipped all the dad tangents - the photo is of a largely unfinished Grandpa, tell me your memories guide. I guess I thought we'd really jump in with that in his 90's.

Frugality after, Industry before

Well, lessons learned from frugality are :
I need to keep working on it, and
many times, trying to be frugal costs you more money.

Industry! How perfect that I just got a job! "be always employed doing something useful"
. . . uh - hehehe - right.

So I'll have plenty to keep me focused on industry this week. I'll just try to keep my vegging in front of the t.v. or computer to a minimum. Work out instead, I'll need to let off some tension! Again, a good luck week to do industry.

FRUGALITY

Resolve was ok, however - Frugality! Now there is a challenge. Also, the added levels to Franklin's idea of frugality isn't just to spend less. It's to spend "only to do good and waste nothing."

The book is funny, with excellent examples of how his attempts to save a few cents end up costing him a great deal more and being a headache. It's hard to know what to do, particularly for a second guesser like me. So let me sink my teeth in and report back!

week 3 - Resolve

Resolve - I'm paraphrasing, but Doing whatever it is you set out to do without fail.

Well, this is a problem, isn't it.
This is why I'm here.
Right now, I'm doing fairly well with this because I'm without job and frankly, I have enough time on my hands to keep all my juggling balls in the air. And without fail, I take on too many, burn out, fatigue, ect. and start dropping them! Sometimes I do a good job for a long time, and sometimes I'm all over the place - it's a roller coaster. But doing it without fail? Is that even a realistic expectation?

So, like the rest of the virtues, I guess it's about continuing to try, and at least you will probably going to get alittle closer to the target out of practice. So, I'm resolving to make good use of my remaining time off, and resolving to find a job.

A Picture a day - until when?

My cousin Kate writes " It must be strange not to have Uncle Bruce around - but he leaves a legacy of cheer and music and droll remarks for the holidays. Big hugs to you."

So if I were to be starting a picture a day thing with Ms Martha, that's probably what I would start with! How about A PICTURE A DAY UNTIL I GET A REAL JOB! It'll be fun, like a sit in protest, or other civil disobedience - YEAH! - Who's with me! (crickets)

check, check, check

Chirstmas - check - (back in the box all but the outdoor lights)
Cardboard Santa - Check - recorded, measured for possible makeover/preservation project, and tucked away
Bills paid - check
Coffee flowing - check
Photo project - check - 2010 uploaded

I love organizing, being organized! I just don't usually have the time to do it!