The Lamb Story

Spring always brings out pictures of cute little lambs. They always look so sweet and gentle. Let me tell you the REAL story about lambs. When I was younger we ended up with a lamb. It was born on my Grandpa Henrys farm and was rejected by it's Mother. That should have been the first clue. Dad brought it home, and I'm sure we named it, but I can't remember. I don't know if it was a boy or a girl, but for this story I will refer to it as Lambzilla. Lambzilla was a small white lamb. Mom would fill a empty whiskey bottle with formula and we would bottle feed it. Lambzilla didn't live in a pen like normal lambs. Nooo, Lambzilla had an identity crisis and thought it was a dog. It would sleep on the front porch with the dogs. It would leave little "pellet presents" on the porch that Mom would have to sweep off every morning. Lambzilla was a happy little lamb. The problem with Lambzilla was, every day it tried to kill me. Yes, this lamb was violent! It was summer, and I loved to play in the yard. I would go outside and before I knew it Lambzilla would come running. Not towards me where I could see it coming, it was a sneak attack. Lambzilla would run up BEHIND me, with its head down, and head butt me in the back. I was little, and it would knock me over. Time and time again, I would get knocked over. My brother Greg thought this was the funniest thing. You see, he was older and faster and could run to the apple tree for safety. This also gave him a great view of watching me get knocked over. For days I would spend my outside time on the ground. I had worked out a way of not getting knocked over. When I heard Lambzilla coming, I would sit down. The only thing it could do was push on me. I would be screaming for Mom and Greg could be heard laughing from the top of a tree. Obviously, Lambzilla needed to find a new home. I don't remember how long we kept Lambzilla, but I don't think it was very long. I also have no idea what fate awaited Lambzilla. I have visions of a "Lamb Fighting" arena. You know, the matador with a red cape, flashing it as a little white lamb comes charging at it before taking the matador down at the knees. As Spring is right around the corner and you go to that petting zoo, think about Lambzilla and don't turn your back on any cute, little, fuzzy lambs. You have been warned! Take Care!

Learning to let go

I have always said that you need to keep learning new things in order to grow as a person. That's why I like to take enrichment and hobby classes. This weekend I am learning something new, and that is to let go.  On Thursday, Jake left for a five day marine biology sea camp in Big Pine Key, Florida. He has been looking forward to this since we signed him up in the fall. It's a school sponsored trip, so he knows everyone going. This is not the first time that Jake has gone away on an overnight trip. In second grade they did an overnight at the zoo and every year after they went somewhere on a class trip. No, this was the first time that he got on a plane and went on a trip. Jake has flown many times before, with us, so he knows what to do in an airport. I know he will be fine and the trip sounds like great fun. It's the tightness in my throat and the fact that I can't sleep that is the problem. By the way, Lee is sleeping fine. I was watching HLN and they showed an arial photo from Boca Raton, Florida. The news guy was saying there are " tens of thousands of hungry sharks fifty feet off shore"!  There were all these dark spots in the water. Apparently the sharks were looking for schools of fish in the warmer waters. Just what I wanted to hear. I called Lee to express my concern. He said it was better they were looking for schools of fish in Boca and not middle schoolers in Big Pine Key. HA HA, so not funny. I started thinking about how life changed when Jake came along, and the fact that in six years, he will be off to college. When Jake was little and would go off someplace I would tell him the usual things, be polite, share with the girls, and have fun. When he left this time I told him basically the same thing, be polite, stay away from the girls, and have fun. This is just one of many times to learn to let go. I'm not sure that as a parent, you ever let go completely. That just seems impossible to me. This is a learning experience that will help us grow. For Jake, it is learning to be independent, for me, it is learning to let go of the urge to protect my child and trust that he will make the right decisions. I'll just be glad when class is over, and Jake is back home. Take care!

Getting to know Mac

The very first computer I ever owned was a birthday gift when I was in my late 20's. I never asked for it. I didn't really want or need a computer, but Lee really thought that I did.  This was in the mid 80's, and not everyone had a desk top computer. We went to the store so I could pick it out. I knew nothing about computers, so I went on looks. There was a pink monitor. It was a very soft pink, but it was pink. I took one look at it and said that's the one I want. Lee wasn't so sure about it, but the salesperson could tell that I had no clue and since it was my birthday present, I got to pick the monitor. We packed it up and took it home. That thing was huge! It took up most of the desk, and the printer had that paper that had all the holes in the edges. I can't remember the brand, but it was a PC.  I can't count how many computers we've had, some lap tops, some desk tops, but they were all PCs. My nieces and nephews all seem to have Macs. One Christmas my niece Jessi asked for something Mac related. I went to the brand new Apple store and explained what I wanted to the salesperson. He listened very intently, then told me to follow him, he knew just what I needed. He handed me a gift card. I knew then and there I knew nothing about Macs. This past Christmas I decided I wanted to replace my Gateway lap top with a MacBook Pro. We went to the Apple store and I picked out my Mac. I also bought a years worth of classes just to figure out what to do. I have had several classes so far and I can find my way pretty well, but there is a whole lot of stuff I don't know. Most of the trainers are young, and they seem very patient with me. I have been told that I remind them of their, Mom, Aunt and neighbor. I can only hope that they like these people. It's interesting getting to know Mac. There is a lot out there in this world that a computer can do. One thing though will never change, there still needs to be someone out there to steer you in the right direction. A computer can only do what a person tells it to. Take care!

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Today is one of those Hallmark holidays. You know the ones, the ones that have been pushed on us by card companies. I'm sure there is a history to Valentines Day but I really didn't have the time to look it up. I thought instead I would reflect on Valentines through the years. When I was in grade school, we would make a Valentines Card Box. Each child in the class would bring in a Valentine for all the other children. Some cards would be hand made, some might contain candy and others might not even be signed. When I got married, great care was taken in picking out just the right card. We would go to a wonderful dinner, with candles, wine, and I would get a nice little present, usually jewelry. Maybe even take a get away weekend. When Jake was little, it was more about celebrating us as a family. We would go out to an age appropriate restaurant, and give cute little gift bags. Of course we still made the Valentines Card Box for school. This year Lee and I have been together for 29 Valentines Days, 27 of those we have been married. We started dating in December, there is a big story about that for another time, when Valentines Day came around we were supposedly dating just each other. I went over to Lees apartment and he told me to get him a drink out of the fridge. He NEVER asks me to do that, so I told him no. He keeps asking me about going to the fridge, so I give up go. Inside the refrigerator was a beautiful red rose in a bud vase, sitting right next to a plate of home made heart shaped sugar cookies! Lee doesn't bake. I picked up the rose and a cookie and walked back into the living room. Lees face went from a great big smile, to a stunned look, then a sheepish grin. I asked if the roses were cheaper by the dozen? It seems that he was still seeing an ex girlfriend "on occasion." Well, our first Valentines Day wasn't that special, though we've had some really great ones over the years. The past several years we go to dinner the weekend after Valentines Day, usually with a coupon. This year we are having friends over for dinner a few days before. I think we will celebrate not just our family, but friends too. When I look around, I have all kinds of Valentines in my life. I hope that you have many Valentines in your life too! Take care!

Grandma Attacks Nature

My mother is not usually a mean person. She has respect for most living things. However, sometimes she doesn't think about her actions. There was this incident that happened when my niece Gwen was about five years old. Gwen and Mom were on the deck during a fine summers day. They were talking and Gwen was playing with a worm that was minding its own business, crawling across the floor. Mom looked down, saw the worm and decided that it would be better off in the hereafter. So she stepped on it! Gwen let out a scream and started to cry. Grandma had just crushed her new little friend. Now Mom was having a problem. Gwen is crying "He was going home to his Mommy!", and Mom can't figure out how to get worm guts off her shoe. It was quite the scene. Mom sent Gwen in the house to get a tissue, this gave her time to scrape what was left of the worm on the edge of the deck. She then promised Gwen that she would not take the lives of anymore worms, ever! It's times like these that we need to think before we act. I'm sure that Gwen is scarred for life, and Mom can't help laughing when she retells this story. I guess it just depends on where the shoe falls. Take Care!

Punxsutawney Phil

I'm a bit late with this entry, but I wanted to comment on Groundhog's Day. It seems that we are in for an early Spring according to Phil, the weather forecasting groundhog that lives in Gobbler's Knobb PA. It was a cloudy day, so he did not see his shadow.  I hope that Phil is right, we have had a pretty harsh winter and I'm looking forward to a nice warm, early Spring. I was interested in finding out about Phil so I looked him up on the Groundhog's Day web site. He has lived about 21 life times. Apparently groundhogs live for 6-7 years. Phil has been around for 125 years. The web site states that in the early 1800's the German settlers in Pennsylvania thought the groundhog resembled the hedgehog from their native land. This animal helped them to ration out their hay. When the hedgehog appeared, they should still have half their hay. Why they didn't just ration it out by months is a good question, but they decided to go by an animal behavior instead. So, since Pennsylvania is low on hedgehogs and overflowing with groundhogs, Groundhog's Day was born. Originally Phil was called Br'er Groundhog. The problem with that was ANY groundhog could be the magical weather predicting rodent. Phil was picked out of the preverbal crowd and given the name Phil, after King Phillip. On each Groundhog's Day he is given the "elixir of life" to extend his life 6-7 years. That's how he can be over a century old. He is also supposedly 100% right. I find that hard to believe. I've never met anyone, especially male, to be 100% right. This makes me question more things. Is Phil really Phillis?? That would explain some things. Is that elixir of life legal? Was it tested on humans before given to Phil/Phillis?  But what really makes me question if Phil is 100% right, he predicted the Steelers were going to win the superbowl! GO PACKERS! Take care!

Another adventure!

Well, as if I don't have enough to do, I have added another blog! I am excited about this one also. It will be a place to see pictures, poems, random thoughts etc. that will be posted by Lee, Jake or myself. I hope you drop by to see it. You can find it at www.picturesandpoemsbykim.blogspot.com. It will be fun to add this to on going projects. Take care!