I guess I am still recovering from all of the excitement of the last three weeks. I just didn't have any ambition today...and because I am retired, I can give myself permission to do nothing at all, if that's what I want. Today was that kind of day! I did do a little laundry and got my prescriptions refilled. Slept quite a bit. Watched a bunch of mindless television. That's about it!
My ex and his wife are visiting our daughter in CA this week, so she is being tour guide again. In the past year, I think she/they have put a zillion miles on her minivan, just taking weekend day trips to entertain the troops--me, included. Nothing out there is cheap. Just getting in to places to tour can be $100. No wonder they don't eat out much!
I need to take a run to school tomorrow to take care of a health insurance issue. Gotta have it!
Although earwig season is officially over, I still find an occasional one of the nasty little things in the house. Next year, I'll be on top of them before they drive me nuts!
Time to start thinking about Christmas shopping so I can spread the expense out. Just wish I knew what everyone wanted/needed!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Continuation...
Addendum to yesterday's post. Read on, if you care...
I am aware that the family constellation over this past almost-year has changed and is somewhat hard to explain to people. Families of divorce frequently have issues that encompass hard feelings and issues that have nothing to do with the children. "He did this." "She did that." Blah, blah. Although I did NOT agree with my daughter's giving up custody of the children and/or moving so very many miles away from them and me, I recognized that they had a good father who had been active in their lives since Day One. In my grief from having them ripped away, I determined that THEY should not suffer any more than the circumstances demanded.
Grandpa Phil was the first to break through the shock with a sensitive email to me. Thereafter, we all met to talk about things. The message of that meeting was that we were all still family, regardless of the fact that our children were no longer together, and that our grandchildren should come to know that we are here for them, no matter what. Then there was the issue of Nathan and Kendra. What would my role be with them in the new constellation of things? Thankfully, I THINK we are okay. I have been welcomed into their new home as a helper. I don't always agree with what they do, but I respect the HUGE job of raising three children so close in age, and the special talents (that I don't have) to get it all done.
Thus, we spend holidays together, etc. I'm sure it is awkward for some. I am trying to accommodate everyone's schedule while not wishing to be taken advantage of. (Yes, I know I just ended that sentence with a preposition!) I just want what is best for my grandchildren. I think everyone else does, too...so there you are!
I just changed lightbulbs in the ceiling fan in my bedroom. They burn out fast, so I'm not looking for light for long...but it sure is bright in here now!!!!
Love to my followers. The robins are still here so summer isn't over...yet.
I am aware that the family constellation over this past almost-year has changed and is somewhat hard to explain to people. Families of divorce frequently have issues that encompass hard feelings and issues that have nothing to do with the children. "He did this." "She did that." Blah, blah. Although I did NOT agree with my daughter's giving up custody of the children and/or moving so very many miles away from them and me, I recognized that they had a good father who had been active in their lives since Day One. In my grief from having them ripped away, I determined that THEY should not suffer any more than the circumstances demanded.
Grandpa Phil was the first to break through the shock with a sensitive email to me. Thereafter, we all met to talk about things. The message of that meeting was that we were all still family, regardless of the fact that our children were no longer together, and that our grandchildren should come to know that we are here for them, no matter what. Then there was the issue of Nathan and Kendra. What would my role be with them in the new constellation of things? Thankfully, I THINK we are okay. I have been welcomed into their new home as a helper. I don't always agree with what they do, but I respect the HUGE job of raising three children so close in age, and the special talents (that I don't have) to get it all done.
Thus, we spend holidays together, etc. I'm sure it is awkward for some. I am trying to accommodate everyone's schedule while not wishing to be taken advantage of. (Yes, I know I just ended that sentence with a preposition!) I just want what is best for my grandchildren. I think everyone else does, too...so there you are!
I just changed lightbulbs in the ceiling fan in my bedroom. They burn out fast, so I'm not looking for light for long...but it sure is bright in here now!!!!
Love to my followers. The robins are still here so summer isn't over...yet.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Over All Too Soon...
I am home to my little house-on-a-slab in Plainfield after driving the grandchildren to Zion, IL, to move them into their new house, new neighborhood, and new school. I was there almost a week, trying to help out as best I could. Daddy Nathan and Kendra (stepmother) were both involved in their jobs, and since school didn't start until Wednesday of this week, I mostly watched all three of the kids, grocery shopped (a little), helped to get meals going at the end of the day, and did a little laundry.
Since all three of the children came home from family visitations on the same day, there was some re-establishing of pecking order that took place. (I used to observe this in the classroom whenever I got a new student. It's normal and annoying as the dickens!) The kids got a tour of the new house, bottom to top. It is an old house--built in 1906, I think I was told--but it has been remodeled and taken care of, so it is charming--and big. The house is set back from the street on a long gravel drive with a wooded front yard. The attached two-car garage is in the back. If you enter the house from there, you come in to a mud room--down a few steps to the basement/laundry or up a few steps to the kitchen. The kitchen has updated cabinets (white wood), granite counter tops, heavy-duty stove/convection oven, dishwasher, double ceramic sink with updated faucet hardware, relatively new double refrigerator with drink dispenser, lots of lighting, and hardwood floors.
Next to the kitchen in a sort-of hallway to the living room is a little butler pantry with built-in shelves, drawers, etc...and just off of that is a half bath with all new "appliances" and a mosaic-style floor. The living room is large with a fireplace. Between the living room and kitchen is a nice-sized dining room, and around the corner from the dining room are the stairs to the second floor. (Sixteen steps. I counted. Got my exercise!)
Off the living room on the other side is a hallway and a step down to a very large bedroom/bathroom suite that was remodeled for a handicapped child. No walls...huge shower/bathroom area. That has become the master bedroom suite for Nathan and Kendra.
Upstairs, there are two large bedrooms, a smaller bedroom, and a bathroom. Robin and Wednesday share the biggest bedroom. (Plenty of room for both, with two closets, and their own separate desks and shelves, etc.) Ryan's room is the next largest. Lots of space for a little boy! It includes a closet and a hidden cupboard in which he can stash a lot of toys. The smallest bedroom has been established as a toy room. (That's where I slept on an air mattress.) All of the bedrooms upstairs are carpeted.
There are so many levels in the house that I determined early on that they needed an intercom system. When Kendra and the children and I were out shopping on Sunday, we found a Radio Shack that had a three-unit system that I got as a housewarming present for them. Nathan and I checked out the units when we got home. As a test, we put one unit in the basement, one in the living room, and one in Ryan's room on the top level. They all worked fine. The family will have to determine exactly where they want the units to go, but at least we know they will produce on all levels. We did use the one in Ryan's room a number of times. He thinks it's fun!
I was less than impressed with the physical plant of the children's school. Although it looks great on the outside, and the staff seems really on the ball, the building is NOT air conditioned. The bathrooms look old. The classrooms are small with no built-ins. The hot lunch program is brought in (TV dinners) because there is no kitchen, etc. Since Zion, IL, is only a couple of miles from the Wisconsin state line, I expect that the heat of the season will change within a couple of weeks. Hopefully, the no AC status won't be important too much longer...
On the trip up and back, I drove on interstates I had always managed to avoid until now. The Dan Ryan Expressway through downtown Chicago is one of them. The Eden's Expressway is another. In the past, I have taken 80/94 across the bottom of Lake Michigan to the Tri-State Tollway which goes around Chicago in the suburbs. This time, because it is a more direct route, I ventured downtown. Can't say that I enjoyed it much, but the delays were somewhat minor compared to what would have awaited me on 80/94 which has been under construction for years and years...
I will have to finish this later. It is late and I'm tired...
Tomorrow!
Since all three of the children came home from family visitations on the same day, there was some re-establishing of pecking order that took place. (I used to observe this in the classroom whenever I got a new student. It's normal and annoying as the dickens!) The kids got a tour of the new house, bottom to top. It is an old house--built in 1906, I think I was told--but it has been remodeled and taken care of, so it is charming--and big. The house is set back from the street on a long gravel drive with a wooded front yard. The attached two-car garage is in the back. If you enter the house from there, you come in to a mud room--down a few steps to the basement/laundry or up a few steps to the kitchen. The kitchen has updated cabinets (white wood), granite counter tops, heavy-duty stove/convection oven, dishwasher, double ceramic sink with updated faucet hardware, relatively new double refrigerator with drink dispenser, lots of lighting, and hardwood floors.
Next to the kitchen in a sort-of hallway to the living room is a little butler pantry with built-in shelves, drawers, etc...and just off of that is a half bath with all new "appliances" and a mosaic-style floor. The living room is large with a fireplace. Between the living room and kitchen is a nice-sized dining room, and around the corner from the dining room are the stairs to the second floor. (Sixteen steps. I counted. Got my exercise!)
Off the living room on the other side is a hallway and a step down to a very large bedroom/bathroom suite that was remodeled for a handicapped child. No walls...huge shower/bathroom area. That has become the master bedroom suite for Nathan and Kendra.
Upstairs, there are two large bedrooms, a smaller bedroom, and a bathroom. Robin and Wednesday share the biggest bedroom. (Plenty of room for both, with two closets, and their own separate desks and shelves, etc.) Ryan's room is the next largest. Lots of space for a little boy! It includes a closet and a hidden cupboard in which he can stash a lot of toys. The smallest bedroom has been established as a toy room. (That's where I slept on an air mattress.) All of the bedrooms upstairs are carpeted.
There are so many levels in the house that I determined early on that they needed an intercom system. When Kendra and the children and I were out shopping on Sunday, we found a Radio Shack that had a three-unit system that I got as a housewarming present for them. Nathan and I checked out the units when we got home. As a test, we put one unit in the basement, one in the living room, and one in Ryan's room on the top level. They all worked fine. The family will have to determine exactly where they want the units to go, but at least we know they will produce on all levels. We did use the one in Ryan's room a number of times. He thinks it's fun!
I was less than impressed with the physical plant of the children's school. Although it looks great on the outside, and the staff seems really on the ball, the building is NOT air conditioned. The bathrooms look old. The classrooms are small with no built-ins. The hot lunch program is brought in (TV dinners) because there is no kitchen, etc. Since Zion, IL, is only a couple of miles from the Wisconsin state line, I expect that the heat of the season will change within a couple of weeks. Hopefully, the no AC status won't be important too much longer...
On the trip up and back, I drove on interstates I had always managed to avoid until now. The Dan Ryan Expressway through downtown Chicago is one of them. The Eden's Expressway is another. In the past, I have taken 80/94 across the bottom of Lake Michigan to the Tri-State Tollway which goes around Chicago in the suburbs. This time, because it is a more direct route, I ventured downtown. Can't say that I enjoyed it much, but the delays were somewhat minor compared to what would have awaited me on 80/94 which has been under construction for years and years...
I will have to finish this later. It is late and I'm tired...
Tomorrow!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
I Can't Keep Up...
The house is trashed. Every effort I make to get it picked up is met with almost instant efforts to trash it again! Yesterday, Robin dumped dirty clothes in the living room. I asked her why she thought it was okay to do that here when she doesn't do it at home. I noted that she silently picked it up and put it in the hamper. Small victory. (VERY small victory, considering the condition of the rest of the house!)
Today, Grandma Judy took Ryan on a shopping trip, as she had done with Robin. I took advantage of that and went to get my hair cut. Robin went with me, but I was there for such a short time that she didn't have a chance to get bored. Good thing because the AC was out in the salon!
Tomorrow, Gr. Judy is taking both children to see The Return of Nanny McPhee. Thereafter, she will keep them for a bit while I try to get laundry and packing under control for our trip to the Chicago area on Saturday morning. (The car will be packed to the gills--two big boxes of school supplies, children's clothing, toys, my clothing, plus sleeping bag, pillows, fan, etc., for me to stay there for a few days.) I am told that the trip will take 5-6 hours. God help me! The children could sleep, but they won't. My best guess is that they will fuss and fight in the back seat while I am trying to drive on the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago!!!!
I am:
out of milk
out of snacks
out of time
out of patience
out of energy
ready for bed.
Good night!
Today, Grandma Judy took Ryan on a shopping trip, as she had done with Robin. I took advantage of that and went to get my hair cut. Robin went with me, but I was there for such a short time that she didn't have a chance to get bored. Good thing because the AC was out in the salon!
Tomorrow, Gr. Judy is taking both children to see The Return of Nanny McPhee. Thereafter, she will keep them for a bit while I try to get laundry and packing under control for our trip to the Chicago area on Saturday morning. (The car will be packed to the gills--two big boxes of school supplies, children's clothing, toys, my clothing, plus sleeping bag, pillows, fan, etc., for me to stay there for a few days.) I am told that the trip will take 5-6 hours. God help me! The children could sleep, but they won't. My best guess is that they will fuss and fight in the back seat while I am trying to drive on the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago!!!!
I am:
out of milk
out of snacks
out of time
out of patience
out of energy
ready for bed.
Good night!
Ugh
I can't begin to catch up on all that has happened since I last posted on here. I'll do the high points for anyone who really cares.
On August 13th, the children and I put their mother on the plane for California. It had been a busy week. We toured 18 cemeteries in Putnam County for Meg's genealogy website, went to my church's fish fry, had Robin's birthday party (of course), ate favorite foods, and generally did all we could do to make the experience a pleasant one for everyone. Ryan did NOT want to take his mother to the airport to return to CA. When we left her on the terminal curb, he refused to say good-bye--or maybe was too busy fighting with his sister in the back seat. I'm sorry to say that, as we pulled away, I yelled at the kids. "Your mother was waving at you, but you didn't see it. You won't see her again until Christmas, but you were too busy fighting to say good-bye!" It was pretty quiet in the car for most of the trip back to Plainfield. I regret it, but it is a lesson that they need to learn. Robin gets it. I'm not sure that Ryan does...
The following Sunday, I told the children that we would be attending the 9:50 service at church (which is also the Sunday School hour). I gave them a choice: stay in the worship service with me or go to Sunday School. Both chose SS. As we got ready to go to church, Ryan complained bitterly about how boring it was. (I didn't bother to mention how majorly boring Father Dudzinski's masses were at St. Mary's in Muncie!) I told Ry that it didn't matter if it was boring or not. We go to church in this house; "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. It's one of the Ten Commandments." Robin looked at him and said, "Do you even believe in God anymore??" That shut him up. Interestingly, he always enjoys his time in SS when there.
This week, we have been under a heavy activity schedule. God bless Grandma Judy--she planned a series of events that even she wishes she hadn't! On Monday, we went to the Children's Museum (with coupons that got the kids in for free). On Tuesday, we went to the movies to see Toy Story 3, at a time when it cost us much less than normal. On Wednesday (today) we all went to the State Fair with coupons from the Indianapolis Star that got us all in for free. Ryan came home not feeling well. There has been so much going on that even I don't feel all that well! Time to get back to boring routine...
I will be taking the children to their new home soon. Since they will be 5-6 hours away, I have no clue when I will get to see them again. It's a wrench that I am forced to deal with--and I am getting weary of having no real choices!
It's late. Going to bed. God provides.
On August 13th, the children and I put their mother on the plane for California. It had been a busy week. We toured 18 cemeteries in Putnam County for Meg's genealogy website, went to my church's fish fry, had Robin's birthday party (of course), ate favorite foods, and generally did all we could do to make the experience a pleasant one for everyone. Ryan did NOT want to take his mother to the airport to return to CA. When we left her on the terminal curb, he refused to say good-bye--or maybe was too busy fighting with his sister in the back seat. I'm sorry to say that, as we pulled away, I yelled at the kids. "Your mother was waving at you, but you didn't see it. You won't see her again until Christmas, but you were too busy fighting to say good-bye!" It was pretty quiet in the car for most of the trip back to Plainfield. I regret it, but it is a lesson that they need to learn. Robin gets it. I'm not sure that Ryan does...
The following Sunday, I told the children that we would be attending the 9:50 service at church (which is also the Sunday School hour). I gave them a choice: stay in the worship service with me or go to Sunday School. Both chose SS. As we got ready to go to church, Ryan complained bitterly about how boring it was. (I didn't bother to mention how majorly boring Father Dudzinski's masses were at St. Mary's in Muncie!) I told Ry that it didn't matter if it was boring or not. We go to church in this house; "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. It's one of the Ten Commandments." Robin looked at him and said, "Do you even believe in God anymore??" That shut him up. Interestingly, he always enjoys his time in SS when there.
This week, we have been under a heavy activity schedule. God bless Grandma Judy--she planned a series of events that even she wishes she hadn't! On Monday, we went to the Children's Museum (with coupons that got the kids in for free). On Tuesday, we went to the movies to see Toy Story 3, at a time when it cost us much less than normal. On Wednesday (today) we all went to the State Fair with coupons from the Indianapolis Star that got us all in for free. Ryan came home not feeling well. There has been so much going on that even I don't feel all that well! Time to get back to boring routine...
I will be taking the children to their new home soon. Since they will be 5-6 hours away, I have no clue when I will get to see them again. It's a wrench that I am forced to deal with--and I am getting weary of having no real choices!
It's late. Going to bed. God provides.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Birthday Party and Beyond...
I am quite a bit behind in posting the blatherings of my existence!
Flying by the seat of my pants, I got a roller skating birthday party planned for a certain 8-year-old granddaughter who had a good time. Robin has an advantage over her brother in that her birthday occurs in the summer. Ryan's occurs a week or so before Thanksgiving when it's cold outside and school schedules limit who can be there, etc. :(
Avon, IN, has a new roller skating rink. Just two days before the proposed party date, I was able to reserve the "party room" and get some local friends invited. (They had been pre-invited, but things were so up-in-the-air that I couldn't cite chapter and verse about what was going to happen.) Thankfully, everyone who had been invited showed up! One of Robin's best friends from Muncie was driven down by her mother as a surprise. A couple of friends from Robin's former Daisy Girl Scout troop in Plainfield showed up. Stepsister Wednesday got a release from her father's visitation for the day, and the two neighbor kids (my house) were able to come. Daddy came from Muncie. Stepmom Kendra and her mother came from Zion, IL. Of course, Grandma Judy and Grandpa Phil came with glorious birthday cakes to die for. To make a long story short, Robin had a very nice birthday party.
I took the children to Plainfield's Splash Island yesterday afternoon--the last weekday before school started here. Megan went to the library to work on some genealogy stuff. The kids swim like fish!! They were both on a swim team in Muncie. Still, because of their ages, we all had to wear wrist bands that said "Within arm's reach". Ha! Ever try to be within arm's reach of children who go in two different directions and are skilled enough to go down slides into the deep end? Oh...and have I mentioned how lovely I look? I wear a bathing suit, but have a cover-up over that, and a do-rag over my head. Am I being modest? Well...sort of. But I also take medicine that says I will be "sensitive" to sun...and don't like having a sunburned scalp due to really thin hair. And you know what? I saw very FEW people, men and women alike, who looked good in what THEY were wearing! Besides, after a certain age (mine) the rest of us become invisible. No one cares about old people. Seriously!
Tomorrow, in spite of heat, we are going cemetery hopping in Putnam County. It's on Megan's to-do list while she is here in Indiana. (She has adopted a genealogy website for Putnam County and needs some pictures or something.) We'll do the best we can...
When Meg returns to California and the children go to their new home in Zion, IL, I will fall into a dead heap. It's feast or famine here. Either I am busy beyond belief or suffering from loneliness. I have never been lonely in my life...until these last 11 months. God provides and I keep trying!
Past bedtime for me...and I just discovered that Robin is still awake. Ugh!
Flying by the seat of my pants, I got a roller skating birthday party planned for a certain 8-year-old granddaughter who had a good time. Robin has an advantage over her brother in that her birthday occurs in the summer. Ryan's occurs a week or so before Thanksgiving when it's cold outside and school schedules limit who can be there, etc. :(
Avon, IN, has a new roller skating rink. Just two days before the proposed party date, I was able to reserve the "party room" and get some local friends invited. (They had been pre-invited, but things were so up-in-the-air that I couldn't cite chapter and verse about what was going to happen.) Thankfully, everyone who had been invited showed up! One of Robin's best friends from Muncie was driven down by her mother as a surprise. A couple of friends from Robin's former Daisy Girl Scout troop in Plainfield showed up. Stepsister Wednesday got a release from her father's visitation for the day, and the two neighbor kids (my house) were able to come. Daddy came from Muncie. Stepmom Kendra and her mother came from Zion, IL. Of course, Grandma Judy and Grandpa Phil came with glorious birthday cakes to die for. To make a long story short, Robin had a very nice birthday party.
I took the children to Plainfield's Splash Island yesterday afternoon--the last weekday before school started here. Megan went to the library to work on some genealogy stuff. The kids swim like fish!! They were both on a swim team in Muncie. Still, because of their ages, we all had to wear wrist bands that said "Within arm's reach". Ha! Ever try to be within arm's reach of children who go in two different directions and are skilled enough to go down slides into the deep end? Oh...and have I mentioned how lovely I look? I wear a bathing suit, but have a cover-up over that, and a do-rag over my head. Am I being modest? Well...sort of. But I also take medicine that says I will be "sensitive" to sun...and don't like having a sunburned scalp due to really thin hair. And you know what? I saw very FEW people, men and women alike, who looked good in what THEY were wearing! Besides, after a certain age (mine) the rest of us become invisible. No one cares about old people. Seriously!
Tomorrow, in spite of heat, we are going cemetery hopping in Putnam County. It's on Megan's to-do list while she is here in Indiana. (She has adopted a genealogy website for Putnam County and needs some pictures or something.) We'll do the best we can...
When Meg returns to California and the children go to their new home in Zion, IL, I will fall into a dead heap. It's feast or famine here. Either I am busy beyond belief or suffering from loneliness. I have never been lonely in my life...until these last 11 months. God provides and I keep trying!
Past bedtime for me...and I just discovered that Robin is still awake. Ugh!
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Busy Here...
Just a quick update because it is still quiet in the house. (For how long is anybody's guess!)
I picked up my daughter and grandchildren at Indianapolis International on Wednesday evening. They had flawless flights, and the children were good. (That helps a bunch!) The children headed straight for the neighbors to announce their arrival...then were up and playing with the neighbor kids by noon.
Thursday, they played some. Meg shopped some. We went out to eat at a Chinese buffet, at Meg's request. (She bought.) The sleeping arrangements that night were: Robin in the play tent in the living room, with Ryan and Meg in my room. I slept in the guest room. Megan complained that her son is a fidgeter in his sleep.
Yesterday, the kids played. In the evening, I took them to the Methodist Church's annual fish fry where we visited with the other grandparents, and the kids came home with trinkets (mostly noisemakers) that were given as prizes for the yard games they played. They were happy. The sleeping arrangements were supposed to be: Ryan in the play tent in the living room, with Robin and Megan in my room. However, Robin decided that she wanted to sleep in my own room. The object, I believe, was to play after the old folks went to bed. She showed up in my bed at 2:30 AM looking very much like she hadn't been to sleep at all. Hmmmm...
Today is Robin's roller skating birthday party. I have already been to the BMV to renew my license plate (that expires today), stopped at the grocery store, have made a pot of goulash for visitors later, and spot cleaned the kitchen floor. I need to keep plugging, however, because there is SO much more to do!
Megan leaves to return to California on Friday. The children will be staying with me an extra week. Originally, their stepmother had asked if I would stay with them in their new home for a week or so before their school starts...but thought better of it. We're going to play it by ear from Plainfield!
Back to work here. Hurry, hurry, hurry!
I picked up my daughter and grandchildren at Indianapolis International on Wednesday evening. They had flawless flights, and the children were good. (That helps a bunch!) The children headed straight for the neighbors to announce their arrival...then were up and playing with the neighbor kids by noon.
Thursday, they played some. Meg shopped some. We went out to eat at a Chinese buffet, at Meg's request. (She bought.) The sleeping arrangements that night were: Robin in the play tent in the living room, with Ryan and Meg in my room. I slept in the guest room. Megan complained that her son is a fidgeter in his sleep.
Yesterday, the kids played. In the evening, I took them to the Methodist Church's annual fish fry where we visited with the other grandparents, and the kids came home with trinkets (mostly noisemakers) that were given as prizes for the yard games they played. They were happy. The sleeping arrangements were supposed to be: Ryan in the play tent in the living room, with Robin and Megan in my room. However, Robin decided that she wanted to sleep in my own room. The object, I believe, was to play after the old folks went to bed. She showed up in my bed at 2:30 AM looking very much like she hadn't been to sleep at all. Hmmmm...
Today is Robin's roller skating birthday party. I have already been to the BMV to renew my license plate (that expires today), stopped at the grocery store, have made a pot of goulash for visitors later, and spot cleaned the kitchen floor. I need to keep plugging, however, because there is SO much more to do!
Megan leaves to return to California on Friday. The children will be staying with me an extra week. Originally, their stepmother had asked if I would stay with them in their new home for a week or so before their school starts...but thought better of it. We're going to play it by ear from Plainfield!
Back to work here. Hurry, hurry, hurry!
Monday, August 2, 2010
One of Those Nights...
The cicadas in the trees are whining so loud I can't hear the cars go by on the road.
It is so warm and humid that there is a late-day haze over the corn fields in rural Indiana.
I took a birthday shopping trip to the Meijer store in Mooresville by way of the country roads this evening...and it reminded me so much of times on the farm in Illinois when I was a kid. It was August. It was hot. It was still summer vacation from school. Life was good!
My mother said I was allergic to soap. She had a tough time getting me to take a bath. "Wash your hands for supper." "They aren't dirty!" Yet, when I finally DID wash my hands, the brownish water went down the drain. Sometimes, there was a dirty ring around my neck not half as big as the dirty ring I left behind in the bath tub! Heck, I was playing! There was no time to stay clean!
And--here was the greatest insult of all--my bedtime came before it was even dark outside! I complained bitterly about that. I only came inside when it got dark outside!
When I was in second grade in Danville, IL, my cousin Sandy (male) came to visit. He had a bicycle with training wheels on it. I figured out how to ride on that. Then, when he left, we had a big bike that I rode every chance I got. I was barreling around a corner on the gravel road near the house. The bike slid on the gravel, and so did I. I had a huge road burn that went from the side of my hip (buttocks) all the way down my thigh and calf. I went limping and crying home. That evening, Mom plunked me in the bathtub. Ouch!!! It burned like crazy!
Speaking of burning like crazy, do you remember first aid in the 50s? Remember tincture of iodine, mercurochrome, and merthiolate? In my childhood, they were used to dab on wounds as an antiseptive. They stung like crazy!! No one uses them anymore. Guess why? The iodine was mixed with alcohol. (No wonder it stung!) The other two contained mercury. It's a wonder my generation survived first aid! (This is the same generation that was given butter for burns...) We don't torture our kids anymore. Heck, even circumcision for male babies is only 56% as a national average... And episiotomies--once considered necessary for the healthy sex life of a mother--is down to 40%. (I'm a little surprised that it is still that high.)
I have strayed far from the original topic of this post, which was to be how much this evening reminded me of the carefree late-summer days of my youth. I hope to God that my grandchilren remember their days here that way!
It is so warm and humid that there is a late-day haze over the corn fields in rural Indiana.
I took a birthday shopping trip to the Meijer store in Mooresville by way of the country roads this evening...and it reminded me so much of times on the farm in Illinois when I was a kid. It was August. It was hot. It was still summer vacation from school. Life was good!
My mother said I was allergic to soap. She had a tough time getting me to take a bath. "Wash your hands for supper." "They aren't dirty!" Yet, when I finally DID wash my hands, the brownish water went down the drain. Sometimes, there was a dirty ring around my neck not half as big as the dirty ring I left behind in the bath tub! Heck, I was playing! There was no time to stay clean!
And--here was the greatest insult of all--my bedtime came before it was even dark outside! I complained bitterly about that. I only came inside when it got dark outside!
When I was in second grade in Danville, IL, my cousin Sandy (male) came to visit. He had a bicycle with training wheels on it. I figured out how to ride on that. Then, when he left, we had a big bike that I rode every chance I got. I was barreling around a corner on the gravel road near the house. The bike slid on the gravel, and so did I. I had a huge road burn that went from the side of my hip (buttocks) all the way down my thigh and calf. I went limping and crying home. That evening, Mom plunked me in the bathtub. Ouch!!! It burned like crazy!
Speaking of burning like crazy, do you remember first aid in the 50s? Remember tincture of iodine, mercurochrome, and merthiolate? In my childhood, they were used to dab on wounds as an antiseptive. They stung like crazy!! No one uses them anymore. Guess why? The iodine was mixed with alcohol. (No wonder it stung!) The other two contained mercury. It's a wonder my generation survived first aid! (This is the same generation that was given butter for burns...) We don't torture our kids anymore. Heck, even circumcision for male babies is only 56% as a national average... And episiotomies--once considered necessary for the healthy sex life of a mother--is down to 40%. (I'm a little surprised that it is still that high.)
I have strayed far from the original topic of this post, which was to be how much this evening reminded me of the carefree late-summer days of my youth. I hope to God that my grandchilren remember their days here that way!
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