I'm so glad you could stop by. This is my personal blog of daily life and my journey through life. You will find a strong emphasis on family and friends as well as finding my ancestors through genealogy. Unlike my other blogs this blog is more of a catch-all so any topic is fair game.
Blossoms
April 27, 2008
Any one who has been following this blog will know I have had some recent and ongoing health problems. Unfortunately they are continuing and we seem to be no closer to the root of the problems. Since I know my diet is quite healthy I decided to look at a couple of other aspects of my lifestyle. My physiotherapist said bodies are designed for movement and one of the best things you can do for your heart is to walk briskly for 30 minutes daily. So I focused in on that. I'm really a fairly active person by nature but to dedicate 30 minutes daily to walking, well now, I can seriously come up with a lot of excuses. It's either too cold or there is some type of precipitation, neither of which my lungs tolerate well. Then there are the things like canning, cooking, housecleaning, blogging and if I really need a shallow excuse, I can use online poker. Besides, I don't want to miss Corrie or Law & Order and we all know the latter is on 24/7! You get the idea. I love being outdoors, working in the garden and enjoying nature but walking just for walking, I don't think so! Ok, so I had to have a nice friendly little chit chat with myself reminding me of how much I enjoyed hiking at one time and how good this would make me feel and how much my body would benefit from this
new game plan.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am now onto day five of my new plan. I wrap a jacket around my waist, put on my walking shoes and clamp the iPod tightly onto my ears, tuck the cell phone and digital camera into pockets then head off. There's no point backing out once I'm all packed :) Day 1 was novel and Day 2 showed me I really needed this. Day 3 my buns were tender. Day 4 I actually was able to push it a bit longer than 30 minutes. Off to do my 30 minutes...
Garden Gnome
©2007
I have to admit aside of reading online, I'm really not into reading anything besides non-fiction. When I was visiting the grandbabies, I had the opportunity to check out a nearby book store. I have no idea what attracted me to this book. Perhaps it was my mood after getting a couple of one finger salutes that told me I'm number one in their book. Or perhaps it was the idiot that rubbed me the wrong way when all I wanted to do was enjoy a nice cold beer while playing the monster game until the kids picked me up. Maybe the sick feeling I got seeing all the rubbish along the tracks was an influence. Whatever it was this book literally slapped me in the face begging to be be bought.
Like many I find the lack of manners today a bit distressing. What happened to using please, thank-you and you're welcome? A few things I consider rude and annoying in no particular order:
- cell phones - Sorry but I don't want to hear a one sided conversation about intimate details of one's personal life aka relationships and etc. And if I have to be forced into your soap opera world at least but the dang phone on speaker so I can get both sides of the story!
- the liberal use of the eff word - This is so old! Like there are other words out there. If you can't find a word to express how you are feeling or to use as a verb, noun, adjective or pronoun there's always a dictionary. You know that's a book that has a lot of words in besides the eff word. It helps to know the alphabet when using but I'm sure if those who only use the eff word work hard at it, they can come up with other words too.
- littering - This is incredibly rude, obnoxious and selfish! 'Nuff said.
- blogs that tell me where I'm from - Excuse me, I know where I'm located and your location indicator is so far off I do find it rather humorous albeit rude. If you want to welcome me to your blog, at least have the courtesy of getting my location correct.
- telemarketers - I pay for my phone which means you do not have the right to call me on my dime to try and sell me something that I don't need or want in the first place. And I find it incredibly rude that when you do call you can't even pronounce my name correctly.
- automated answering machines - You know the ones where you have to press a button then another button then another button and can never get to a humanoid?
- your call is important to us - Do you think anyone with an IQ higher than an aemoeba buys into this crap? If my call was important to you, you would answer it when I called not 40 minutes later! I honestly sat on hold 40 minutes waiting to talk to my ISP. Yep, the very same one I pay a lot of money to each month for service. Perhaps I will just take my money elsewhere as a payment for your incredible rudeness.
- pants worn down below the butt - If I wanted to see a butt I could look at my own, thank-you very much and trust me I think mine is cuter than yours!
- web ancronyms aka LOL, ROFLMAO etc. - The writer expects you to decipher what they have written without any real clues or using a real word - RUDE! Then when you finally figure it out the meaning can be even RUDER!
- guys assuming every gal is fair game - This has to be the ultimate in rudeness! Hello, do you see the wedding band? That means I'm not interested in you, period! It should also serve as a warning that if I am hormonal, had a bad day or simply not in a congenial mood, you just might find yourself in a very bad situation. Take your egotistical, self-inflated, testosterone overflowing self to the nearest corner and let me enjoy my drink, meal, slot machine, or anything else I may be doing in peace so I can analyze your sheer stupidity while contemplating all the ways I could eliminate you and your ilk without leaving any incriminating evidence behind. How's that for how I feel about this one in terms of rudeness.
©2007
A good friend sent the following by email (waving hi and thanks!). I had a good chuckle so thought I would pass it along. Sorry, some of the formatting was lost but the message is still there.
HOW TO CLEAN THE HOUSE
1. Open a new file in your PC .
2. Name it '
Housework.'
3. Send it to the
RECYCLE BIN.
4. Empty the
RECYCLE BIN.
5. Your PC will ask you,
'
Are you sure you want to delete Housework permanently?'
6. Calmly answer, '
Yes' and press mouse button firmly ...
7.
Feel better?
Works for me! Garden Gnome
©2007
Graffati
April 20, 2008
Something always fascinates me about wall art aka graffati. Well not all wall art is graffati but all graffati is wall art in some form. Most municipalities see it as vandalism. Building owners see it as a bane and expense. Yet graffati continues. Graffati is a form of pollution to some yet expression and communication to others. From day one we teach our kids to be independent, free thinkers, to express themselves then when they do through graffati, well that is just plain wrong from society's perspective. In some ways it reminds me of the old painted building advertisements yet we live in a different world. The only difference in the art was one was accepted and one is not. Graffati marks gang territory, costs building owners countless dollars and reminds us of the darker side of life but sometimes it just is what it is.
Today is Earth Day so I thought this would be a rather fitting post. As I rode the train I was on the look-out for graffati something I seldom see where we live unless you count kids using sidewalk chalk in their driveways. I found the graffati as you can see in the picture but what else I found that was more discerning was the horrendous amount of garbage. As the trail rocked it's way from destination to destination I could not help but be discusted at what I saw. Lining the tracks and fields where nothing more than died off last year's grows mixed with this season's new growth there were countless plastic bags, fast food cast-offs, papers, appliance and funiture parts. I even saw at least two discarded washers, one television and three couches. Come on folks! A vast majority of use go out of our way to reduce our impact on the earth yet some are not getting the message.
Here's a few questions
- Where the heck do you think the garbage is going when you toss it out your car window?
- Since you have no regard for the planet we live in, I trust you also toss garbage around inside your own home?
- Do you feel you are so important that others must clean up after you?
- Where you dropped on your head during birth?
Hello! Are you listening? Our earth, you know the one that we live on,
third planet from the sun can no longer deal with your selfish attitude!
Garden Gnome
©2007
Helping Hands
April 19, 2008
Early last week my husband and kids arranged a mini-getaway for me to visit our newest grandbaby (age 2 wks) and oldest grandbaby (age 16 months). Family members shuttled me around to and from the train stations as well as staying with me to make sure I was safely on my way on that leg of the journey. What a fun time I had!
The first part of the journey started here and ended with my arrival by rail to be picked up by one of my kids while another one of our kids made sure I reached the starting point safely. The journey was smooth and uneventful. The sounds of the train lulled me to sleep. At the end of the first leg of the journey was a small, pink bungle of love. Talk about a beautiful baby! She's very alert and attentive but very quiet. I marveled at how small she was. Soon she will be crawling and walking and oh my gosh, grandma really is going to have to get in shape then! The smiles on her mom and dad's face say it all. They are so proud!
The next end of the journey ended at oldest grandbaby's home. This adorable little one saw grandma as a toy :) Unfortunately, grandma didn't come with Energizer batteries and had no wind-up thingy either. In short, grandma isn't the Energizer bunny and the only ticking grandma is going to do is if they put a pace maker in. But grandma kept up pretty good and when grandbaby tuckered out after a walk but woke everytime grandma tried to set her down and she cried while clinging to grandma, grandma snuggled closer enjoying the little arms that wouldn't let go reminding of days long ago when little arms were the norm. Grandbaby found out grandma has a sense of humour too and that temper tantrums doesn't faze grandma either. Grandma forgot that toddlers can easily take out their clothes as well as anyone trying to change them. Grandma learned the "oh oh" game aka "let's toss something, anything on the floor then go oh oh 'cause grandma will pick it up" game. Grandbaby loves feeding grandma yogurt using her finger too. She also likes grandma's hair gel and sunblock. What a gal!
Grandma is in official sleep mode for the next couple of days...or until one of the grandbabies call :)
Garden Gnome
©2007
Mama Mallard
April 8, 2008
We are very blessed to live in an area with abundant wildlife quite often in our own backyard and sometimes indoors. Now I will tolerate some household invaders, I am not fond of certain invaders in the house especially those horrid centipedes! We have a pair of mallards frequenting the backyard. Both seem to be quite photogenic and friendly. I think she may be starting a nest under our bushes but I'm not sure yet. At any rate, I'm enjoying their company.
Mr. Buggs, our resident wild rabbit was seen frolicking with a Mrs. Buggs. As soon as I saw them my mind turned to rabbit control for the new vegetable gardens but watching them in the backyard while I sipped my coffee, it was easy to imagine they would leave the vegetables alone. I'm in the stock-up on staples mode so while I don't need to buy any groceries aside of a few fresh fruits and vegetables, I have be making one or two trips a week specifically for stocking purposes. Now this is something I very much enjoy during the month of April. I have this perfected to the point that by the end of April I'm set for all the basics to last until the following April. So this morning I left early to stop and visit my husband at the office then do a stock-up shopping. Our road is maybe 700 ft off the main road. Just after turning onto the main road I encountered the first carcass and not even 200 ft further there was the second one. I am almost certain these were our resident bunnies! This really bummed me out. We live in a reduced speed zone and everyone knows there is a lot of wild life in the area. People will stop to let a family of ducks cross the main road. They will swerve to avoid hitting squirrels. They stop to take pictures of the Canadian geese along the roadside. It would appear the same vehicle hit both rabbits :( Rabbits move fast enough but are large enough for anyone going the speed limit to avoid hitting. Sadly, driving under the influence is a problem along the main road despite a police crackdown. Chances are quite good a drunk driver hit the rabbits. Sad but very much true.
Garden Gnome
©2007
Dead Centipede!
April 9, 2008
I haven't been sleeping well, not more than a couple of hours at a time so come this morning I was rather on the groggy side. That turned out to be a good thing! Waking from a fitful sleep I hit the washroom first then still in sleep mode set up the coffee maker and slept standing up waiting for the cup to fill. We have one of those pod coffee makers that works well when the operators are in sleep mode. Sniffing deeply to get the aroma of the coffee along with a sip I sat down to the computer. The sat was being pissy as usual so waiting for it to reset I grabbed my coffee and headed to the washroom to make myself look a little presentable.
THEN IT HAPPENED! I came face to face with a huge centipede. The body was about an inch and a half long without all his appendages sitting right in the bathroom. Coffee went everywhere just not on the offending invader. I ran for the spray. One squirt and he was toast, leaving me to clean up the tossed coffee and change my clothes because they had coffee on them as well. Dang I really hate these things!
Garden Gnome
©2007
Second Grandbaby
April 3, 2008
As most of you reading this blog already know the countdown has been on for second grandbaby. She arrived safe and sound at 10:34 am this morning. She weighed in at 7 lb 3 oz. Despite leaving as soon as the call arrived Grandma and Grandpa arrived about 20 minutes after the birth even though Grandpa likely broke a lot of traffic laws along the way. It was a beautiful sunny spring day ready to greet this little bundle of joy into out lives. And our family increases by one little life but ten fold in love...
Garden Gnome
©2007
One of my adorable offspring thought I would be interested in signing up for
Virgle: The Adventure of Many Lifetimes. I'm not sure if this was a
hint. Hmm? So I wander on over and fill out the easy 15 question multiple choice questionnaire to see if I would make a suitable Virgle Pioneer. Hmphf! Here's my results:
Well, you're distressingly normal and could conceivably adjust to life as a deep space pioneer, though we recommend instead that you leave the Mars missions to the serious whack jobs who scored over 130 and instead finish year 3 of law school, tuck your toddler into bed, design Web 2.0 applications, run for Congress or do whatever other normal, healthy, middle-of-the-road thing you're currently doing with your normal, healthy, middle-of-the-road life. If you're determined to give Virgle a try, though, you can submit your video here.
It would appear I
will not be heading out on an space exploring venture to colonize Mars! I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't ask about any gardening, cooking, food preservation or homemaking skills. They didn't ask if I could use a computer! Maybe they assumed that but still. They did not even ask if I could blog. Honestly, what self respecting space pioneer would think of not blogging about his or her adventures?
So my family is just stuck we me for now. Gosh darn! Like they are going to get rid of me that easily! Besides who would cook all the meals, tend the gardens, do the laundry, keep the pantry well stocked, do the decorating, oh and all the other million things a domestic engineer does?
Garden Gnome
©2007
