Crazy week

Boo got hold of my knitting. Don't worry, I take those nasty needles away from her pretty quick!
But I could not resist taking a few shots.

Yesterday we had a lovely visit from my blog friend who writes "Higher Ground"(Tiding)
We had a wonderful time just sitting around the table chatting. Wheelie didn't disappear to the other room either, so he must have enjoyed it too.
It's so nice to talk with an adult once in a while.
So, thanks Joann, for taking the trouble to drive all the way up here and not getting lost. (It usually takes people a few phone calls and wrong turns the first time they try to find us, and that includes any delivery person, FedEx and UPS, although the last two know by now where we are.)

So PH's restaurant is closing it's doors tonight. His boss, the owner, doesn't seem to care much as he was never a hands on owner to begin with, but now just sits around with his customers getting drunk.
What a shame.
This restaurant closing phenomena is getting ridiculous in this town. Within the time span of one week I've heard of three of them closing shortly. One of them a brand new Fudruckers. Also a lovely little place called The Tea garden, which offers typical "English High Tea"
Bugs took me there once for Mother's Day.
To see if they can drum up some much needed business, Bugs' boss decided to 'open' on Sundays. Tomorrow being the first 'Sunday'

She will be working late tonight in order to get the new menus going and to prep.
Tomorrow she is going in at eight to get ready. She told me that one recipe takes 3 hours to prepare.
Knowing how absolutely dead Cartersville is on Sundays, I don't see how they can even afford to open their doors, even for 'just lunch' but we'll see.
In the meantime guess who's baby sitting, yes she's even staying overnight, no use dragging her out late tonight only to come back at seven thirty.

So much for my weekends back.

I know, I shouldn't be bitching about it. I'm tired though. I never did get around writing my Christmas cards. That's a first.

So we'll just go with the flow.

Gas was $1.62 this afternoon.
It has been raining 24 hours straight and will be again tomorrow and Monday. They are even whispering: snow! Wow!

And th th th th that's all folks!!

I'm going to put my feet up. Nothing on TV, so I'll read.

SGMKJ!

It's a good thing.........

It's a good thing that yesterday was one of those 'easy' days.

Today was rough.

As much as I try to not let it bother me, these holidays are no picnic.
Not only is the entire family in the grip of Bugs' problems (Daddy was bailed out of jail, again), I miss my family in Holland, I miss my son, I just miss having a 'normal' family once in a while.

Wheelie and I had to run to the supermarket for some Knox gelatin this morning, which took two stores to find, believe it or not.
Then drop off a few things at the post office.
The weather was nice. Dry, sunny, not too cold. Nice to get some fresh air.

I was on track with my Thanksgiving dinner. The twice baked potatoes ready for their turn in the oven, the stuffing ready to bake, the peas and the gravy in the pans.

At 2pm Bugs called to tell me that PH was going to his grandmother's for dinner. Which threw me into a little hissy fit. Poor Wheelie had to sit and watch me have my little tantrum/pity party.
The poor guy most go bonkers sometimes.

So I decided not to make sweet potato souffle, and threw on of the twice baked potatoes in the freezer.

Oh well.

The girls were here at four. Boo full of p & v, and being her boisterous little self. Bugs quiet.
We decided not to talk about any of her problems today, which didn't leave us much else to talk about.

What a fun group we are.

But dinner was nice. I baked a turkey breast, made cranberry relish from scratch, bought the pies.

We all had a glass of wine, which got us even quieter. Dozing off on the couch while Boo watched the very first episode of Sesame Street. BOY, was that boring!! Did you know that orignally Oscar the grouch was orange?

:>)

She left at six, after putting Boo's jammies on, and with a bottle and her blankie, she was asleep before they got home.

So here we are. I didn't even get to write my Christmas cards. Always such a tradition. Ever since I've worked in retail, Thanksgiving was pretty much the only day off I had to write my cards. I always tried to be everyone's first. Guess I'll have to break with that tradition this year.
I just don't feel much like writing.

During dinner we realized that I have been making twice baked potatoes for about 38 years now.
Our landlady back in Belmont (first marriage) always had us over for Thanksgiving dinner. she gave me her recipe for twice baked potatoes, and I've fixed them ever since. Pretty much every year, as far as I remember.

I'm glad the day is over.
One of my blog friends will be visiting tomorrow. I am so excited to meet her, she has been quite an inspiration, and seems like a terrific and brave woman.

I managed to make a picture (above) of Bugs and Boo today. Boo doesn't want me to take her picture lately because she wants to get to the camera. But today she was only happy to scream CHEESE and let me make a few. SO there it is.

I hope all my American friends had a wonderful day.

We do have a lot to be thankful for when you really come down to it.

Don't we?

SGMKJ!

AHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Today was one of those days when everything went smoothly.

For starters, I applied online for Social Security. I decided to start at 62, so 90 days before my birthday (yesterday) I was able to apply.

I immediately received a call from the SS office in Rome, a very nice lady asked me some questions, we corrected a few things, and she told me to come and show my birth certificate and my citizen certificate.

Since I didn't exactly want to drive all the way to Rome, she suggested I hop on over to the local Labor Dept office right here in town, where it just so happened, that one of the agents was there this afternoon. (God, that sounds like bad English)

So I strapped Boo in her car seat, dragged Wheelie out too, so he could stay in the car with her.
The lady made copies of my documents, and it was DONE!!!!

Come March first, I'll be joining the hordes of baby boomers receiving our hard earned social security.
YEEHAW!

It will make a huge difference for us. And I am hoping to snag a good deal on some health insurance for myself. I won't be able to get Medicare until I turn 65. I can't wait to get a checkup. Haven't seen a doctor for over seven years, it's about time.

This morning I had to go do my grocery shopping for tomorrow, and also run to the post office and the bank. I hit all the green lights. The traffic was quiet, and there were no lines anywhere.

I managed to get everything on my list at Target (25 mile drive) and get back in time for the girls to arrive at 11:30. Treated myself to a Starbucks caramell frappuchino too, so there!

The baby was a funny today, she won't sit still for pictures anymore, wanting to grab the camera instead and yelling: CHEESE!!! (thanks Elmo)

She took a nice long nap and Wheelie and I made another dent in the eBay listings.

She is currently "trying" to go to sleep, but I'm not sure she'll be quiet for a while, I'll just let her fidget for now.

Gonna go watch Ghost Hunters...

Toodeloo!

SGMKJ!

Back on the roller coaster

The good news is that we picked up Wheelie's brand spanking new wheelchair this morning. The frame is bright blue, very spiffy. Bruce tweaked the measurements, made the seat two inches narrower and made the back support lean back a little.
He says it doesn't feel any different. good grief...*lol*
It looks good though, the tires are new and clean and the spokes are nice and silvery and shiny.
Bruce is the guy who runs the wheelchair store. He is a young man in his late 30s, who is paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair himself. No slouch this guy, and a great sense of humor. And lots of patience. We were so lucky to have found him.

We voted this morning (run-off for the state senate) Early voting is really a godsend for folks like us who can't stand in long lines.

We then watched Boo for a few hours while Bugs did her ordering.

She called early this morning. PH will be without a job by the end of the week. The restaurant he is working at (a upscale pizza joint) will close it's doors on Saturday.

WOW.

Talk about a smack in the face!
Evidently his boss had a long meeting with his accountants this morning and apparently things were SO bad that they had to close the business immediately.

Here we go, the economic shit hitting the little man.

This fellow opened this restaurant last year, in a brand new little shopping strip. Ever since the strip was finished they've had two or three tenants, right now it's only the pizza place and a hair dresser. I give them about a few more months.
The rent for this place is a whopping $5000 a month!
Not only does PH's boss lose his investment, but his staff lose their jobs, and the landlord loses his livelihood as well.

I am waiting for the ax to fall on Bug's restaurant as well. They are pulling out all the stops to keep ahead of themselves. But I don't see things getting better.
The latest news is that they will be opening on Sundays for brunch. Bugs already told her boss she can't work on Sundays. (we'll see how long THAT works)
But seriously, they are struggling. Not only because of the economy, but this restaurant is in a strip mall that not many people are aware of it's existence.
It's strictly a word-of-mouth thing. The other restaurant they own has been established as a well known local eatery and has been pretty successful over the years.

It's time to hold our breaths again folks.

PH is upset, he lives at home so he can help pay his Mom's mortgage. See? Another way to trickle down. If he doesn't find another job immediately, she will suffer as well.

I told them both, they need to get out of this god forsaken town.

It's been raining all day, but I did manage to take Boo out in the stroller for a swing around the neighborhood. She loves to collect leaves now.

I have a meeting tonight with some of the fellows here. I am the only girl on the Board, what do they call it? The people who approve changes to homes? part of the Home Owner Association.

Might as well enjoy it, I hardly ever get to talk with other adults these days. :>)

SGMKJ!

Christmas through the years

Believe it or not, but I remember this. We were still living in our old house, with my Opa and my aunt, mom's youngest sister. My brother and I used to love to rearrange the little people in the manger. The year was 1950. The tree was pitiful, but my father probably got it from the woods somewhere. A real Charlie Brown tree. It had real candles and that fluffy angel hair stuff that would set everything on fire.

The manger and the nativity figurines are still around, somewhere in a box, although in later years my father always made a rock like contraption made to look like a grotto, with grey paper, snow and trees and a real light to emulate the Star of Bethlehem.

The three wise men never made it out of the box, because by the time they were supposed to come out (January 6) my mom was sick and tired of vacuuming up the pine needles, and keeping an eye out on the candles. Besides, the big tradition in Holland is to burn your Christmas tree on a bonfire at midnight, New year's Eve.
This was in 1973. My son was about Boo's age here, shopping for a tree with his dad. I still have that little jacket, I bought it in Holland. It's so tiny. We were pretty poor, and we made our own ornaments. We had no lights on the tree, for fear of my son electricuting himself. I remember having the ornaments hung out of his reach, because he had the tendency to rearrange them....often....
1983. Bugs' first Christmas, here with her big brother picking out a big tree on Bainbridge.
Since we had high ceiling in the house, we always picked the biggest tree we could find.
Wheelie's mom knitted hats for each of us every year, all the same color, with a pompom on top.


Georgia, 1984. Bugs was two here, our first Christmas in Kennesaw, Georgia. This was in the first house we rented, the one with the moldy basement, where we nevertheless spent many hours "playing" during thunderstorms and tornado warnings.
I had just cut Bug's hair here, not that it was long, but I evened out the bangs and the back. She just loved helping Wheelie put up the orgnaments. She wasn't as destructive as her big brother.
Snow in Kennesaw. In front of our "new" new house on the cul the sac. It snowed enough to make a snowman. In the evening my son went around the neighborhood and put all the noses/carrots down to make penises. Ah youth!
Bugs with short hair and a pugdie little face. She was a bit of a porker in those years. This was 1990, Grandma had move with us from Oregon, and this is in our new four bedroom ranch house in Acworth. A wonderful house with a huge kitchen, and big backyard.
A few years later, her hair long again. As always, helping Wheelie trimming the tree. We were in that house for ten years, ten Christmasses, some good, some not so good, you forget after a while.
At this point in time Grandma was in the nursing home. That story is still on the back burner. But I will get around to it eventually.
Last year.
Boo's first Christmas. I cut Daddy from the picture.
She really did her best providing us with a very nice dinner. And we opened our presents, everything all about the baby, of course.

Sunday evening now:

So this year, there is another man in their lives.
It so happens they came over for dinner here tonight. Boo is smitten!!!
PH is a nice fellow. He is HUGE. We enjoyed our lasagna and our famous horribly fattening garlic cheesy bread. Boo fell asleep in her chair, but when we tried to put her to bed she revved up and ran around the house playing hide and seek.

So, a nice evening, short, but sweet. The best thing of all was PH thanking me, and that he liked our "home" That he felt welcome and at home here.

WOW...

SGMKJ!

Cherish your good memories

When you reflect on your life, it's tricky to pick the times when things were just perfect.
There probably aren't many of them.
I mean those times when life was without any problems, when everyone around you was happy, healthy, and prosperous. When you yourself felt that THIS was IT.

It's much easier, however, to remember the bad times, as they usually make much more of an impact on your life.
Of course it all depends on what sort of a person you are too and how you perceive life. You're either a positive happy-go-lucky chap, or one of those sad I-told-you-so-wo-is-me types.
I fall a bit in between the two.

This morning while driving back from grocery shopping with Boo in the back seat squirming in her wet diaper and not being happy at all, I thought about this, and realized that there were very few times that life was just perfect.

I guess you just have to stop trying to recall the good times, and dwell on those tiny moments when something or someone makes you smile.

Like Boo squealing with delight this morning when we drove parallel to a long freight train going about the same speed, about 20 feet to the right of us. She just loves trains. We drove like that for about 3 miles, after which the train veered off under a tunnel and towards downtown Cartersville. She clapped her hands when it was out of sight. Yeah! bye bye train!
The sheer happiness on a child's face like that warms your heart, and makes the big ugly world stand still for a moment.

Bugs saw her new lawyer yesterday. She got a few good straight answers to her questions.
It all comes down to the fact that she HAS sole custody....until...Daddy or his family try to make life tough and file for custody, something that, according to the lawyer would probably be avoided if she and the family can come to some sort of compromise and if she would allow the grand parents some visitation, showing some good faith. As far as Daddy goes, that all depends on how long he will be in jail, and how/when/if he comes out.

In the meantime, she can go where she pleases, she can even move to another state of she wants to.
She is having her will made up and her living will. The lawyer lady gave her a good deal too. So that went well.

Bugs was not feeling well yesterday, stress, fatigue, worry. Like I said the other day, she looks like a dish rag.
December 4 and 10 doctor's appointments. Still some issues to be resolved. Also a court date for Child Support...
I hope that after all that life will settle down for her for a while, she needs a breather.

In the meantime gasoline is down to $1.83 here, and I am down to 169 pounds! Yeehaww!

Boo is taking her nap, and I'm going to sit and knit for a while. Wheelie is in the garage, pulling a few more CDs to sell, we need to come up wit $1180 for the Home Owners Association fees, which are due December 31st.

It's gonna be a lean Christmas this year.

SGMKJ!

Bainbridge 1982-ish

Rachel's mom, Lari, Me and Shirley

Sorry if I managed to completely confuse everyone with my hop-skip-jump-system of stories, but I have to go with my brain flow, otherwise I lose it all.

So here are some murmerings of the time between us moving to Bainbridge and when the shit hit the fan.

After we settled in, after all our belongings had arrived (mine we moved ourselves in a Uhaul, Wheelie's came from New York with Bekins), and after we had a huge, successful garage sale selling off all our duplicates (irons, pots and pans etc) and after having met some of our neighbors and gotten to know the lay of the land, we proceeded to enjoy a leisurely year. We made some friends. We discovered that we actually lived in a bible belt sort of area and taught ourselves not to say: "oh GOD" but "oh Gosh" instead.

We found little restaurants to frequent. We discovered the joy of taking the ferry to Seattle.
We especially marvelled at Pike Place Market, with it's vast arrea of shops, foods, flowers

http://pikeplacemarket.org

With the Olympics on one side and the Cascades on the other, we were grateful for the clean and clear air. And despite the fact that everyone claims it rains too much in Seattle, we never found it much of a problem.

Wheelie enjoyed his work, he loved taking his 5 mile walk to and from the ferry every day. My son was doing relatively well in 4th grade, school being a stone's throw from our house. And I became a crocheting fool, making valances for the entire house, about 12 yards of it.

My neighbor and I became good friends, she taught me how to can and preserve, and showed me how to make Almond Roca, something she did every year for Christmas. I showed her how to make oliebollen and moorkoppen. We both gained a few pounds in those days.

In April of 1983 my 'old' boss and his family came down on their way to Canada, B.C. and invited us along. We had a wonderful time in Vancouver, and visited among other things Butchart Gardens

http://www.butchartgardens.com

and had high tea at the Empress Hotel.

http://www.fairmont.com/empress/GuestServices/Restaurants/AfternoonTea.htm

Back home I was getting antsy about having another baby. We initially discussed this issue in regard with the potential of Wheelie being afflicted with his family's genetic problem. He didn't want more children. But....I did....
In the end we decided to take a chance. Not ever knowing what side of the 50% we would land anyway, and considering both our ages it became sort of a now-or-never situation.

So it wasn't surprising that I found myself pregnant the minute I stopped taking birth control.
Despite the ambivalence that still hovered a little, we were excited.
I was estatic, at 35 I didn't really have much hope of ever becoming a mommy again.

As luck would have it, the company Wheelie worked for had excellent health insurance. The CFO, a woman who was pregnant herself when she decided on our particular plan, was a smart cookie. We didn't pay a dime for the pregancy, pre and post natal care, hospital.

We found a wonderful no nonsense doctor at Swedish in Seattle, and we sailed through a very easy and enjoyable 9 months. We were into natural everything, our doctor only too happy to go along with our wishes.

I found out that there was a prenatal swim arobics class on the Island, which I joined. And for 5 months, 7 of us bonded as we all grew bigger. We were all due about the same time, but spaced out enough so that at 8 months we were having baby showers for each other about every week. :>)

This group of ladies was comprised of a swim instructor, a management consultant, a few housewives such as myself and an opera singer.

The seven of us were quite a sight after class when we all took our shower in the public and very open shower room. One little boy pointed to one of us exclaiming: That one is pregnant!!!, and turning around and noticing: Ohhh, another one!!! and another one!!!!!!!!
This was in the days when we weren't bashful, or afraid to poison little boys' heads by showing our naked bellies.

In those days none of us were afraid to nurse our babies where ever and when ever they needed to either. It wasn't frowned upon, as it seems to these days.

After our class we would head on over to our favorite hangout: the Streamliner Diner, where we porked out on peanutbutter pie and other delicacies.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/streamliner-diner-bainbridge-island

And yes, I had long hair. My hair grew incredibly fast in those nine months.

When the babies started coming, we reveled in each other's joys and sorrows. One baby was born deaf, some had a few other medical problems, but overall the whole bunch came out well.

My last doctor's appointment was two days before Bugs was born. I didn't realize it, but I was already in labor. That day the sad news had reached us that my brother-in-law had passed away after a long struggle with lung cancer. So I wasn't paying attention to the strange rumblings in my belly, and the aching in my back. I was grieving for him and my sister.

My doctor told me that I should go home, bake three dozen chocolate cookies from scratch and I would go into serious labor within 24 hours. She told me to make sure to bring the cookies when I came in (I DID!)

Low and behold, my labor started in earnest that evening. I walked around the kitchen and the livingroom for most of Saturday and the following evening. Knowing the last ferry was about to leave at midnight, we called the doctor, and wondered whether to take it, or wait until the morning. We opted for the latter, as I didn't exactly wanted to be in the hospital all that long.
So I proceeded to do my loop through the house, holding my tummy, and breathing hard, while Wheelie slept.
Men!

At 4am I had about had it and we called the ferry to let them know we were in labor and on our way.
We were escorted to the front of the boat, and they captain put on some speed. We made it to the other side in 20 minutes, about 7 minutes less than the normal cross over. On the ferry I was in transition, arghhh...we sat there, faces close together, breathing/puffing, me concentrating on Wheelie's lips as he breathed with me. People around us, getting out of their cars to go upstairs, gave us knowing glances and wished us well. Others looked a bit apprehensive, probably not wanting to be part of something so intimate as the possibility of a child being born right there on the boat. Mostly though, a woman in labor on her way to Seattle wasn't a rare thing.

We were let off first, and we raced up the hill. Wheelie left/parked the car in front of the hospital where it stayed until he went back home the next morning, no ticket, I guess they knew. :>)
And there we were, me 8 cm dialated, not wanting to lay down, needing to keep walking, my doctor feeding HER baby, and telling me she would get around to me as soon as he was done. Arghh.

She finally got down to business and broke my water. It only took 20 minutes to get this baby out, and at 8am, while the sun was rising through the window, our beautiful redhead came into the world. No crying, wide awake, looking around as if to say: where the hell am I?
My phone call to Holland was bitter sweet. Life and death passing each other in such a sort timespan. We all cried, we all had our own reasons.

I kept a small diary that day, written on a scrap of paper. I recently found it among all the other baby stuff I keep in a box, and when I read it after all these years I still felt the emotions of that day.

We went home the next morning, Bug's first ferry ride. If she had been born on the boat the night before, she would have received a lifelong pass for the ferry system. Oh well. :>)

This is a picture of Wheelie with Bugs when she was about 5 weeks old. On our back porch.

Our group kept visiting about once a month until everyone reached their first birthday. After that the group fell apart due to people moving and such.
The picture here was taken after the last baby was born, (the one on the right, she took over our car seat.) The lineup was pretty much from the oldest (on the left) on down:
Rachel, Edward (the deaf baby) Tristan, Benjamin (the swim instructor's), Suzanne, Bugs, and I can't for the life of me remember the little one's name. She was the daughter of the opera singer.

1983 Christmas. I made Bugs' first dress, velvet with a lace collar. She was bald as a billiard ball but had red fuzz. And the biggest cheeks and eyes.

Tristan's mom, the management consultant, had found a way to get a hold of cheap OshKosh overalls. Since she had a business license she was able to get these for wholesale prices, much to everyone's delight, as these overalls were all the fashion those days.
Bugs was a happy baby, always the smile, always ready to go. This lady and her husband, turned out, were also devotees of Baba Muktananda, and even spent time with him in India.
She made the most incredible grilled cheese sandwiches, and we became good friends as well.
I think this was around Easter time. Bugs on her big brother's lap. He was in 5th grade then, and took his sister to school for show and tell. The rocking chair they are sitting on is still here. On the back porch, the chair Boo loves to sit and rock herself silly on. A great J.F. Kennedy/L.L.Bean chair.

It was about that time that all hell broke lose at First American. Wheelie managed to stick it out with the company until the very end. It took about a year for all of this to develop, so it wasn't like we were surprised. But still, when he came home with the news that he too, was now without a job, we knew that life in Camelot was ending.

I look back on those wonderful years often, especially at time when things are bleak and downright shitty. We had a pretty darn good start there. And the memories will never fade.

Life is strange, indeed. But looking back, entertaining as well. And never boring!

SGMKJ!

Stuff gets remembered when you pick your brain

I knew there was a file somewhere with our old stuff from our unemployed days, when we tried to make some money doing different things, like starting our own record company (Kiri Records), and our own promotion company, DaMet Enterprises.
Above is a picture of a rock band (The Slant) Wheelie "managed" for a while. They never amounted to much, but it was interesting while it lasted. I recall their version of Tears of a Clown, sung in very fast tempo, very strange.
We started a little company that organized concerts on the island. We did our own calligraphy, printed our own tickets etc. Double Stop was a folksy couple with a unique sound. I wonder if they're still at it.
Scott Cossu went on to become a big Windham Hill star. Until he had a very bad accident and almost died. He lost the ability to play the piano, but recovered and taught himself to play and compose again. I remember when he and his wife had their first baby. Just in time to give them most of our baby stuff that Bugs had grown out of.

The record company we started only produced one album. A fellow who played harp, I believe his name was Bron Journey. It was Christmas record.

I guess we did give it a good try, we really wanted to stay in Washington. We just loved living on Bainbridge and Seattle was such a wonderful place as well.

24 years ago...time flies..........

I am getting worried messages, so I guess it's time to drag my lazy bum behind the computer and write.
There really is no concrete reason for not writing the past week. Life is just going on pretty much the same, and I was getting sick of my own whining.

After the euphoria of November 4, things just needed to settle.
And since I can't shake the feeling that some shit is about to hit in the near future I was just trying to hold off and take a wait and see attitude.

So to make this part short: Bugs finally got the message (it took our offer to watch Boo a few overnights, so she could get her brain together and develop a few plans of operation) and hired an attorney. She has an appointment Monday morning. From what she understood from the phone conversations with this person, this whole child custody issue might not be as cut and dry as we thought. But at least we can now get to the bottom of the legal stuff once and for all. She will have her will made up, living will, appoint guardianship.

We have not heard from Daddy's parents (who, in my opinion should keep us all up to date about what's going on, like trial dates, etc), except for a few messages on Bugs' phone about wanting, no, INSISTING to see Boo, and a relayed message from Daddy about how they should sit down like adults and work things out (HUH?))

It will be interesting to find out if Bugs will be able to attain sole custody, or if the family will fight her on it, which will cost both sides thousands of wasted dollars.
And there is also the court date in regard of the child support issue on December 10th.
I wonder if he'll show up (perhaps by being in custody he won't have a choice, they will probably drag him into court)

Her appointment with the urologist is December 10th, and she is also seeing her OBGYN (FINALLY) at the suggestion of her regular doctor (see what else is going on in that belly)
Her kidney seems to have healed, but still contains a few stones. The urologist will determine what to do with those.

So there it stands. I won't bother y'all with my worries about: How the hell are we gonna pay for all this shit...:>)

Bugs is holding her own, seems a little bit more focused, but, I still feel that she is overwhelmed, and possibly depressed. Her face is white and eyes are sad and hollow, she did gain two pounds though. She is cutting her own hours a little, doing less of the work others can do just as well.

Boo is growing in all directions. Physically as well as mentally. Her vocabulary is mind boggling. She is starting to form sentences now: Uh ohhhh....What did you doooo??? and...:Omaaaaaaaa, where ARE youuuuuuu? She call us both by name now, opa and oma, and refers to herself as Kyla (close)
We have introduced her to the big girl potty, and she sits on it a few times a day, just sits, pants on and everything. When she gets ready for her bath she has to sit on it nekkid, and it's cute to watch her just sit there and wait...
I'm not one to force potty training, just letting it happen naturally has always been the way for me.

The other day I noticed this little sweater hanging in her closet at home. It was one my mom knitted for Bugs. She is about the same age as Bugs in the picture here, wearing that same sweater. I am so glad she kept all the sweaters my mom knit for her, so now Boo can wear them.

The time was 1984. We were still on Bainbridge Island.

Life, however, was no longer wine and roses.

After two years of absolute bliss, everything started to go to pot. Wheelie's boss, the owner of the record company he worked for, was charged with tax fraud, and he was somehow using artists' masters to reproduce albums without owning them. Frankly, I never really understood what this was all about, but the guy left the company, and everyone else was suspect, and everyone was questioned, some more than others, Wheelie fell through the proverbial cracks. Whew.

So the company was taken over by a fellow who had absolutely no clue about the music world, and within a year, the company dwindled down to sorry mess. They had to move to a different building, which flooded, damaging a lot of stored masters and furniture. It was impossible to recoup from this last pitfall, so the company went belly up.

And all at once, we were out of a job. Clueless in Seattle *lol*

What followed were 14 months of applying for many many jobs, none of which panned out, as Wheelie was pretty much too old or overqualified. Seattle was also in the midst of a huge unemployment problem with Boeing laying off thousands of people.

We had no income other than unemployment, and Wheelie worked odd jobs, like construction, digging ditches, working in people's yards. I had two kids at home, but I sold Avon and Discovery Toys, and after a while tried a part time job at a department store in Seattle.


But we couldn't hang on. Things became bleaker as the months went by. We had to leave our beautiful home. We landed in the ghetto. Not as bad as it sounds. On the Island was an apartment complex for those of us unfortunate families who hit the skids. $200 a month for a two bedroom apartment. Very nice, pretty new, no riff raff. We also were able to earn some extra money by painting vacant apartments. Gawd, what a trip THAT was!

So in this picture, it was winter, and it snowed. It was Bugs' very first time in the snow. She loved it!

At this point my son was in middle school, played the trumpet, and was (still) doing well, even though he was complaining about being depressed and wanting to kill himself.
We still don't really know if he was just trying to get our attention or what. We took him to a doctor, we had him evaluated by a psychologist. It was generally decided that it was part of being a pre teen, the family going through a rough time, etc.
I tried paying more attention to him, as I am sure I lacked in since Bugs was born.

As for myself, I was pretty depressed too. I recall clearly how horrible I felt when we got the keys to the apartment and when we first walked through it. It hit us hard. I had not cried like that in years.

We qualified for food stamps.
We qualified for a sack of flour, 5 pounds of butter and a horrific brick of plastic cheese once a month.
We also qualified to come and pick out a few toys for the kids at Christmas.

Nothing more humbling than walking into a room full of toys with other moms, picking out toys for your children, and picking up food from the food bank.

If anything, it taught us to have great respect for the folks who run these organizations.
We did our part to pay back as well. I ran a 'taxi' service for seniors who needed rides, Wheelie did other stuff. When we moved to Georgia we made sure to donate a good amount of $ to the Help Line on Bainbridge for the next couple of years.

Being on food stamps was a trip in itself. I don't know how it is these days, but back then you could ONLY buy food with it. You were handed a book of coupons with which you could buy only eatable stuff. Not toilet paper, not diapers, not soap, toothpaste, Kotex, Kleenex.
So we joked that we ate very well in those days but we stank.

Not true of course. My dear neighbor Linda and I worked out a plan. She would buy me the stuff I couldn't buy with food stamps and I paid for the same amount of food for her with my stamps.
Worked out beautifully.

After trying so hard for 14 months to get something going, Wheelie swallowed his pride and called some people in New York, see if they would rehire him at Polygram.

In the end they offered him a sales job in the Atlanta branch, which he took, reluctantly.

The company paid for our move, but we had to leave our LP collection behind. The collection was stored for years until Wheelie got himself a truck, drove cross country and picked it up.

So off we went to Georgia, kicking and screaming. When we got here, the company put us in a motel, but they didn't realize what kind of a motel this was. It was a BUM motel. We didn't stay, we drove down the road to the first Best Western we ran into. Still not the Hilton, but at least the room was clean and there were clean and new sheets on the beds.

Wheelie had rented a house for us, but not knowing the areas and the good versus the bad neighborhoods, we landed in the seedier side of Kennesaw, the only town in the USA where it's the LAW that you own a gun.

At this point I didn't care where we lived, as long as we had a job, and a roof over our heads.

But I got the biggest shock that very first Saturday we drove around town to check things out.
At the largest intersection in town, there was some sort of rally going on. Guys in black on each corner yelling stuff, we later found out it was the local KKK, recruiting.
You can imagine my horror, and disgust.

But we settled in, I mean, what choice did we have. We lived in that particular house for two years. I was selling Avon again and ran into a very nice woman who had a lovely house. I mentioned that I dreamed of living in a nice place like that, and she put me in touch with a friend of hers who was a real estate agent.

This woman showed us a brand new subdivision, and got us in touch with a guy who was building a house there in a cul-de-sac, and who was going to rent it out. We jumped at the chance and life started to look sunny again.

We watched as the new local Mall was built. Everyone excited. I attended a job fair, and landed my job at Macy's. A Bridal Consultant, no less. I went to Weight Watchers and lost a whopping 35 pounds, we were crawling out of the debt hole.....

Life was on the upswing once again.........................

Until................

SGMKJ!

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Brag, brag,

Two scarves done, ten to go, Hahahahaaaaaaaa
You get an idea what I am talking about, they are about 90 inches long, fringe included, and 5-6 inches wide. They look purdy good, if I may say so myself.

We bought Boo-boo a down(like) vest, she didn't like it on at ALL...arghhh... We have the feeling she inherited Wheelie's "never need a coat" syndrome.
It's fun going shopping for clothes with her. She definitely has her own taste. You hold something up to her to inspect, she will look it over very carefully, close her eyes, tilts her head, opens her eyes again and says: MMM....No!

I simply HAD to make a picture of my Thanksgiving cactus. This was a small plant when Bugs gave it to me last year.
I had it out on the back porch all summer, neglecting it on purpose, only watering it once every few weeks or so. When I brought it inside the flowers started blooming like crazy.
Usually I put this sort of plants in a dark closet for a few months, As weird as it sounds, it really makes 'em bloom when you bring them out again. I guess putting it outside all summer does the same thing.

Another Sunday, time to change the sheets, read the paper, rest.
Weather getting cooler, but still beautiful. The colors outside are now at it's peek here in Georgia.

Gas was $2.03 here yesterday.

SGMKJ!

Mama, Omama, Obamama...............

Boo-boo is learning new tricks. Her dancing is vastly improving, she now has the hip and butt rotation down pat and can shake her little shoulders like Elvis.

She calls Bugs: mama, me: Omama, and when she sees our new president on TV: Obamama.

She has been showing an increased appetite, when 5 o'clock comes around she runs around with her bib in hand and yells: EAT!! She reads books to herself. Out loud. Forming sentences in her own language, punctuating the words and letters and numbers she knows. Even forming her sentences into questions and answers, with exclamation points!!! Pointing her little finger at the book.

She knows the difference between red and green light, and when it's green goes: GO! GO! GO!

She needs new shoes, her feet are growing.

:>)

To have something to occupy my hands with while Boo's asleep, I've started a knitting project.
Bugs always makes those long thin scarfs for her friends for Christmas, they are much in demand. Since she doesn't have much time this year, I offered to give her a hand. So Boo and I went to the Hobby Lobby and scrounged around in the clearance bins for colorful bulky, funky yarn, and thick knitting needles.

I finished my first scarf early yesterday, it only takes me a few hours, it's a wonderfully relaxing exercise, like ironing. I started my second one last night. Mind you, these things have to be about two yards long, in order to be wrapped around the neck a few times, but they are only about 5 inches across.

And that's the good news.

As of four days ago today, Daddy has been in the local lock-up.
He was charged with burglary, theft, check fraud, drug possession, and God only knows what more. His bond is $19.000.
Looks like his father is not bailing him out this time.
We were keeping track online to see when he would appear on the sheriff's daily blotter, but his name never showed up, so Bugs called the sheriff's department and they told her: Yup! We got 'em"

Nov 9: I found this online on the sheriff's daily blotter: (abbr. the name for obvious reasons)

* CCS, 25, of Latimer St., Cartersville, was arrested and charged with six counts of forgery in the first degree and three counts of theft by taking.

I guess no drug or other charges.

When I heard I felt terribly sad, it just made me cry. I feel sad for Boo, for Bugs, for his family, and also for him. He could have taken the other fork in the road, he could have done better for himself. It wasn't all that hard, he has a family who loves him, he has a daughter who was part of his life.
I find it such a waste. And this has such a ripple effect.
We knew this man for three years, he isn't the smartest bulb in the chandelier, but he showed some promise. The vibes were so positive in that delivery room where I spent over 25 hours with both of them, saw the look on his face when he held Boo for the first time, so in awe, so much love.
We were encouraged when he kept his job as a cabinet maker, when they both quit smoking, when everything came together and they seemed to be able to make a go of their life together.
There was even talk of a wedding.

And now.....

It makes me shiver to realize the physical pain he is going through with the drug withdrawal the past 4 days. I hope they treat him well, keep him warm and safe.

We'll try and keep taps on the trial dates and continue to think about his folks, hope to see the worry disappear from Bug's thin face.

So much for now.

SGMKJ!

I found another piece of the puzzle

It's a good thing my Boo-boo likes to take long naps, it gives her Oma some time to play on the computer. And yes, Joann, it's a very time consuming and tedious job, trying to find any information about your ancestors, especially when they are not in the Mormon archives here in the States, and you have to work with the Dutch archives. It takes a lot of patience, but it seems that after 5 years of trying, I have finally found a loose corner and have been diligently picking away at it, finding more and more neat information.

The above picture is a copy of my grandmother's death registry as it was reported on the city books in Den Haag. This is my mother's mom, who died a few weeks after the war ended. She was only 59 years old. I never met her, of course, since I came along in 1947. She was one of the very few ladies in the family who didn't live to be at least 90 years old. When asked what she died of, no one can give me an answer. My mother always says: she was tired, she was hungry, the war was just too hard on her.

This registry gave me the name of my great grandmother. Back in my mind I already knew this name, but had forgotten.



This is a true heirloom. Not worth much money wise, but it is very special to me. It's a gold locket on a gold chain. Inside are the portraits of my grandfather and grandmother (most likely put in there by my mom.



Mom gave me this a few years ago. She acquired it when my grandmother died. It originally belonged to my great grandmother, they called her "Poetje" (poo-chee)
My Mom doesn't want me to wear it, she is afraid I'll lose it. So I only wear on very special occasions. It would be a shame not to, right?





This picture was taken at the wedding of my cousin from Australia's parents (Not Iggy, Margo). It was taken in the backyard, where ALL pictures were taken, we have tons of them, every wedding, engagement, first communion, it was all recorded by pictures in front of my grandfather's backyard workshop.

In the foreground in black, is Poetje. She is wearing a locket on a long chain, it also had a golden cross. When she died, my mother got the locket and half the chain, and my aunt, her youngest sister, received the cross with the rest of the chain.
To the left of her (right in the picture), behind the little girl, is my mom, in the flowery dress.

Kewl, huh?

:>)

If you want to read more about this particular house, and yard, I wrote stuff about it in the beginning of this blog.
Actually, I looked it up, it was the entry from May 1. :>)

SGMKJ!

Wheelchair update

Almost forgot.

Wheelie's new chair will be ready in about three weeks.

It's going to be electric blue, with sparkles!

KEWL!

YES, WE CAN!!!!

Last night, the world heaved a huge sigh of relief, when word came that the state of Florida came through for the democrats.

It was all over, here at home we felt relief flowing through our veins.

We will have a new DEMOCRAT for president, hope and new expectations are once again instilling some confidence in our future and that of our children and grandchildren.

If Wheelie would have been able, he would have jumped up from his chair.

Our daughter, 25, voted for the very first time in her life. We're sure that her problems in the past few years and months have made her grow up in a hurry, have made her realize that she does have a voice, that she is, along with all of us, responsible for our own future. That she CAN make a difference, not only for herself, but for everyone.

She called exited: "I did it!" As if she won the marathon. It was huge for her, and I am so grateful that she is becoming more aware of the world around her. It's about time.

It's about time the younger generation is taking notice of what's happening, that this is THEIR future, that they have to stand up and help restore what's left of this nation.

It will be an exiting year for everyone. We're looking forward to find out who our new president will pick for his team, how he will start to tackle the immense problems that are facing us now.

I say: Hooray for our side!

It's a privilege to be part of this day in history. A positive start and hopeful future for our little granddaughter. Hopefully this turn of events will make her life a prosperous and safe one.

Even though I am not much of a praying type, I do pray for the safety and well being of this family.

A job well done, up to the future!

SGMKJ!

Stuff you can find on the internet

A nice quiet day today. Just stayed at home reading the paper, lounging on the couch with a book, doing some laundry, and piddling around on the computer.

Since I started yesterday with my grandmother's windmill, I decided to poke around some more, see what else I could come up with.

I found another website about the mill where I found some interesting information.
Seems that my great grandfather started working on that mill in 1876. He bought the thing in 1889.
After his death in 1898, his youngest son took over the running of the mill.
I don't know how many children there were and where my grandmother fit in, she might have been the youngest.

So my great grandfather (my mother's mother's father) lived to the ripe old age of 75, which, in those days must have been a rare thing, since most people didn't get much older than 55 or maybe 60. This explains to me why many family members on my mother's side live to be 90 or older!

In that article I also found out that my great grandfather wasn't born where we all thought he was born, where the mill is, in Culemborg, province Gelderland. No, he was born in Hilvarenbeek, way down south near the city of Tilburg in the province of North Brabant, close to Belgium. He was born January 21, 1823.

HIS father was a miller too! And when I figured out the date and the village where my great grandfather was born, it was a cinch to find his actual birth registry!

There it was, on a hand written page in the official registry! Right there on my screen!

Found out that my great-great grandfather's name (my mother's mother's father's father) was Cornelius, who was 37 at the time my great grandfather, Johannes, was born. His wife's name was Antonia, who was 27 when she had the baby.


It was an exciting experience for me to see the actual handwriting (the signature) of my great great grandfather!

SO, from my mother's side I came from a family of millers.

Interesting!

And even more interesting to me are the names I came across. Most of which were handed down through the generations.
Johannes, Johanna, Margaretha, Cornelius, Hendrikus, Antonia.

My mother: Hendrika
My uncle: Antonius
Another aunt: Johanna
My auntie in OZ: Cornelia Antonia
My grandmother: Johanna Margaretha
My other cousin in OZ's mom: Johanna
My own Name: Margaretha Johanna
And Boo-boo: Skyla Johanna

I'm sure I am leaving some folks out here, but you get my drift, I hope.

This genealogy stuff is complicated, and I am not up to speed to really dig into my family's history too much. It takes many many many hours and hard work, and time is just not something I have much of, no patience either.

But it was fun to just peel off a teeny layer here.

Now if I could only dig into my father's side of the family. No one seems to know where THEY came from.

Perhaps if and when Iggy makes true on his promise to meet me in Holland some day soon, we can take a few weeks (HAHA) ...cough...days and go to those places and rummage around in the city archives. Should be fun.

SGMKJ!

Udder cream

Bag Balm aka Udder Cream

Boo-boo loves this tin, she keeps stealing it from my bedside table.

The first time I became aware of this miracle stuff was back on Bainbridge Island. I was an honest to goodness Avon lady. Yup! One of those door-to-door ones, when it was still fashionable, and somewhat profitable.
I met a lady who invited me in (most did) and offered tea. She didn't order anything from me, but I took two things away from this visit.

She had a sun room with a wall full of all sorts and sizes of blue and white porcelain and china plates, small and large, just hung on the wall, top to bottom. It impressed me so much that I started collecting blue and white plates myself, and have had walls full of them for years. Since I have no walls to speak of here I recently sold most of my plates.
The other thing I came away with was Bag Balm. A thick yellowish salve that was originally used on cows nipples/teets.
Well, this lady introduced me to it, told me it was the best thing for cracked feet, and gave me a small sample in a little jar.
I've been using it ever since.
It's kind of hard to find. Initially I had to go to a feed store to buy it, but I have also seen it on the shelves of pharmacies.

I highly recommend this stuff to all of you who have cracked skin, feet or hands, especially in the winter. You slather it on and the feet will heel in no time. It smells a little funky, but you get used to that in a hurry once you find out how wonderful this stuff works.

:>)

"De Hoop" the mill where my grandmother was born back in 1886.
I took this picture in 1985

My Mom painted this for me a few years ago. I still haven't found a wall to hang it on :<( Shame on me huh

This is a very recent picture of the windmill

s

So yesterday was Halloween. Bugs got off early so she could take the kid trick-or-treatin.' Her little fairy dress came in handy, and since it's still way to big, it will probably come in handy next year as well.
She took her to work, and walked around her own neighborhood, where the neighbors had pulled together and had tables set up in one of the cul-de-sacs.
Boo had no earthly clue what this was all about of course, but she enjoyed wearing her 'pretty dress'

It has been cold here at night. We are waking up with frost on the pumpkin ever morning.
It warms up during the day however, and we are enjoying some sunny autumn days.
I took the little booger for a long walk this morning, we both sang the ABC song, the Elmo's World song, until I was getting nausiated from it...:>)

She is now asleep...ahhhhhhhh....

While doodling on the internet I found a picture of the windmill where my grandmother was born. Last I saw it was in 1985 during one of my annual visits, when my sister and I went looking for the damn thing, and found it.
So a few years ago the city bought the ruins and rebuilt the mill, and my mom painted it for me.

Another Saturday dreaming behind the computer trying to chase my past..........

In other news:

Rumors have it that Daddy has been stealing stuff. He broke into a friends' house, stole his TV and his video games, and got a book of checks out of his bedside table.
He proceeded to write 8 or 9 checks in the sum of $1100
The person he stole from is finally pressing charges, since Bugs was able to recognize his hand writing on the checks, and the dumb ass also wrote down his own phone number on one of them.
I told her to stay out of it unless the police came to question her. But I guess we're all curious how this will all end up.

Bottom line is that she feels terrible about Boo having a felon for a father, one who will most likely see a few years behind bars. I can see her concern and her point, but I really don't want her to dwell on that aspect of the relationship, and move forward, and raise this little girl the best she can.

In the meantime life is quiet.

A little tip:

when you use those nice fancy soap bars for your bath, and when it's almost gone and is too thin to use, don't throw it out, dry it up well, and slip it in between your folded sheets or towels, or put it with your lingerie, it'll smell yummy...

SGMKJ!