“Your education is the only thing that can NEVER be taken away from you”. ~A statement often made by my grandpa, a loving family man who firmly believed in the value of a good education. Grandpa volunteered for duty in WWII. He was one of the few survivors of the first wave of Army Engineers who landed on Omaha Beach at Normandy, France, on D-Day, June 6, 1944. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and met the Russians at the Elbe River, near war’s end. He returned home, married and began farming, starting one the of first Wildlife Food plots in the area. Concerned about making the world a better place to live, he was active in many church and community organizations. When Grandpa retired from farming, he became a published author, writing about veterans. He enjoyed sharing his memories with students of local schools during Veteran’s Day programs. Now, we, his wife and family, want to further his ideals and beliefs by awarding this Grandpa Memorial Scholarship to a deserving, graduating senior who is a child or grandchild of a veteran of active duty in the armed forces.
That was the write up in the program regarding the scholarship - give or take a few details. What is not there - is that the scholarship recipient, had to answer several questions and write an essay, they also have to live in Grandpa’s hometown. Out of the 48 applicants the family narrowed it down to three, and Grandma chose the young man that received it (last year a young lady received it). Due to scheduling conflicts, my uncles (who live in the area) were unable to present the award, I was asked to do it, and I was thrilled.
And at the same time terrified - I get nervous doing things like that - it’s out of my comfort zone. But I think Grandpa was with me, because I sat down in an empty chair, next to a complete stranger, who ended up knowing my Aunts and Uncles, knows my cousins and was just the nicest person. I think Grandpa was with me, because when it was my turn - I forgot to be nervous, I forgot that I didn’t know what to say. And it just flowed. and then I was back in my seat. Life was good.
I would like to see the family make one change - and that is when my kids (the great-grandchildren) are going off to college, that they would consider giving it to them. And someday - I’d like to see them take the “Child, or grandchild of a veteran of active duty in the armed forces” off - because maybe, just maybe we won’t have war. And that would be Grandpa’s biggest dream come to true… Peace.
Tonight, I’m making the trek to the north, to hand out a scholarship to a graduating high school senior, in a small, small town. It’s a scholarship that my grandparents established, and now give in memory of my Grandpa. Due to scheduling conflicts, I was asked to hand it out. I’m glad to do it.
The young person who receives this scholarship is very deserving, and I know it’s gong to make a difference in their life.
I’ll update after I’m back.
me Said:
7:30 am
Here’s one for ya!! What do you wish you’d known when bringing home your first baby that you didn’t at the time? I am looking for not only the sappy stuff but the practical stuff! Thanks! 
Answer – I wish someone would have said: That they really don’t need all that stuff - They need:
1. Someone to love them. You can never love your baby too much.
2. A place to sleep (a laundry basket works the first 2-3 weeks.).
3. A carseat – there are 100 different ones out there – get one that fits snuggly in the middle of the backseat of your car – that’s the best one to have.
4. A couple of sleepers (the ones like a sack are awesome). And a few cute outfits for when visiting the grandparents.
5. A couple of onesis (sp?) and receiving blankets – the ones from the store are too small – if you can’t sew, ask someone to make you some bigger ones. About crib size.
6. Bottles – even if you are nursing – have some bottles and formula on hand. (Carnation has an awesome baby formula.) Sign up for the coupons – your budget will thank you.
7. You can never tell your baby “I love you” to much.
8. Let daddy help – even if he doesn’t do it your way, it’s his way, and it will be okay.
9. Diapers - White Cloud are comparable to huggies – only they didn’t give my kids diaper rash – you will change that diaper many times a day. Boys will pee as soon as you take the diaper off – it will go everywhere.
10. Put an emergency diaper bag kit in each vehicle – because you will (as all parents do) forget to grab the diaper bag as you are just running the store – and you will need it. Put a couple of diapers, a baggie of wipes and extra clothes for the baby. You might want to toss an extra top for yourself in there if you have a baby with the delicate stomach.
11. Its okay to let them cry for a short time – it’s good for their lungs, and maybe they will fall back asleep.
12. Don’t keep the house perfectly quiet while they sleep – they won’t be able to fall asleep later in life if a car drives by, if the dishwasher is running – you get the picture.
13. Babies like to sleep in cooler rooms, and all that fluff you bought for the crib – get rid of it.
14. Learn to swaddle.
15. Read to your Baby starting NOW – it doesn’t matter if it’s children’s books, or popular mechanics – they will love the sound of your voice, AND they it’s good for the brain – yours and his. Encourage your hubby read to baby as well, then when he is born, and your husband talks to him – you will be amazed – the baby will recognize the sound of his voice.
16. TUMMY TIME – let your baby have tummy time on the floor – the back of their heads will thank you.
17. Let sleeping babies sleep, and sleep when the baby sleeps. Dust will wait, floors will wait.
18. And most importantly – I wish someone would have told me – birthing plans are great – but the baby will determine, how, and when he comes into this world, and no matter how much you plan, sometimes things don’t go that way. Epidurals are a good thing.
That’s enough for now – but believe those people that say “the time goes fast, because it does”.
Shelli Said:
11:14 am
I have a friend, let’s call her Amy. She has another friend, we’ll call them Jesse. Jesse wants Amy to participate in this event that happens once a week. Amy hates it. She doesn’t want to do it and she dreads the day. She spends most of the day crabby because she doesn’t want to do it. During the event, she is irritated and crabby. After the event, she is angry and frustrated. She doesn’t want to do this thing anymore. She doesn’t know what to say to Jesse to get him/her to understand why she doesn’t want to participate anymore. Amy doesn’t want to hurt his/her feelings or put a monkey wrench in their friendship.
Shelli’s last blog post..Fick the Bullets
Shelli Said:
11:15 am
Oh, I meant to ask, “What can I tell Amy to do?”
Answer: Since I don’t like hurting people’s feelings – If I were Amy – I would tell my friend Jesse, that something came up and I can’t be there at the next meeting/event. And then go out with your hubby – go grocery shopping, or have a special date with her kids/grandkids etc. Just don’t be available during that time. Or Amy could be honest, and say “Right now, this event doesn’t fit my life. Maybe if I take a break from it for a few weeks, I can come back, but right now, I need a break for myself, and my family.” (Because Amy’s family doesn’t want to be around a crabby, grumpy person either!)
KC Said:
1:59 pm
Ok I have one.. when you get a week behind on reading anyones blog.. Do you take the time to go back and try to read every blog post you miss or do you just jump right in on that days blog and start all fresh?? and on the other end of it???
signed so far behind on reading my blogging buddies blog.. ;P
Dear So far behind on reading my blogging buddies blog – I try to keep up with blogs, but anyone with kids, a husband, a job, etc can understand that it doesn’t always work that way. At one point I was behind by 150 posts. I didn’t read/comment on all the posts or blogs. I can’t do it. Most of my readers understand this, because they have the same situation.
Silverstar Said:
7:02 pm
A question? Hmm..What is a good way to get motivated to do routine, boring stuff like housework? I have a hell of a time working up the desire sometimes.
Answer - Some people would say tackle it in 15 minute bits – chose a room, set the timer and clean for 15 minutes. When your 15 minutes are up you can stop, or keep going the choice is yours. And some have the only handle it once – when it comes to mail, paperwork etc. The key is to have a home for everything in your home, or decide if you really need it. The reality is – I live in my home – and If you could see my house you would know that I hate housework, I work 40+ hours a week, I have two kids, I have a husband, I am exhausted when I come home at night – I do the bare minimum during the week, and do deeper cleans on the weekend. But honestly, I haven’t had a “clean the way I like it house” since I went back to work full time. It’s nearly impossible. I think after my surgery, and I am not so exhausted all the time, this will get better. I hope it does. I love a clean house, I love having everything in its place.
The Kept Woman Said:
10:13 pm
Dammit.
I always freeze when people do this.
Ummmmmm…any plans on a trip to Wisconsin any time soon? I can show you a really, really big pink fiberglass elephant and a large fiberglass cow all within a two mile radius of one another. We have some kickin’ tourist attractions here.
Answer - Actually - we will be spending one week in Wisconsin this summer. Lake Genevia (sp?) have a nice little condo for the week, and uhm I’ve seen the pink elephant, probably have a family photo of it as well. (yes, I had those parents). I’m not sure of our plans while there for a week - but maybe we could meet up?
Yet, there is nothing worth blogging about.
So the regular long time readers know what this means - you ask, I answer. I’m like the Miss Manners, Ann Landers, and Dear Prudence all in one - except I have no degree, and I don’t listen to my own advice, so I’m not sure you should either.
Leave a question in the comments, and I’ll post the answers on Wednesday.
Today we went tree shopping. Wanting something to replace the tree we cut down last year. And we found another flowering crabapple. It’s supposed to get close to 20 ft tall - and should be perfect for our yard. We have to call “one-call’ before we can plant it - they have to make the lines in the yard.
A tree for mother’s day is perfect - one of the best gifts I have ever received. I can’t wait to watch it grow, and change with the seasons. (just like our kids) Tree’s relax me, they remind me how precious life is, and that no matter how hard the wind blows, if you can ride out the storm, you will be stronger for it. Lately my life (work) has been a bit stormy, and I’m doing my best to ride it out. I will survive, and I will be better for it. I just need to make sure my roots are deep and strong.
Thank you Mr. Incredible, for making today wonderful - love you!
Happy Mother’s Day
Happy Mother’s Day to all the women who play an important part in the life of a child.
The best part about being a parent is being able to be a kid again. Playing silly board games, sledding, snowball fights, blowing bubbles, you get the picture.
The kids have been begging to go play tennis. I know nothing about tennis - we don’t have the equipment - but Wal-*Mart sells what you need - so we buy 4 cheap racquet’s and a bag of tennis balls. But heck - we’ll just hit the ball back and forth - not worry about keeping score - we’ll get to that later. Today we’ll have FUN. I play it with them on the Wii - which is easy when you are sitting on the couch. So how hard could it be to actually play on a court? kids in the neighborhood do it all the time- and I walk - so it’s not like I’m completely out of shape.
Yeah, right. I AM a SHAPE - it’s called round, and I have no business being on a tennis court. But the kids had fun, we just hit the ball to them, and they tried to hit it back. A lot of time spent chasing balls, but the kids were smiling the whole time, that’s all that matters.
Oh my aching body.
Somebody shoot me now.
Friday May 9th: Your Ipod/MP3 player or how you listen to your tunes
I listen to my tunes via my phone - love it. Now when I go for walks, I only have to grab my headset and my phone and I’m set. Life is good. I know I’m kinda breaking the rules by not taking a picture of my actual phone, but (Kristine stop reading now) I kinda lost, no I just temporarily misplaced my camera. I’m sure it’s in the house. Almost positive. yeah, that’s what I’m going with.
SPF - is the game we play with Kristine at Random and Odd. Go tell her you played, tell me you played - and I’ll come visit.
I started this post about 13 hours ago. All I got done was the title. I was going to let you guess what I was up to in the comments, and whoever got it right, I was going to send a prize, but then I realized - I never make it to the post office to buy stamps, how would I ever get there to mail a package, and I’d have to come up with said prize, and who has time to think about that… (can we say “ramble much?” )
I was being good - I had checked and answered close to 15 work emails, check the personal email and sent out the necessary replies, and had just started to think of what I could do next, so I could look busy, and not have to be apart of the conversation in the waiting room -
Old Lady #1 - Well my George has been on liquids only for the past three days, and yesterday it was just clear fluids, and then they had him take some medicine…
Old Lady #2 - the stuff in the jug? cause they had my Henry take that last time, and he almost didn’t make it to the bathroom on time…..
Nurse walks into the room - “I’m looking for Fantastagirl”
So at that point I jumped at the chance to put away the laptop and go wait with Mr. Incredible for his annual upper GI. (He was all prepped and ready to go.)
We were up at O’dark-thirty, and left the house shortly after so we could get the kids to daycare shortly after they opened, and get to the big city to the south and at the “good” hospital - because they have private rooms. Yep, I swear on all that is holy, that he only sees this particular specialist because he is allowed to practice at that hospital. I personally love this hospital - they handle everything - the nurses? AWESOME!!!
We were supposed to be there at 7:30 - arrived at 7:05 - Mr. Incredible went right back.
7:45 - I get called back to sit with him, the nurse says - Dr. is running on time, a little ahead of schedule, we will probably take him back at 8:30.
8:00 - It’s freezing in this closet of a room, there is barely room for the bed, let alone a chair, and I realized that I forgot to bring reading material. WTH?
8:10 - Woot! I found a Popular Mechanics from December of 07 -not too bad for a hospital - the other choices? National Geographic, and some christmas gift catalog.
8:12 - Mr. Incredible took my magazine.
8:30 - no nurse… it’s starting to get very very cold. - my fingers are turning purple. But there is a guy on the tv who has trained his fish to jump through hoops, and score goals. Yeah, I don’t get it either.
9:00 - nurse comes in to check on us - by this time Mr. Incredible has moved to the bed in hopes that he could warm up - she brings him another “warm blanket”. I love those warm blankets, I debated crawling into the bed with him.
9:20 - “rodney” comes to take him back to the procedure room. In the four minutes he is in the room with us, he asked Mr. Incredible no less than 4 times - did he have dentures or any partials. I was afraid Mr. I was going to say - “Nope, still don’t.”
9:40 - Mr. Incredible is back in the room, Dr. comes in - they took biopsy’s, and we will hear from his office in 3 to 6 days. (It’s probably something if we hear something sooner, probably nothing if we don’t hear anything until day 6 - in looking at the pictures - I’m not worried about it - looks the same as last year.)
9:50 - Mr. I says - when am I going back? I tell him he’s already done. Repeat at 9:52, 9:54, 9:55, and 9:56.
10:05 - Mr. I says - when am I going back? I tell him to close his eyes and go back to sleep - they’ll get him next. (hey, he’ll never remember - right?)
10:15 - 10:30 - the nurse wants his to start waking up and keeps stopping in, he still has that look in his eyes, the one that says “who are these people, and why won’t they leave me the hell alone. Each time she comes in, and talks to him - she acts like it’s the first time he’s asked his questions, and she’s answered them - even though - she has talked to him like 6 times already.
10:35 - pushing ice chips, making him sit up.
11:00 - IV is out, and he is getting dressed….
11:20 - we’ve gotten our walking papers and are out of there! Woot! Does anyone ever read the fine print? I agreed to be responsible for him, not let him drive, use power tools, or make any decisions that he would be legally bound to. Hmmmm - do you suppose now would be the time to tell him he agreed to go to my Mom’s for mother’s day. LMAO… I crack myself up. I will wait to talk to him about that tomorrow.
We hit Taco Bell for lunch - not my favorite, but we don’t have one in town, and he loves the stuff and gets it once a year - the kids hate that place (after we have the upper GI - which goes against the diet and everything - I know.)
Came home and realized the new grocery store is open, and so I was a wonderful wife and made him walk through there - LOVE IT! It’s clean, it’s got fresh produce, and the selection - wow. Have to realize the old grocery store was small… very very small.
Afternoon? He slept, I slept. Picked up kids, grilled burgers, just finished up the bedtime routine.
and now, I’m ready for bed.
After supper, I was slightly frustrated.
I forgot to run the dishwasher last night, so it was full - I’d have to wash all of the dishes.
I grumbled about it - thinking perhaps, Mr. Incredible would take the hint and at least help me clear the table, put the left overs away, etc.
and in the one split second, where I could have asked nicely for help, kept my mouth shut and just done the dishes, I became the wife that all husbands hate - the one that expects him to read my mind. There, I said it, why can’t he read my mind? I can’t read his, but he should be able to read mine. And I know better, because the day mind reading class was offered he was surfin’ the net.
I know he’s not feeling all that great - but he should have just helped, I’m not feeling all that great either. and I did the unmentionable thing of… “I’m not the only one who ate supper, so why am I the only one doing the dishes…”
and when he came back into the kitchen and said - what do you want me to do - dry?
I said NO, just leave them - they can air dry.
I’m a grump, a witch, I don’t know why. I’m just really really touchy lately… WTF?
I’m sorry Mr. Incredible, I don’t mean to be a b*tch, and I know you are a good person and hubby, I need to say what I am thinking, and not expect you to read my mind.
