Seeking Camelot: Me Me Me

A Tropical Beach Somewhere is Calling...

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:00:07 GMT

I get so tired of being busy. I get exhausted just being on the run all the time...or what seems like all the time.

Aug. 28, M went in for a hernia surgery...well, triple hernia surgery. Yeah. OUCH. I took the Friday off work and stayed home with him. He could not get around by himself at all the first and second day.

Well, the following Wed. was the day that Lexi died, so we had all the chaos and confusion from all of that going on in the background of our lives. So, then, the same week as the funeral, on a Friday, N had a dr.'s appt. to check for a hernia.

He was right. He had one.

So, the dr. told him he could come in on Monday morning for surgery (!!!) or wait a month, then come in for another appt. with him and schedule a surgery then. He was going to be out of town for the next month and he has to see the patient within 30 days before surgery. So, 2 days later, N was in the SAME hospital having the SAME surgery with the SAME dr. as his dad a little over two weeks later.

In fact, when we were talking to the dr., I mentioned that we selected him as the surgeon because M had really liked him. He asked his name and, when I told him, he said, "Oh yes! I knew that name sounded familiar!"

The only difference between M and N's surgeries, though, was how they responded to the anesthesia. M was able to leave shortly after waking up. N, however...

Wow.

He was awake at 11:30, had thrown up (ALOT) by 2 and thrown up again by 4:30.

So, they admitted him into the hospital for the night. N was not a happy camper. He kept saying, "I'll be fine. I just want to go home." I had to keep telling him the reason was so that they could monitor him and keep fluids in him through the IV.

But yeah, it stunk. I spent the night at the hospital with him. Mainly so there would be someone right there to help him to the restroom during the night. But partly because, well, I'm a mom.

Neither one of us got much sleep.

But, he was feeling much better by about 8:00 and had managed to put away quite a bit of fluid without getting sick, so I shared some contraband M&Ms with him right before bed. And the nurse finally let him have some solid food...well, jello anyway...if you can consider jello "solid food". lol

First thing the next morning, he had a bagel for breakfast and felt fine. When we got home, both of us went to bed and slept the rest of the morning. lol

He's been doing really well. We got a prescription for some pain meds, but he hasn't had to take any. He's taken a couple of Tylenol, but said that was fine.

I'm glad he's bouncing back so quickly.

On another note, last night at Rick's was just a nightmare! It was busy, but only because we were short a server and had no bus boy. If you've ever worked in the food industry, you know the HUGE benefit of having a bus boy. It was nuts.

But one singularly funny thing happened that totally cracked me up!

I had a party of 14 come in at 8:00. It was the grandpa's birthday party. Well, they got their food alright and everything was going ok, but they asked me if I could turn on the heater.

(On the deck, there are gas heaters on poles. In the evenings when it starts to cool off, we can turn them on and they keep the deck feeling comfortable for people to be sitting out there.)

The heaters resemble this:

The square part at the top is where the flame is and it gets totally red hot. Each heater stands about 7-8 feet tall.

Anyway, this party is sitting there and they're getting ready to sing 'Happy Birthday' to Grandpa...and I notice he has a napkin on his head.

I started thinking, "Why does he have a napkin on his head?"

No one appears concerned, so I started thinking maybe it's kind of like his birthday hat or something...

I don't know...

Anyway, right after they get done singing, one of the ladies says, "Dad, why do you have a napkin on your head?"

Ok! So, I wasn't the only one wondering! lol

Well, it turned out that Grandpa was sitting directly under the heater...

and he's bald...

and his head was getting hot.

lol

I turned off the heater...

while I giggled to myself about it.

Guinevere

Wouldn't You Just Know It!!!

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 01:55:58 GMT

Sometimes I just get so irritated with myself.

Today, I was watching 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' and thinking how, even though it wasn't hugely Scripturally accurate, there were things in it that were soooooo true...and reminded me how human I am.

For example, in one scene, Jesus and 4 of His new disciples wake up and one of them realizes that someone has stolen his cloak. Jesus teaches them about how we should respond to everyone...if someone takes your coat, give him your cloak also, etc. As they turn to get back on the road, the disciple says something along the lines of, "I don't see how THAT'S going to keep me warm." And Jesus turns and hands him His cloak.

I just laughed and cried.

Oh, how I am sooooo like that!!!

I WANT to be a good disciple, but I can grumble and complain along with the best of them!!!

lol

Every person could relate to any of the 12 disciples if they really chose to examine their individual personalities. They weren't perfect by any stretch of the imagination. And you know?

I'm sooooooooo glad they weren't!!!

That means there's hope for me!

lol

If you haven't seen the movie, you must! There are so many good lines in it.

For example, Charlton Heston plays John the Baptist and, in one scene, when the Roman soldiers come to take him to Herod, this is the exchange:

Soldier:

Baptist, I have come to bring you to King Herod.

John:

I have come to bring YOU to God, heathen.

lol

I totally cracked up!

Besides, there are so many great actors in one film....wow! And just another perspective on the life of Jesus...

I just wish they would quit portraying Him as quiet and solemn all the time, though. I think He was introspective, but I also think He was (and is) full of joy and exuberance and outspokenness and playfulness and excitement!

Anyway, oops, got sidetracked. lol My whole point to this post was that M and I had the entire day free...to ourselves...and what happened? No surprise. We started bickering with one another. We had planned on going to lunch together, but changed plans. Neither one of us felt much like doing that. And it just seems to have continued on through the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Do you ever have days like that? Where you're not grouchy or anything, but nothing seems to go quite like it should and you just can't get it to quit?

Today is one of those kinds of days.

That's why it was so ironic that I watched that movie today and made those observations...right before all this "ick" started. Hmmm...wonder why it all happened that way?

lol

Anyway, now I'm just waiting it out for the kids to head to their rooms for the evening and see if I can catch M and talk. I hate it when we argue and, worse yet, when we have days that we just can't seem to get along.

Anyway...you've all caught me in one of my introspective moods tonight. lol

Hope you're having a great weekend!!!

Guinevere

How Do I Slow Down This Merry-Go-Round?

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:56:10 GMT

You would think that I'd be used to the craziness that is my life right now, but I'm not. lol This week has been busy...again.

I'm sure you're all probably getting tired of hearing how busy I am all the time, but, sheesh! Busy busy busy is all I've got to blog about right now! lol

Saturday afternoon is my daughter's Sweet 16 Party. A couple of months ago, we started doing some pre-planning to decide 1) what her expectations were, 2) what was within our budget, and 3) what I actually would have time to do.

For some reason that only God knows, I agreed that we could have cheesecake instead of a regular birthday cake. She cheesecake. BIG time!

Why did I agree to this???

Was I insane???

Keeping everything within a budget restricts me from just purchasing some premade cheesecakes from a bakery or, best yet, The Cheesecake Factory....which, obviously, leads you to the correct conclusion that I will be making said cheesecakes myself.

*sigh*

First problem, I can't find my NY style baked cheesecake recipe, so I had to find one online...I did and I HOPE it's a good one.

*sigh*

Second problem, buying the ingredients for this many cheesecakes (12 total, because OF COURSE, I said we would have a variety) is expensive!!! I ended up stretching my budget a bit on this one...

*sigh*

Third problem, not taking into account the TIME that is required PER cheesecake to bake, cool, then move on to the next one...when you only have one springform pan and don't have access to another one.

*sigh*

Obviously, I'm revising some of the no-bake versions and, rather than forming them in my springform pan, will be making them in a couple of my very large rectangular glass pans instead.

I did all the shopping for all the decorations and ingredients on Monday night. On Tues. night, after getting home a bit early from the waitress job, I baked one of the cheesecakes. It baked very well and looks very "gourmet". Cool. Last night, after church, I baked another one. I have to work the waitress job again tonight, so, depending on when I get home, I might be baking another one tonight.

But, tomorrow, I took the day off work from my primary job and I'm not scheduled for my waitress job, so A and I are going to work all day on centerpieces and decorations for the tables and I'll be finishing up baking and assembling all of the cheesecakes throughout the day.

You know, things like this are so chaotic and I tend to stress until I see things start to smooth out. But I really like doing this kind of thing. I've considered working in a catering business before...but then I think, "Yeah, but if I was around food all the time, would I still feel the same way about it?"

I don't know...

Anyway, A's party is going to be ALOT of work...but will also be ALOT of fun. We got her gift in the mail yesterday and I'm not going to post what we got her here simply because she knows about my blog. She also knows where it is... I don't think she reads it, though (she's too preoccupied with her own Facebook page and her mom's life is boring to her, I'm sure...lol), but just in case... I'll let all of you be surprised with her. lol

(So, A, in case you DO read this....HA HA HA.)

After the party, we'll be running her back to our house with 4 of her friends. One of them can't spend the night, but the other 3 can. It should be interesting. We told them they could have the basement for the night, but I'm thinking now that they'll have more room if they stay in the living room. We can move the coffee table out and they can watch movies all night if they want. (Guess I should go buy some popcorn! lol)

Anyway, I'll make sure we get plenty of pics and I'll post later in the weekend.

As a side note, please pray for my sanity. lol

Guinevere

Life Moves Fast, Doesn't It?

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:57:49 GMT

First off, apologies go out to all those wonderful friends who play Scrabble. I promise I'll get back to it in a few days, maybe even this weekend, but for now, I'm just tired. I need to take a break from some things and, unfortunately, that was one of the things that was easy to set aside for awhile. Work, MOST unfortunately, was not. I'll be back, just don't give up on me.

All of the storms show signs of letting up. We had a thunderstorm warning yesterday, but all it did was get really cloudy, rain for a little while, and dissipate. I know it was supposed to hit harder farther south, but all of these storms are becoming less frequent...so I hope that means that we're moving out of the bad weather. (Keeping my fingers crossed.)

Lots of stuff has been going on, but it's so much that I can't even think of anything noteworthy to blog about. lol How pathetic is that??? lol All I can think to report is something funny my daughter said a couple of days ago! lol

Oh well, it's a start...and hopefully that means that I'll be back on the road to posting SOMEthing...ANYthing...more often on here from now on.

A made a comment the other day that she's had several people tell her she looks like her dad. (She does. Honestly. She looks NOTHING like me.) Well, she was ok with that (is she a REAL 16-year-old HUMAN child????), because she said she realizes that it's mostly when she laughs or smiles. And I said, "Yeah. You do have your dad's facial expressions when you laugh and smile."

Then, just out of sheer orneriness, I told her that, unfortunately, when her dad laughs and smiles, he looks exactly like HIS dad.

She got a look of sheer horror on her face and said,

"If A=B and B=C, then that means that <GULP> A=C!!!!!"

I just said, "Unfortunately...yes." lol

I thought I was going to die laughing!

So, she HAS learned something in Geometry after all! lol

Guinevere

Powette is Over...and I'm Tired

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 03:37:03 GMT

We had a great time at Powette the last couple of days. I'm exhausted, but I'm thrilled that all of the girls had a good time. I'm also thrilled that we had absolutely beautiful weather!!!

Unfortunately, there were some girls who were not able to be there (from other parts of IA) because of all of the nasty weather and flooding IA's been suffering through the last couple of weeks.

In fact, last night, one of our Reps had to find an IA road map so she could plot another route home. All the highways and county roads she could think of on her route home had been closed over the last couple of days!

Amazingly enough, there was a group there from Cedar Rapids, IA. Considering what that city has been going through, it's a miracle they were able to be there. Check this out:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25160908#25160908

We really need to be praying for our state right now.

Guinevere

Another Busy Weekend

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:46:22 GMT

Ah, the joys of being in leadership. Church leadership, that is. Thankfully, I’m not a pastor’s wife or even a deacon’s wife, but I am in leadership in our church. I teach in Missionettes on Wed. nights and teach Sunday School on Sunday mornings. I really do enjoy both…but, sometimes… *sigh*

I really wish there more hours in a day and more days in a week!

Last weekend, I posted about the work I did to get ready for a garage sale on Sat. morning, but stopped short of all of the other stuff I was also working on. Honestly, thinking about what all I got done…I made myself tired all over again. lol

After straightening and cleaning the garage on Thurs. morning and after lunch, I got my sewing machine set up in the basement in front of the big tv down there and found something to watch. Then I proceeded to sew badges on sashes for this weekend adventure. I had 9 sashes to get badges sewn onto. I managed to get 8 done. (I finished the last one last night.)

On each sash, I had to sew a logo badge, district badge, club badge and then one step badge per 9 unit badges. Confused? lol 2 of the sashes, I had to sew on 34 badges! Actually, I take that back. On one of those sashes, I also had to sew on Powette (camp) patches from ’06 and ’07. (Normally, I would only have to sew on between 2 and 5 badges, but I had to totally start from scratch. More on that in a bit.)

Most of the sashes, I only had to sew on between 6 and 16 badges. Those were ok. But, believe it or not, by the time I got to the last sash, which only needed 6 sewn on, I just couldn’t do it anymore. I had to put it down and walk away. It’s one thing to sew a single project start to finish. It’s another to have to do tedious work like this. Stop and start. Stop and start.

Anyway, back to the sashes and starting from scratch. Well, last year was the first year I was helping in Stars (the group I work with on Wed. nights). The teacher was the Missionettes Coordinator too. I’ve been a Coordinator in our old church and understood the program the way it’s supposed to be. Well, she so obviously didn’t understand how it’s supposed to be. Wow. This past fall, at the start of the new “year”, I took over teaching the Stars and she moved into the Daisies (kindergarten girls). The first thing I corrected was keeping records of what units the girls have completed. She had kept zero records. Then, when camp time started rolling around, I checked into where the girls’ sashes were. They didn’t have any. ??? So, I talked to her about their sashes and she said her mom would make them. She did, but when I got them, I just sat and stared. Oh my goodness. I’m no master seamstress, but I do take pride in anything I make and want it to look as professional as possible. The sashes are something the girls should be proud of. (I even showed them to my daughter who had one when she was in Stars and I asked her how she would feel if one of those had been her sash. She looked at me and said, “Mom, those look really bad.”) Another big *sigh* and I went and bought some fabric to make new sashes…which I finished and they look very tidy and professional. (I’m just hoping that the Coordinator doesn’t notice that they aren’t the same ones. I’ve been working on a way to be diplomatic if she asks me about them.) So, anyway, that’s why we had to start from scratch. None of the girls had any badges or sashes. Now they’re all up-to-date and ready to go. I know they’re all going to be very surprised about how they look.

Anyway, on Friday, I also ran an errand to pick up some t-shirts at the store for the girls…and t-shirt transfer paper for the computer. See…that’s another thing I do. I always have these big ideas and then have to actually follow through with them. lol I told the girls that I would make them t-shirts for Fri. at camp. They would all match and have their name on the back, then they could sign one another’s t-shirt and keep it as a memory from Powette. They were all soooooo excited!

And then reality hit me this past weekend. When did I actually think I would get this done??? Could I get away with NOT doing it??? What could be my excuse for not making the t-shirts???

I was thinking all of this on the way to the store. I also had the radio on and was only half listening, when a discussion about kids today came on the radio and caught my attention. The guy was talking about how kids today are chronically disappointed and have learned that when adults say they’re going to do something that usually means they’re NOT going to do something. They’ve grown used to be disappointed by adults.

*sigh* Ok, Lord, I get it. Make the stinkin’ t-shirts and don’t disappoint the girls. I need to be a woman of my word.

So, I bought the t-shirts (again - *sigh*)and worked on a design when I got home. Yesterday, M took the transfer paper and my flash drive to work with him and got them all printed off for me. (I don’t have a color inkjet at home.) So, last night, I ironed all of them on the t-shirts…all 9 of them. And, they look pretty snazzy if I do say so myself.

Whaddaya think?

So, between all of the sewing and ironing and packing that I’ve been doing for this coming weekend, I’ve been running myself ragged. But, now, I think I have just about everything ready to go.

My daughter and I leave Thurs. morning at 9:30 for the compground. We’ll be home Sat. afternoon sometime. I’m excited, but a little apprehensive too. We always have a good time when we’re there, but it’s sooooo exhausting. And, now that I’m also a Sectional Rep for IA, I have even more to do once I’m there than I used to when I was just a leader of a group of girls.

Busy....but Productive...Weekend

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:38:46 GMT

What a weekend!

I took Thursday and Friday off work last week for 3 reasons:

1. Our neighborhood garage sales were Saturday and I knew I needed LOTS of time to get my stuff sorted and priced..plus I had to somewhat organize and clean the garage before I could get it all set up.

2. Missionettes camp is this weekend (we leave on Thurs. morning, get home on Sat. afternoon) and I have a lot of stuff to get ready for that.

3. I just plain needed some time off work and at home...even if all I was doing was working while I was home.

Thurs. am, I got up about 8 and ate some breakfast. N was up too watching tv, so when I said, "Well, I guess I better just get started...", he got up and headed out to the garage with me. (I'd warned the kids that I was going to need their help getting the garage ready and setting everything out.) I didn't even have to ask him. He jumped right in and started helping me move things around and organize. He even swept the garage floor! lol You can't ask for a better kid than that!

We got done (for the most part) right around lunch time, so I called it good and we stopped to eat lunch.

I showered, then ate lunch...before heading to the basement to my sewing machine. I had already made the sashes for the girls who are going to camp this weekend, but I needed to sew on their badges. So....I pulled out all NINE sashes and started sewing on badges.

*SIGH*

That is soooooooooooo time-consuming. I was so sick of sewing by the time I was done....wow. I quit after 8. lol I just couldn't do one more. lol How pathetic is that??? lol

Anyway, I relaxed the rest of the afternoon. Later in the evening, I headed back out to the garage to transfer some "memory box" items to a more permanent container. It was fun. The boxes I had to go through were mine from high school and a little bit of college. N was in the garage with me while I was going through all of it. I pulled out some of my trophies and academic awards and showed them to him. He was kind of like, "Wow", so I was all impressed with myself...until he said,

"Wow, Mom, you were kind of a geek, huh?"

What? Just because I have a trophy for first place in a Spelling Bee...

and a placque for participation in Brain Bowl...

and High Honors in Math awards for all 4 years...

and a valedictorian medal...

Sheesh.

lol

I just said, "Why? Are you jealous?" lol

Anyway, we reboxed everything back up and I called it a night.

On Friday, I recruited A to help me sort through all of our stuff that I wanted to sell. We got a good assembly line process going and had everything priced and ready to set out within about 3 hours...which is good considering all the CRAP I had in storage! lol Besides, I don't like to dink and piddle when I have things like that to do. I want to get it DONE...and NOW.

In the afternoon, I ran some errands and took care of some things that I'd been putting off. As far as the garage was concerned, I was done until M got home from work with some tables for me to use.

Once he got home, I set up the garage how I wanted it and the kids and I got everything set out.

It's awesome having a garage to actually have a garage sale in. I've never had one before. I've always had to get up at the buttcrack of dawn and set up tables in the front yard, then haul all my crap out in a mad dash to get it set up.

This was great having it set up in the garage!

I got up on Sat. morning and went and got muffins for breakfast, then, when I got home, I just opened the garage door and set the bikes and bigger stuff we were selling out in the driveway. Then I was open for business!

Awesome!

We did pretty well...considering it didn't feel like we were selling that much.

N made $43.

A made 22.50.

And I made almost $120.

The next best part was that, at noon, when the people quit coming and the neighborhood quieted down, I just shut the garage door and went in the house to relax for awhile before heading back out to box everything back up to donate to Good Will.

The rest of the weekend was spent with errands I had to do to get ready for camp this coming weekend...but I think I'll save it for another post...just too much to list here!

Oh, and if I have a Scrabble game going with you, I'll get to making a play tonight. I have some things to catch up today at work (since I was gone 2 days last week), so I won't be on today until I get home. But, don't fear, I'll get a play made...even if it's only one for now...

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

Guinevere

Another Busy Weekend...

Thu, 15 May 2008 19:39:59 GMT

I've got another busy weekend coming up. *sigh* N has been meeting with a Marine recruiter for the last couple of weeks. He came over last week and discussed all of the options with M, N, and I. And N has decided to participate in DEP (Delayed Entry Program), so he can enlist now, but ship out after school's out next summer.

One major hurdle has been his schooling. Since we homeschool, I have to get all of his transcripts in order so that they can be sent along with all of his paperwork to get him signed up...all of the paperwork that was filled out last night. Ugh.

Well, I don't know how many of you out there homeschool, but you must know that this is just a major headache. If I had more time in my day, I could enter his scores and file his schoolwork as we go along...but, alas, I do not have much extra time in week to do that. So, all of his schoolwork has been filed by year (since 1st grade), but none of it has been entered into any kind of formal "report".

Luckily, the Marines only require transcripts from his high school years, so I only have to do 3 years' worth of grade reporting. It will just be more time-consuming than anything.

But, UGH.

We were also told that the Marines kind of flip flop on the whole homeschooling thing too. Sgt. Romero said that they'll be ok with it for awhile, then they won't be, then they will but with extra requirements... Well, he said they're ok with homeschooling, but N will need a diploma.

*sigh*

We talked about enrolling him full time into the high school where he's taking JROTC classes next year, but that school's requirements may pose a problem in itself. Then, while talking to Sgt. Romero last night, N announced that if we could work it out, he would prefer to be homeschooled again this year.

That puts us back at square one...where do we get a diploma? Well, talking to Db, my best friend, last night, she said that there are places that you can order them online. You just have to have a transcript and proof of completion of schoolwork to back it up.

C, Db's daughter and N's girlfriend, is having her graduation and reception Sat. She's been homeschooled her whole life too.

So, after all the paperwork I'll be doing Sat. morning, I'll have to turn around and get ready for C's graduation that afternoon. She's also asked me to help serve at the reception....which brings me to a funny point.

Db told Mk, C's dad, that she was going to have me and a couple other close friends serve at the reception and he said, "You are? Why???" She said, "Because they're all close to C." Then he said, "I thought you only asked people to serve that you didn't like." LOL She said that, apparently, he didn't understand that it was kind of an honor to be asked to help serve.

I'm honored AND I know they like me.

I'll be exhausted by Sat. night, but it'll be fun at her graduation!

April NaBloPoMo - Oops!

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 01:45:53 GMT

I have dropped the ball BIG TIME with this whole NaBloPoMo thing! Ugh. This last week has been stressful and chaotic. Too many things on my mind to try to follow a theme and post something on here just for the sake of posting something on here. I have 3 specific posts for the NaBloPoMo in my head that I was going to save until the end of the month and I think I'll post them then, but for now, I think I'm going to have to forfeit the rest of it for April. It's just not in me this time.

So, until May 1...I'll try again later...

Wish me luck! lol

Guinevere

I've Been Tagged!

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 01:41:37 GMT

Becca tagged me!!!

These are the rules. Link the person who tagged you. Mention the rules in your blog. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

Six unspectacular quirks about me?

I don't like talking on the phone. Even with caller id, a lot of times, I'll go ahead and let the answering machine pick up. I'll stand there and listen to the message just so I know what's going on. But, most of the time, I don't call the person back if I know I'm going to see them within the next couple of days or if they have an email address that I know they check regularly. I'd much rather email, IM, or text someone...or talk to them in person...than talk on the phone. That's probably why my mom's messages always start with, "Hon? Are you there? This is Mom. ..... Are you there? ..... Hmmm....well, I guess you're not picking up...so..." followed by whatever she needs to tell me. lol She knows me too well.

I'm a horrible procrastinator! I put off everything until the last minute no matter what. And then I usually justify it by saying, "I work best under pressure." Pffftttt! Yeah right.

My idea of the perfect vacation is sitting in silence on the beach by myself. In other words, "Don't bother me while I'm enjoying the sun and the sound of the ocean...I don't care WHO you are." I know, not a nicey nicey way to be...but, hey, it's the truth.

I had an imaginary friend while I was growing up who was named Booney Robbie. Don't ask because....I don't know... lol

I hate my chin. All the women in our family have the same chin. When we smile, we get a double dimple in it. I have it. My sisters have it. My daughter has it. My nieces have it. My mom has it. Her mom had it....and on and on. Talk about a dominant gene!

I am very introspective. And, because of that characteristic, I never have enough quiet "me" time. If truth be told, I could hole myself up in my bedroom the minute I get home from work and never spend time with my family or anyone, for that matter. Fortunately, I realize this is not healthy for my husband or my kids...and definitely not healthy for me. Another reason I wish I didn't have to work...I would be able to have more of that kind of time for myself and I would feel more "balanced".

So, now....who to tag.... Hmm.... How about Joisey, DSGLouise, Mrs. Skrumshz, Saara, Ann, and Danish Damsel? Are you up for it?

Guinevere

April NaBloPoMo - 'D' is for Denmark

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:40:19 GMT

I have so dropped the ball on this whole April NaBloPoMo thing. I missed yesterday. Oops.

But, this morning, I will attempt to redeem myself by getting back on track.

So, today, 'D' is for.

Tracing back our family tree on my mom's side of the family, it's been discovered that we had ancestors who came to America on the Mayflower. There have been several different family members tracing several different lines on that side of the family and all of them end with us being here when this country was first being settled. That makes me feel really proud that, on my mom's side, our family has been here since the beginning and helped make this country grow.

In other ways, it's kind of like, "Well, where did we come from, though?" It's true what they say about the USA being a melting pot...and it's evidenced by my mom's side of the family. I am 50% American...just a mix of several different European nationalities. Differentiating them would be impossible.

On the other hand, I'm 50% Danish. My dad is full-blooded, 100% Danish. And he's proud of it. We call him the Great Dane in our family. hehe

We don't know much about my paternal grandfather's side of the family except that they came over from Denmark about the same time that my paternal grandmother's family did. My grandfather's family was much smaller and eventually spread out and didn't stay in good communication. I never knew any of my grandfather's siblings except one. I'm not even sure if Grandpa was born in the US or if he was born in Denmark. In either case, his parents were both born in Denmark and immigrated to the US.

My grandmother's parents came to the US while great-grandma was pregnant with my grandma. Only she didn't know it yet. My grandmother was born in the US just a few short months after they got here. My great-grandparents only had one more child after they got here, a girl they named Margot. She died when she was 12, unfortunately. All of my grandmother's other brothers and sisters were all born in Denmark and most of them always made sure that she remembered that. (Some of them weren't very nice. If you ask my dad how he feels about his Aunt Helga, you get a death stare, then a roll of the eyes. You get the same reaction from my uncle. lol)

My grandparents are gone now, but my grandma used to tell us stories about growing up. At home, they always spoke Danish because great-grandpa and great-grandma had a hard time learning English. Unfortunately, grandma could only remember a few words of Danish. She said she understood it more than she spoke it growing up.

I remember as a kid I couldn't figure out why I got weird looks from the other kids when I would talk about our cousins and aunts and uncles visiting for Easter or other special holidays. As I got older, I realized that Ofelt and Ejnar weren't common, everyday American names! lol But I grew up around names like that. Now, I think it's kind of interesting and fun. I take pride in my Danish heritage. I love it!

In the past, our family has trekked to Elkhorn, IA to the Danish Heritage Immigrant museum for the annual parade...all things Danish. We tour the museum and the displays are fascinating. The part that's most interesting to me, I think, is the displays of handiwork. During special events, they will have people there demonstrating different things. The crafts part is just fascinating to me. And we always visit the gift shop. It's located in the bottom of the windmill that was taken apart in Denmark and transported here in pieces, where it was reassembled. (The gift shop reminds me....I never did pick up an aebleskiver pan while I was there! I'll have to do that next trip.) While at the museum, you can also view a wall of names of the families who immigrated from Denmark. It's a source of pride that my great grandparents' names are on that wall.

My dad is very proud of his Danish heritage, and, because of my mom's truly American-ese, she's adopted it proudly.

One of my goals is to make it to Denmark sometime to visit. Everything about it is so...unique...so different than other parts of Europe. The language, the architecture, the landmarks...everything.

I know I would love it!

April NaBloPoMo - 'T' is for Taxes

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:56:06 GMT

Dear Uncle Sam,

Today is your day. Today is the day that we have to report to you what little we made this year and how much of that amount we owe you.

Filling out all of your paperwork is like playing the lottery. Will Uncle Sam be generous this year and decide that I'm getting a refund? Or will he be cranky and just ask for more?

I'm hoping that you'll be nice to us this coming year....

....but I'm not keeping my fingers crossed.

Just another poor citizen,

April NaBloPoMo - 'S' is for Sunshine & Sunday - April 13

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:11:43 GMT

I originally tried to post this last night, but Spaces decided that it was 'unavailable'....probably at about the same time I hit the 'Publish entry' button. Oh well...better late than never.

Ok. I'm using the letter 's' again, but I couldn't help it. After the snow on Saturday, it was nice to see the sun this afternoon. It never got actually "warm" today, but it was close. The breeze was just still a bit too chilly to be out in it very long...you know the type...too warm for a jacket, but too chilly to go without.

Tobi kept whining by the patio door for me to let her out today. Whenever the sun's out, she wants to go out. Then it takes forever to get her to come back in. Once it hits 70-80, I'll never get her back in the house easily. lol Last summer, when it was HOT out, she would go out and lay on her back in the sun...and sleep. She LOVES the sun as much as I do. lol

Last night was N's military banquet and ball. We didn't think the awards were ever going to end! He came home with 4 ribbons and 1 medal for his uniform. One of the ribbons was for Outstanding Cadet in the junior class! Very cool! It was fun....but I felt bad for him because it was sooooooo hot in the gymnasium and he's been suffering since Thurs. with a bad sinus cold. He forgot to bring another dose of Sudafed with him, so it wore off about midway through the awards. I looked over at him once and mouthed, "Are you ok?" He shook his head and mouthed back, "I want to go home." Poor kid!

Oh, and the kicker to all this?

It SNOWED the whole time we were in the banquet!!! When we left, it was STILL snowing...big flakes!!! What is UP with this weather???

Anyway, I guess I should be grateful that we saw the sun today and it was BEAUTIFUL!!!

April NaBloPoMo - Letter 'S'

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 15:00:18 GMT

'S' is for Santa

Oh, wait! Oops! I'm sorry! With all the snow that was on the ground this morning, I thought it was Christmas! Silly me!

*smirk*

Ok, so let's say 'S' is for Snow this time.

Why, oh why is there snow on the ground mid-April???

I don't understand!

The worst part was that I had to get out in it this morning. HAD to. I had errands to run that were time critical for today. In fact, I have other little "jobs" I need to do today...that I should probably be working on rather this this blog post...but we all know how that usually works out.

So, anyone else out there suffering through a very LATE running winter, complete with snow, you have my sympathies. And this post is dedicated to you!

Just so you know you aren't alone.

April NaBloPoMo - Letter 'F'

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:02:30 GMT

is for

Friday

as in

TGIF!!!

April NaBloPoMo - Dear Becca,

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:28:02 GMT

Dear Becca,

This month I've been participating in the NaBloPoMo and, being as it's your birthday, I thought I'd write a letter to you this morning.

In the bits of conversations we've had on here at different times, I've learned a few things about you. I'm honored to count you in the ranks of my friends.

You are compassionate. You're sentimental. You're soft-hearted.

You're also just a tad goofy. Well, maybe not just a "tad".

You're a person who puts family first. You're also a person who treasures her friends.

You're generous to a fault.

You're sweet-natured, caring, and a good listener.

You're a blessing!

Happy Birthday, Becca!

Your friend,

April NaBloPoMo - Dear Stars Club Girls,

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:46:06 GMT

Dear Stars Club Girls,

(For those who don't know who I'm referring to, the Stars Club is the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade girls I teach on Wed. nights at church.)

Thank you for being such fun girls! Your incessant chattering when you should be listening drives me nutty sometimes, but you always make me smile. Like tonight.

When I asked if you knew what "solemn" meant and you asked, "Isn't that a king in the Bible?" And I had to correct you...solemn, not Solomon.

Your excitement to report that God answered our prayer for your teacher's kittens..that their momma started producing milk for them by the next morning...made me smile inside and out! You seemed so surprised that He cared about those baby kittens.

I love your innocent and to-the-point prayers. "Please make it so Spencer doesn't have cancer. And, oh yeah, my cousin's gerbil is sick."

You're all too precious! And you all make me smile!

God is going to bless each one of you!

Miss G

April NaBloPoMo - Dear Fellow Servers,

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:31:00 GMT

Dear Fellow Servers,

Thanks for making my first night fully active on the floor a good night. I appreciated your help when I needed it. And I appreciated each of you occasionally asking me simply, "Things going ok?" or "How're you doing?"

I also appreciated your help in showing me how to divide a ticket evenly between the 5 credit cards that one of my tables just handed to me in a heap with their ticket. There's nothing like dumping that kind of chaos on the new kid! Good thing they trusted me not to skip the country with their cards. *snicker*

Even though I'm still a little bit nervous getting used to the menu and all the "stuff" that goes with working there, I think I'm going to enjoy working with all of you.

The newbie,