*Skips in merrily*
Hi Mr. Blog!
I had the best day with Terry yesterday. He just needed a day off
and to have me throw mountains of eggs and toast at him.
I smothered him with hugs and kisses
as I am prone to do when he doesn't point
out my joblessness.
He gave me cash to buy treats for his sister Heidi
and I made her the cutest Easter basket in history.
We picked her up some Burger King food on the way
to her nursing home and she was so delighted.
I put the shopping bag off to the side so she could
have a surprise after her lunch.
We she saw it she turned to me and said,
"I have been craving Easter candy all week and now look at this!
You always make me a basket and have had Terry deliver
it every Easter and I couldn't call you and say,
"Gretchen, could you make me an Easter basket?"
Well, that cheered me up considerably Mr. blog!
When you feel like an old, useless bag of dog poop,
the only cure is to help someone have a better day.
So I've been reading this series of books every night by
Alexander McCall-Smith and I am totally obsessed with Botswana.
I want to go there very badly Mr. Blog!!!
I would sleep on the floor if I knew someone there that would let me visit.
I thought and thought, "How could I ever meet someone in Botswana?"
Then I put up a notice on the bulletin board down the hall
and a nice lady around my age said, "Honey, there is a door
to Botswana right down the hall. Go open it."
So I did and guess what?! There they were!
Hundreds of people from Botswana!
I am so shy with strangers
but I went up to five of them and asked them to be
my friend. They said they might call me after work
which for them is in about an hour.
If it is 9:30 AM here, it is 6:30 PM in Botswana.
I think they are in the same time zone as my friend Andrei
in Romania.
I have a million things to do but I hate to go because maybe one
person from Botswana will contact me!
I am so excited I can barely think straight!
Ciao!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
3/30/10 The Cranky Mailman
*Walks in slowly and lies down*
Ugh Mr. Blog,
Terry was so cranky last night.
He came while I was reading,
"Morality for Beautiful Girls"
and started right in on me.
What did I buy lately? How much did I charge?
Blah, blah, blah.
I told him a bit here and there and then was evasive
and reminded him that there are currently
eleven million Americans without jobs
and that he is darn lucky to have a secure job
at the post office.
I told him I had applied for a long-term sub
job over at Meridian Park.
Geez, I want that job.
Who am I kidding Mr. Blog?
I want ANY teaching job.
I'm tired of getting by-passed for work by twenty
and thirty year olds that quit the minute they
get pregnant. I would never do that!
Hahahahaha! I'm so funny.
Of course I can't do that, I'm fifty-three!
Ugh Mr. Blog,
Terry was so cranky last night.
He came while I was reading,
"Morality for Beautiful Girls"
and started right in on me.
What did I buy lately? How much did I charge?
Blah, blah, blah.
I told him a bit here and there and then was evasive
and reminded him that there are currently
eleven million Americans without jobs
and that he is darn lucky to have a secure job
at the post office.
I told him I had applied for a long-term sub
job over at Meridian Park.
Geez, I want that job.
Who am I kidding Mr. Blog?
I want ANY teaching job.
I'm tired of getting by-passed for work by twenty
and thirty year olds that quit the minute they
get pregnant. I would never do that!
Hahahahaha! I'm so funny.
Of course I can't do that, I'm fifty-three!
Monday, March 29, 2010
3/20/10 The Utility Room From Hell & The Sad Story of Heidi Nixon
*Walks in cheerfully and lies down*
You should see my utility room Mr. Blog.
It could get a trophy for ugliest utility room in history.
There is junk from twenty years tossed in there.
Like old metal detectors and a trashed tent with
poles sticking out of the bottom of a black garbage sack.
I just cleaned it ten years ago too! Ugh.
Then when Lyle died seven years ago
some of his and mummy's yard stuff got tossed on top.
Well-guess who I ran into down the hall in the common room?
A friend of Connie's named Gretchen Ranicke-Fines.
Pronounced Finesses. You might remember her
from the Great Kitten Mix-Up. She saved Earl's life.
Turns out her specialty is cleaning and organizing
and she owns a business that does so.
She'll be here in a few hours to help me tackle
my utility room. I'll let you know how it goes.
So yesterday I went to church and I could not believe
I had forgotten it was Palm Sunday!!!
The kids were just carrying the palms in when I arrived.
I remember Troy and Teddy doing that when they were little.
I saw many women in the choir that I had met on the church retreat.
Gosh, they are such talented musicians! Pam, Robin and Yvonne.
Debbie led the youth group in a great Palm Sunday dramatization.
The first song, "Ain't No Rock Gonna Shout For Me"
made me want to jump up and dance!
I had to plant my butt on the pew to keep down.
Afterwards, I popped into Saint Vincent DePaul and looked for books
for me and Teddy and found a few. But the important thing
was I found new Easter stuff for Terry's sister Heidi.
Fifteen years ago she went on a vacation to Oregon
and missed a turn on a cliff.
She broke her back and was paralyzed from the waist down.
She was thirty years old.
So she has been living in nursing homes since then.
We visit her once a month or so and I like to make her holiday gifts.
So yesterday I found a darling new Easter basket and some
bunnies and eggs that I can fill with candy for her.
I is just so sad to see her so young living there.
It breaks my heart.
But on to a cheerier topic...
I went down to Third Place Books hoping to find and buy
the sequel to my new favorite book,
THE FIRST LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY
and you will never guess what Mr. Blog.
*Waits for him to guess*
There are like eight more books in the series!!!
There is NOTHING I LIKE BETTER THAN SERIES STORIES!!!
Way back to Henry Huggins in 1964 when I found out
stories could even have sequels.
Oh, the joy of sharing my imagination with people I love
and finding out about their lives.
And, who in a million years would think of writing about
Botswana?! Alexander McCall-Smith, that's who.
He is my hero!
Funny that he is an old white man whose imagination
powers the soul of a middle-aged black woman!
So, thank God for Third Place Books
because they sell used books in mint condition
and I was able to buy the next five books
for a song.
I had run out of cash and had to charge the books
but it was an emergency situation.
I prefer reading to television
and when I'm on a series
you'd better look out.
I just want to know everything about Precious and her life.
Like when I went to that church retreat.
I was so eager to find out about the interesting stories
that everyone had and there were so real page-turners!
The books are short Mr. Blog so I can read one a day
if I go to bed at seven which I like to do on these rainy days anyway.
Well, thanks for listening.
*Looks over and sees he has nodded off in his chair*
You should see my utility room Mr. Blog.
It could get a trophy for ugliest utility room in history.
There is junk from twenty years tossed in there.
Like old metal detectors and a trashed tent with
poles sticking out of the bottom of a black garbage sack.
I just cleaned it ten years ago too! Ugh.
Then when Lyle died seven years ago
some of his and mummy's yard stuff got tossed on top.
Well-guess who I ran into down the hall in the common room?
A friend of Connie's named Gretchen Ranicke-Fines.
Pronounced Finesses. You might remember her
from the Great Kitten Mix-Up. She saved Earl's life.
Turns out her specialty is cleaning and organizing
and she owns a business that does so.
She'll be here in a few hours to help me tackle
my utility room. I'll let you know how it goes.
So yesterday I went to church and I could not believe
I had forgotten it was Palm Sunday!!!
The kids were just carrying the palms in when I arrived.
I remember Troy and Teddy doing that when they were little.
I saw many women in the choir that I had met on the church retreat.
Gosh, they are such talented musicians! Pam, Robin and Yvonne.
Debbie led the youth group in a great Palm Sunday dramatization.
The first song, "Ain't No Rock Gonna Shout For Me"
made me want to jump up and dance!
I had to plant my butt on the pew to keep down.
Afterwards, I popped into Saint Vincent DePaul and looked for books
for me and Teddy and found a few. But the important thing
was I found new Easter stuff for Terry's sister Heidi.
Fifteen years ago she went on a vacation to Oregon
and missed a turn on a cliff.
She broke her back and was paralyzed from the waist down.
She was thirty years old.
So she has been living in nursing homes since then.
We visit her once a month or so and I like to make her holiday gifts.
So yesterday I found a darling new Easter basket and some
bunnies and eggs that I can fill with candy for her.
I is just so sad to see her so young living there.
It breaks my heart.
But on to a cheerier topic...
I went down to Third Place Books hoping to find and buy
the sequel to my new favorite book,
THE FIRST LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY
and you will never guess what Mr. Blog.
*Waits for him to guess*
There are like eight more books in the series!!!
There is NOTHING I LIKE BETTER THAN SERIES STORIES!!!
Way back to Henry Huggins in 1964 when I found out
stories could even have sequels.
Oh, the joy of sharing my imagination with people I love
and finding out about their lives.
And, who in a million years would think of writing about
Botswana?! Alexander McCall-Smith, that's who.
He is my hero!
Funny that he is an old white man whose imagination
powers the soul of a middle-aged black woman!
So, thank God for Third Place Books
because they sell used books in mint condition
and I was able to buy the next five books
for a song.
I had run out of cash and had to charge the books
but it was an emergency situation.
I prefer reading to television
and when I'm on a series
you'd better look out.
I just want to know everything about Precious and her life.
Like when I went to that church retreat.
I was so eager to find out about the interesting stories
that everyone had and there were so real page-turners!
The books are short Mr. Blog so I can read one a day
if I go to bed at seven which I like to do on these rainy days anyway.
Well, thanks for listening.
*Looks over and sees he has nodded off in his chair*
Sunday, March 28, 2010
3/28/10 Janet Joyce Lehde/AKA Strawberry/ Orange Kittens
*Bounces in merrily*
Hi Mr. Blog!
I only had ONE hot flash last night and I feel
like a million bucks.
I was dreaming that my sister Strawberry
was here for a visit and she walked in and saw the
stack of chick-flicks I bought across the street
at St. Vincent De Paul and she had a huge smile.
She is four years older than me and was like an extra mom
to me growing up. I've seen pictures of her around age
six with my other sister, Pam, taking care of me.
We weren't as close as I was with Pam and Pam was close
with both of us on a rotating basis since her age was
two years apart from both of us.
Strawberry was a great leader as a kid.
When she was ten, we'd get shipped to Oregon
to visit our real dad, Jim Lehde.
She would make sure we stayed together on the long ride
and I think we might have had a transfer in Oregon to get
to his places in Gearhart, Redmond, Bend and Seaside.
He owned and operated a newspaper called 'The Beach'
for the Seaside and Gearhart area from 1960 to whenever.
So Strawberry took care of us on all the trips. Great leader.
When we moved to the north end in 1966 she got involved
with the hippy movement that started in Seattle a few years
later. She had some new interesting friends and one,
Toni Radichi, taught me how to make love beads in 1969.
She also taught me daisy chains, stars and looming
which was a fun hobby for me for a decade until I got tired of it.
In 1969 when Strawberry turned eighteen, mom told her
she had to pay rent or move out.
They had a long talk and the next week, Strawberry
and Toni made a sign that said, CANADA, and left.
I was heartbroken because I loved my sister and I still do.
There were tons of hippies heading for British Columbia
back then and she and Toni fell in with them
and ended up around Sointula and Alert Bay British Columbia.
She has been there ever since much to my sorrow.
When she and Paul had my nephew Silas, it near killed me
that my only nephew lived so far away. He was the cutest
little boy in the world and is a fine, handsome man as a grown-up.
So, she comes down once a year or every other year and that's it.
I prayed for years she'd move back home and finally gave up.
So, I think my dream is a good sign Mr. Blog.
I think she will come down this summer.
Then we'll get to frolic around and watch chick flicks every night.
And go for walks and hop the bus to the Pike Place Market
and swim in the pool and shop at St Vinny's.
She is a GREAT cook except for some of that weirdo food she
makes with seaweed. Ugh. Brenda food.
So, I'm gonna pray about her coming down at church this morning.
It is so boring around here without here.
She is the most cheerful, pleasant, helpful, smart, caring, thoughtful,
creative, innovative, artistic person I ever met!
On to orange kittens Mr. Blog.
I know Earl and Winston have a nice home somewhere
and I have just had a big hole in my heart since
they got catnapped.
So, I'm praying about that at church this morning too.
I'm asking God to bring me three orange kittens.
Two boys and a girl.
I'll take very good care of them like I did Earl and Winston.
Get them licensed, chipped, collars, shots, flea medicine.
I may not get thirteen cloned babies to love
but I can get kittens.
Hi Mr. Blog!
I only had ONE hot flash last night and I feel
like a million bucks.
I was dreaming that my sister Strawberry
was here for a visit and she walked in and saw the
stack of chick-flicks I bought across the street
at St. Vincent De Paul and she had a huge smile.
She is four years older than me and was like an extra mom
to me growing up. I've seen pictures of her around age
six with my other sister, Pam, taking care of me.
We weren't as close as I was with Pam and Pam was close
with both of us on a rotating basis since her age was
two years apart from both of us.
Strawberry was a great leader as a kid.
When she was ten, we'd get shipped to Oregon
to visit our real dad, Jim Lehde.
She would make sure we stayed together on the long ride
and I think we might have had a transfer in Oregon to get
to his places in Gearhart, Redmond, Bend and Seaside.
He owned and operated a newspaper called 'The Beach'
for the Seaside and Gearhart area from 1960 to whenever.
So Strawberry took care of us on all the trips. Great leader.
When we moved to the north end in 1966 she got involved
with the hippy movement that started in Seattle a few years
later. She had some new interesting friends and one,
Toni Radichi, taught me how to make love beads in 1969.
She also taught me daisy chains, stars and looming
which was a fun hobby for me for a decade until I got tired of it.
In 1969 when Strawberry turned eighteen, mom told her
she had to pay rent or move out.
They had a long talk and the next week, Strawberry
and Toni made a sign that said, CANADA, and left.
I was heartbroken because I loved my sister and I still do.
There were tons of hippies heading for British Columbia
back then and she and Toni fell in with them
and ended up around Sointula and Alert Bay British Columbia.
She has been there ever since much to my sorrow.
When she and Paul had my nephew Silas, it near killed me
that my only nephew lived so far away. He was the cutest
little boy in the world and is a fine, handsome man as a grown-up.
So, she comes down once a year or every other year and that's it.
I prayed for years she'd move back home and finally gave up.
So, I think my dream is a good sign Mr. Blog.
I think she will come down this summer.
Then we'll get to frolic around and watch chick flicks every night.
And go for walks and hop the bus to the Pike Place Market
and swim in the pool and shop at St Vinny's.
She is a GREAT cook except for some of that weirdo food she
makes with seaweed. Ugh. Brenda food.
So, I'm gonna pray about her coming down at church this morning.
It is so boring around here without here.
She is the most cheerful, pleasant, helpful, smart, caring, thoughtful,
creative, innovative, artistic person I ever met!
On to orange kittens Mr. Blog.
I know Earl and Winston have a nice home somewhere
and I have just had a big hole in my heart since
they got catnapped.
So, I'm praying about that at church this morning too.
I'm asking God to bring me three orange kittens.
Two boys and a girl.
I'll take very good care of them like I did Earl and Winston.
Get them licensed, chipped, collars, shots, flea medicine.
I may not get thirteen cloned babies to love
but I can get kittens.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
3/27/10 The NO.1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY and My Weird Dream
*Bounces in smiling and lies down*
Good Morning Mr. Blog! How are you today?
*Looks at him and admires his scholarly-lookingness for a Saturday morning*
Oh my goodness! I read the best book last night/this morning.
I read it near cover to cover and finished it when I woke up.
It is called, THE NUMBER. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY and
it was so crisp and interesting.
Like a bird that only sits still for a minute
and you'd better take a good look and admire
it before it take off.
I did not like the cover picture and thought a story set in Africa
would be too culturally different for me to enjoy,
but guess what?!
I WANT TO GO TO BOTSWANA!
I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED THIS BOOK,
and of course now I want to have tea with Alexander McCall Smith.
AND he lives in Scotland like JK Rowling AND Maeve Binchy!
How odd three of my favorite authors live in Scotland.
So anyway, back to the book.
First of all, the author being a man but being so realistic
about how women think of men was surprising.
The frank opinions of the protagonist, Precious, and her father
were so amazing. How women love forever
and faithfully and sometimes blindly.
I LOVED finding out all about Botswana and then I went to my
world map on the dining room wall and I found it is right
on the border of South Africa.
One of my favorite parts of the story was finding out
all about the South African diamond mines.
I had been curious about those workers
since 1966, when Mrs. Bach would pull down that giant
wound-up map in my 4Th grade classroom at Bryant Elementary.
She would let us come up and look at it and my first two picks of places I wanted to go were:
1. Africa 2. Australia
So when I was a flight attendant for Continental I was darn thrilled
to work the flights to Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti and The Philippines.
It has killed me that there has been poverty and violence in Africa
because I don't know if my number one place of interest
for four decades is safe to investigate. I hate that.
But, back to the book. I like a crisp story
without a bunch of messy descriptions.
So obviously I am keen to zip down to Third Place Books
and buy..THE REST OF THE SERIES!
There is NOTHING I like better than books that are series.
I want a smart protagonist, clever plot twists and
staying with them for months or years.
I have read the Harry Potter series nearly six times.
The characters are like dependable friends
that will be there at the end of the day.
Not rude people that text or talk on cell phones when they visit you
or show up with a Starbucks cup in their hand that is not for you.
Dependable friends that you enjoy that send you to sleep
with awesome adventures in Botswana and England.
So, I don't have any money for more Alexander McCall Smith books
Mr. Blog. I haven't gotten any substitute teaching deposits
and we ran out of money after paying the bills Monday.
I was darn lucky to find this book on a teacher staff-room shelf.
I will return it this week when I sub at that school again.
I don't believe in stealing.
If I accidentally bring home paper-clips or post it notes
I return them to that classroom when I am at that school.
Did you know that Vlad the Impaler would skin the feet
of thieves and pour salt on them and then have goats lick them off?
*Tries not to think of other things he did without success* Ugh.
So, it will kill me to wait until this Friday to go to Third Place Books
to buy TEARS OF THE GIRAFFE
MORALITY FOR BEAUTIFUL GIRLS &
THE KALAHARI TYPING SCHOOL FOR MEN.
I hate it that Gin Latin hasn't gone global yet
and I can't buy books! GRRRRR!
I hate it that I can't hop on a plane to Botswana and Scotland.
So, on to my odd dream that you'll have a field day with:
I dreamed I was artificially inseminated with clone embryos of Harry Potter and Earl and Joy Hickey and was happily picking out names for my thirteen babies.
I was on a houseboat that was moored at Ray's Boathouse in Ballard.
I was thinking about my daughters and how they would
have long hair that I could brush and braid.
Next I was deciding on friends and relatives that didn't have
children that I could name my babies after.
My sister Pam and JoAnn and Brenda.
Then I had to stand in line at the Woodstock tent to pay a fine for violating the new vow-law of Zero Population Growth.
And right when I was going to finish up seven names for my girls
I was rudely woken up by my caveman of a husband
that couldn't close a door or cupboard gently if his life depended on it!
Weird, huh, Mr. Blog?
I know. And I know where some of the weird stuff came from.
I want to end global overpopulation more than anything
and I'm always wondering how free birth control could be provided globally.
I usually read my Harry Potter books from one to two
hours every night before I go to sleep.
Last week my baby Teddy, had his first pimple
and I knew that my babies were not babies any more.
And I started craving babies!
I'm obsessed with the television show
MY NAME IS EARL. I found it in reruns about six months ago.
I HATE LAW AND MEDICAL SHOWS
since they have been produced to death
every since Dr. Kildare was a hit
with that handsome Richard Chamberlain in 1961.
I mean, what, only doctors, lawyers and police are interesting?
Okay, I do watch those shows occasionally.
But seriously, with the brain-power in Hollywood
they removed MY FAVORITE SHOW?!
Because as Brenny always says,
"It's all about me."
Good Morning Mr. Blog! How are you today?
*Looks at him and admires his scholarly-lookingness for a Saturday morning*
Oh my goodness! I read the best book last night/this morning.
I read it near cover to cover and finished it when I woke up.
It is called, THE NUMBER. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY and
it was so crisp and interesting.
Like a bird that only sits still for a minute
and you'd better take a good look and admire
it before it take off.
I did not like the cover picture and thought a story set in Africa
would be too culturally different for me to enjoy,
but guess what?!
I WANT TO GO TO BOTSWANA!
I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED THIS BOOK,
and of course now I want to have tea with Alexander McCall Smith.
AND he lives in Scotland like JK Rowling AND Maeve Binchy!
How odd three of my favorite authors live in Scotland.
So anyway, back to the book.
First of all, the author being a man but being so realistic
about how women think of men was surprising.
The frank opinions of the protagonist, Precious, and her father
were so amazing. How women love forever
and faithfully and sometimes blindly.
I LOVED finding out all about Botswana and then I went to my
world map on the dining room wall and I found it is right
on the border of South Africa.
One of my favorite parts of the story was finding out
all about the South African diamond mines.
I had been curious about those workers
since 1966, when Mrs. Bach would pull down that giant
wound-up map in my 4Th grade classroom at Bryant Elementary.
She would let us come up and look at it and my first two picks of places I wanted to go were:
1. Africa 2. Australia
So when I was a flight attendant for Continental I was darn thrilled
to work the flights to Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti and The Philippines.
It has killed me that there has been poverty and violence in Africa
because I don't know if my number one place of interest
for four decades is safe to investigate. I hate that.
But, back to the book. I like a crisp story
without a bunch of messy descriptions.
So obviously I am keen to zip down to Third Place Books
and buy..THE REST OF THE SERIES!
There is NOTHING I like better than books that are series.
I want a smart protagonist, clever plot twists and
staying with them for months or years.
I have read the Harry Potter series nearly six times.
The characters are like dependable friends
that will be there at the end of the day.
Not rude people that text or talk on cell phones when they visit you
or show up with a Starbucks cup in their hand that is not for you.
Dependable friends that you enjoy that send you to sleep
with awesome adventures in Botswana and England.
So, I don't have any money for more Alexander McCall Smith books
Mr. Blog. I haven't gotten any substitute teaching deposits
and we ran out of money after paying the bills Monday.
I was darn lucky to find this book on a teacher staff-room shelf.
I will return it this week when I sub at that school again.
I don't believe in stealing.
If I accidentally bring home paper-clips or post it notes
I return them to that classroom when I am at that school.
Did you know that Vlad the Impaler would skin the feet
of thieves and pour salt on them and then have goats lick them off?
*Tries not to think of other things he did without success* Ugh.
So, it will kill me to wait until this Friday to go to Third Place Books
to buy TEARS OF THE GIRAFFE
MORALITY FOR BEAUTIFUL GIRLS &
THE KALAHARI TYPING SCHOOL FOR MEN.
I hate it that Gin Latin hasn't gone global yet
and I can't buy books! GRRRRR!
I hate it that I can't hop on a plane to Botswana and Scotland.
So, on to my odd dream that you'll have a field day with:
I dreamed I was artificially inseminated with clone embryos of Harry Potter and Earl and Joy Hickey and was happily picking out names for my thirteen babies.
I was on a houseboat that was moored at Ray's Boathouse in Ballard.
I was thinking about my daughters and how they would
have long hair that I could brush and braid.
Next I was deciding on friends and relatives that didn't have
children that I could name my babies after.
My sister Pam and JoAnn and Brenda.
Then I had to stand in line at the Woodstock tent to pay a fine for violating the new vow-law of Zero Population Growth.
And right when I was going to finish up seven names for my girls
I was rudely woken up by my caveman of a husband
that couldn't close a door or cupboard gently if his life depended on it!
Weird, huh, Mr. Blog?
I know. And I know where some of the weird stuff came from.
I want to end global overpopulation more than anything
and I'm always wondering how free birth control could be provided globally.
I usually read my Harry Potter books from one to two
hours every night before I go to sleep.
Last week my baby Teddy, had his first pimple
and I knew that my babies were not babies any more.
And I started craving babies!
I'm obsessed with the television show
MY NAME IS EARL. I found it in reruns about six months ago.
I HATE LAW AND MEDICAL SHOWS
since they have been produced to death
every since Dr. Kildare was a hit
with that handsome Richard Chamberlain in 1961.
I mean, what, only doctors, lawyers and police are interesting?
Okay, I do watch those shows occasionally.
But seriously, with the brain-power in Hollywood
they removed MY FAVORITE SHOW?!
Because as Brenny always says,
"It's all about me."
Friday, March 26, 2010
3/26/10 Why do I Boycott Poptarts? Because of an Offensive Ad on TV Four Years Ago, That's Why!
*Walks in and lies down*
I don't even know how I feel today Mr. Blog.
I'm waiting for Brenda to call to find out.
I'm sure I told you about my lifetime boycott of Poptarts before Mr. Blog.
Four years ago I was watching TV and I saw the most offensive ad.
A boy around 13 knocks on the door of a nice white house.
A cute girl the same age opens the door and he asks her
to go to a movie or dance or something like that.
She tells him to wait there and closes the door.
She runs to the kitchen, grabs a Poptart,
then runs out the back door of the house!
Kellogg is losing millions of dollars in revenue because of that stupid ad.
Poptarts are Terry, Troy, Teddy and Carlos' favorite food in the world.
I have to add Carlos because he is eating us out of home with Troy.
I call them salt and pepper since Troy is blond and Carlos has black hair.
As the mother of two boys that take weeks to get up the
courage to ask girls out, I will never ever buy poptarts again!
Mr. Kellogg can kiss my grits.
The only way I would buy poptarts is if they put me on TV at the end of that commercial
and gave me a public apology and promise not to tick me off anymore.
Whew! I feel so much better!
So something interesting happened when I went to sub at
Lake Forest Park elementary yesterday.
I was signing in for the new teacher
and Maureen told me I'd been switched to my pal's room.
Well, that was nice since I've subbed for her for seven years
and can locate everything quickly.
I went in and made sure the emergency backpack was by the door
and checked the electronic overhead project
and got the name-tags made and then...
The little cuties arrived!
I forgot how adorable six and seven year old kids are.
Many had their new teeth halfway in already!
Gee those half-teeth look odd, but cute.
We had a wonderful day together and only one boy cried
when I told him not to cut his paper while walking around.
Walking and running with scissors is a bad idea.
Did I tell you about the time I was subbing and a kid
(not in my room thankfully) cut his vein in his hand
when he got a-hold of the teacher scissors down the hall?
I heard screaming and ran down to the bathroom and I
had no idea a hand could gush blood like a fire hydrant!
Thank God I'd had years of first aid training as a flight attendant
and scout leader. I grabbed his hand and put it under the cold
water while I got paper towels to put pressure on him.
Reminded me of the time I was volunteering at Kenmore Elementary
at cross country when Teddy's pal Aidan got beaned in the head by a rock
on the swing set. His head was gushing blood when I got there too
and I was so grateful I had a clean, cloth handkerchief in my pocket
to stop the blood. Both kids had to go to the ER in ambulances.
When I tell the kids at the start of the day that my number one
concern is their safety and that they have to let me know
if they are leaving the room for the restroom, they look
at me like I'm some paranoid old lady.
Well, yeah, I am.
So I really, really wanted to sub today!
Waa. I found these fantastic Kelty brand tents
that are perfect for car-camping and I need to work
three days to pay for them.
They are 10'x17' and have one side as a little screen house!
They must have been designed by my twin-thinker Mr. Blog!
I love seeing the stars when I camp at night but I
HATE HATE HATE MOSQUITOES!
So I'm blue I couldn't sub but I'm working on my booth for the
University District Street Fair in May.
It's going to be tough making my cheap-looking garden canopy
look like a cool tent, but I'm up for it.
If I could make the Starship Enterprise and a space shuttle from
refrigerator boxes and ice-cream tubs and mylar table-clothing,
I should be able to make my sow's ear into a silk purse.
Have a nice day Mr. Blog and thanks for listening.
I don't even know how I feel today Mr. Blog.
I'm waiting for Brenda to call to find out.
I'm sure I told you about my lifetime boycott of Poptarts before Mr. Blog.
Four years ago I was watching TV and I saw the most offensive ad.
A boy around 13 knocks on the door of a nice white house.
A cute girl the same age opens the door and he asks her
to go to a movie or dance or something like that.
She tells him to wait there and closes the door.
She runs to the kitchen, grabs a Poptart,
then runs out the back door of the house!
Kellogg is losing millions of dollars in revenue because of that stupid ad.
Poptarts are Terry, Troy, Teddy and Carlos' favorite food in the world.
I have to add Carlos because he is eating us out of home with Troy.
I call them salt and pepper since Troy is blond and Carlos has black hair.
As the mother of two boys that take weeks to get up the
courage to ask girls out, I will never ever buy poptarts again!
Mr. Kellogg can kiss my grits.
The only way I would buy poptarts is if they put me on TV at the end of that commercial
and gave me a public apology and promise not to tick me off anymore.
Whew! I feel so much better!
So something interesting happened when I went to sub at
Lake Forest Park elementary yesterday.
I was signing in for the new teacher
and Maureen told me I'd been switched to my pal's room.
Well, that was nice since I've subbed for her for seven years
and can locate everything quickly.
I went in and made sure the emergency backpack was by the door
and checked the electronic overhead project
and got the name-tags made and then...
The little cuties arrived!
I forgot how adorable six and seven year old kids are.
Many had their new teeth halfway in already!
Gee those half-teeth look odd, but cute.
We had a wonderful day together and only one boy cried
when I told him not to cut his paper while walking around.
Walking and running with scissors is a bad idea.
Did I tell you about the time I was subbing and a kid
(not in my room thankfully) cut his vein in his hand
when he got a-hold of the teacher scissors down the hall?
I heard screaming and ran down to the bathroom and I
had no idea a hand could gush blood like a fire hydrant!
Thank God I'd had years of first aid training as a flight attendant
and scout leader. I grabbed his hand and put it under the cold
water while I got paper towels to put pressure on him.
Reminded me of the time I was volunteering at Kenmore Elementary
at cross country when Teddy's pal Aidan got beaned in the head by a rock
on the swing set. His head was gushing blood when I got there too
and I was so grateful I had a clean, cloth handkerchief in my pocket
to stop the blood. Both kids had to go to the ER in ambulances.
When I tell the kids at the start of the day that my number one
concern is their safety and that they have to let me know
if they are leaving the room for the restroom, they look
at me like I'm some paranoid old lady.
Well, yeah, I am.
So I really, really wanted to sub today!
Waa. I found these fantastic Kelty brand tents
that are perfect for car-camping and I need to work
three days to pay for them.
They are 10'x17' and have one side as a little screen house!
They must have been designed by my twin-thinker Mr. Blog!
I love seeing the stars when I camp at night but I
HATE HATE HATE MOSQUITOES!
So I'm blue I couldn't sub but I'm working on my booth for the
University District Street Fair in May.
It's going to be tough making my cheap-looking garden canopy
look like a cool tent, but I'm up for it.
If I could make the Starship Enterprise and a space shuttle from
refrigerator boxes and ice-cream tubs and mylar table-clothing,
I should be able to make my sow's ear into a silk purse.
Have a nice day Mr. Blog and thanks for listening.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
3/24/10 Self Discipline When You Don't Have Much To Start Wtih
*Walks in and lies down*
Hi Mr. Blog, how are you today? *looks over at him*
Well, I picked up a job off Subfinder for tomorrow over at
Lake Forest Park elementary.
Now I have to get everything done on my list so
I have to make myself BUCK UP!
I REALLY wanted to sub the last two days but nothing came up.
Subfinder is the computer website that I use
to see jobs in Shoreline School District.
The Northshore School District uses a program called Roadrunner.
Anyway, it is for the new first grade teacher
and it will be so fun. Fat pencils, toothless smiles, lined newsprint
with the top half blank so they can draw a picture after writing.
I HOPE they have writing tomorrow.
Their spelling makes me laugh and laugh.
I have so much fun teaching that I feel guilty
getting paid. I love to teach.
The only snag is when I sub,
I want a full time job
and then the next day I feel hateful that I don't.
Ugh!
So tomorrow I will be, "Da da daaaa!"
Supersub. Shine my shoes, show up early,
memorize the schedule, make name tags,
put the curriculum in order with post its.
I found out one of my friends there that I have subbed
for for seven years is moving at the end of the school year
and I really, really, really want her job.
Of course so do 200 other people.
That is how many applicants for each teaching job
there are in Washington state now.
The colleges keep cranking out hundreds of
cute little Barbie doll teachers every year.
If there was just ONE principal that wanted to hire
the most dependable, trustworthy, capable
person in the world, AKA, me,
I'd have a job.
Maybe Aimee is that person.
Hi Mr. Blog, how are you today? *looks over at him*
Well, I picked up a job off Subfinder for tomorrow over at
Lake Forest Park elementary.
Now I have to get everything done on my list so
I have to make myself BUCK UP!
I REALLY wanted to sub the last two days but nothing came up.
Subfinder is the computer website that I use
to see jobs in Shoreline School District.
The Northshore School District uses a program called Roadrunner.
Anyway, it is for the new first grade teacher
and it will be so fun. Fat pencils, toothless smiles, lined newsprint
with the top half blank so they can draw a picture after writing.
I HOPE they have writing tomorrow.
Their spelling makes me laugh and laugh.
I have so much fun teaching that I feel guilty
getting paid. I love to teach.
The only snag is when I sub,
I want a full time job
and then the next day I feel hateful that I don't.
Ugh!
So tomorrow I will be, "Da da daaaa!"
Supersub. Shine my shoes, show up early,
memorize the schedule, make name tags,
put the curriculum in order with post its.
I found out one of my friends there that I have subbed
for for seven years is moving at the end of the school year
and I really, really, really want her job.
Of course so do 200 other people.
That is how many applicants for each teaching job
there are in Washington state now.
The colleges keep cranking out hundreds of
cute little Barbie doll teachers every year.
If there was just ONE principal that wanted to hire
the most dependable, trustworthy, capable
person in the world, AKA, me,
I'd have a job.
Maybe Aimee is that person.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
3/23/2010 Yellowstone or Bust!
*Skips in merrily*
Hi Mr. Blog,
Aren't I the goofiest old lady skipping around? Springtime always makes me feel seven.
The cold charge of the air in the morning while the birds compete for the airwaves;
the sound of cars rushing past as people that have jobs dash off to earn cash;
the knowledge that I still have perfect health and I'm not afraid to use it.
So guess what?
Terry authorized me to make our Yellowstone reservations today.
We've never taken the kids over the North Cascades highway
so we are starting out with that and then staying in Winthrop two nights.
Then off to stay a night with Uncle Doug and Auntie Chris in Spokane.
From there we'll go to Virginia City Montana
to show the kids their great-great-great grandparents
grave on Boot Hill, Robert and Louranna Allen.
I got my middle name, Lou, from her.
Then we'll pop down to Yellowstone for three days but guess what?
I found a historic hotel in Pray Montana at Chico hot springs.
They only had three tiny rooms left but they are only $49.00 a night
so I got two rooms for three nights.
Won't it be luxurious to have beds after tent camping for eight nights?!
I have tons of paperwork to mail off for more shows so I'd better get to work.
Later, dude!
Hi Mr. Blog,
Aren't I the goofiest old lady skipping around? Springtime always makes me feel seven.
The cold charge of the air in the morning while the birds compete for the airwaves;
the sound of cars rushing past as people that have jobs dash off to earn cash;
the knowledge that I still have perfect health and I'm not afraid to use it.
So guess what?
Terry authorized me to make our Yellowstone reservations today.
We've never taken the kids over the North Cascades highway
so we are starting out with that and then staying in Winthrop two nights.
Then off to stay a night with Uncle Doug and Auntie Chris in Spokane.
From there we'll go to Virginia City Montana
to show the kids their great-great-great grandparents
grave on Boot Hill, Robert and Louranna Allen.
I got my middle name, Lou, from her.
Then we'll pop down to Yellowstone for three days but guess what?
I found a historic hotel in Pray Montana at Chico hot springs.
They only had three tiny rooms left but they are only $49.00 a night
so I got two rooms for three nights.
Won't it be luxurious to have beds after tent camping for eight nights?!
I have tons of paperwork to mail off for more shows so I'd better get to work.
Later, dude!
Monday, March 22, 2010
How My Sweatpants Made Me Fat or How the Fitness Craze of the Eighties Led to the American Obesity of the Nineties and Beyond
*Bounces in merrily*
Hi Mr. Blog! Guess what? I slept ten hours!
Wow, I feel like a million bucks.
So, I'm still holding at 155 pounds but I want to tell you
where I went wrong in the first place.
It took one year to lose ten pounds! Uhg! There is no easy way.
Just chronic suffering and hunger and hatred towards the teens
that can consume 10,000 calories per day and only get taller. Ugh.
So in March 1987, I drove to Houston Texas and moved into the
Sheraton Hotel for flight attendant training.
I had starved myself to 125 pounds by then.
After a few weeks there Terry mailed me an Easter present.
It was a pale purple, two-piece NIKE sweat-suit.
It was woven cotton on the outside and lined with mesh on inside of the jacket.
I hate to wear purple. I associate it with old ladies and won't wear it for any reason.
But I was raised to be gracious and say thank-you for gift.
But you know what Mr. Blog?
I did wear it. All the time. And you know why?
IT HAD AN ELASTIC WAISTBAND AND
I COULD EAT WITHOUT DISCOMFORT!
So I did.
For twenty years.
I gained one pound every year and went out and bought tons
of exercise clothes! ALL WITH ELASTIC WAISTBANDS!
I wasn't the only one Mr. Blog!
Everyone wanted those cute two piece jogging suits!
We would all jog a half hour in the morning and then go home
and watch TV for six hours and eat pizza and chips
because WE HAD ELASTIC WAISTBANDS!!!
So, twenty years later, in 2009, I decided to fight back and
eat less move more. But here are my tips Mr. Blog,
if you want to pass them on.
1. Throw out your clothes with elastic waistbands
2. Buy a calorie counting book
DO NOT USE A COMPUTER PROGRAM! One hour on the puter
equals one pound of lard on your ass.
3. Make a paper or spread sheet of your daily calories
and put it on your fridge and NEVER eat anything
without writing it down.
Losing weight is easy if you want to suffer Mr. Blog
because it is all mathematical!
One pound of fat is 3,500 calories
If you are under 10, you can eat that much and stay the same weight.
If you are over 10, you have to eat half that many to lose 1/4 pound each week.
It's nasty and ugly
but the truth is:
Once you are over fifty and your metabolism stops,
you only get 1,500 calories to stay at the same weight!
Isn't that rude?! I think it is.
So I have been at 1,200 for a year but not consistently.
The trap is, the fatter you are; the less you want to move!
And the harder it is to move!
So, thanks for letting me share that story Mr. Blog.
You da best!
Hi Mr. Blog! Guess what? I slept ten hours!
Wow, I feel like a million bucks.
So, I'm still holding at 155 pounds but I want to tell you
where I went wrong in the first place.
It took one year to lose ten pounds! Uhg! There is no easy way.
Just chronic suffering and hunger and hatred towards the teens
that can consume 10,000 calories per day and only get taller. Ugh.
So in March 1987, I drove to Houston Texas and moved into the
Sheraton Hotel for flight attendant training.
I had starved myself to 125 pounds by then.
After a few weeks there Terry mailed me an Easter present.
It was a pale purple, two-piece NIKE sweat-suit.
It was woven cotton on the outside and lined with mesh on inside of the jacket.
I hate to wear purple. I associate it with old ladies and won't wear it for any reason.
But I was raised to be gracious and say thank-you for gift.
But you know what Mr. Blog?
I did wear it. All the time. And you know why?
IT HAD AN ELASTIC WAISTBAND AND
I COULD EAT WITHOUT DISCOMFORT!
So I did.
For twenty years.
I gained one pound every year and went out and bought tons
of exercise clothes! ALL WITH ELASTIC WAISTBANDS!
I wasn't the only one Mr. Blog!
Everyone wanted those cute two piece jogging suits!
We would all jog a half hour in the morning and then go home
and watch TV for six hours and eat pizza and chips
because WE HAD ELASTIC WAISTBANDS!!!
So, twenty years later, in 2009, I decided to fight back and
eat less move more. But here are my tips Mr. Blog,
if you want to pass them on.
1. Throw out your clothes with elastic waistbands
2. Buy a calorie counting book
DO NOT USE A COMPUTER PROGRAM! One hour on the puter
equals one pound of lard on your ass.
3. Make a paper or spread sheet of your daily calories
and put it on your fridge and NEVER eat anything
without writing it down.
Losing weight is easy if you want to suffer Mr. Blog
because it is all mathematical!
One pound of fat is 3,500 calories
If you are under 10, you can eat that much and stay the same weight.
If you are over 10, you have to eat half that many to lose 1/4 pound each week.
It's nasty and ugly
but the truth is:
Once you are over fifty and your metabolism stops,
you only get 1,500 calories to stay at the same weight!
Isn't that rude?! I think it is.
So I have been at 1,200 for a year but not consistently.
The trap is, the fatter you are; the less you want to move!
And the harder it is to move!
So, thanks for letting me share that story Mr. Blog.
You da best!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
3/21/10 My Theory as to Why Humans Lost Their Fur and Kept Some
*Drags in slowly*
Ugh Mr. Blog,
Insomnia again. I was so sad after going to Ron Green's memorial yesterday. He was such a friendly, kind man and his wife Eleanor can only be described as a living doll.
I lay awake all night thinking about them and their family, and Ron in heaven,
which of course made me miss my mom and dad.
So today I'm just trying to line up some sub work through some school e-mails
and I'm filling out my forms for my last four in-person shows selling Pass The Test.
I met with my business mentor, Aimee Lambert, on Thursday night and after a discussion about setting up my bookkeeping, she called her accountant and asked her advice.
Her accountant suggested since my driving game is a one time print run of 500,
to wait to set up my finalized bookkeeping system until Gin Latin is produced.
That was a relief since I hate paperwork of any kind.
Have I ever told you my theory as to why human beings lost their fur? *Looks at him*
Well, I think the original humans stunk when they got wet.
Think, wet dog smell.
So the females mated with the males that smelled the best
which would have been the males with the least amount of fur.
Then, when Lucy's relatives started migrating to colder climates
and began wearing clothing, it created the chaffing off of the fur
and combined with the least offensive odor mate-selection
to accelerated our less-hairy existence.
Yet, I think early humans appreciated the beauty of hair on each others' heads,
so they began a millenium of grooming.
What do you think of that? *Looks at him*
You know I could probably sell Terry to a living museum somewhere.
He had four hairs on his chest when he was twenty-five
and now I'd need a John Deere riding lawnmower if I wanted to touch his bare skin
on his chest and back!
Ciao
Ugh Mr. Blog,
Insomnia again. I was so sad after going to Ron Green's memorial yesterday. He was such a friendly, kind man and his wife Eleanor can only be described as a living doll.
I lay awake all night thinking about them and their family, and Ron in heaven,
which of course made me miss my mom and dad.
So today I'm just trying to line up some sub work through some school e-mails
and I'm filling out my forms for my last four in-person shows selling Pass The Test.
I met with my business mentor, Aimee Lambert, on Thursday night and after a discussion about setting up my bookkeeping, she called her accountant and asked her advice.
Her accountant suggested since my driving game is a one time print run of 500,
to wait to set up my finalized bookkeeping system until Gin Latin is produced.
That was a relief since I hate paperwork of any kind.
Have I ever told you my theory as to why human beings lost their fur? *Looks at him*
Well, I think the original humans stunk when they got wet.
Think, wet dog smell.
So the females mated with the males that smelled the best
which would have been the males with the least amount of fur.
Then, when Lucy's relatives started migrating to colder climates
and began wearing clothing, it created the chaffing off of the fur
and combined with the least offensive odor mate-selection
to accelerated our less-hairy existence.
Yet, I think early humans appreciated the beauty of hair on each others' heads,
so they began a millenium of grooming.
What do you think of that? *Looks at him*
You know I could probably sell Terry to a living museum somewhere.
He had four hairs on his chest when he was twenty-five
and now I'd need a John Deere riding lawnmower if I wanted to touch his bare skin
on his chest and back!
Ciao
Saturday, March 20, 2010
3/20/10 Eat Less Move More, Eat Less Move More, Eat Less Move More
*Bounces in and starts skipping around the office*
Good morning Mr. Blog!
Guess what?! I did it! I lost five pounds!
*lies down on couch*
I know it must sound ridiculous to be happy over losing five pounds,
but it took me three months to accomplish.
I had to eat less and move more.
It was horrible!!!
I vowed when I quit working as a flight attendant that I would never diet again.
I had to stay on 1,000 calories from 1982 through 1987 to get and stay at 130 pounds to get hired and then you know what they said? At 5'6" and 130 pounds, the interviewer, Christine said, "Do you think you can lose that last five pounds by training in two weeks?" Geez.
So enough about the past and on to the now now now.
If I am going to get Gin Latin to market in 2010 I must be in top shape.
At 53, I can start feeling the twinges here and there as
arthritis begins to look at me longingly
for a new place to live.
Once she moves in movements will be ouchy ouchy,
so I want to trim down for when doing my daily Jane Fonda tape is too painful.
Did I look silly skipping?
I know I did but
yesterday at Frank Love one of Penny's new customers,
Vanessa, seven, starting skipping back to our room and I couldn't help but join in!
Sunshine, daffodils and skipping are the essence of girlhood Mr. Blog.
Boys aren't designed for skipping.
They don't have the correct hip design.
It's a girl thang!
So, where was I?
Oh yeah. I lost five pounds. Big deal.
Well, you haven't been to my house Mr. Blog.
It is wallpapered with, "I lost five pound" ribbons from Weight Watchers!
I even got in a fight with my doctor that I needed a note saying my goal weight for Weight Watchers should be 155lbs one time. This young whipper-snapper doctor man telling me, "Well why don't you try to get to 140 pounds like they want you to. It should be easy!"
Dumb-ass. I had socks older than that kid.
Well, I read him the riot act and he wrote me a note that said because of my medical condition I should have my life-time weight goal at 155lbs. I can imagine what he really wanted to write.
"This crazy bitch refuses to eat less and move more and threatened to kill me if I didn't write her a note for your ridiculous program." Signed, Dr. Smart-ass.
So today I woke up at 155lbs for the first time in two years. I sat at 165lbs for ages because I refused to eat less. We don't call ourselves, "The Pigsons" for nothing Mr. Blog!
My new diet is like my airline diet. Cereal and milk for breakfast with a banana,
Anything I want for lunch in mass quantities up to 1,000 calories
and water for dinner and an orange if I think I can go in the kitchen and get one
without making a loaf of toast with butter and jam.
One of my favorite Weight Watcher teachers said one time,
"No food tastes as good as thin feels."
Isn't that a cute saying???
I think it is.
But I don't care about being thin Mr. Blog.
I just want the mobility to get my groove on!
I just want to sub every day until school lets out for cash, cash, cash!
I just want to get Gin Latin printed so I can sell, sell, sell!
Good morning Mr. Blog!
Guess what?! I did it! I lost five pounds!
*lies down on couch*
I know it must sound ridiculous to be happy over losing five pounds,
but it took me three months to accomplish.
I had to eat less and move more.
It was horrible!!!
I vowed when I quit working as a flight attendant that I would never diet again.
I had to stay on 1,000 calories from 1982 through 1987 to get and stay at 130 pounds to get hired and then you know what they said? At 5'6" and 130 pounds, the interviewer, Christine said, "Do you think you can lose that last five pounds by training in two weeks?" Geez.
So enough about the past and on to the now now now.
If I am going to get Gin Latin to market in 2010 I must be in top shape.
At 53, I can start feeling the twinges here and there as
arthritis begins to look at me longingly
for a new place to live.
Once she moves in movements will be ouchy ouchy,
so I want to trim down for when doing my daily Jane Fonda tape is too painful.
Did I look silly skipping?
I know I did but
yesterday at Frank Love one of Penny's new customers,
Vanessa, seven, starting skipping back to our room and I couldn't help but join in!
Sunshine, daffodils and skipping are the essence of girlhood Mr. Blog.
Boys aren't designed for skipping.
They don't have the correct hip design.
It's a girl thang!
So, where was I?
Oh yeah. I lost five pounds. Big deal.
Well, you haven't been to my house Mr. Blog.
It is wallpapered with, "I lost five pound" ribbons from Weight Watchers!
I even got in a fight with my doctor that I needed a note saying my goal weight for Weight Watchers should be 155lbs one time. This young whipper-snapper doctor man telling me, "Well why don't you try to get to 140 pounds like they want you to. It should be easy!"
Dumb-ass. I had socks older than that kid.
Well, I read him the riot act and he wrote me a note that said because of my medical condition I should have my life-time weight goal at 155lbs. I can imagine what he really wanted to write.
"This crazy bitch refuses to eat less and move more and threatened to kill me if I didn't write her a note for your ridiculous program." Signed, Dr. Smart-ass.
So today I woke up at 155lbs for the first time in two years. I sat at 165lbs for ages because I refused to eat less. We don't call ourselves, "The Pigsons" for nothing Mr. Blog!
My new diet is like my airline diet. Cereal and milk for breakfast with a banana,
Anything I want for lunch in mass quantities up to 1,000 calories
and water for dinner and an orange if I think I can go in the kitchen and get one
without making a loaf of toast with butter and jam.
One of my favorite Weight Watcher teachers said one time,
"No food tastes as good as thin feels."
Isn't that a cute saying???
I think it is.
But I don't care about being thin Mr. Blog.
I just want the mobility to get my groove on!
I just want to sub every day until school lets out for cash, cash, cash!
I just want to get Gin Latin printed so I can sell, sell, sell!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
3/18/10 Why Get Up? / Hot Flashes/ St.Patrick's Day
*Walks in slowly and lies down*
Ugh Mr. Blog.
I wonder why I have been on an such and emotional roller coaster lately?
Do you think it's from menopause?
I haven't slept through the night since 2003.
That was a bad year.
One hot flash per hour every hour all night.
Now I only have two or three a night but it still sucks.
I felt hateful when I had to get out of my warm bed yesterday to go to work.
But I got to Lake Forest Park elementary and saw each table had leprechaun traps
baited with Sweet Tarts, play money, sea shells and other stuff and felt joyful.
Joyful to have four hours teaching young, fresh-faced, nine year olds.
all about Thomas Edison.
I didn't know he invented the submarine and electric cement mixer besides the light bulb.
No wonder I often do well on Cash Cab.
So after my morning shift I was sent down to fourth grade.
The teacher had a fraction lesson on a power-point set up on a laptop spooled through the wall-mount system that activates the projector on a electronic white board.
I was wishing Thomas Edison could walk in and take a look at that rig!
*Imagines that for a few minutes with him dressed in frock coat and top hat*
When the fourth graders came in from lunch it was so magical.
They sat down and I realized I knew every single one of them!
I had been their sub all through first, second and third grade.
We had a wonderful time together
and it wasn't until this morning that the dark mood began to descend.
I wanted that room to be my room.
Oh Mr. Blog.
Why can't the economy recover faster?
No teachers will ever retire until the economy recovers.
There is no job for me.
So I must change my attitude but I'm so sad that I won't get my own classroom.
No desk with cute junk on it. No closet to hang my coat.
No bright shining little faces look up at me all day
waiting to see which rabbit
I will pull out of my hat.
Ugh Mr. Blog.
I wonder why I have been on an such and emotional roller coaster lately?
Do you think it's from menopause?
I haven't slept through the night since 2003.
That was a bad year.
One hot flash per hour every hour all night.
Now I only have two or three a night but it still sucks.
I felt hateful when I had to get out of my warm bed yesterday to go to work.
But I got to Lake Forest Park elementary and saw each table had leprechaun traps
baited with Sweet Tarts, play money, sea shells and other stuff and felt joyful.
Joyful to have four hours teaching young, fresh-faced, nine year olds.
all about Thomas Edison.
I didn't know he invented the submarine and electric cement mixer besides the light bulb.
No wonder I often do well on Cash Cab.
So after my morning shift I was sent down to fourth grade.
The teacher had a fraction lesson on a power-point set up on a laptop spooled through the wall-mount system that activates the projector on a electronic white board.
I was wishing Thomas Edison could walk in and take a look at that rig!
*Imagines that for a few minutes with him dressed in frock coat and top hat*
When the fourth graders came in from lunch it was so magical.
They sat down and I realized I knew every single one of them!
I had been their sub all through first, second and third grade.
We had a wonderful time together
and it wasn't until this morning that the dark mood began to descend.
I wanted that room to be my room.
Oh Mr. Blog.
Why can't the economy recover faster?
No teachers will ever retire until the economy recovers.
There is no job for me.
So I must change my attitude but I'm so sad that I won't get my own classroom.
No desk with cute junk on it. No closet to hang my coat.
No bright shining little faces look up at me all day
waiting to see which rabbit
I will pull out of my hat.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Patricia Thornhill Harrington/I Like Squirrels
*Walks in bouncily*
Hi Mr. Blog, I had the best day yesterday!
First off, Big Mama Squirrel decided to move her nest right outside my kitchen window!
She was pruning the English Ivy from the tree and arranging it "just so" all morning.
It's like watching a National Geographic special right out my window.
So I worked to sort my PA stuff and was half done with that when Patty came for coffee.
She came downstairs and looked at my clean piece of heaven for a minute.
It was hot and sunny, like sixty degrees, so we walked across the street to Starbucks.
On the way there, you will not believe what I saw!
Macie Cross drove up with Troy!
They've been pals since kindergarten but it is still a shock to see her driving a fancy-pants SUV!
Well, I had to flag them down and ask her to be careful.
As much as Troy and I go loggerheads, I still love him more than watermelon.
Well, lucky for me, Patty is job hunting now too.
We sat on the Starbucks patio and soaked up some sun and I was happier than
a lazy dog on a couch. She showed me her new resume and business cards she had made.
We then moved along to my deck and blabbed for an hour.
She went to Bellevue Community College and got an office manager degree so she is looking
for office work. She is so charming and lovely and likes to be inside so I'm praying for her
to get a job like that. She had missed the big job fair at Safeco Field because she wasn't ready with her resume and stuff to pass out to potential employers and she asked me if I would go
to the next one with her. Well, I have always wanted to go to one of those so I said yes.
I have known Patty since we were at Bryant Elementary in 1966.
She was up the street at the Catholic school, Assumption, before that and went back there for awhile too. But the funny thing is, she hasn't changed one bit.
She still has the million dollar smile
and a warm and friendly disposition
and she makes you feel happy just sitting there with her.
Hi Mr. Blog, I had the best day yesterday!
First off, Big Mama Squirrel decided to move her nest right outside my kitchen window!
She was pruning the English Ivy from the tree and arranging it "just so" all morning.
It's like watching a National Geographic special right out my window.
So I worked to sort my PA stuff and was half done with that when Patty came for coffee.
She came downstairs and looked at my clean piece of heaven for a minute.
It was hot and sunny, like sixty degrees, so we walked across the street to Starbucks.
On the way there, you will not believe what I saw!
Macie Cross drove up with Troy!
They've been pals since kindergarten but it is still a shock to see her driving a fancy-pants SUV!
Well, I had to flag them down and ask her to be careful.
As much as Troy and I go loggerheads, I still love him more than watermelon.
Well, lucky for me, Patty is job hunting now too.
We sat on the Starbucks patio and soaked up some sun and I was happier than
a lazy dog on a couch. She showed me her new resume and business cards she had made.
We then moved along to my deck and blabbed for an hour.
She went to Bellevue Community College and got an office manager degree so she is looking
for office work. She is so charming and lovely and likes to be inside so I'm praying for her
to get a job like that. She had missed the big job fair at Safeco Field because she wasn't ready with her resume and stuff to pass out to potential employers and she asked me if I would go
to the next one with her. Well, I have always wanted to go to one of those so I said yes.
I have known Patty since we were at Bryant Elementary in 1966.
She was up the street at the Catholic school, Assumption, before that and went back there for awhile too. But the funny thing is, she hasn't changed one bit.
She still has the million dollar smile
and a warm and friendly disposition
and she makes you feel happy just sitting there with her.
Monday, March 15, 2010
3/15/10 Toast-Pop
*Bounces in jauntily*
Ahhh, Mr. Blog,
You look nice today. Not everyone can pull off a green cardigan like that.
So I slept and slept and slept. Dreamed I was back with Theresa flight attending.
We were on a layover and slept over at some one's big messy house.
We couldn't find our uniforms in the mess and put on these mini-dresses from the sixties.
Mine was orange and purple paisley, my mom's colors that I would NEVER wear, and I
had on black tights and looked young and trim and cute.
But this person had babies and wanted us to change and dress them. Hahaha.
So I feel like a million bucks today.
Like a piece of toast fresh and hot and crispy from the toaster.
I'm gonna go look for some butter!
Ahhh, Mr. Blog,
You look nice today. Not everyone can pull off a green cardigan like that.
So I slept and slept and slept. Dreamed I was back with Theresa flight attending.
We were on a layover and slept over at some one's big messy house.
We couldn't find our uniforms in the mess and put on these mini-dresses from the sixties.
Mine was orange and purple paisley, my mom's colors that I would NEVER wear, and I
had on black tights and looked young and trim and cute.
But this person had babies and wanted us to change and dress them. Hahaha.
So I feel like a million bucks today.
Like a piece of toast fresh and hot and crispy from the toaster.
I'm gonna go look for some butter!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
3/14/10 Insomnia
*Walks in slowly and lies down*
Hi Mr. Blog.
Do you ever get insomnia?
Wow, that's nice.
Terry and the boys are the same as you. They can sleep through anything.
I only get it when I'm worried about something.
I'm very worried about the money I owe people right now.
It's only about $5,000.00 but it's enough to make me sick with worry.
Last night all I could think about was starting my new park aide job if I get hired.
Once I do something once it is easy but the anxiety of the unknown is stressful for me.
Plus, I have all my repayments scheduled in my mind from my new job and the snag is...
What if I don't get hired?
Hi Mr. Blog.
Do you ever get insomnia?
Wow, that's nice.
Terry and the boys are the same as you. They can sleep through anything.
I only get it when I'm worried about something.
I'm very worried about the money I owe people right now.
It's only about $5,000.00 but it's enough to make me sick with worry.
Last night all I could think about was starting my new park aide job if I get hired.
Once I do something once it is easy but the anxiety of the unknown is stressful for me.
Plus, I have all my repayments scheduled in my mind from my new job and the snag is...
What if I don't get hired?
Saturday, March 13, 2010
3/13/10 I'm Paying Myself!
*Limps in and flops on the couch*
Oh Mr. Blog!
Ugh, do I have a hitch in MY giddyyup.
Serves me right for not doing spring cleaning in seven years.
When mummy got sick I just couldn't do it.
Then when pop died, then mummy; I was too sad to do it.
So today I started with my room and tore it down to nothing and beat the crap out of it.
Vacuumed, scrubbed, vacuumed, scrubbed, vacuumed, scrubbed...
And I washed all the bedding!
Damn venetian blind nearly killed me! Lay it on the grass and scrubbed it with my long-handled car-washing brush 'till it was gleaming....
Picked it up and the back was covered with grass!
It is eight feet long! Hung it on the clothesline to scrub the grass off...
ended up soaking wet.
So, ten hours later I am only half done, but the good half,
my bed! La dee da. It is like half a Hilton hotel room...washed the walls and ceiling with
that long handled car-washing brush too...ahhhh....so clean and dust free...on one side! Ha!
I'm going to the bank Monday and taking out some cash and paying myself.
Terry doesn't need to know and I'll give him a discount.
Oh Mr. Blog!
Ugh, do I have a hitch in MY giddyyup.
Serves me right for not doing spring cleaning in seven years.
When mummy got sick I just couldn't do it.
Then when pop died, then mummy; I was too sad to do it.
So today I started with my room and tore it down to nothing and beat the crap out of it.
Vacuumed, scrubbed, vacuumed, scrubbed, vacuumed, scrubbed...
And I washed all the bedding!
Damn venetian blind nearly killed me! Lay it on the grass and scrubbed it with my long-handled car-washing brush 'till it was gleaming....
Picked it up and the back was covered with grass!
It is eight feet long! Hung it on the clothesline to scrub the grass off...
ended up soaking wet.
So, ten hours later I am only half done, but the good half,
my bed! La dee da. It is like half a Hilton hotel room...washed the walls and ceiling with
that long handled car-washing brush too...ahhhh....so clean and dust free...on one side! Ha!
I'm going to the bank Monday and taking out some cash and paying myself.
Terry doesn't need to know and I'll give him a discount.
3/13/10 Just Say No to "Haterade"
*Walks in bouncily*
Good morning Mr. Blog! I popped right up like a piece of crispy toast this morning.
Full of hope.
Good thing I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday in bed when I felt poorly.
I would have never made it through an eight hour shift subbing if I hadn't rested up.
I was in one hateful mood last night but it popped like a balloon while I slept and now
I'm bursting with good cheer.
I can get mighty bitter about suffering through five years of college and not getting a cool job.
So this morning, when I went for my morning cuddle, Terry said the funniest thing to me.
He said, "Quit drinking so much Haterade." I laughed and laughed over that and he said Troy told him that saying from some Youtube or TV show.
Well that put me in a good mood for the day! Just say no to Haterade! Hahaha. I love that.
I have some many teen bodies strewn all over the living room that I STILL can't sort my
Port Angeles stuff so I decided to work on my downstairs bedroom.
It is a little slice of hot pink heaven.
It was originally a garage so the floor slopes up to the door and when you are sleepy
it feels like you had a drinky.
When we moved in it was light blue and I hired Al to paint it the color of the pink buildings
I saw in Saint Croix in 1983 when I applied to carry mail for the post office down there.
When I got there with Terri Dickinson, it was way too hot so I didn't go to the interview.
I did go to the interview I had scheduled next in Key West Florida
and got hired there. That's a sad story I don't want to think about right now.
So my room reminds me of staying at The Buccaneer Hotel in Saint Croix
and the sugar birds on our deck in the morning
and the calypso band that played in the great room every night.
Did you know they don't have windows there?! Imagine that. No windows!
All the buildings were bright yellow and and the Buccaneer was pink
so my room is too!
Someday, when Gin Latin goes global, I'm going to bulldoze this bus-barn to the ground and have a miniature Paradise Lodge put in. All logs and stuff but really small because
I HATE HOUSEWORK!
I mean, I only blather to you so long to get out of doing it.
Good morning Mr. Blog! I popped right up like a piece of crispy toast this morning.
Full of hope.
Good thing I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday in bed when I felt poorly.
I would have never made it through an eight hour shift subbing if I hadn't rested up.
I was in one hateful mood last night but it popped like a balloon while I slept and now
I'm bursting with good cheer.
I can get mighty bitter about suffering through five years of college and not getting a cool job.
So this morning, when I went for my morning cuddle, Terry said the funniest thing to me.
He said, "Quit drinking so much Haterade." I laughed and laughed over that and he said Troy told him that saying from some Youtube or TV show.
Well that put me in a good mood for the day! Just say no to Haterade! Hahaha. I love that.
I have some many teen bodies strewn all over the living room that I STILL can't sort my
Port Angeles stuff so I decided to work on my downstairs bedroom.
It is a little slice of hot pink heaven.
It was originally a garage so the floor slopes up to the door and when you are sleepy
it feels like you had a drinky.
When we moved in it was light blue and I hired Al to paint it the color of the pink buildings
I saw in Saint Croix in 1983 when I applied to carry mail for the post office down there.
When I got there with Terri Dickinson, it was way too hot so I didn't go to the interview.
I did go to the interview I had scheduled next in Key West Florida
and got hired there. That's a sad story I don't want to think about right now.
So my room reminds me of staying at The Buccaneer Hotel in Saint Croix
and the sugar birds on our deck in the morning
and the calypso band that played in the great room every night.
Did you know they don't have windows there?! Imagine that. No windows!
All the buildings were bright yellow and and the Buccaneer was pink
so my room is too!
Someday, when Gin Latin goes global, I'm going to bulldoze this bus-barn to the ground and have a miniature Paradise Lodge put in. All logs and stuff but really small because
I HATE HOUSEWORK!
I mean, I only blather to you so long to get out of doing it.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
3/10/2010 Bothell United Methodist Church Women's Retreat "Holding It All Together" By Reverend Lara Bolger
*Walks in slowly and lies down* Hi Mr. Blog, I feel a little tired today. Worn out by life.
Now this story is the longest I've told you, so please lie down. *Waits for him*
When I was a kid, church was a popular and common activity for most people.
Went back to when we were more rural and they did not TVs and stuff to entertain people.
So when my grandma, my mom's mom, Lois Allen Williams Ringstrom moved to Seattle from Virginia City Montanta, she lived in the North End of Seattle by Ravenna Park and joined the Univeristy Christian Church around 1920. She loved God and was a national secretary for the Church Women United group. My mom was born and raised in that church and so was I. But as a teen, I lost interest and quit going but my mom was one of the youth group leaders.
So last Friday, after my DECA deal, I drag-raced up I-405, which for me is going the speed limit. I drive so slow all the time that the kids in their thirties honk at me.
I unpacked and repacked and looked at my pile of stuff unsorted from Port Angeles. The timing was bad for me to go out of town but God told me to go so I did.
Now, I'm the last person I would expect to believe in God regardless of being raised to.
Five years of college turned me into the biggest skeptic you ever did see Mr. Blog.
As Brenny always says, "It's an inside job."
So the sun came out and I drove up church mountain and unloaded my gear by my van.
I was just getting ready to peel my orange when Lynn Pearson showed up.
I went to junior high with a Lynn Pearson but it wasn't the same woman.
She had a fancy Volvo SUV which was really exciting to ride in and she was a nice lady.
Warm and friendly and really young, like thirty or forty and trim with the shiniest brown hair I ever saw and intelligent-looking brown eyes. Well Mr. Blog, she didn't just look intelligent, she was! She has a cool job working in the Finn Hill middle school library and after we enjoyed a quick ride to Edmonds listening to my favorite pop-music, we missed the boat!
Hahaha. I was so glad because I had been hard-pressed to find Teddy 7th grade books and was fresh out of ideas of what would interest him.
Well, Lynn was a well of teenager reading materials and I just fell in and happily drown with all her suggestions. I had my trusty PA from Rite Aid and filled up four pages of books she suggested and was happy as a clam.
We got on the 5:10PM ferry and went upstairs to look at the view. She picked the right place to sit because it was about the most awesome view of Edmonds, the trains, and Mount Baker and the Cascade Mountains you ever did see! I've seen it a million times but never at sunset because we go that way in the morning on our way out to the ocean.
Lynn was a perfect carpool partner for me. I was still tired from my Port Angeles trip going into my auntie/DECA gig, and she didn't mind quiet and listening to music. Plus she was the best woman driver I had ever ridden with. Okay, I shouldn't compare her to Brenny, who adds clumps of gray hair to my head every single time I get in her car!
So I start getting hungry and ask Lynn if she thinks we'll make it for dinner. She told me she thought we would and I told her if we didn't I didn't mind getting a burger in Indianola. Well, I didn't know why she chuckled at that until we rolled into Indianola as it got dark.
Indianola is even smaller than Rolling Bay. All there was was a tiny store and a few houses!
She carefully crept through the road to Indianola which looked like someone paved a deer trail and it was pitch black when we got to the chow house.
She insisted on dropping me off right there which gave me a panic attack. I knew very few of the people I knew from my 10:30 service would be there and I don't know hardly anyone from the two earlier services.
So, I just bucked up and walked in and our pastor, Lara, waved at me.
Well, if God didn't make Lara in his image, I'll be a monkey's uncle.
There were two dozen women there and I found the only open seat at a table of people I had never met before except one. I recognized Pam Chick. She is the warm, friendly lady that encouraged me to go a few weeks ago. She told me twice that morning, "You should really come!" Well, I'm chicken with strangers but that second little push made me take the leap of faith.
Hahahaha. Leap of Faith, get it Mr. Blog? Going to my first church women's retreat?
*Looks over and sees he is already fast asleep and snoring softly*
So I was warming greeted by everyone and thank God they had on name-tags but they introduced themselves anyway. I had on my church name tag and somehow a matching one on a cord was popped over my head. Well, after ten years as a scout and PTA leader, it was darn relaxing right off the bat to get to be a follower! And the ginger chicken and brown rice and stuff was totally to die for. All the food was tasty and healthy, like someone could follow recipes or something. I could have lost weight if I wasn't such a pig for good food!
So we had a nice dinner but I made the mistake of getting a huge green salad.
I'm far too lazy to make salad at home and in the back of my mind I was nagged about taking that big of a salad. Sure enough, the world's slowest eater, comes in half-way through a dinner of people that are ready for more fun. Ugh. I chewed like a crazy-woman because even though I insisted they go ahead they wanted to be polite to the newbie and wait for me.
So, we walked down the hill in the darkness and there were adorable tiny, white Christmas lights along the trail to our house. I was so cuted out. Men would never think of that!
I was the last one in the door and when I stepped in I thought I might be dead or asleep.
On the table, right when you enter, was every kind of snack known to man all laid out.
I'm talking home-made cookies, brownies, chips, candy and ALL my favorite treats.
I picked up two chocolate marshmallow treats and shoved them in my mouth before stepping one more foot.
After the kitchen is the huge lodge meeting room. It was drop-dead gorgeous. Knotty pine everything and a high ceiling like God likes when people that sing well sing.
I was amazed and saw bedrooms off the main room. I had lost Lynn when she dropped me off so I went through the first door and thanked Jesus for a bottom bunk since I come from a
long line of Bladder Day Saints.
I unpacked and went back out and sat on one of the many couches around a giant fireplace. Lara led us in a funny icebreaker where we would toss a soft ball around our giant circle and introduce ourselves and then answer the question on the ball.
It was funny because a few times the ball would get tossed too hard and the beautiful flowers and vases that they had hauled out for beauty would go flying in the air. It was pleasant to get to know the other women's names since they were almost all from the 9:00 service.
No one had started the fire, so I did that and Kathy Mier, one of the few women I knew since she was Troy's Sunday school teacher a long time ago, invited me to have a pedicure. Well, I had only ever had one years ago at Lovely nails so I decided it was a good idea. This fabulous lady named Jen was helping Kathy Baker, whom I think was the ringleader of this big event, getting everyone tubs of hot water with marbles in the bottom!
Imagine that! Now these ladies were about the most clever, organized people I had ever met and I nearly went into shock of the luxury of it all. I'm so used to camping with 200 cub scouts and their dads and for a minute I was thinking I wasted ten years as a scout leader when I could have been soaking my feet that whole time in a pan full of hot water and marbles!
Just when I thought it couldn't get ANY better than that, Jen starts pouring in all kinds of good-smelling stuff! I slunk down on my couch for a second and closed my eyes and tried to
imprint that feeling in a bottle inside my brain for when I needed to go to a "Happy Spot."
The happy spot was like this: Warm laughter, happy voices, guitars strumming, women singing that could actually hit the right notes, toasty, good-smelling feet, and all the stress in the world fading away until it was GONE! There was a group of knitters near our pedicure group and I was stunned at their talent. Karen had made a hat that looked like a cupcake if you can imagine that! Well, I have tried knitting AND crocheting and just don't have the patience for it myself.
But, no one admires the skill more than I do. I may be too lazy to learn to knit or read music but I'm not too lazy to use my energy in admiring people with the tenaciousness to master those skills! After we soaked and rubbed on scratchy lotion, the soft lotion and painted our nails we felt mighty FINE. Our toes were styling and I liked what Pearl said about doing it year 'round. Something about how it just makes you feel good even if no one sees them but you.
And you know what Mr. Blog? She is right because days later I'm freezing to death in our old drafty bus barn of a house and every time I change my socks I look at my cute toes and feel so much better. Like I am young and carefree and and pretty.
When my toes were done I jumped right in with the game group playing Pictionary Man.
Now I am competitive as the day is long when it comes to games. I love loud, rowdy, social games requiring thinking, acting, imagining and communicating. I was having a great time until nine when people started going to bed and it was suggested we switch to something quieter.
Well, I knew I couldn't switch gears in my state of rowdiness and be quiet so I went and sat on the couch with the knitters until ten. They had many interesting stories to tell.
I slept right until 8:15am which was breakfast time. My roommates Jeanne and Lorinda were up and gone when I got up. They were newbies too which was fun for us to discover everything at our first Bothell church retreat.
Now anyone that knows me knows I hate mornings. I'm a total bitch until I've had two cups of coffee and an hour of silence to go with it. But I zipped my lips together, in case something ungodlike might slip out, and staggered out to the big room. Well, what a shock to see the sun and the view! The wall of the lodge was windows and we had a panoramic view of the water and mountains and it was sparkling in God's glory just right.
I dashed back for clothes and scrambled up to the food house after the other stragglers for coffee. I shotgunned down four cups in a heartbeat so I could form a complete sentence in case someone talked to me. I was so excited to see a few people I knew that had just arrived from my service.
My pew-homie Joan Appleby was at my table with Laurie Vance and Zoe and my seat mate Patsy Ethridge-Neal turned out to be a retired marketing teacher and had been in the DECA program for years. She loved hearing that I had just volunteered the previous day and had done it herself for years and years. Our number of attenders grew to about forty by then and it was so hard to keep track of the new faces and names so I gave up and just enjoyed myself.
After breakfast, back at our waterfront houses, Reverend Lara started a really deep program called, "Holding It All Together." I couldn't help but think about my step-dad Lyle and his thirty years as a minister. I knew from the inside track how much time it must have take Lara to put together such an astounding program.
She started out with the flip chart of all our concerns. Then she talked about Paul and the Corinthians and the super-apostles. Pam and Robin and Apryl did a great skit playing the super-apostles. Well the Corinthians were darn impressed with the super-apostles that had visions and did faith-healing and miracles. Paul had to reign the Corinthians and make them realize that God put treasures inside of each of us and that the glory of God was internal and needed to be proclaimed internally not externally. Deep.
Next she read a story about the cracked pot. I had heard Lyle tell that in church decades ago and forgotten all about it. Long story short. The servant carries a cracked pot to a well for years. One day the pot apologizes for making extra work and the servant tells him a story. "I knew you were cracked years ago and planted seeds. As your treasure leaked out and watered my seeds I had beautiful bouquets for my master's house."
Then she asked us to ponder our treasures and Kathy Baker passed out the play dough she had made and we got a sheet of what to do with it. I decided to make my clay form while it was fresh in my mind and followed the directions and closed my eyes and started making my treasure.
Well, my puny hands made a small bright yellow bell because I believe my inner treasure is that I am the bell-ringer of glad tidings. Only snag is that it sure doesn't pay well. Hahaha.
We broke for lunch and free time and after lunch I finally got to check out the beach.
I was so excited to see a zillion sand dollars, especially the dime and quarter-sized ones that are my favorite that I hadn't seen since we were at Kalaloch in 1995.
Laurie Vance was there and she had found a young moon-snail shell that we examined closely. I walked down the beach hoping to shake off the ten zillion calories I had consumed in 16 hours and saw Phyllis and her daughter Cindy. Phyllis doesn't go to our church but how nice of her to come with her kid. We visited a bit and headed back for the session.
It was awful when we got back together because Claudia had gotten the call that her father-in-law, Ron Green, had passed away that morning at 93. I was so sad because I remembered delivering their mail at 18328 94Th avenue in 1980 and how nice they were to me way back then and when sissy and I joined the church in 1993, how kind he and Eleanor were to us. I thought about seeing him at church two weeks ago and shaking his hand and thinking he seemed really frail and how unhappy that made me feel inside.
It took many, many boxes of Kleenex before we were able to recover enough to think about our seminar again. Lara broke us up in small groups to share our inner-treasures with each other. Apryl had made this awesome magenta tree that she explained provided for every need we could ever have. I liked that a lot and decided it was oak and that if I felt wimpy I could just put Apryl's oak tree right inside my body and buck up and be strong if I needed to. Jen had made an image of a person holding another person and told us her image of God was a grandfather holding her wearing a fisherman's sweater. Well I liked that image very much indeed! Next Jeanne had made a pile of purple stones which we all mistook for a clump of grapes. She explained how we could move around over time and change and get bigger and smaller and I liked that a lot. I liked that we could be strong and change and that was okay. Claudia had made an acorn squash. I was so distracted that she had the faith and strength to stay in her state of sorrow it was hard to understand what she was saying at first. I missed a lot of what she was saying 'cause I was too busy admiring her. It was about her Hispanic ancestry and the desire of her father to work hard and prevent his family from being discriminated against. I'm not sure if I got her point since I couldn't concentrate but decided to think about the diversity of people and how to help marginalized people find their inner treasures in the future.
When we got back together in a big group, Lara put more on the clipboard about our treasures and we discussed how they related to our original concerns and it was very deep.
Lara shared her clay triangle that represented the figure of Jesus kneeling in Prayer
and how the image of the trinity inside of her gives her strength. I was very astounded by that but not really surprised because ever since she came to the church I have been in awe of her.
She is one of those people that we would say in the late sixties, "Walks the walk."
She is for sure my role model. I want to try to be more open to God and Jesus and to try to concentrate more on the commandments and how to implement them into my daily life. I was thinking about what my mom used to say, that one of the most important parts of church is the fellowship.
I was so out of my comfort zone thinking about going on a retreat with strangers but the important thing was that I did what my mom told me to do from heaven. Go get some Christian fellowship going in my life.
It was so painful to see Virginia and Karen and Debbie and Adrienne and Phyllis and Cindy together. I was so jealous that they got to breathe air together as mothers and daughters at the same time. I was so ashamed that as a teenager I never wanted to be a part of my mom's church life because I thought she was old and corny and embarrassing.
I would have gladly cut off my right hand to have my mom come down from heaven and sing a song with me at that retreat. And I was hoping no one could see my tears behind my glasses every time we sang.
Luckily we climbed the mountain to the chow house after that deep seminar and had our usual rowdy dinner to bring us back to the joys of life and being together.
After dinner I showed a few people my driving game and felt the horror of us finding a page number mistake on the game board. They liked it and I sent it home with Pam Chick since she has a fifteen year old.
Then we got the rowdy games going and what a blast we had. We started out with Pictionary Man and then played Apples to Apples, which I had never seen before but enjoyed emensely. As it got later and later our group shrank from a dozen down to six and we had to drag a table to the fire to stay warm. It was Pam, Debbie, Adrienne and Kathy Mier for Balderdash which I had never seen but it turned out to be my favorite since I'm so full of crap. We tried so hard to be quiet so people could sleep but it was very difficult because we were laughing so hard.
I overslept something terrible from staying up so late and found out there was coffee right there in our beachhouse. I thanked God and took four cups to my room and gulped them down while I was packing up all my stuff.
When we got to the chow house most people had left so we only had a few dozen people left. Kathy Mier mentioned the hats that the black women were wearing that came from the Skyway Methodist church. She had always wanted our group to have something like that but the hat idea went over like a lead balloon. So I told her I couldn't see why we couldn't do hats since one of the Skyway ladies told me they got the idea from a book about a Yaya sisterhood. Well Kathy said that she thought they might not like to be copied. So she and I went and talked to them and they told us all about them and that they did not want us to copy them. That left me and Kathy pondering, which is always fun!
Back at the beach house we had some great singing and praying and communion to end our time together down at the big house. I looked across the room at the picture of the women at the well.
One woman had a fifty pound clay pot full of water on her shoulder. I thought about how my butterfingers would drop that in a heartbeat. That my inner-treasure of cheer could grow acres of flowers. My shattered, cheerful life.
And that's okay.
Now this story is the longest I've told you, so please lie down. *Waits for him*
When I was a kid, church was a popular and common activity for most people.
Went back to when we were more rural and they did not TVs and stuff to entertain people.
So when my grandma, my mom's mom, Lois Allen Williams Ringstrom moved to Seattle from Virginia City Montanta, she lived in the North End of Seattle by Ravenna Park and joined the Univeristy Christian Church around 1920. She loved God and was a national secretary for the Church Women United group. My mom was born and raised in that church and so was I. But as a teen, I lost interest and quit going but my mom was one of the youth group leaders.
So last Friday, after my DECA deal, I drag-raced up I-405, which for me is going the speed limit. I drive so slow all the time that the kids in their thirties honk at me.
I unpacked and repacked and looked at my pile of stuff unsorted from Port Angeles. The timing was bad for me to go out of town but God told me to go so I did.
Now, I'm the last person I would expect to believe in God regardless of being raised to.
Five years of college turned me into the biggest skeptic you ever did see Mr. Blog.
As Brenny always says, "It's an inside job."
So the sun came out and I drove up church mountain and unloaded my gear by my van.
I was just getting ready to peel my orange when Lynn Pearson showed up.
I went to junior high with a Lynn Pearson but it wasn't the same woman.
She had a fancy Volvo SUV which was really exciting to ride in and she was a nice lady.
Warm and friendly and really young, like thirty or forty and trim with the shiniest brown hair I ever saw and intelligent-looking brown eyes. Well Mr. Blog, she didn't just look intelligent, she was! She has a cool job working in the Finn Hill middle school library and after we enjoyed a quick ride to Edmonds listening to my favorite pop-music, we missed the boat!
Hahaha. I was so glad because I had been hard-pressed to find Teddy 7th grade books and was fresh out of ideas of what would interest him.
Well, Lynn was a well of teenager reading materials and I just fell in and happily drown with all her suggestions. I had my trusty PA from Rite Aid and filled up four pages of books she suggested and was happy as a clam.
We got on the 5:10PM ferry and went upstairs to look at the view. She picked the right place to sit because it was about the most awesome view of Edmonds, the trains, and Mount Baker and the Cascade Mountains you ever did see! I've seen it a million times but never at sunset because we go that way in the morning on our way out to the ocean.
Lynn was a perfect carpool partner for me. I was still tired from my Port Angeles trip going into my auntie/DECA gig, and she didn't mind quiet and listening to music. Plus she was the best woman driver I had ever ridden with. Okay, I shouldn't compare her to Brenny, who adds clumps of gray hair to my head every single time I get in her car!
So I start getting hungry and ask Lynn if she thinks we'll make it for dinner. She told me she thought we would and I told her if we didn't I didn't mind getting a burger in Indianola. Well, I didn't know why she chuckled at that until we rolled into Indianola as it got dark.
Indianola is even smaller than Rolling Bay. All there was was a tiny store and a few houses!
She carefully crept through the road to Indianola which looked like someone paved a deer trail and it was pitch black when we got to the chow house.
She insisted on dropping me off right there which gave me a panic attack. I knew very few of the people I knew from my 10:30 service would be there and I don't know hardly anyone from the two earlier services.
So, I just bucked up and walked in and our pastor, Lara, waved at me.
Well, if God didn't make Lara in his image, I'll be a monkey's uncle.
There were two dozen women there and I found the only open seat at a table of people I had never met before except one. I recognized Pam Chick. She is the warm, friendly lady that encouraged me to go a few weeks ago. She told me twice that morning, "You should really come!" Well, I'm chicken with strangers but that second little push made me take the leap of faith.
Hahahaha. Leap of Faith, get it Mr. Blog? Going to my first church women's retreat?
*Looks over and sees he is already fast asleep and snoring softly*
So I was warming greeted by everyone and thank God they had on name-tags but they introduced themselves anyway. I had on my church name tag and somehow a matching one on a cord was popped over my head. Well, after ten years as a scout and PTA leader, it was darn relaxing right off the bat to get to be a follower! And the ginger chicken and brown rice and stuff was totally to die for. All the food was tasty and healthy, like someone could follow recipes or something. I could have lost weight if I wasn't such a pig for good food!
So we had a nice dinner but I made the mistake of getting a huge green salad.
I'm far too lazy to make salad at home and in the back of my mind I was nagged about taking that big of a salad. Sure enough, the world's slowest eater, comes in half-way through a dinner of people that are ready for more fun. Ugh. I chewed like a crazy-woman because even though I insisted they go ahead they wanted to be polite to the newbie and wait for me.
So, we walked down the hill in the darkness and there were adorable tiny, white Christmas lights along the trail to our house. I was so cuted out. Men would never think of that!
I was the last one in the door and when I stepped in I thought I might be dead or asleep.
On the table, right when you enter, was every kind of snack known to man all laid out.
I'm talking home-made cookies, brownies, chips, candy and ALL my favorite treats.
I picked up two chocolate marshmallow treats and shoved them in my mouth before stepping one more foot.
After the kitchen is the huge lodge meeting room. It was drop-dead gorgeous. Knotty pine everything and a high ceiling like God likes when people that sing well sing.
I was amazed and saw bedrooms off the main room. I had lost Lynn when she dropped me off so I went through the first door and thanked Jesus for a bottom bunk since I come from a
long line of Bladder Day Saints.
I unpacked and went back out and sat on one of the many couches around a giant fireplace. Lara led us in a funny icebreaker where we would toss a soft ball around our giant circle and introduce ourselves and then answer the question on the ball.
It was funny because a few times the ball would get tossed too hard and the beautiful flowers and vases that they had hauled out for beauty would go flying in the air. It was pleasant to get to know the other women's names since they were almost all from the 9:00 service.
No one had started the fire, so I did that and Kathy Mier, one of the few women I knew since she was Troy's Sunday school teacher a long time ago, invited me to have a pedicure. Well, I had only ever had one years ago at Lovely nails so I decided it was a good idea. This fabulous lady named Jen was helping Kathy Baker, whom I think was the ringleader of this big event, getting everyone tubs of hot water with marbles in the bottom!
Imagine that! Now these ladies were about the most clever, organized people I had ever met and I nearly went into shock of the luxury of it all. I'm so used to camping with 200 cub scouts and their dads and for a minute I was thinking I wasted ten years as a scout leader when I could have been soaking my feet that whole time in a pan full of hot water and marbles!
Just when I thought it couldn't get ANY better than that, Jen starts pouring in all kinds of good-smelling stuff! I slunk down on my couch for a second and closed my eyes and tried to
imprint that feeling in a bottle inside my brain for when I needed to go to a "Happy Spot."
The happy spot was like this: Warm laughter, happy voices, guitars strumming, women singing that could actually hit the right notes, toasty, good-smelling feet, and all the stress in the world fading away until it was GONE! There was a group of knitters near our pedicure group and I was stunned at their talent. Karen had made a hat that looked like a cupcake if you can imagine that! Well, I have tried knitting AND crocheting and just don't have the patience for it myself.
But, no one admires the skill more than I do. I may be too lazy to learn to knit or read music but I'm not too lazy to use my energy in admiring people with the tenaciousness to master those skills! After we soaked and rubbed on scratchy lotion, the soft lotion and painted our nails we felt mighty FINE. Our toes were styling and I liked what Pearl said about doing it year 'round. Something about how it just makes you feel good even if no one sees them but you.
And you know what Mr. Blog? She is right because days later I'm freezing to death in our old drafty bus barn of a house and every time I change my socks I look at my cute toes and feel so much better. Like I am young and carefree and and pretty.
When my toes were done I jumped right in with the game group playing Pictionary Man.
Now I am competitive as the day is long when it comes to games. I love loud, rowdy, social games requiring thinking, acting, imagining and communicating. I was having a great time until nine when people started going to bed and it was suggested we switch to something quieter.
Well, I knew I couldn't switch gears in my state of rowdiness and be quiet so I went and sat on the couch with the knitters until ten. They had many interesting stories to tell.
I slept right until 8:15am which was breakfast time. My roommates Jeanne and Lorinda were up and gone when I got up. They were newbies too which was fun for us to discover everything at our first Bothell church retreat.
Now anyone that knows me knows I hate mornings. I'm a total bitch until I've had two cups of coffee and an hour of silence to go with it. But I zipped my lips together, in case something ungodlike might slip out, and staggered out to the big room. Well, what a shock to see the sun and the view! The wall of the lodge was windows and we had a panoramic view of the water and mountains and it was sparkling in God's glory just right.
I dashed back for clothes and scrambled up to the food house after the other stragglers for coffee. I shotgunned down four cups in a heartbeat so I could form a complete sentence in case someone talked to me. I was so excited to see a few people I knew that had just arrived from my service.
My pew-homie Joan Appleby was at my table with Laurie Vance and Zoe and my seat mate Patsy Ethridge-Neal turned out to be a retired marketing teacher and had been in the DECA program for years. She loved hearing that I had just volunteered the previous day and had done it herself for years and years. Our number of attenders grew to about forty by then and it was so hard to keep track of the new faces and names so I gave up and just enjoyed myself.
After breakfast, back at our waterfront houses, Reverend Lara started a really deep program called, "Holding It All Together." I couldn't help but think about my step-dad Lyle and his thirty years as a minister. I knew from the inside track how much time it must have take Lara to put together such an astounding program.
She started out with the flip chart of all our concerns. Then she talked about Paul and the Corinthians and the super-apostles. Pam and Robin and Apryl did a great skit playing the super-apostles. Well the Corinthians were darn impressed with the super-apostles that had visions and did faith-healing and miracles. Paul had to reign the Corinthians and make them realize that God put treasures inside of each of us and that the glory of God was internal and needed to be proclaimed internally not externally. Deep.
Next she read a story about the cracked pot. I had heard Lyle tell that in church decades ago and forgotten all about it. Long story short. The servant carries a cracked pot to a well for years. One day the pot apologizes for making extra work and the servant tells him a story. "I knew you were cracked years ago and planted seeds. As your treasure leaked out and watered my seeds I had beautiful bouquets for my master's house."
Then she asked us to ponder our treasures and Kathy Baker passed out the play dough she had made and we got a sheet of what to do with it. I decided to make my clay form while it was fresh in my mind and followed the directions and closed my eyes and started making my treasure.
Well, my puny hands made a small bright yellow bell because I believe my inner treasure is that I am the bell-ringer of glad tidings. Only snag is that it sure doesn't pay well. Hahaha.
We broke for lunch and free time and after lunch I finally got to check out the beach.
I was so excited to see a zillion sand dollars, especially the dime and quarter-sized ones that are my favorite that I hadn't seen since we were at Kalaloch in 1995.
Laurie Vance was there and she had found a young moon-snail shell that we examined closely. I walked down the beach hoping to shake off the ten zillion calories I had consumed in 16 hours and saw Phyllis and her daughter Cindy. Phyllis doesn't go to our church but how nice of her to come with her kid. We visited a bit and headed back for the session.
It was awful when we got back together because Claudia had gotten the call that her father-in-law, Ron Green, had passed away that morning at 93. I was so sad because I remembered delivering their mail at 18328 94Th avenue in 1980 and how nice they were to me way back then and when sissy and I joined the church in 1993, how kind he and Eleanor were to us. I thought about seeing him at church two weeks ago and shaking his hand and thinking he seemed really frail and how unhappy that made me feel inside.
It took many, many boxes of Kleenex before we were able to recover enough to think about our seminar again. Lara broke us up in small groups to share our inner-treasures with each other. Apryl had made this awesome magenta tree that she explained provided for every need we could ever have. I liked that a lot and decided it was oak and that if I felt wimpy I could just put Apryl's oak tree right inside my body and buck up and be strong if I needed to. Jen had made an image of a person holding another person and told us her image of God was a grandfather holding her wearing a fisherman's sweater. Well I liked that image very much indeed! Next Jeanne had made a pile of purple stones which we all mistook for a clump of grapes. She explained how we could move around over time and change and get bigger and smaller and I liked that a lot. I liked that we could be strong and change and that was okay. Claudia had made an acorn squash. I was so distracted that she had the faith and strength to stay in her state of sorrow it was hard to understand what she was saying at first. I missed a lot of what she was saying 'cause I was too busy admiring her. It was about her Hispanic ancestry and the desire of her father to work hard and prevent his family from being discriminated against. I'm not sure if I got her point since I couldn't concentrate but decided to think about the diversity of people and how to help marginalized people find their inner treasures in the future.
When we got back together in a big group, Lara put more on the clipboard about our treasures and we discussed how they related to our original concerns and it was very deep.
Lara shared her clay triangle that represented the figure of Jesus kneeling in Prayer
and how the image of the trinity inside of her gives her strength. I was very astounded by that but not really surprised because ever since she came to the church I have been in awe of her.
She is one of those people that we would say in the late sixties, "Walks the walk."
She is for sure my role model. I want to try to be more open to God and Jesus and to try to concentrate more on the commandments and how to implement them into my daily life. I was thinking about what my mom used to say, that one of the most important parts of church is the fellowship.
I was so out of my comfort zone thinking about going on a retreat with strangers but the important thing was that I did what my mom told me to do from heaven. Go get some Christian fellowship going in my life.
It was so painful to see Virginia and Karen and Debbie and Adrienne and Phyllis and Cindy together. I was so jealous that they got to breathe air together as mothers and daughters at the same time. I was so ashamed that as a teenager I never wanted to be a part of my mom's church life because I thought she was old and corny and embarrassing.
I would have gladly cut off my right hand to have my mom come down from heaven and sing a song with me at that retreat. And I was hoping no one could see my tears behind my glasses every time we sang.
Luckily we climbed the mountain to the chow house after that deep seminar and had our usual rowdy dinner to bring us back to the joys of life and being together.
After dinner I showed a few people my driving game and felt the horror of us finding a page number mistake on the game board. They liked it and I sent it home with Pam Chick since she has a fifteen year old.
Then we got the rowdy games going and what a blast we had. We started out with Pictionary Man and then played Apples to Apples, which I had never seen before but enjoyed emensely. As it got later and later our group shrank from a dozen down to six and we had to drag a table to the fire to stay warm. It was Pam, Debbie, Adrienne and Kathy Mier for Balderdash which I had never seen but it turned out to be my favorite since I'm so full of crap. We tried so hard to be quiet so people could sleep but it was very difficult because we were laughing so hard.
I overslept something terrible from staying up so late and found out there was coffee right there in our beachhouse. I thanked God and took four cups to my room and gulped them down while I was packing up all my stuff.
When we got to the chow house most people had left so we only had a few dozen people left. Kathy Mier mentioned the hats that the black women were wearing that came from the Skyway Methodist church. She had always wanted our group to have something like that but the hat idea went over like a lead balloon. So I told her I couldn't see why we couldn't do hats since one of the Skyway ladies told me they got the idea from a book about a Yaya sisterhood. Well Kathy said that she thought they might not like to be copied. So she and I went and talked to them and they told us all about them and that they did not want us to copy them. That left me and Kathy pondering, which is always fun!
Back at the beach house we had some great singing and praying and communion to end our time together down at the big house. I looked across the room at the picture of the women at the well.
One woman had a fifty pound clay pot full of water on her shoulder. I thought about how my butterfingers would drop that in a heartbeat. That my inner-treasure of cheer could grow acres of flowers. My shattered, cheerful life.
And that's okay.
Monday, March 8, 2010
3/8/2010 I Love My Auntie Jean, Judging the WA State DECA Presentations and The Bothell United Methodist Church Women's Retreat at Camp Indianola
*Walks in jauntily and lies down*
Good Morning Mr. Blog! My coffee hit my bloodstream faster today! Did you miss me?
Well I have been EVERYWHERE under the sun since last week!
Thursday I got ready to visit Auntie and it was Terry's day off and I asked him if he wouldn't mind washing my mini-van so auntie could ride around in a stylin' mini-van.
Well, not only did he go to the Kenmore Big Top Car Wash, he vacuumed it out spotless!
Now that is love in motion if I ever saw such a thing!
For twenty-five years I've tried to teach him to greet and retreat with a hug and kiss without success. I'm lucky to get a grunt out of that man!
In my next life, I am so going to marry an Italian man and this is what he will do and say,
"Oh Gretallia! My Love! *Hug, kiss, hug, pinch bottom gently* I missed you so my darling!"
So anyway, I jumped in my clean van and drove carefully through the stupidest design in engineering history. The exit/entry from I-405 to NE 8th in Bellevue. Whoever designed that should be shot! I rarely visit my auntie because of that one stupid spot in Bellevue.
But you know what? When auntie answered her door and I saw how frail and lame she is I nearly started bawling right then. I know she is only seventy-nine but the arthritis curse in our family has hit her legs, hips and spine. My poor little auntie!
And how dare they invent Viagra when my auntie is in pain!
Where is the cure for arthritis and cancer?! Stupid men.
So anyway, I asked her where I could take her to lunch and she said, "Ivars!"
I had no idea my favorite place was her favorite place.
We shuffled slowly to the van and she used her cane and my arm and I boosted her right in.
The Crossroads Ivars has the warmest, friendliest staff of any Ivars I have ever been to and
I've been eating at all of them for fifty years. Remind me to Google Ivars and make sure I haven't missed any will you Mr. Blog?
So the manager doted on Auntie like she was Heather Lockler or his mom or both!
They should like triple that guy's salary because I'm driving through that hair-raising interchange just to take auntie there again next month!
Oh my God Mr. Blog! You would not believe the clam chowder at that Ivars.
They musta' added a secret ingredient that day because it was super-creamtasty!
The fish and chips was not over-down and brown like at my old Bothell Ivars too.
I like my fish golden and if I see brown I can feel darn cranky but I'd never say anything
because when I worked at Wedgewood Dairy Queen in 1974 I had to make fish and chips and those deep fryers can be pretty tricky to watch when you have a grill full of burgers next to it.
When auntie went to the restroom, I bought a few sour-dough bread bowl of chowder for later.
We made our way across the street to the Crossroads QFC and it is a very pretty store.
I just trailed along with Auntie and she hung on her shopping cart and went off to find things on the list. I was tough seeing her shop frail. Every summer when I was on Cougar Mountain we'd come off the mountain to that Albertsons that was near that clover-leaf road thing.
People would see auntie with Care, Boo, me and baby Danny and ask her if they were all hers and she'd say proudly, "Yes they are, all except the brown-eyed one, she is my niece."
And I'd feel all special that I was the niece of Jean Cushman, probably the nicest woman God
ever made.
Anyway, we got the food and sat at the coffee spot and had some coffee. I was sad because all three pump-pots of regular coffee were empty. I didn't tell the lady because I have been on a serious campaign to mind my own beeswax for years now. So I ended up drinking some icky flavored coffee but auntie didn't seem to care so I decided I wouldn't care either!
We got back to her building and she saw some of her home-girls and guess what she said?
"This is my niece Gretchen. She came down to take me to lunch." And you know what?
I could here the pride in her voice just like when I was a little brat with her all summer.
When we got back to her tiny apartment we just cuddled up together, shoulder to shoulder
on her couch and had the world's best blab-a-thon.
We covered nearly the entire family and she reminded me that Grandma Louranna Black, from Virginia City Montana, was descended from the Muellers in Pennsylvania who became the Millers of Missouri and that was how Auntie Ann was able to get all of them in the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Well there was big excitement later when my cousin Elizabeth arrived!
Her son, Alex, is graduating from the University of Washington! She had been suit-shopping and auntie and I were excited about that. He got navy blue and charcoal pinstripes.
It was so romantic when Boo went to Mexico and met Jorge Gamboa and fell in love when she went to Morallia Michochan as an exchange student in college!
Man it is so awesome to be related to a Mexican person. They are so warm and friendly!
So they got married and bought a house in Bellevue and had Alejandro, or Alex for short.
And I'll tell you what Mr. Blog, he inherited ALL the best qualities of Boo and Jorge!
Warm and friendly like Boo, handsome like Jorge. And smart as the dickens!
That kid has it all! I hope I live long enough to visit him when he is the
US Ambassador to Mexico!!!
Well, Boo left and auntie insisted I sleep on her bed since she sleeps on her couch every night.
I was like sleeping on a giant marshmallow! I love, love, loved it!.
So my alarm goes off and six and I hear auntie in the kitchen.
I got dressed in my DECA judge suit and went in the kitchen,
and there was my tiny, frail auntie making herself instant coffee. And guess what she made me?
*Reaches for Kleenex box and begins to weep freely*
She made me a breakfast bag. She put a cherry yogurt from her food bank delivery in a small, thick royal blue plastic bag and handed it to me. I put on my brave face and hugged her
tenderly and kissed her soft cheek and told myself not to feel just then.
But I can feel now Mr. Blog. I miss my mom so much I can't even stand it!
Auntie Jean resembles and sounds like her just enough to kill me dead.
*Blows nose loudly for a long time*
I want my mommy. My mommy that put lunch in a sack for me every morning.
My mommy that married a drunken wife-beater and left him for our safety.
My mommy that was frowned upon because she got a divorce in 1958.
My mommy that made me boiled eggs and toast when I was sick.
My mommy that had to live in Holly Park housing project and put herself through secretarial school to get a job at juvie court and later the Supreme court as a court clerk.
My mommy that could type 90 WPM with 0 errors.
My mom that could hug and kiss and talk to me.
So, I left auntie's pad and cruised over to the Bellevue Hilton Hotel
and sat in the entryway and ate my yogurt and put on some make up.
I checked in for the DECA conference and got coffee and pound cake and sat with another woman. Soon we had ten amazing women from all the local businesses that sponsored the DECA conference. Microsoft, Pemco, and all the banks were there too.
I got to find out about their jobs and surprisingly, they were interested in my business.
I am often the only business owner at these types of affairs. Same with the trade shows.
They all are successful enough to send emissaries to represent their companies.
Well, now I know why very few people start businesses Mr. Blog, and guess why?
Because it is impossible.
So we got trained on how to judge the teenagers mock-up interviews, portfolios and resumes for a half hour and then we were split into conference rooms to rate the 600 teenagers.
I picked the food service industry because I like food.
The thirty teens we saw were so shockingly amazing that I was in awe of them.
I had a hard time concentrating with the girls because I was wishing I could adopt them.
I love my sons Mr. Blog, but there is NO sugar and spice at my house!
So when Melanie Troung, from Garfield high school finished presenting, I could barely form sentences to ask her the questions. Luckily my partner Larry, from PEMCO, had done hiring and was very smooth and I recovered enough to carry my load of questions.
Imagine having a daughter with a perfect 4.0 for three years, is in four school clubs, does volunteer work for five different organizations AND is on the Varsity tennis team!
*Holds up 10'x40' banner that says, "Vote Truong! in 2020!*
So I do believe she can win the nationals Mr. Blog and possibly the internationals too.
I just wish I had the $80.00 to go to the champion's luncheon next month.
All the kids were fantastic and I wrote copious notes about how wonderful they were all over their score sheets since they will get them back. Things like, "Warm, friendly, professional and I would hire ----- in a minute. Because I really would, they were all that good!
Well, I'm out of time Mr. Blog to write about my church women's retreat now so I'll tell you all about it tomorrow morning.
I have a million things to do today so I'd better run.
*Runs out*
Good Morning Mr. Blog! My coffee hit my bloodstream faster today! Did you miss me?
Well I have been EVERYWHERE under the sun since last week!
Thursday I got ready to visit Auntie and it was Terry's day off and I asked him if he wouldn't mind washing my mini-van so auntie could ride around in a stylin' mini-van.
Well, not only did he go to the Kenmore Big Top Car Wash, he vacuumed it out spotless!
Now that is love in motion if I ever saw such a thing!
For twenty-five years I've tried to teach him to greet and retreat with a hug and kiss without success. I'm lucky to get a grunt out of that man!
In my next life, I am so going to marry an Italian man and this is what he will do and say,
"Oh Gretallia! My Love! *Hug, kiss, hug, pinch bottom gently* I missed you so my darling!"
So anyway, I jumped in my clean van and drove carefully through the stupidest design in engineering history. The exit/entry from I-405 to NE 8th in Bellevue. Whoever designed that should be shot! I rarely visit my auntie because of that one stupid spot in Bellevue.
But you know what? When auntie answered her door and I saw how frail and lame she is I nearly started bawling right then. I know she is only seventy-nine but the arthritis curse in our family has hit her legs, hips and spine. My poor little auntie!
And how dare they invent Viagra when my auntie is in pain!
Where is the cure for arthritis and cancer?! Stupid men.
So anyway, I asked her where I could take her to lunch and she said, "Ivars!"
I had no idea my favorite place was her favorite place.
We shuffled slowly to the van and she used her cane and my arm and I boosted her right in.
The Crossroads Ivars has the warmest, friendliest staff of any Ivars I have ever been to and
I've been eating at all of them for fifty years. Remind me to Google Ivars and make sure I haven't missed any will you Mr. Blog?
So the manager doted on Auntie like she was Heather Lockler or his mom or both!
They should like triple that guy's salary because I'm driving through that hair-raising interchange just to take auntie there again next month!
Oh my God Mr. Blog! You would not believe the clam chowder at that Ivars.
They musta' added a secret ingredient that day because it was super-creamtasty!
The fish and chips was not over-down and brown like at my old Bothell Ivars too.
I like my fish golden and if I see brown I can feel darn cranky but I'd never say anything
because when I worked at Wedgewood Dairy Queen in 1974 I had to make fish and chips and those deep fryers can be pretty tricky to watch when you have a grill full of burgers next to it.
When auntie went to the restroom, I bought a few sour-dough bread bowl of chowder for later.
We made our way across the street to the Crossroads QFC and it is a very pretty store.
I just trailed along with Auntie and she hung on her shopping cart and went off to find things on the list. I was tough seeing her shop frail. Every summer when I was on Cougar Mountain we'd come off the mountain to that Albertsons that was near that clover-leaf road thing.
People would see auntie with Care, Boo, me and baby Danny and ask her if they were all hers and she'd say proudly, "Yes they are, all except the brown-eyed one, she is my niece."
And I'd feel all special that I was the niece of Jean Cushman, probably the nicest woman God
ever made.
Anyway, we got the food and sat at the coffee spot and had some coffee. I was sad because all three pump-pots of regular coffee were empty. I didn't tell the lady because I have been on a serious campaign to mind my own beeswax for years now. So I ended up drinking some icky flavored coffee but auntie didn't seem to care so I decided I wouldn't care either!
We got back to her building and she saw some of her home-girls and guess what she said?
"This is my niece Gretchen. She came down to take me to lunch." And you know what?
I could here the pride in her voice just like when I was a little brat with her all summer.
When we got back to her tiny apartment we just cuddled up together, shoulder to shoulder
on her couch and had the world's best blab-a-thon.
We covered nearly the entire family and she reminded me that Grandma Louranna Black, from Virginia City Montana, was descended from the Muellers in Pennsylvania who became the Millers of Missouri and that was how Auntie Ann was able to get all of them in the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Well there was big excitement later when my cousin Elizabeth arrived!
Her son, Alex, is graduating from the University of Washington! She had been suit-shopping and auntie and I were excited about that. He got navy blue and charcoal pinstripes.
It was so romantic when Boo went to Mexico and met Jorge Gamboa and fell in love when she went to Morallia Michochan as an exchange student in college!
Man it is so awesome to be related to a Mexican person. They are so warm and friendly!
So they got married and bought a house in Bellevue and had Alejandro, or Alex for short.
And I'll tell you what Mr. Blog, he inherited ALL the best qualities of Boo and Jorge!
Warm and friendly like Boo, handsome like Jorge. And smart as the dickens!
That kid has it all! I hope I live long enough to visit him when he is the
US Ambassador to Mexico!!!
Well, Boo left and auntie insisted I sleep on her bed since she sleeps on her couch every night.
I was like sleeping on a giant marshmallow! I love, love, loved it!.
So my alarm goes off and six and I hear auntie in the kitchen.
I got dressed in my DECA judge suit and went in the kitchen,
and there was my tiny, frail auntie making herself instant coffee. And guess what she made me?
*Reaches for Kleenex box and begins to weep freely*
She made me a breakfast bag. She put a cherry yogurt from her food bank delivery in a small, thick royal blue plastic bag and handed it to me. I put on my brave face and hugged her
tenderly and kissed her soft cheek and told myself not to feel just then.
But I can feel now Mr. Blog. I miss my mom so much I can't even stand it!
Auntie Jean resembles and sounds like her just enough to kill me dead.
*Blows nose loudly for a long time*
I want my mommy. My mommy that put lunch in a sack for me every morning.
My mommy that married a drunken wife-beater and left him for our safety.
My mommy that was frowned upon because she got a divorce in 1958.
My mommy that made me boiled eggs and toast when I was sick.
My mommy that had to live in Holly Park housing project and put herself through secretarial school to get a job at juvie court and later the Supreme court as a court clerk.
My mommy that could type 90 WPM with 0 errors.
My mom that could hug and kiss and talk to me.
So, I left auntie's pad and cruised over to the Bellevue Hilton Hotel
and sat in the entryway and ate my yogurt and put on some make up.
I checked in for the DECA conference and got coffee and pound cake and sat with another woman. Soon we had ten amazing women from all the local businesses that sponsored the DECA conference. Microsoft, Pemco, and all the banks were there too.
I got to find out about their jobs and surprisingly, they were interested in my business.
I am often the only business owner at these types of affairs. Same with the trade shows.
They all are successful enough to send emissaries to represent their companies.
Well, now I know why very few people start businesses Mr. Blog, and guess why?
Because it is impossible.
So we got trained on how to judge the teenagers mock-up interviews, portfolios and resumes for a half hour and then we were split into conference rooms to rate the 600 teenagers.
I picked the food service industry because I like food.
The thirty teens we saw were so shockingly amazing that I was in awe of them.
I had a hard time concentrating with the girls because I was wishing I could adopt them.
I love my sons Mr. Blog, but there is NO sugar and spice at my house!
So when Melanie Troung, from Garfield high school finished presenting, I could barely form sentences to ask her the questions. Luckily my partner Larry, from PEMCO, had done hiring and was very smooth and I recovered enough to carry my load of questions.
Imagine having a daughter with a perfect 4.0 for three years, is in four school clubs, does volunteer work for five different organizations AND is on the Varsity tennis team!
*Holds up 10'x40' banner that says, "Vote Truong! in 2020!*
So I do believe she can win the nationals Mr. Blog and possibly the internationals too.
I just wish I had the $80.00 to go to the champion's luncheon next month.
All the kids were fantastic and I wrote copious notes about how wonderful they were all over their score sheets since they will get them back. Things like, "Warm, friendly, professional and I would hire ----- in a minute. Because I really would, they were all that good!
Well, I'm out of time Mr. Blog to write about my church women's retreat now so I'll tell you all about it tomorrow morning.
I have a million things to do today so I'd better run.
*Runs out*
Thursday, March 4, 2010
3/4/2010 My Auntie Jean/Cougar Mountain 1959
*Walks in and lies down*
Man, I could have slept another two hours easily Mr. Blog. Ugh. I hate mornings.
But I remembered I am going to visit my Auntie Jean today and was too excited to sleep more.
So my auntie is around eighty two now. My mom was thirteen months younger than her.
My grandma Lois always dressed them in matching dresses and shoes when they were little.
Auntie Jean must have been born in 1930 if my mom was born in 1932.
My mom died four years ago next month. My mom's oldest sister, Auntie Ann, passed away last summer. She was six years older than my mom and had red hair and brown eyes.
So when my parents divorced in 1958, my mom and two sisters and I moved from our house out in Alderwood Manor to Holly Park Housing Project in the Rainier Valley area of Seattle.
My mom was tired going to secretarial school to try to get off welfare so every summer, my Auntie Jean and Uncle Frank would take me for most of July to give mom a break.
I remember my first time going in 1959.
They had a big white fluffy dog named Ricky that you could hug like a pillow on feet.
They also had a beagle named Moochy that had it in for my tiny corduroy bear that I got when I turned one in 1957. Every time I got out of mom's '57 tan and brown Chevy to get dropped off, Moochy would grab Reddy Bear and snatch him from my hands and take off and chew
the beejesus out of him. I'd cried and Auntie would stitch him back up and all would be well.
I still have him around here somewhere and boy does he look like crap!
So my first summer, in 1959, after my bear was repaired I remember wandering down to the meadow with the tall grass. A cute brown-haired girl, my exact size came up and said, "Hi."
She had blue eyes and a soft voice and we hit if off like salt and pepper. We were like glued to each other every summer. 'Course, I didn't know what a cousin was except she was mine.
We walked and walked in that tall grass until we heard grown-ups shouting, "Carolyn! Gretchie!" Well, Carolyn was too long of a name for me because I was an impatient little kid so I called my cousin Care. And I still call my cousin Care. I am six weeks older than her.
So that summer there was a little baby that ate up all of Auntie Jean's time.
Her name was Elizabeth Cushman and she was beautiful like a doll but couldn't do anything with us for many years. When she got big enough to eat cold cereal with us while auntie was sleeping Care and I decided to call her Boo. Our favorite TV show was Yogi Bear and I had a nice soft Yogi doll about two feet high that my dad gave me. Yogi lived in Jellystone Park and his best friend was Boo Boo Bear. Well, Boo Boo Bear was way too long a nickname for obvious reasons so my cousin Elizabeth became Boo. She is still Boo to me.
So Care and Boo and I spent endless summers catching frogs and snakes. We'd put the frogs in buckets and then back in the swamp at the bottom of the rolling hill. They had ten acres and the gravel drive wound down the ridge as the land sloped away on either side. On the left halfway down was the world's biggest maple tree and when I was seven, I showed up and Uncle Frank had installed a tire swing! How we loved that tire swing. We'd be on it all day.
Back then TV was in black and white and there were only three channels so it got old fast.
That summer, in 1963, we were quick enough to catch snakes. We had gunny sacks full!
They had a giant white horse named Ajax that would bite you if you annoyed it and a mean
little pony named Jesse that would always run under trees to scrape you off his back.
Well, they had an old bathtub full of water in the pasture and that was where we'd race our snakes. Even Boo, although Care didn't have patience with her. I was the little sister and knew what it was like to not have anyone every have much patience with you so I doted on her.
We'd race snakes until nap-time. And one day there was a really fat one so we hid it in our gunny-sack and Care smuggled it into nap time. Well when Auntie Jean came to get us up from nap, we showed her that snake and told her that the oddest thing had happened. We told her a little snake came out during nap-time but we couldn't find it anywhere.
Oh how she screamed and screamed and screamed. Never heard anyone scream before or since. We never slept during nap-time during the five years we were supposed to. Care always had comic books and model horses and all the games under the sun ever invented! I wasn't about to sleep through ANY of that and neither was she, although Boo did sometimes when she was little. Care and I just were excited about everything under the sun!
Especially dinner. We were always starving by then and Auntie Jean made the best spaghetti.
My cousins hated all vegetables but not me. I only disliked potatoes and tomatoes until I was eight and then I loved them too. Auntie Jean would always say, "See, Gretchie likes her green beans. Why don't you try them?" Hahahaha. They never did eat their green beans.
When we were ten we had studied Indians in school and we decided to make a tee-pee down by the creek. We took all of Uncle Franks saws and made us a huge tee-pee and then some smaller ones too. Gosh that was fun. Sometimes I'd stay into August and after Uncle Frank got home from lawyering down on Front Street, he'd take us to Lake Sammamish to swim. God I loved that Lake. When I was ten, Auntie Jean and Uncle Frank paid for me to have swimming lessons in that lake with Care and Boo. Danny way only four so he got to go but had to watch.
He was old enough at four for auntie to let us take him frog and snake catching. He was pretty little but cute as a button like Boo. He had her same white hair and blue eyes.
I liked that Care and I were the exact same age and size all the time but with opposite hair and eyes. I just thought the world of her because she could think of a million things to do in one day! I still do.
My favorite activity was when Uncle Frank thinned the willows in the swamp.
We'd climb up up up into the middle of the puffy section and stand on branches and hold onto the hire branches. We'd hear the roar of the chainsaw below and we'd grip those branches until our hands hurt! Then we'd sail through the air in our tree! Care and Boo and I screamed and laughed so loud! When the tree hit the ground it was good for five giant bounces off the earth and we'd just bounce up and down. We were so loud it is no surprise Ajax and Jesse hated us so much.
Our other favorite thing to do was to hike back the old trail until we hit the old coal road and we'd follow it through the forest back to the dilapidated shacks and coal bins. There was a clearing there where someone had lived with apple trees.
Well, I'd better get going Mr. Blog. I have a million more stories about Cougar Mountain but if I lie here and talk about it now, I'll have less time with Auntie.
Man, I could have slept another two hours easily Mr. Blog. Ugh. I hate mornings.
But I remembered I am going to visit my Auntie Jean today and was too excited to sleep more.
So my auntie is around eighty two now. My mom was thirteen months younger than her.
My grandma Lois always dressed them in matching dresses and shoes when they were little.
Auntie Jean must have been born in 1930 if my mom was born in 1932.
My mom died four years ago next month. My mom's oldest sister, Auntie Ann, passed away last summer. She was six years older than my mom and had red hair and brown eyes.
So when my parents divorced in 1958, my mom and two sisters and I moved from our house out in Alderwood Manor to Holly Park Housing Project in the Rainier Valley area of Seattle.
My mom was tired going to secretarial school to try to get off welfare so every summer, my Auntie Jean and Uncle Frank would take me for most of July to give mom a break.
I remember my first time going in 1959.
They had a big white fluffy dog named Ricky that you could hug like a pillow on feet.
They also had a beagle named Moochy that had it in for my tiny corduroy bear that I got when I turned one in 1957. Every time I got out of mom's '57 tan and brown Chevy to get dropped off, Moochy would grab Reddy Bear and snatch him from my hands and take off and chew
the beejesus out of him. I'd cried and Auntie would stitch him back up and all would be well.
I still have him around here somewhere and boy does he look like crap!
So my first summer, in 1959, after my bear was repaired I remember wandering down to the meadow with the tall grass. A cute brown-haired girl, my exact size came up and said, "Hi."
She had blue eyes and a soft voice and we hit if off like salt and pepper. We were like glued to each other every summer. 'Course, I didn't know what a cousin was except she was mine.
We walked and walked in that tall grass until we heard grown-ups shouting, "Carolyn! Gretchie!" Well, Carolyn was too long of a name for me because I was an impatient little kid so I called my cousin Care. And I still call my cousin Care. I am six weeks older than her.
So that summer there was a little baby that ate up all of Auntie Jean's time.
Her name was Elizabeth Cushman and she was beautiful like a doll but couldn't do anything with us for many years. When she got big enough to eat cold cereal with us while auntie was sleeping Care and I decided to call her Boo. Our favorite TV show was Yogi Bear and I had a nice soft Yogi doll about two feet high that my dad gave me. Yogi lived in Jellystone Park and his best friend was Boo Boo Bear. Well, Boo Boo Bear was way too long a nickname for obvious reasons so my cousin Elizabeth became Boo. She is still Boo to me.
So Care and Boo and I spent endless summers catching frogs and snakes. We'd put the frogs in buckets and then back in the swamp at the bottom of the rolling hill. They had ten acres and the gravel drive wound down the ridge as the land sloped away on either side. On the left halfway down was the world's biggest maple tree and when I was seven, I showed up and Uncle Frank had installed a tire swing! How we loved that tire swing. We'd be on it all day.
Back then TV was in black and white and there were only three channels so it got old fast.
That summer, in 1963, we were quick enough to catch snakes. We had gunny sacks full!
They had a giant white horse named Ajax that would bite you if you annoyed it and a mean
little pony named Jesse that would always run under trees to scrape you off his back.
Well, they had an old bathtub full of water in the pasture and that was where we'd race our snakes. Even Boo, although Care didn't have patience with her. I was the little sister and knew what it was like to not have anyone every have much patience with you so I doted on her.
We'd race snakes until nap-time. And one day there was a really fat one so we hid it in our gunny-sack and Care smuggled it into nap time. Well when Auntie Jean came to get us up from nap, we showed her that snake and told her that the oddest thing had happened. We told her a little snake came out during nap-time but we couldn't find it anywhere.
Oh how she screamed and screamed and screamed. Never heard anyone scream before or since. We never slept during nap-time during the five years we were supposed to. Care always had comic books and model horses and all the games under the sun ever invented! I wasn't about to sleep through ANY of that and neither was she, although Boo did sometimes when she was little. Care and I just were excited about everything under the sun!
Especially dinner. We were always starving by then and Auntie Jean made the best spaghetti.
My cousins hated all vegetables but not me. I only disliked potatoes and tomatoes until I was eight and then I loved them too. Auntie Jean would always say, "See, Gretchie likes her green beans. Why don't you try them?" Hahahaha. They never did eat their green beans.
When we were ten we had studied Indians in school and we decided to make a tee-pee down by the creek. We took all of Uncle Franks saws and made us a huge tee-pee and then some smaller ones too. Gosh that was fun. Sometimes I'd stay into August and after Uncle Frank got home from lawyering down on Front Street, he'd take us to Lake Sammamish to swim. God I loved that Lake. When I was ten, Auntie Jean and Uncle Frank paid for me to have swimming lessons in that lake with Care and Boo. Danny way only four so he got to go but had to watch.
He was old enough at four for auntie to let us take him frog and snake catching. He was pretty little but cute as a button like Boo. He had her same white hair and blue eyes.
I liked that Care and I were the exact same age and size all the time but with opposite hair and eyes. I just thought the world of her because she could think of a million things to do in one day! I still do.
My favorite activity was when Uncle Frank thinned the willows in the swamp.
We'd climb up up up into the middle of the puffy section and stand on branches and hold onto the hire branches. We'd hear the roar of the chainsaw below and we'd grip those branches until our hands hurt! Then we'd sail through the air in our tree! Care and Boo and I screamed and laughed so loud! When the tree hit the ground it was good for five giant bounces off the earth and we'd just bounce up and down. We were so loud it is no surprise Ajax and Jesse hated us so much.
Our other favorite thing to do was to hike back the old trail until we hit the old coal road and we'd follow it through the forest back to the dilapidated shacks and coal bins. There was a clearing there where someone had lived with apple trees.
Well, I'd better get going Mr. Blog. I have a million more stories about Cougar Mountain but if I lie here and talk about it now, I'll have less time with Auntie.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
3/3/2010 Out of The Doghouse
*Walks in and lies down*
Ahhh, I love to be horizontal Mr. Blog. Being vertical is such a chore lately!
I hope my coffee kicks in soon 'cause I have a million things to do today.
So I got home from Port Angeles Sunday night and Terry starts right in on me for being so terrible with money. And of course he is right. He found out I took out a loan to print the last edition of the game without telling him. Then he found out that when I went to Hawaii that I "accidentally" hit the "Upgrade to First Class" button on the Hawaiian Airlines website.
I swear Mr. Blog, I thought I could sell ALL the games and have all that cash back into our account before Terry noticed! Well, that didn't work out too well for me.
And a businesswoman traveling all over Hawaii to the Department of Motor vehicles and all the community centers needs to be well rested to pitch a new product. I needed first class!
Those Hawaiians are the third worst drivers in the country after the people in New York and New Jersey! At least I could stay with Brenny and save my business expenses a little bit.
I swear I feel like a tiny God sits on one shoulder and a little devil on the other, you know, like how you see it in corny movies. I listen to God 99.9% of the time but once in a while.
Well, you know the saying, "The Devil made me do it!" Ugh.
So Monday I tried to get a little reaclimated and unpacked but mostly I was on the phone with Chris Carlson at the Bothell H&R Block all day. I dumped everything off with him last week. Well, starting a business is darn confusing when you have
NO BUSINESS BACKGROUND WHATSOEVER! Ugh.
So Chris fixed us up and we went in and found out because my business had a loss the first year that our refund would be bigger than what he expected by several thousand dollars.
So. Terry was finally happy and he let me out of the doghouse.
Ahhh, I love to be horizontal Mr. Blog. Being vertical is such a chore lately!
I hope my coffee kicks in soon 'cause I have a million things to do today.
So I got home from Port Angeles Sunday night and Terry starts right in on me for being so terrible with money. And of course he is right. He found out I took out a loan to print the last edition of the game without telling him. Then he found out that when I went to Hawaii that I "accidentally" hit the "Upgrade to First Class" button on the Hawaiian Airlines website.
I swear Mr. Blog, I thought I could sell ALL the games and have all that cash back into our account before Terry noticed! Well, that didn't work out too well for me.
And a businesswoman traveling all over Hawaii to the Department of Motor vehicles and all the community centers needs to be well rested to pitch a new product. I needed first class!
Those Hawaiians are the third worst drivers in the country after the people in New York and New Jersey! At least I could stay with Brenny and save my business expenses a little bit.
I swear I feel like a tiny God sits on one shoulder and a little devil on the other, you know, like how you see it in corny movies. I listen to God 99.9% of the time but once in a while.
Well, you know the saying, "The Devil made me do it!" Ugh.
So Monday I tried to get a little reaclimated and unpacked but mostly I was on the phone with Chris Carlson at the Bothell H&R Block all day. I dumped everything off with him last week. Well, starting a business is darn confusing when you have
NO BUSINESS BACKGROUND WHATSOEVER! Ugh.
So Chris fixed us up and we went in and found out because my business had a loss the first year that our refund would be bigger than what he expected by several thousand dollars.
So. Terry was finally happy and he let me out of the doghouse.
Monday, March 1, 2010
3/1/2010 Seven Candles in a Cake Pan at the Port Angeles KNOP Home Show
*Walks in slowly and lies down*
Hi Mr. Blog. What a trip, I'm still beat. It is definitely a yawn festival story so grab a couch.
*Waits for Mr. Blog to lie down*
So last Thursday I got an e-mail from a teacher asking me to sub Friday and I told her I'd be out of town but available this week. I wake up excited to take off Friday morning and check my work website and she put me in to work that day! I freaked out and called my supervisor and she said not to worry that she'd find another sub. Whew.
I took off out of Kookmore around nine in the gloom and hit the ten o'clock AM ferry at Edmonds. I stayed in Terry's camper van since it's no fun to go upstairs alone. When I drove off the boat in the left lane I knew it would merge right and didn't see anyone in my mirror and almost nailed a little car in my blind spot! Can you say HEAD CHECK?! Ugh! Embarrassing.
I just "followed my mail" along my memorized route through the storm and was happy to see the sign for my favorite road, called, "Chickencoop Road." Isn't that the cutest road name ever?
Right after that I crossed into Clallam County so of course it stopped raining and was clear as a bell in Sequim. It is in the rainshadow of the Olympic Mountains like Camano Island.
The minute I got out of Sequim it started that light drizzle and I was surprised to look over and see the snow on Hurricane Ridge looked almost to my level! The most common signs along there are "Elk Crossing." We went up there a long time ago and saw them!
So I cruised slowly into Port Angeles and went into McDonalds and had coffee to perk up.
I carefully followed the confusing highway 101 signs that wind around through town until I saw the Dazzled By Twilight store. I parked and went in and saw life-sized cardboards of Jacob and Edward as well as the 'So The Lion Lay Down With The Lamb poster.' I had just enough credit between my two cards for the ninety dollars for all three but I knew that they would be teen magnets and draw teens to my booth. The lady at the store was so warm and friendly!
If I had to describe the people in Port Angeles I would say, "The people in Port Angeles are so warm and friendly." Every single person I met all weekend was that way!
I cruised up the hill above town and scoped out places to camp in and around town until I found one I liked and then went into the school at about two PM.
I met Todd and Jodi and Lucy and Debbie from KNOP radio station, the sponsors of the show.
They were working like busy bees around a hive getting that enormous gym ready for the show with the booth building contractor! I hadn't followed Port Angeles high school sports before but they must have some of the best athletes in the state because they have not one, but two giant gyms the size of the Inglemoor high school gym! I was in the mezzanine of gym two where the risers for fans had been retracted against the wall and I looked at my two eighty pound suitcases of games and the two long flights of stairs and tried not to pass out from fright!
The kids were inside finishing whiffle-ball softball and as they came out to go to the dressing rooms I got up the courage to ask the hugest teen if he could carry one bag up the stairs for me.
He must have been 6'4" and 200lbs! I am not exaggerating. He just looked at me and said,
"Yes Ma'am." He picked up both and when I protested that one was enough he just kept jogging up the stairs like he was carrying sacks of feathers!
That was when I knew I was at the right show to be an old, single, wimpy lady!
After about two trips with tote-bags from my van up the mountain and up the two flights of stairs I was feeling buff myself. Like I never had to diet and exercise as long as I lived! The adorable, wonderful, awesome, fantastic, helpful, friendly DeMolay boys were running the espresso stand at the foot of my staircase and OFFERED to carry up the rest of my gear!!!
I had brought the comic books that Troy and Teddy were done with that my cousin Carolyn shipped them a few years back and planned to sell them for two bits each, but I told those great teenagers they could have any of them they wanted for free and free candy. They were so happy and all six found at least a half-dozen comics they liked. No good deed goes unpunished!
No one else was upstairs to set up the other booths so I just enjoyed the buzz from below as the big business sales reps set up all their booths. I saw Natasha, the vinyl window rep I met at the RV show and gave her a hello. Then I saw Lee from American Cookware and went down to visit with him for a bit. Man, if I ever make a dime I will so buy that American Cookware Waterless Cooking set! The Soroptimist that showed up in the booth next to me the next day said her American Cookware set was thirty years old and STILL looked brand new! I went to the next gym and said hello to Marshall and his sister Twyla of the vinyl siding company and then quit messing around and got to work. I climbed up on a chair and hung my giant yellow NIXPIX.COM sign up on the wall drape. I'm so glad I didn't throw that away when the City of Kenmore compliance officer made me take it down off my tree 'cause it looked smokin' hot in the zillion pictures taken over the week-end with my Twilight cardboard characters. Everyone just laughed so hard getting their pictures taken with Edward and Jacob and they loved putting their face through the hole of the 'So the Lion Lay Down With The Lamb' poster. I was careful when I spray-glued some of my sister's brown hair around the poster and the 3-D effect was awesome when they looked like Bella with Edward holding her so tenderly.
So it was around 9:30Pm when I finished my booth Friday night and I was dog-tired when I crawled in Terry's camping van. Talk about The Hilton On Wheels! That Ford van was perfect for me! It had a bed in the back and I had tons of flashlights to read my Harry Potter book and my cooler and my camping toilet and...Terry put a bit of hooch in a little flask for me so I wouldn't get cold. But the temperature did start dropping and around ten I could see my breath so I knew it was around forty. I got out my seven Kenmore Dollar Tree Store 4" pillar candles and put them in my big cake pan and lit them all and set them on a middle seat away from where they could catch anything on fire. After about an hour it warmed up to about fifty and I fell asleep. The only snag was Terry told me no one had slept in the double bag and I was all excited until I got in and it was full of sand! He had taken Troy and Teddy out to Neah Bay and forgotten that someone had used it but I was too tired to care and slept on top of it.
I did not want to get out of my five toasty sleeping bags the next morning, plus I was inside the soft double bag and I was pinned down from the weight of the rest of them that I had piled on top! Every time I stuck my hand out I said, "Brr!" and pulled it back in!!!
I finally roused myself and had my Cheerios and cranberry juice and got dressed.
Thank God for the Port Angeles Kiwanis! If they hadn't had coffee ready I might have started bawling and gone home right then. But they did so I got four cups and hiked up to my little piece of heaven.
It was around nine and I got all my receipts ready and games in their Monsteria leaf shopping bags. When I was visiting Brenny in Hawaii last year we stopped at the little store at the top of the hill on the way to the Hilo Botanical Gardens and I was looking for an official Nixpix necklace and was liking the round shell and she insisted on that Monsteria leaf necklace carved out of the black pearl oyster shell. Well, it wasn't as blingy, but I'm gaga over Monsteria plants and it was on a cool slip-knot adjustable cord so I let her spend four bucks on me and I've been wearing it ever since. I'm crazy over that necklace! So I knew I needed bags for the sacks and surfed the net at her house and found a close-out on...Monsteria print bags from The Pennsylvania Bag Company! Get this Mr. Blog-only $49.99 for 1,000!!! I love my bags!
When everyone showed up a few minutes later it was like Christmas morning!
I swear to God Mr. Blog that the entire town of Port Angeles came to that show!
It was like a giant party all day long and I never had so much fun in my life!
My first sale was to a great lady from Alaska that had just moved to PA and darned if she didn't have to take our driving test! Poor thing!!! Wonder how I could find every single new person moving to our state and sell them my game? That test is hard.
Some of the rules are the same and the traffic icons are coordinated but there are some slight variations that have been giving me kiniputions when I worked on the national version.
The next sale was to an adorable teen that was already driving and was gaga over the game and wanted to get it for her little fifteen year old sister. There were also some families that couldn't afford the expensive driving schools and they were happy when I showed them that I had carefully put the Department Of Licensing website links right on the gameboard to get to the parent guide that teaches parents step-by-step how to teach someone to drive based on the state curriculum. I had brought my copy that I made to teach Troy so they could see what it looked like and how I had just downloaded it to print and then hole-punched it and put it in a binder from the thrift store. It was embarrassing that I couldn't afford printer paper when I made it and used the back of Teddy and Troy's old school papers. At least they could see Teddy got As in penmanship and Troy did an awesome report on Bhutan!
Right after that the Swans of KNOP fame stopped by for my song and pony show. They were so nice and friendly and I had read all about them in the Home Show guide. I was probably the only person that had ever been to Idaho Falls where they got married forty years ago! When Mom and Lyle lived in Pocatello Idaho, a friend of their's took us on a sailboat ride at that lake!
So they were like the nicest people in the world and told me about a KNOP podcast that they do and I am surely going to listen to that. He had one of those deep baratone voices that is so soothing that your blood pressure comes back down if you drank too much coffee. They were so nice that I was even thinking about inviting myself to have dinner with them but I didn't have enough nerve to ask and figured they had a bunch of kids hanging out with them all the time. Friendly people like that are like social magnets that you just want to stick to.
My last and fourth sale of the day was to a dad with a fourteen year old son because his son and his little brother were liking the mini-racers and road on the gameboard and the spinner.
I never thought of it as a game for fun but when I subbed in third grade last year the kids were fighting over reading the driving manual of all things! People are so funny!
I just like how you can NEVER predict what they are going to do. When the show closed at five, I dashed down to give Marshall his birthday present. He was the vendor at the RV show that told me I HAD to come to PA with my game that it was the most fun show in the state.
I only had a few dollars so I went to the Kenmore Dollar store and got him so birthday horns and glow-in-the dark party stuff and kitchen towels. They have real cute kitchen towels.
He was happy I remembered and Twyla laughed and laughed and said they'd have fun with the stuff. I took a quick spin through the show and found out why the whole town turned out.
The vendors were so warm and friendly and gave all kinds of loot! Man! You should see the stuff I brought home! Pens, tablets, gardening gloves, keychains, a necklace, a Clallam County Sheriff's badge, a Smokey the Bear button... and they had hats too! But too small for my fat head. Oh, and the nice real estate people gave me a baby fir tree that I am going to plant out next to the bike trail where they installed an underground sprinkler system and when it gets a little bigger I'm decorating it for Christmas like I used to do my old tree. When I taught kindergarten at Springtime Day Care Center in 1996, I brought my entire class down for a Martin Luther King junior day field trip and we planted the live tree I had bought for our classroom during a monsoon along the bike trail. I decorated it every year, even when I had to drag out the ladder, but when they did the highway 522 improvements they had to kill it last summer and it was fifteen feet high. I mean, I doubt Lisa Pierce or Lolly Borte or Jeffery Possetter or the other kids would even remember doing it anyway. But I remember all those kids. They were so terrific that I started college to teach kindergarten in the public schools.
Oh, and I met the nicest lady from the transit center! She told me all about taking the bus from Kenmore out to PA and if I win the drawing for a bus pass I am so going to do it! I love PA.
When I got back upstairs the Soroptimists were done for the day and came over and took pictures with Edward and Jacob and we just laughed our heads off! I'm laughing inside just remembering how much fun I had with them all week-end. They were hands down the nicest civic group people I had ever met. And Jeri even printed a copy of herself with Edward and Jacob on her lunch break that I hope I find at some print. It is SO CUTE! What a living doll.
After everyone left I went down and hung out with Lee cause he always has a ton of clean-up after his cooking show. He showed me his LED light that was the next company he is sales-repping and asked me if I was interested. I love to sell and I'm still pondering his offer. I also like the environmental impact that LEDs can help the world with. He wrapped up around seven so I went to my van and fell asleep after one page of Harry Potter! Well, I shook the damn sand out of that soft Coleman double sleeping bag first!
I woke up at seven and was so homesick I could have died! I jumped out of my nest and dressed in a heart-beat and pre-packed in five minutes and raced up to my booth and dragged out my giant suitcases and hauled them to the van. I got as much stuff I wouldn't need and was ready to go home. Only snag was I had to work until four. Jonathon from Solar ? was the only one there and he told me all about solar panels, which is something I'm highly interested in.
I had zillions of tweens come through that day and they all took pictures with this new invention called a camera phone. My rotary pal, Austin, had told me these shows were mostly about making contacts and publicity and that gave me an idea. I made the picture takers stand so my sign was behind them! He was such a card!
Now I find cell phone users to often be annoying and don't want one and couldn't afford one anyway, but the truth is they haven't designed one that a baby-boomer could use without reading glasses. The stupid designers make the screens black and print small but hey-they are probably only forty and don't know what is ahead for themselves. But those camera phones are starting to highly entice me after a week-end of seeing how they could not only take a picture, but someone send it to someone using a phone! Can you imagine that?!
Well, I was starving at one-thirty and who shows up, but Lee with a HUGE lunch of American Cookware waterless cooking vegetables and chicken! I was just about to run down for a few hot dogs too. I HATE BROCOLI AND CAULIFLOWER! But guess what? It tasted yummy with the way he made it AND the yams tasted like candy so I saved them for last for desert. Man, I was so grateful that when I do make a dime I'll only buy my set from Lee.
Around two o'clock a few Reporters from the Port Angeles Herald came around to look at the game and guess what?! You won't believe this, but they looked like Clark and Lois! They were so cute and friendly I wanted to take THEIR picture but decided I would embarrass myself more than my once daily quotient.
Right after that a charming lady named Carol stopped and got a game for her granddaughter. Then I remembered that several people had mentioned to me that the game would be perfect for the teens at the Boys and Girls club. I grabbed my demo and a game and ran down, down, down to their tent only to be blinded by...the sun. The view was so breathtaking that I forgot what I was doing. Once I recovered I showed them the game and they did buy one! I will so make a donation to the Port Angeles Boys and Girls Club when Gin Latin goes global!
At three I went downstairs for a pitstop and said hi to Lee and he said he was starting his next show but no one was sitting down yet. Well, I thought that the man that feeds me show was more important than sales so I plunked my butt right down in front. Soon more people came over and guess what? He had salads left from his previous show! He started his show with this vegetable spinner cutter that I would kill for!!! It is like 3oo clams or so. I try not to think about how much I want one of those but he did everything under the sun with it! Sliced potatoes and ridged chips and julienne squash. More people came and his chairs filled and I saw it was 3:40 and I hadn't started packing up yet. At 3:50, I dashed upstairs and the other five vendors were starting to pack cause the show ended at 4:00. I pre-packed under the table cause I know from chairing three arts and crafts fairs that shoppers that come late HATE it when vendors are breaking down before the scheduled.
Promptly at four I grabbed eight totebags and dashed down the stairs and asked my DeMolay pals for help. They all carried the bags to the van and I ran up for my two tables and sign and dragged them down the stairs. I attached them to my old flight attendant wheels from 1987, before rolling suitcases were invented and rolled it to my van. I threw everything inside and jumped in at 4:15 and rolled down into PA about 4:30. I carefully followed the signs back to the Kingston ferry and made it on the 6:30 right when it was starting to get dark. I was taking notes about my journey for you, Mr. Blog, when the captain came on the loudspeaker and said there was a rare harvest moon off the front of the ferryboat. I jumped out of the van along with a dozen other people and took a picture which looked like a crappy, blurry speck and laughed at my folly. But that giant orange moon looked like to me was a huge sign to me that said,
"WELCOME HOME GRETCHEN."
Hi Mr. Blog. What a trip, I'm still beat. It is definitely a yawn festival story so grab a couch.
*Waits for Mr. Blog to lie down*
So last Thursday I got an e-mail from a teacher asking me to sub Friday and I told her I'd be out of town but available this week. I wake up excited to take off Friday morning and check my work website and she put me in to work that day! I freaked out and called my supervisor and she said not to worry that she'd find another sub. Whew.
I took off out of Kookmore around nine in the gloom and hit the ten o'clock AM ferry at Edmonds. I stayed in Terry's camper van since it's no fun to go upstairs alone. When I drove off the boat in the left lane I knew it would merge right and didn't see anyone in my mirror and almost nailed a little car in my blind spot! Can you say HEAD CHECK?! Ugh! Embarrassing.
I just "followed my mail" along my memorized route through the storm and was happy to see the sign for my favorite road, called, "Chickencoop Road." Isn't that the cutest road name ever?
Right after that I crossed into Clallam County so of course it stopped raining and was clear as a bell in Sequim. It is in the rainshadow of the Olympic Mountains like Camano Island.
The minute I got out of Sequim it started that light drizzle and I was surprised to look over and see the snow on Hurricane Ridge looked almost to my level! The most common signs along there are "Elk Crossing." We went up there a long time ago and saw them!
So I cruised slowly into Port Angeles and went into McDonalds and had coffee to perk up.
I carefully followed the confusing highway 101 signs that wind around through town until I saw the Dazzled By Twilight store. I parked and went in and saw life-sized cardboards of Jacob and Edward as well as the 'So The Lion Lay Down With The Lamb poster.' I had just enough credit between my two cards for the ninety dollars for all three but I knew that they would be teen magnets and draw teens to my booth. The lady at the store was so warm and friendly!
If I had to describe the people in Port Angeles I would say, "The people in Port Angeles are so warm and friendly." Every single person I met all weekend was that way!
I cruised up the hill above town and scoped out places to camp in and around town until I found one I liked and then went into the school at about two PM.
I met Todd and Jodi and Lucy and Debbie from KNOP radio station, the sponsors of the show.
They were working like busy bees around a hive getting that enormous gym ready for the show with the booth building contractor! I hadn't followed Port Angeles high school sports before but they must have some of the best athletes in the state because they have not one, but two giant gyms the size of the Inglemoor high school gym! I was in the mezzanine of gym two where the risers for fans had been retracted against the wall and I looked at my two eighty pound suitcases of games and the two long flights of stairs and tried not to pass out from fright!
The kids were inside finishing whiffle-ball softball and as they came out to go to the dressing rooms I got up the courage to ask the hugest teen if he could carry one bag up the stairs for me.
He must have been 6'4" and 200lbs! I am not exaggerating. He just looked at me and said,
"Yes Ma'am." He picked up both and when I protested that one was enough he just kept jogging up the stairs like he was carrying sacks of feathers!
That was when I knew I was at the right show to be an old, single, wimpy lady!
After about two trips with tote-bags from my van up the mountain and up the two flights of stairs I was feeling buff myself. Like I never had to diet and exercise as long as I lived! The adorable, wonderful, awesome, fantastic, helpful, friendly DeMolay boys were running the espresso stand at the foot of my staircase and OFFERED to carry up the rest of my gear!!!
I had brought the comic books that Troy and Teddy were done with that my cousin Carolyn shipped them a few years back and planned to sell them for two bits each, but I told those great teenagers they could have any of them they wanted for free and free candy. They were so happy and all six found at least a half-dozen comics they liked. No good deed goes unpunished!
No one else was upstairs to set up the other booths so I just enjoyed the buzz from below as the big business sales reps set up all their booths. I saw Natasha, the vinyl window rep I met at the RV show and gave her a hello. Then I saw Lee from American Cookware and went down to visit with him for a bit. Man, if I ever make a dime I will so buy that American Cookware Waterless Cooking set! The Soroptimist that showed up in the booth next to me the next day said her American Cookware set was thirty years old and STILL looked brand new! I went to the next gym and said hello to Marshall and his sister Twyla of the vinyl siding company and then quit messing around and got to work. I climbed up on a chair and hung my giant yellow NIXPIX.COM sign up on the wall drape. I'm so glad I didn't throw that away when the City of Kenmore compliance officer made me take it down off my tree 'cause it looked smokin' hot in the zillion pictures taken over the week-end with my Twilight cardboard characters. Everyone just laughed so hard getting their pictures taken with Edward and Jacob and they loved putting their face through the hole of the 'So the Lion Lay Down With The Lamb' poster. I was careful when I spray-glued some of my sister's brown hair around the poster and the 3-D effect was awesome when they looked like Bella with Edward holding her so tenderly.
So it was around 9:30Pm when I finished my booth Friday night and I was dog-tired when I crawled in Terry's camping van. Talk about The Hilton On Wheels! That Ford van was perfect for me! It had a bed in the back and I had tons of flashlights to read my Harry Potter book and my cooler and my camping toilet and...Terry put a bit of hooch in a little flask for me so I wouldn't get cold. But the temperature did start dropping and around ten I could see my breath so I knew it was around forty. I got out my seven Kenmore Dollar Tree Store 4" pillar candles and put them in my big cake pan and lit them all and set them on a middle seat away from where they could catch anything on fire. After about an hour it warmed up to about fifty and I fell asleep. The only snag was Terry told me no one had slept in the double bag and I was all excited until I got in and it was full of sand! He had taken Troy and Teddy out to Neah Bay and forgotten that someone had used it but I was too tired to care and slept on top of it.
I did not want to get out of my five toasty sleeping bags the next morning, plus I was inside the soft double bag and I was pinned down from the weight of the rest of them that I had piled on top! Every time I stuck my hand out I said, "Brr!" and pulled it back in!!!
I finally roused myself and had my Cheerios and cranberry juice and got dressed.
Thank God for the Port Angeles Kiwanis! If they hadn't had coffee ready I might have started bawling and gone home right then. But they did so I got four cups and hiked up to my little piece of heaven.
It was around nine and I got all my receipts ready and games in their Monsteria leaf shopping bags. When I was visiting Brenny in Hawaii last year we stopped at the little store at the top of the hill on the way to the Hilo Botanical Gardens and I was looking for an official Nixpix necklace and was liking the round shell and she insisted on that Monsteria leaf necklace carved out of the black pearl oyster shell. Well, it wasn't as blingy, but I'm gaga over Monsteria plants and it was on a cool slip-knot adjustable cord so I let her spend four bucks on me and I've been wearing it ever since. I'm crazy over that necklace! So I knew I needed bags for the sacks and surfed the net at her house and found a close-out on...Monsteria print bags from The Pennsylvania Bag Company! Get this Mr. Blog-only $49.99 for 1,000!!! I love my bags!
When everyone showed up a few minutes later it was like Christmas morning!
I swear to God Mr. Blog that the entire town of Port Angeles came to that show!
It was like a giant party all day long and I never had so much fun in my life!
My first sale was to a great lady from Alaska that had just moved to PA and darned if she didn't have to take our driving test! Poor thing!!! Wonder how I could find every single new person moving to our state and sell them my game? That test is hard.
Some of the rules are the same and the traffic icons are coordinated but there are some slight variations that have been giving me kiniputions when I worked on the national version.
The next sale was to an adorable teen that was already driving and was gaga over the game and wanted to get it for her little fifteen year old sister. There were also some families that couldn't afford the expensive driving schools and they were happy when I showed them that I had carefully put the Department Of Licensing website links right on the gameboard to get to the parent guide that teaches parents step-by-step how to teach someone to drive based on the state curriculum. I had brought my copy that I made to teach Troy so they could see what it looked like and how I had just downloaded it to print and then hole-punched it and put it in a binder from the thrift store. It was embarrassing that I couldn't afford printer paper when I made it and used the back of Teddy and Troy's old school papers. At least they could see Teddy got As in penmanship and Troy did an awesome report on Bhutan!
Right after that the Swans of KNOP fame stopped by for my song and pony show. They were so nice and friendly and I had read all about them in the Home Show guide. I was probably the only person that had ever been to Idaho Falls where they got married forty years ago! When Mom and Lyle lived in Pocatello Idaho, a friend of their's took us on a sailboat ride at that lake!
So they were like the nicest people in the world and told me about a KNOP podcast that they do and I am surely going to listen to that. He had one of those deep baratone voices that is so soothing that your blood pressure comes back down if you drank too much coffee. They were so nice that I was even thinking about inviting myself to have dinner with them but I didn't have enough nerve to ask and figured they had a bunch of kids hanging out with them all the time. Friendly people like that are like social magnets that you just want to stick to.
My last and fourth sale of the day was to a dad with a fourteen year old son because his son and his little brother were liking the mini-racers and road on the gameboard and the spinner.
I never thought of it as a game for fun but when I subbed in third grade last year the kids were fighting over reading the driving manual of all things! People are so funny!
I just like how you can NEVER predict what they are going to do. When the show closed at five, I dashed down to give Marshall his birthday present. He was the vendor at the RV show that told me I HAD to come to PA with my game that it was the most fun show in the state.
I only had a few dollars so I went to the Kenmore Dollar store and got him so birthday horns and glow-in-the dark party stuff and kitchen towels. They have real cute kitchen towels.
He was happy I remembered and Twyla laughed and laughed and said they'd have fun with the stuff. I took a quick spin through the show and found out why the whole town turned out.
The vendors were so warm and friendly and gave all kinds of loot! Man! You should see the stuff I brought home! Pens, tablets, gardening gloves, keychains, a necklace, a Clallam County Sheriff's badge, a Smokey the Bear button... and they had hats too! But too small for my fat head. Oh, and the nice real estate people gave me a baby fir tree that I am going to plant out next to the bike trail where they installed an underground sprinkler system and when it gets a little bigger I'm decorating it for Christmas like I used to do my old tree. When I taught kindergarten at Springtime Day Care Center in 1996, I brought my entire class down for a Martin Luther King junior day field trip and we planted the live tree I had bought for our classroom during a monsoon along the bike trail. I decorated it every year, even when I had to drag out the ladder, but when they did the highway 522 improvements they had to kill it last summer and it was fifteen feet high. I mean, I doubt Lisa Pierce or Lolly Borte or Jeffery Possetter or the other kids would even remember doing it anyway. But I remember all those kids. They were so terrific that I started college to teach kindergarten in the public schools.
Oh, and I met the nicest lady from the transit center! She told me all about taking the bus from Kenmore out to PA and if I win the drawing for a bus pass I am so going to do it! I love PA.
When I got back upstairs the Soroptimists were done for the day and came over and took pictures with Edward and Jacob and we just laughed our heads off! I'm laughing inside just remembering how much fun I had with them all week-end. They were hands down the nicest civic group people I had ever met. And Jeri even printed a copy of herself with Edward and Jacob on her lunch break that I hope I find at some print. It is SO CUTE! What a living doll.
After everyone left I went down and hung out with Lee cause he always has a ton of clean-up after his cooking show. He showed me his LED light that was the next company he is sales-repping and asked me if I was interested. I love to sell and I'm still pondering his offer. I also like the environmental impact that LEDs can help the world with. He wrapped up around seven so I went to my van and fell asleep after one page of Harry Potter! Well, I shook the damn sand out of that soft Coleman double sleeping bag first!
I woke up at seven and was so homesick I could have died! I jumped out of my nest and dressed in a heart-beat and pre-packed in five minutes and raced up to my booth and dragged out my giant suitcases and hauled them to the van. I got as much stuff I wouldn't need and was ready to go home. Only snag was I had to work until four. Jonathon from Solar ? was the only one there and he told me all about solar panels, which is something I'm highly interested in.
I had zillions of tweens come through that day and they all took pictures with this new invention called a camera phone. My rotary pal, Austin, had told me these shows were mostly about making contacts and publicity and that gave me an idea. I made the picture takers stand so my sign was behind them! He was such a card!
Now I find cell phone users to often be annoying and don't want one and couldn't afford one anyway, but the truth is they haven't designed one that a baby-boomer could use without reading glasses. The stupid designers make the screens black and print small but hey-they are probably only forty and don't know what is ahead for themselves. But those camera phones are starting to highly entice me after a week-end of seeing how they could not only take a picture, but someone send it to someone using a phone! Can you imagine that?!
Well, I was starving at one-thirty and who shows up, but Lee with a HUGE lunch of American Cookware waterless cooking vegetables and chicken! I was just about to run down for a few hot dogs too. I HATE BROCOLI AND CAULIFLOWER! But guess what? It tasted yummy with the way he made it AND the yams tasted like candy so I saved them for last for desert. Man, I was so grateful that when I do make a dime I'll only buy my set from Lee.
Around two o'clock a few Reporters from the Port Angeles Herald came around to look at the game and guess what?! You won't believe this, but they looked like Clark and Lois! They were so cute and friendly I wanted to take THEIR picture but decided I would embarrass myself more than my once daily quotient.
Right after that a charming lady named Carol stopped and got a game for her granddaughter. Then I remembered that several people had mentioned to me that the game would be perfect for the teens at the Boys and Girls club. I grabbed my demo and a game and ran down, down, down to their tent only to be blinded by...the sun. The view was so breathtaking that I forgot what I was doing. Once I recovered I showed them the game and they did buy one! I will so make a donation to the Port Angeles Boys and Girls Club when Gin Latin goes global!
At three I went downstairs for a pitstop and said hi to Lee and he said he was starting his next show but no one was sitting down yet. Well, I thought that the man that feeds me show was more important than sales so I plunked my butt right down in front. Soon more people came over and guess what? He had salads left from his previous show! He started his show with this vegetable spinner cutter that I would kill for!!! It is like 3oo clams or so. I try not to think about how much I want one of those but he did everything under the sun with it! Sliced potatoes and ridged chips and julienne squash. More people came and his chairs filled and I saw it was 3:40 and I hadn't started packing up yet. At 3:50, I dashed upstairs and the other five vendors were starting to pack cause the show ended at 4:00. I pre-packed under the table cause I know from chairing three arts and crafts fairs that shoppers that come late HATE it when vendors are breaking down before the scheduled.
Promptly at four I grabbed eight totebags and dashed down the stairs and asked my DeMolay pals for help. They all carried the bags to the van and I ran up for my two tables and sign and dragged them down the stairs. I attached them to my old flight attendant wheels from 1987, before rolling suitcases were invented and rolled it to my van. I threw everything inside and jumped in at 4:15 and rolled down into PA about 4:30. I carefully followed the signs back to the Kingston ferry and made it on the 6:30 right when it was starting to get dark. I was taking notes about my journey for you, Mr. Blog, when the captain came on the loudspeaker and said there was a rare harvest moon off the front of the ferryboat. I jumped out of the van along with a dozen other people and took a picture which looked like a crappy, blurry speck and laughed at my folly. But that giant orange moon looked like to me was a huge sign to me that said,
"WELCOME HOME GRETCHEN."
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