Birthday Blues

Yesterday was my birthday. I no longer relish big celebrations. I don't demand presents. Nobody has to take me out to eat. But it WOULD be nice to at least hear from my kids, don't you think? There are three of them. Only one wished me a happy birthday.

Well. No cards. Or ecards. Or phone calls. Nothing. I don't think it's a coincidence that the one who remembered is a girl. The two who forgot are not. There are exceptions, of course, but it does seem to be a guy thing. I wonder why. Is there something about testosterone that depletes memory? Does estrogen somehow enhance it?

Maybe this would be a good thing to use some of that stimulus money on - a research project on why guys forget birthdays and anniversaries more often than gals do. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find somebody willing to put it together. It's not a bit more far-out than some of the things already being done with our tax dollars. And don't tell me none of those tax dollars were mine. I worked way more than thirty years and paid into the tax tub just like everybody else.

Of course, the argument could be made that these poor fellows are simply suffering the logical result of being in my gene pool. As I mentioned a couple of days ago, my memory isn't the best in the world. And come to think of it, I may have forgotten one or two of their birthdays through the years. On second thought, maybe I'll just let it slide this time. It could have been worse. They could have made me a cake with too many candles!

There was something I wanted to tell you....

I can't help it. I just can't stay away from the 'news'. CNN, CNS, USA Today, you name it, I like to see what they're saying. Then I like to look at the comments and see what WE are saying (those of us that post on those things). And that's when I get in trouble.

It's all my own fault. Why, oh why, did I log on to every one of them with different passwords? And why can't I remember any of them? There I am all upset by some comment that I want to reply to, and can't remember my password! And by the time I go through the process of proving who I am and getting an email with my forgotten password, I have forgotten whether it was BBC or the Times or Newsweek I was reading.

Which is really just as well, now that I think about it. Because I have a secret suspicion that not all those remarks are really made by average readers. Some of them seem to have been written in order to give the impression that anyone holding that particular opinion is illiterate, and probably high on something. This would of course be done by persons of the opposite opinion. Oh what a sly, sneaky mind I have! But the more I think about it, the more convcinced I am that I am right!

What better way to discredit the opposition party's ideas than to make its supporters seem to be uneducated idiots? Good thing I couldn't remember my password. After all, I wouldn't want to look dumb, too.

Now let's see, what was I going to do?? I forget!

DejaVu - not!

I don't remember it being this hard! I really don't. How did this happen? When my kids were growing up I don't remember them fighting like these grandchildren of mine. They can't agree on anything at all. When they are all three here, it is bedlam. Either they all want something different (as in a movie to watch or something to eat) or they all want exactly the same thing (as in a place to sit). Why?

They are the sweetest little things(when they want to be) that ever lived, but they don't listen to anything I say any more than they stop and listen to the wind blowing through the trees. I have to either get very loud and angry-sounding to get their attention or touch them physically to make them notice that I am here and talking to them. They're not hard of hearing, though. They can hear the slightest whisper if I don't want them to know something.

One of them seems to think she can change my mind if she plants herself in front of me and whines 'Please, please..' over and over. Another seems destined for law school, as she raises one argument after another to prove that I am wrong and she is right and she should have whatever it is that she wants. The youngest seems oblivious to whether I have an opinion about what he wants or not, he just goes about his business of climbing or clawing or whatever he thinks will bring him to his goal. He is also not above 'fibbing' and saying Mama said he could have it when I know good and well she didn't.

Oh dear, I have made them sound worse than Dennis the Menace and Garfield all rolled into one. And they are actually very smart, adorable children. I am very proud of them, except when they are at my house together. Maybe that is it. Perhaps I should only have them over one at a time? That won't work, because I baby sit two of them on a daily basis. I guess Grammy needs to learn how to get their attention and let them know that no means no. Without acting like the wicked witch of the east.

Father God, give me wisdom in dealing with these precious children, and patience. They are a gift from You. Don't let me blow it.

Have a Cup of Tea

Well, I did it again. I'm not sure why I keep being compelled to look at the 'news'. Maybe it's just an old habit. Probably. It certainly isn't good for my blood pressure. This time I went online and took a sampling of the news services out there. It's a little intimidating, really, for an old grammy like me to try to sort out all those conflicting opinions. One group hailing the 'heroic actions' being taken, the next decrying the 'fatal errors' being made.

According to who you follow, we are either on the verge of utopia or heading straight to you-know-where in a handbasket.

I have been advised to read various books by an assortment of public figures, politicians, to see what they REALLY think on certain issues. I guess people think I have time on my hands. Really. I'd like to remind my civic minded friends that actually I'm a very busy person. I'm a grammy. I have noses to wipe and bumps to soothe; stories to tell and grandchildren to drive to various activities. I have Bible study to prepare for and attend. I have signing class (the high point of my week!), errands to run for various other family members who need my help. Sometimes I feel like I'm running a three-ring circus!

So I've come up with an alternative to reading all those books. I think I can tell from the covers what they are going to say, and it seems to me they cancel each other out. Like the one that is going to tell me that global warming is going to wipe us out in 50 years versus the one that says that the planet is actually cooling off, and we will soon be entering another ice age (soon being relatively speaking, a few thousand years).

Personally, I think they are both wrong. God has His own plans for this planet, and will serenely carry them out no matter whether the 'experts' in various fields agree or believe or not. I believe that in God's own time, right will prevail, wrong will fail. I've read the end of the story, and God wins. So I think I'll just make a cup of tea and leave it up to Him.

Mud-Slinging by an Expert

I have had a first-hand encounter with a professional mud-slinger that has caused me to lose all interest in the Washington variety! I'm telling you, they can't hold a candle to a five year old boy.

I don't know what it is about boys and dirt. I raised two of them, and now am experiencing the joys of a grandson. They all loved dirt. But this one has the last generation beat in the mud department. He attracts it like a magnet attracts steel. It's almost uncanny!

He and his sister walk the same route to my door. She arrives clean and neat. He arrives discheveled and dirty. Her shoes are dry, maybe even shiny. His shoes are caked with mud (and untied). More than this, he may even have leaves and sticks in his hair! Why? (Could it be he tried to make leaf angels?)

But the really amazing part is what happens after he gets here. I have a mat just inside the door to stand on while taking off wet or muddy shoes. I have a plastic pan to put them in. Why, then, do I find him on the sofa in his stocking feet, muddy shoes in the pan - but muddy footprints all the way to the bathroom and back (including two on the carpet)? (I couldn't wait, Grammy!)

Ok, but how did the mud get on the kitchen sink? On the faucet handle? On the kitchen table and the back of one chair? On the dish cabinet handle? The refrigerator door?

Simple. Removing his shoes, he got muddy hands. He decided he needed a drink, got a cup. Then he decided water wasn't satisfying his thirst. So he went to the fridge and found kool-aid. Came back to the table, pulled out a chair and sat down. I am counting my blessings. At least he didn't take the kool-aid to the sofa.

With such a delightful little mud-slinger around, I just don't have much time for the political variety. Bless him.

Say WHAT??

What is wrong with this picture? Banks being given millions - billions - of tax dollars to do what?? Redecorate offices? Send ceo's to VEGAS? Go on tropical retreats?

Once again I have to repeat my question: how is this helping the laid off workers and people who are being kicked out of their homes??????????? What am I missing? I realize that I am just an uneducated Indiana Grammy, but somehow it escapes me just how this is supposed to stabilize the economy!

At least the idea of giving every adult citizen $20,000 to buy a car would help the autoworkers. I suppose bankers going to Vegas helps casino workers...do they get a bonus on their minimum wage jobs when the customers are bankers spending tax dollars? But why aren't the bankers lending the money to the folks who are losing their homes?????????????

Something is fishy here. Why can't Washington ever keep a simple idea simple? I can't see where a single laid off worker or homeowner going into foreclosure has been helped by all this corporate greed. GREED. That is what Washington is all about, from the top to the bottom.

Throw the bums out!!

In My Mirror

Lord, who do you see
When you look at me?
I keep on hiding from myself;
And every day I find
In the shadows of my mind
Another mask to take down from my shelf.

So I try again to be
What I think others see -
I seem to have forgotten who I am;
And I've never even guessed
All the ways I could be blessed
If I just bore more resemblance to the Lamb.

Then let me gaze into your word
Until all my soul is stirred
By a longing, Lord, to be like you!
When your spirit has control
Of my body, mind and soul.....
Then my life will bear your image, too.

Same song, different verse?

That's it. I'm swearing off watching or reading any more 'news'. Everybody has an opinion (or at least somebody's opinion) and they all seem convinced they are right. It's giving me a headache.

What I want to know is, what happened to the help for people losing their homes and the auto workers and others losing their jobs? I thought 'they' (politicians) were going to set up banks to buy up the bad mortgages and negotiate better terms so the homeowners could keep their homes. I thought there was supposed to be some kind of help for laid off autoworkers and others losing their jobs.

Why is all this money going to the banks? And why are they not loaning it to the poor homeowners and autoworkers? One television newscaster said it was absolutely necessary to give this money to the banks to 'stabilize the economy.' On another channel is a gentleman saying that this is not even technically a 'stimulus' because it isn't going where the pain is and, according to him, most of the action isn't even going to happen til next year, which is not very helpful right now. So who's right?

If you ask me, which obviously no one has or ever will, they are going about this all wrong. What 'they' should do is give every adult citizen in the country $2o,ooo and tell them to go buy a new car. For every home going into foreclosure, 'they' should pay the payments in arrears, and 3 months in advance. To give those new banks time to write them up new mortgages with payments the homeowners can afford.

There. What's so hard about that? If an ignorant old grammy from Indiana can figure it out, what's with all the blah blah blah coming out of Washington?? (I sure don't see any change up there, do you? Same song, another verse.)

Thank goodness for the good new days!

One of the blogs I am following is Michael Bills ( Chase Images ). His photos are incredibly beautiful! (Of course, living in the Adirondacks gives him some advantage over a flatlander in secnery to shoot.) A couple of times I've remarked that I'd like to have one of his pics as a jigsaw puzzle. And that got me to thinking, and remembering.....

I've always loved puzzles. There's nothing more satisfying than putting that last piece into place. I used to cover them with puzzle saver and hang them on the wall for art! Of course, there are frustrations, too. Like the piece that almost fits! Or the puzzle that is almost completed when a friend comes to visit bringing toddlers who swoop all the pieces off the table. Or the puzzle that turns out in the end to have one or more pieces missing.

One of the most frustrating experiences I ever had with puzzles concerned my granddaughters. Beautiful little girls, born just a week apart. So it was a lot like having twins around, except they had different mothers. Anyway, it was an awful blow to discover as soon as they were walking that one of them was addicted to puzzles. Only, she didn't try to work them. She tried to eat them. Really. It was nothing to find her with both cheeks bulging like a hamster, drool running down her chin, and an open puzzle box on her lap. I couldn't tell you how many puzzles that child partially consumed. I finally gave up on puzzles for a number of years.

Now I can work them on pc. Too cool. No lost pieces, if a piece is a true fit, it just clicks into place when you get it close. National Geographic has a beautiful site, for instance. But if Michael of Chase Images ever opened a puzzle site, he would blow NG away. Leave 'em in the dust. Wouldn't that be nice! Hey Michael, how 'bout it??

A Good Day

Day off!! Had a long hot shower! Got a long letter from an old friend. Took a nap. Worked on Bible study lesson. Did a load of laundry for my brother. Sent emails to some friends. Got one from my favorite (only) sister-in-law.
Took nap.

Checked out some interesting blogs. Fixed that deerburger out of the freezer. Washed dishes. Had coffee with my daughter. Took nap.

Watched kids while their mom ran some errands. Helped granddaughter with computer. Watched cartoons with grandson. Fell asleep watching news. Going to bed.

Good day!

Death by Scissors

Another snow day! What is the school thinking? And how am I going to keep an eye on my little granddarlings when I can't keep either eye open? Ok, ok, I'll make them blueberry muffins for breakfast and bribe them to let grammy take a little nap.

Bad plan. Very bad plan. I should have realized the 'good little fellow' couldn't be good all the time. I tried to make him take a nap with me. I fell asleep. He didn't. Sis was playing a computer game. He was bored.

I didn't see the carnage until after they had gone home. The victim was my shower curtain. Weapon - scissors. Wounds were fatal. I texted my daughter and told her his punishment was to come live with me as I got stinkier and stinkier because I couldn't shower. Then I went to the Dollar General and got a new shower curtain. Wonder why it's so much easier to take the old one down than to put the new one up? When did my arms get so heavy? (Maybe it's those 'angel wings' weighing me down?)

Bad grammy. Good grammies don't sleep while watching grandchildren. Lord please help me do better tomorrow. I can't worry any more about it tonight. I have to go to sleep!

Let it snow!

Snow, snow, snow! I'm ready for tulips and daffodils and the smell of the earth waking up. But the children love it, the snow days and the sledding and snowmen (and snowgirl!) They even love the shoveling. I used to love it, before something crept into my joints and the marrow of my bones and set up shop. Something that takes the cold and uses it to make my fingers ache clear up to my elbows. Sometimes I look at my hands and wonder where they came from, and where my real ones went. They used to be clever hands, strong hands. Used to be able to do all kinds of things.

Well, enough of the pity party. I can still type! And bake cookies, and wipe noses and all the important stuff! I even shoveled a little snow myself, today. Had to get to the van and drive down and pick up Bubby from school. He was so excited to have Grammy pick him up. We went to the local market to pick up a few things I needed. The prices are higher than in the city, but I didn't want to drive in all that snow. So we came home and had hot chocolate and watched a movie til Mama got home. He is such a stinker, that little man. Tried to get me to buy him a water gun in the store! In this weather, he wanted a water gun! I guess he wanted to shoot icicles!

Thank God both my sons are home safe, off the road. And my daughter home with her children. And my other granddaughter home with her mom. All is well for tonight. All are safe and warm and fed. And I am blessed.

Sick and exhausted

Well, here we go again. It's not that I wish I didn't have to go down to my daughter's in the wee hours of the morning and take care of the kids. It's just that I am sick and exhausted. I can hardly hold my eyes open, and I prayed my way through the day. Kept grandson home from Head Start because he's sick too. Then couldn't stay awake to watch him. Falling asleep constantly. Good thing he's such a good little fellow.

My good days aren't all that good. My medical condition causes fatigue, my meds have side effects including fatigue, susceptibility to infections and exhaustion. But I keep pushing on because my daughter and those kids need me. She only makes minimum wage, and can't afford daycare. No support. No food stamps in this county. Can you believe 2 kids & minimum wage and she doesn't qualify for food stamps in this county? Thank God for the local food pantry, I go for her once a week. Thank God for the prayers of my friends and the love of my church. I don't mean to sound whiny. I'm actually very blessed. I'm just sick and exhausted.