Hmmm.....what to get Dad for Fathers Day??

It's always hard to find something for Dad for Fathers Day. After all, he has been a father for the last 57 years. That's a lot of ties! I can only imagine what all he has gotten over the years from my brother and I. I know some  involved crayons and glitter, and some involved a gift card bought on the way to the house the day of. Then there are the years that my Mom will come to my brother and I and tell us what Dad needs. Very helpful. I decided to look up on Gifts.com the top ten Fathers Day gifts of 2013. It is certainly a wide assortment of gifts and prices. Here are some of the suggestions. For the foodie father, there is the Hot 'n' Spicy Pepper of the month for $36.95, the Snack Attack nut basket for $49.99, and the t-fal beer tap for $139.99. We actually have one of the beer taps and find that they are nice to have during our summer pool parties. Then there is the Portable Hammock for $39.99. We also have purchased that for Dad and for Lee. Both didn't work out well. The thing was a bit shaky getting in and out and then we had to find a place to store it. All I could think of was being responsible for Dad braking his hip with a gift I gave him on the day he was being honored. There were two car related gifts that Jake thought was THE BEST GIFT EVER!! That would be the Race a Ferrari Experience for $356.00 and Ride Shot Gun in a Stock Car for $119.00. The gift I thought was the oddest is pictured below. The Butt Station Assistant. For $11.52 you can get this little blue guy sitting on what looks to me to be a toilet holding a roll of tape with a pen in his mouth. I have decided this is a male figure because a women would never do this. I also have a few questions about how to use the assistant. Since the tape cutter is at his feet, how do you cut the tape? Does he need to be sitting on the edge of the desk? Just how easy is it to grab that pen from his mouth? Is he chomping down on it to hold it? I find this a bit odd, well really odd, and since my Dad is 83 there is no need for the Butt Station Assistant. I also don't quite understand the name. He could be called the Blue Man Sitting Assistant, but that may be a copyright thing.

The Butt Station Assistant

Did you ever wonder how we started celebrating Father's Day? About 4000 years ago a boy named Elmusu wish his babylonian father good health and a long life by carving the message onto a card made of clay. I can't find anything out about what happened after that until 1909. A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd, in Spokane WA was listening to a Mother's Day sermon and thought of her father. You see, Sonora's mother had passed and she was being raised by her father. She chose to honor her father during her birth month, June. On June 19th, 1910 she held the first recognized Father's Day celebration in Spokane. In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. In 1972, President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance of Father's Day. There is even a Father's Day flower, the rose. Tradition states that a red rose be worn if your father is living and a white one if he has passed. Well, we're only 12 short days away from celebrating our fathers. Good luck in finding what you are looking for. One thing that will always be the best gift. The memories we have. Take care!

Update: June 2013

Hi,
It's been awhile. I seem to pop in and out of my blog. I must admit, I've missed you. I thought I would take a few min. this morning and bring you up to date. First, everyone is well. That is the main thing. We are happy and healthy.

Jake has just finished his freshman year in high school. I must admit I look at him and realize that in three short years he will be off to college. At least, that's the plan. It makes me sad. Lee & I hope that we have raised Jake to go off and be the best that he can be. True, he needs to do that. But, there is that part of me that makes me sad to think he will leave. I think part of what has brought on these feelings is attending my niece Meredith's high school graduation. She is my brothers youngest child. The last of the family who will graduate from the same high school that I went too all those years ago. She was president of the student council and gave a speech. She did well. In the fall, she will join her sister Courtney at Indiana University. Her oldest sister Gwen just graduated from there a few weeks ago. Off to start the next phase of her life. This weekend was full of pride, laughter and tears. The kids are growing up! Which brings me back to Jake. Today is the first day of summer break and his request was to let him sleep until he woke up and could breakfast involve bacon. I think I can do that. I wonder what cinnamon and bacon muffins would be like?? This summer will fly by. It always does. But there will be a few adventures also. We have a road trip planned, we have been found by extended family from Minnasota and then there is just a slower summer schedule. I'm looking forward to it. I hope to keep things updated and I hope that you have a min. to stop by and see how it's going. Have a wonderful summer!
Take care!

Courtney, Jake, Meredith & Gwen

Twas the Night before Surgery.....

Well, tomorrow is the big day. I get to have out patient surgery. It's a minor surgery. I have a ganglion cyst on the top of my left foot. This swells to giant size and I have a hard time walking and wearing shoes. I don't really mind not wearing shoes, but the walking thing is a real pain! I have put it off for a while. I wanted to see how much I could handle. When I did decide to go to Dr. Morgan, I got a shock. You see, 30 years ago I had a ganglion cyst on my left wrist. It couldn't be drained and I had to have surgery. Back then you had to stay the night in the hospital. When I left the hospital the next day, I had a cast on my arm to keep my wrist still. I only needed to wear the cast for two weeks, then I had it taken off and went on with my life. Today things are different. You don't have to be "put under", so you don't have to spend the night. They give you IV sedation and a block. In other words, we're going to stick a giant needle into your foot and inject something to numb it. But because that would drive you off the table, we'll put you night night with IV sedation first. Then, you wake up from a restful nap and they send you home. I can't help but think of Michael Jackson and his odd napping habits. Now we're getting to the shocking part. Unlike the last time that I had this surgery, I will have a "boot" on for 4-6 weeks! What?! Who has 4-6 weeks to hobble around in a boot? What about Holiday parties? I have talked to other women who have worn this boot. They said the only shoes that they found kept you on an even keel was running shoes. They had a thick enough sole so one foot wasn't shorter than the other.  I can see it now. We're invited to a nice evening out. I usually wear black, so I'm sure I would be in a nice black outfit. Something festive with sparkles on it. Then, you'd get to my feet, and I will have one dirty blue and white New Balance sneaker on and a hunky boot. Hmmm....not sure how to handle that one. Even if I was able to clean up my sneakers, which are always dirty, I don't know how to fit it in with the outfit. But the real shocker comes before I get to run around in a boot that makes my foot look like I belong to the Rescue Heros. For the first few days after surgery, I am supposed to lay with my foot elevated above my heart. Excuse me? My foot, above my heart. Well, there may be a few problems with that. First, I don't think I bend that way. I'm concerned about throwin' a hip! Then there is the fact that my middle is, well, large. It can only be squished so much! Not to mention the idea of laying flat on my back doesn't appeal to me at all. This is really not fun! However, there is always a bright side. Since steps are a no no for a few days. I have set up my own little room on the first floor. It's kind of fun. I put two twin trundles together to make a rather large bed. Lily Dog and I have already tried it out and it's not bad. Then I have my couch, rocking chair, TV, table, computer, nook and magazines. It could seem like a mini vacation. If I wasn't laying flat on my back with my foot up in the air. I will have to work on that part. One nice thing is, this has forced me to do most of my Christmas shopping already. I even have some of my gifts wrapped. Nothing like minor surgery to get you organized! I'll check in later. I hope you have a wonderful day! Take care!

Thanksgiving 2012-By The Numbers

Today was my 53rd Thanksgiving. I was thinking about that today. 53 Thanksgivings. I am very thankful, for many things, but I had never really looked at the numbers. Of those 53 Thanksgivings, 49 of them were spent with the same family members. I have hosted 11 Thanksgiving Dinners. The most I have had at my dinner table was 22, the least was 3. Over the years people have come and gone from our Thanksgiving table. Some because they moved away, and some because we moved away. The door has always been open for anyone who wants to join our family. We had our traditional fare, turkey, cranberries, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, green bean casserole, and more desserts than we can count. Did you know that Campbells soup company developed green bean casserole in 1955? There will be an estimated 30,000,000 households serving it today. The ultimate comfort food. 

The history books say that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621, in Plymouth Mass. The guests included the 53 remaining pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians. It really wasn't called Thanksgiving then, it was the Harvest Celebration. It also was not a yearly event. It was an on and off kind of celebration depending on the Harvest. In 1863 President Abe Lincoln declared the 3rd Thursday of November Thanksgiving, and made it an annual, national holiday. He wanted the nation to have a day to be thankful. Well Abe, I know I am. I am thankful that members of my family still get together on this day. I am thankful that I still have my parents and brother and his family here. I am thankful that my husband and son have become a part of this tradition. It's not the turkey, dressing, green bean casserole or even the desserts. It's the stories that are told. The laughter that is heard. It's seeing our oldest generation and realizing that I will be that person sooner, rather than later. It's seeing the youngest sitting in a high chair with mashed potatoes all over their face. It's the kid's table. It's the stories. The fabric of our memories is made with the telling of family stories and the tradition of making that journey. I have had 53 Thanksgivings. I am very thankful.

Take Care!

Where Does The Time Go?

Where does the time go? I remember hearing both my parents say that when I was younger. I never understood what they meant. What do you mean where did it go? The days seemed long, and the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was the longest time period in history! There was always time to play and ride my bike and hang out. With time left to be bored. Now, I would give anything to have another 6-8 hours in the day. Alas, there will always be 24 hours in a day. Now I need to figure out how to make the most of my 24 hours. Well, let's start with sleep. A very necessary part of the day. That takes up 7-8 hours. Then we have making meals, chores, work, driving back and forth to school, throw in a few hours for family time and, well, we're pretty much done. In a perfect world, I would go to bed at 10:00pm and fall right to sleep. Get up at 6:00am, have coffee on the deck or porch and take the dog for a walk. At 6:30 Jake would get up when called, fix his own breakfast and be ready for school by 7:30. Then I would get my computer time done and start work. By noon, I would have completed an insane amount of work, have a healthy lunch, finish up some household chores and start dinner at 5:00, eat at 6:00 and spend the rest of the evening with my family. WOW, that would be fantastic. But that is not my reality. I stay up late, get up early, drive car pool, run a business and run a household. There never seems to be time. So this morning I changed up my routine. After Jake left for school, I took my coffee and went outside in the back yard. I just sat there. I heard the birds singing and watched as a few came to the feeder. There was a mockingbird taking a bath, a heron flew over the house. There were people jogging and walking their dogs. We waved to each other and I thought about the fact that these were neighbors I really didn't know. People don't take the time to get to know each other, we run from here to there and always have more things on the to do list than hours to do them. I hope to change my ways this summer. I want to sit and watch. Observe what happens in my corner of the world. I hope that you too will take a bit of time and see what is happening right outside your back door. Have fun and take care!

Happy Valentines Day, 2012

Happy Valentines Day!! Did you ever wonder why we do what we do on Feb. 14th? Lee and I have spent 29 Valentines Days together. Over the years we've had romantic weekends, dinners and evenings. Our Valentines Day cards have ranged from beautiful cards to cards picked up at the grocery on the way home from work the day of. After we had Jake, we got cards made with glitter, written in crayon, with candy glued to the outside. All of them are in a box in the top of my closet. This mad dash of a holiday made me wonder how it all began. I figured it was a Hallmark Holiday and I wasn't that far off. Although the beginnings are a bit disturbing. Though there is no EXACT origin of the day of love, it did start with being "hit on". Apparently, the Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia from Feb. 13th-15th. Lupercalia consisted of drunk, naked Roman men sacrificing a goat and a dog. They would then take the hides of the animals and hit the women with the hides. The women would line up to be hit because they thought this would make them fertile. Then, they had the lottery. The names of the women would be put in a jar, the men would draw a name, then spend the duration of the festival with them. It was reality TV all over again. If they found a match, they stayed together. If not, oh well, there is always next festival. The Catholic Church is honored with giving the name to Valentines Day. Emperor Claudius II executed two men, both named Valentine, on Feb. 14th in two different years. The church honored their martyrdom by calling the day St. Valentine's Day. Then, in the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I combined St. Valentines Day with Lupercalia in order to get rid of the pagan ritual. The festival was still a drunken event, they just kept their clothes on and didn't sacrifice any animals. But it still represented a day of love and fertility. Shakespeare and  Chaucer are to blame for romanticizing the day. In the Middle Ages, handmade paper cards were being given as tokens of love. Enter Hallmark! In 1913 Hallmark Cards of Kansas City, MO. began mass producing Valentine cards. This year's sales are expected to total $18 billion. So, tonight on this Valentines Evening, we will sit down as a family at our kitchen table and eat pot roast, exchange cards/gift cards and enjoy our family Valentines Day. I will also pet Lily dog on the head, glad that Lee didn't feel the need to skin her and whack me with her hide. I hope you have many people who are your Valentines! Take care!

A look back at 2011 & ahead to 2012

There is no other way to say it, this year has flown by. Some of the things I wanted to do I managed to get done and some didn't quite happen. Thankfully this past year was really more ups than downs. Lots of things happened in the news, and celebrities got married, divorced, had babies, got in trouble and more. Those things happened, but I want to look back at what happened in my own little world. My own little highlight reel of life. The first thing that comes to mind is how much Jake has changed. He has grown tremendously in size, and once in awhile I see it in maturity also. :) We have not lost anyone this year that was a close family member. Though I have friends who have. We took nice vacations and added Lily the wonder dog to the family. She has brought joy to all of us and is a loved part of the family. We are all a year older, maybe even wiser. I have started my dog business and feel like I am getting the hang of it. We had a baby boom in the Spring which will make next years reunion great fun! We are in the last year of middle school and feel like it is going well, most of the time. Jake is more independent and everyone is in good health.  I feel like we have been blessed  this past year. I hope you were too.

Now for this year. There are always resolutions that people make. Some are funny ones, some are serious, and some are made just to be broken. I don't usually make resolutions. I don't see the need. I am a great procrastinator so I am always waiting for Monday. I hope to make some changes this year. To myself. As a parent, I want to take this year and make some changes. I would like to "unplug" the family on occasion. Take more neighborhood walks, go to the parks and walking trails and spend some time. I would like to get back out on the golf course this summer and play a round to two as a family. It can be fun! I hope to get out a visit more family and friends that I haven't done in awhile. Especially the older members. I want to get outside more and take those long walks. I need to change some of my personal habit to start doing a few more things for myself that helps make me a nicer person. Relieve stress in ways that I know will work. I want to make "inside" changes. I think if I do a mental make over, then the physical one will fall into place. It's worth a shot. So, last year was great! This coming year is unknown.  I plan on smiling more than frowning. I want to be happy with who I am and what I do. I hope to write more, enjoy my dog business and not let a few peoples negative comments get to me. That is how I want 2012 to be. Check in with me on occasion and we'll see how it's going. My wish for you in 2012, is that you are Happy and Well. I think that's all we need. Take care!