Home Is Where The Heart Is

I think I'm going to write in green just in honor of Christmas.... eventually I'll learn to do graphics, when you are older it is one step at a time....patience, patience.   I am so happy....if you could see me I'm doing the "Happy Hampster Dance!!!"

My daughter & her husband sent me plane tickets for the holidays so I can come up and visit the grandbabies.  I haven't seen the twins since they were ten months old....and I didn't even know that they were blondes!  That was a kicker to find out, they never had much hair before and this past summer it just came in like so blonde.  When they were first born I spent a little over a month up there, actually got them to sleep through the night - so that my daughter & son-in-law could cope a little better.  Cause if you look at the other pictures you will see two other little beauties...Brittany & Sabrina added to the mix.....quite a busy household.

I think back and I do have to laugh....my daughter told me when I was expecting my last child (I was an embrassing 40 yrs old at least to a teenager as she was) that SHE was NEVER going to have children EVER...never, never.  Oh, my...how words can can back and bite us!  My daughter is a great Mom though, she works, she cooks, she cleans, she takes charge and she makes things happen.

All things considered, if I had to do it all over...I never would of moved down here.  You know you have those moments in time where you think you know just the right path to take and looking back in retrospect you find you didn't know a damn thing.  Even though I have made so many trips up over the last eight years...I still missed milestones...first steps, first words,first day of school.  I'm in a catch-22 position no way out....Joe would never be able to work up in New York again, not with those terrible cold bone chilling winters.....due to the injuries he suffered from an accident years ago.

If anybody looked at my homepage you know that I love Star Trek..but I really, really wish they could invent a "Beam Me Up, Scotty" machine....it would be instantaneous...I could go "poof" and be in New York. Imagine....I have.....it would be a blow to the airline industry, but the old fashioned way of flying could still be usefull for some things.  I know people will think I'm crazy but 100 years ago they never thought that we would walk on the moon either...oh, wait, we still have people who think we didn't.  Did Columbus have this much of a belief problem?

Anyhow, I am just so happy about going up......it's also hard to pack for 30 degree weather when it's 80 degrees outside!  Oh, I hope it snows when I'm up there...I want to throw a snowball, build a snowman with the babies...throw myself down and make "snow angels"....yes, I am regressing.  I was always the one who loved the cold weather...lived for it, would play in the snow for hours on end, didn't even mind shoveling.  After 18 years down here my blood has thinned, I have allergies galore....and I'll probably freeze my butt off.   But I still think it will be fun!

Homework Assignment

The homework assignment question is "What is your second best character trait?"

I've found throughout my life that people find it very easy to talk to me, even about difficult subjects in their lives.  I always listen with an open mind trying not to judge people.  There have been times where I've been able to really help someone and it feels very good.  I've always believed that good communication between people is so important in our lives.  I'm an Aquarius and definitely a people person...so I think that comes across when I talk to people.

Extra Credit....wish I could tackle projects and not get side-tracked so easily....you know I start one thing and jump to another before the first is done....bad girl!

Sandi

Tis the Season

Oh, I feel like I lost the last two weeks.  I've been jumping from my house to my sister-in-laws so much that I feel like a yo-yo.  Tommorrow I have to get my head together and catch up on cleaning etc.  I also have to knuckle down and get my items photographed for E-bay.  I have so many starwars items which would be great for Christmas, stocking stuffers etc.

I feel that as you get older the time just flies....my sister and her husband were in from Washington State for Thanksgiving, they had a nice time. I'm probably losing time too because it seems strange not to have my hubby here on a daily basis..that's taking some time to get used to.

I still don't know if I'm going up to New York for the holidays or not...hopefully I'll know by the end of this week.    Well, this is a short entry because I'm kind of tired from all the week's festivities and cooking etc...so it's an early night........

Assassins

Okay, I understand that people want religious freedoms.
Okay, I understand that a good part of the world just doesn't hold life dear.  But, I want to tell you that what has happened over there in Iraq is beyond belief....you have a woman who has given her life freely to be able to help people that she had come to love.

How is this woman repaid?  They, the assassins, shoot her in the head and literally take her life...a life that she had devoted to them. I have absolutely no respect for this religion and please let no one tell me it is just a few rotten apples, because by this point the "good" people would be up in arms...turning on these scum.

The dictionary defines Assassin as a secret order of Muslims that at the time of the crusades TERRORIZED Christians & other enemies by SECRET murder committed under the influence of hashish...well, the influence is gone replaced by pure hatred...enough hatred to be able to terrorize, torture, shoot, behead and proudly show it on TV hiding behind their masks.  Show your faces you sons of dogs! 

I believe in God, I believe in forgiveness, yet this I cannot forgive...I would not be able to turn my cheek..I also believe the bible said "an eye for an eye" because in my heart I know that these people view our way of life as a weakness, something to be stamped out and given the chance they will try.  Don't forget 9/11 or any of the horrific things they have done...

I wish the world was a better place.  I wish humanity could get along.  I wish that we could destroy the evil in this world.  What's so awful is that Margaret Hassan was making the world a better place.....

Just Rambling On

Well, success...Joe said his day went very well and that the new company seems to be pretty decent.  I'm so glad, I know it's hard starting a new job...it's like anything new it's the unknown.  We all get so comfortable in the little ruts that we find ourselves in..sort of like being in  a warm cocoon not wanting to escape or break free into the unknown.....until we hit a bump in the road then we find ourselves stripped of all our comfort zones facing our fears.

Speaking of facing your fears, say a prayer for our boys in harm's way....hope that the fighting is over quick and the losses are very slight.  Freedom has never come easily for this nation, it has always had a high cost. I feel so bad for the parents, wives, husbands, children, lovers, et al..who have lost someone because of war.  If wishes could come true...I'd wish for no more war of any kind...just peace and friendship around the world.  A world where no child would ever feel pain, hunger, anger or evil...

Age old question.."Why can't we get along?"  Is it because we are so different?  I don't see that we are...we breathe, we move, we love, we hurt, we bleed.....there should be a feeling of unity in just being human...

Is it really a case of my God is better than your God?  I don't believe ANY God would be happy with that.  When people make reference to the Great Crusades and call America the great evil they are living in a past so far away as to be ancient.  For a new country, which we are, we've accomplished so much...but we have to be wary and not take on the worries of the entire globe on just our shoulders lest we succumb as other civilizations have before us.

Anyway...prayers of all kinds can't hurt......

Success!!

Hi everyone....I'm jumping up and down doing the "Happy Hampster Dance".... After a tense month...Joe was hired.  I want to thank everyone who wished good wishes for us....I believe all that positive energy really worked.

Thursday morning Joe went for an interview in Oldsmar and basically was hired right away.  Thursday afternoon we get a phone call from one of the companies that he had applied for in Sarasota and they want to hire him also.  Well, the second one was offering more money, so he called back the first company and explained the situation.  They said that at this point they could not match the other's offer but that if the other job did not work out please call them and they would hire him.  That kind of gave us a safety net...made Joe feel really good about himself.

The only downside is that he will be traveling, but he's done it before and we've lived through it.  Only this time, I'm facing the "empty nest" syndrome.  Oh, I have enough work here to keep me busy for years if I put my mind to it.  I also am going to have to play gardener while Joe is gone...watering, weeding, raking...hey, wait...maybe I'll lose weight that would be a good thing!

I just hope that everything goes easy for him tommorrow I can remember the feeling of starting a new job, even when you are sure of yourself & your skills it's a bit intimidating.  Oh, and we did find out the reason, at least what his ex-boss is saying...he told one prospective employer that Joe refused to work any overtime and also would not work on weekends.  This lie came from a man who had sent Joe to work at a place where you could only work nights to build...after putting in a full day.....then to have him take off the day after to "rest"...right!! It was so that no overtime was paid.  He even tried to get unemployment benefits denied...that didn't work either.....they looked at eight years employment and now you decide he's not doing enough?  It also seems that he is trying to hire additional men...I do believe he will regret treating Joe as shabbily as he has.

Anyway, back to positive things.  I feel good about the changes..sometimes life needs a kick in the seat...just to stir things up so that you don't stagnate.  He's worried about me getting lonely, but I've always been able to entertain myself with music, art, writing....this may give me the chance to continue on the little novel I had started.  I'm not the greatest on the computer and my novel was "stuck" in word...did not know how to move it anywhere until Kimbella1957 taught me how to drag, paste, copy....I can finally do it!

Also, I've been pet free for about two years now and I don't like it.  My daughter wants me to come up to New York for Christmas & New Years....but I think maybe after that we talk about getting another puppy.  We had a beautiful small boned Dalmatian named Katie, even when she was seven years old she looked like a puppy. Well, she used to go out and run on our property, we have a half acre, one night she just disappeared.  We think someone passing in a car grabbed her....she never left the property before on her own.

Well, I am looking forward to tommorrow night when Joe will call and hopefully everything will have gone well for him....thank you all again for your thoughts & prayers.....Sandi

 

Good To Be Back

We are back...seems like a month rather than two weeks...the garden needs water, the grass needs cutting....things grow whether you are there or not!

Joe put in a bunch of resumes, went on several interviews..so we are waiting...he has one appointment tommorrow morning in Oldsmar.  Just keeping our fingers crossed.

I've been busy trying to jump start my E-Bay Store, adding alot more things to it....if anyone is looking for nice, healthy plants or collectible dolls etc. please visit my store....this is the link to it..

http://stores.ebay.com/AllAboutYouCollectibles

Okay, enough self promotion.  I really missed writing in my journal, I found that I could access AOL at my sis-in-laws but with three little ones around..."Grandma Sandi" was really busy reconnecting to the under ten age group.  All three of the kids had a ball trying to help me line up, and photograph over forty (40) Trolls that I was putting up on ebay.  They helped brush Troll hair and came up with all kinds of interesting stories about the Trolls..the other adults in the house were amazed that the kids were so quiet and diligent in getting the Trolls organized.  It actually was fun!

Mark and his cousin Emma are the same age..four...it was like they were twins....Sarah is a very mature nine year old..sort of like going on thrity!  I sort of put her to work one of the days and taught her how to make stuffed grape leaves...as I was doing that I told her stories of when I was young, about my grandfather teaching me cooking.  She did very well, turns out though she likes the inside of the leaf but not the outside...I told her it's kind of a developed taste...maybe as she gets older.

Mark and I have a "movie thing" going on.  He's into super heros and I've never outgrown them.  It's very easy for him to bring the "inner child" out in me. So we sit and discuss the different movies we have both seen and we plot how to get to see the ones that we want next.  He showed me a little statue of the Empire State Building and I asked him if he knew about King Kong climbing it? Of course, he didn't....now I have to find the old King Kong movie the one with Fay Wray...I think Markie will love it.  For Halloween, we watched "The Creature From The Black Lagoon" it's so campy it's classic....and he loved it.

Little Emma is a real girlie-girl....loves to wear dresses, and already bats her eyes at age four! She's going to be a heart breaker when she grows up.  I had a special Barbie that was dressed like a princess with her hair done up and a delicate pearl necklace on...this became Emma's best friend.....I don't think Barbie will ever go out of style!

Anyway, have to keep this short for now...stuff to catch up on in the house....I'll write more towards the end of the week....

Just wanted to say a huge "THANK YOU" to everyone that left such wonderful comments...it helped to uplift our spirits knowing that other people do care....thanks again.......Sandi

Life In General

Well, I've been busy as bee...redoing hubby's resume - trying to bring it more current.  It looks pretty good, I have to run off more copies for him.  He went down to Sarasota to check out the jobs down there, we were figuring that there would be more work because of the hurricane damages.  His sister, very nicely, offered to let him stay at her house while all this is going on.

So he's in one direction and I'm in another.  I will be headed down there over the weekend though, his other sister and niece came in from New York tonight...I look forward to spending some time with them.  Her hobby is genealogy as is mine...so we get along pretty good.  Her little girl is so adorable .. she took one look at me a couple of months ago when they were down here and refused to call me Aunt Sandi...she said.." NO!...Grandma Sandi." ..LOL...I laughed so hard.  So for the whole trip I was Grandma and I didn't mind...she's the same age as my own grandchildren whom I miss. Well, I still have alot to do to prepare for my trip so I really have to get away from this computer.   I'll try to do some entries while I'm down there....Toodles......

I Need To Rant A Bit

I don't know if it's because I'm so angry but everything I go to do today fights with me....I'm definitely out of harmony with the universe!

What has me so totally twisted is the fact that my husband was fired this morning, after giving his best to his company for over eight years.  He is the oldest employee, longer there than anyone else.  Asked, over the years, to perform projects above and beyond the call of duty...which he did out of respect to the owner.   There were months on end where he had to work out of town, told only he could run the men....then came the large projects like shopping malls that could only be done at night.  He literally had to change from being a 4:00 am get up and go guy to working all night and dragging himself to bed at 9:00 am...not healthy at all!

Did his employer care? Oh, yeah..plenty of lip service, "gee, really appreciate it pal"..."Oh, JoJo do me a favor?" Man, I don't curse but I would like to rip this idiot from stem to stern and then start again with his toes to his ears.  Oh, granted there was an occasional "bonus" but not what he is really worth.  People get taken for granted, used up, ground down during the daily grind and spit out when they start to get old.

My husband is not one to stand and watch a crew work, he is hands on. I've seen him do things that men half his age wouldn't dare do.  I don't doubt that he will locate another job, he's talented - it's just that something like this takes the heart right out of you.  He also was not even given a reason for being terminated...just told..."You are no long needed in this company".  So you wind up trying to second guess Why?.  The only thing we came up with is that on Friday, he had been sent to a job where other carpenters had been working from his company....something wasn't right with the job, the client was unhappy.  His supervisor called at 1 PM and asked if he could work overtime... hubby said "No, he had a prior committment" (our 29th year of meeting anniversary - was important to us) 

The Supervisor said "Okay...I'll do it myself"....hubby went back to work about 2:20 the Supervisor calls back and says "hey, I just found out I have plans...you are going to HAVE TO do it"...hubby refused...they sent two other guys to the job and he left at the regular time.

So I'm looking at a scenario where the Supervisor is a bit of a scumbag (that's not cursing) websters defines as a despicable dirty person.  I believe he didn't want to take the heat from the owner and made hubby the fall guy for the whole fiasco at the job.  Friday was the first day hubby was there, he said so much was wrong that the client was right to scream at the owner.

There were so many times, in the past, where he was working and another contractor would try to woo him away from his company...I wish now he had, I regret his giving any kind of loyalty to this company.  I sometimes wonder how a man, like the owner, can even sleep at night? How do these people do it?  No moral center? He has always claimed to be a Christian...but I guess that was more of a show to get more churches to build.  Well, you won't have hubby to help you build any more churches...or stand silently by you when people praise "your work".  

I'm sorry this is so long winded...but I really need to vent...if I had a "safe" room right now I'd be throwing knives or using a bow & arrow...at a specific target.  So venting is the way to go.

Is it that people just get tired of one another? like a bad marriage? But at least there you do have a bit of warning.  Here they pat you on the back till the last moment...right before the kill...trying to suck that last bit of whatever it is that they think they are getting out of your body & soul.

I've got to try to cheer him up a bit....his ego feels like a useless piece of crap sitting on a garbage heap........and he's angry. 

Family

This has been a nice week...my sister was in from Washington State, my Aunt and cousin were here also from Maryland.  I've not seen my Aunt and cousin for lord so many years it hurts.  Just getting on with the business of living sometimes takes you away from really living it.

In the time since I last saw them, we have lost my Grandmom, my Uncle Billy and my Uncle George.  But this week they lived in our memories, in tall tales and visually captured on video by my sister Barbara.  Watching them interact with each other and we who are still living was a touching moment almost too hard to bear.  Especially my Uncle George..he loved to capture everyones image on camera...he had every photographic gadget known to man...I can remember almost being blinded by his light display for his 8 MM movie camera..when I was a child.  My cousin, Tina, told me that George had transferred alot of the old movies onto video...Oh, I really would love to see them.

Why is it that when we are children time seems to move so slow? I can remember thinking as a child.."ohh wait till I grow up and I can do what the adults do, like stay up..go out dancing"...but now I realize it wasn't so much to grow up..but it was the thought of being able to accompany "them" that I was longing for.

This week we laughed so much our cheeks hurt.  Remembering funny, quirky family events....like the fact that my Grandma loved to dress up to go "downtown"...she went the whole nine yards...full bath, powder everywhere, nylons, a dress not pants..hair done to perfection, doing her makeup seated at her wonderful old burled wood makeup table with the three mirrors set just right.  Oh, not to forget the matching shoes, pocketbook, hat and lordy don't forget "the white gloves".

Oh, I close my eyes, I can smell the combination of Noxzema and baby powder filling the room.  Now Grandma would do all of this we would be all dressed as well...proceed to the bus and head downtown..to Granby Street.  Grandma never learned to drive and neither have I...strange.  We would head into the stores, mainly looking at clothing...and look and look and look...I cannot remember her buying anything. It always seemed that she had found just the right thing that she needed and at the very last second she would talk herself right out of it!

I just have to laugh remembering her...comparing notes with my cousin it seems I was not the only one who noticed this strange behavior on Grandma's part.  She was lucky though she had so many people that bought her beautiful things she really didn't need to shop....just drop a hint and she got it.

My Aunt was mentioning how much everyone missed Grandma's house.  My cousin Nicky had visited Norfolk , had found himself parked in front of the house, just staring at it and all it's memories. There are certain places that stay within your heart forever marking a time in your life always remembered with great fondness.  I hope that the new owners have gotten as much joy from the place as we did growing up.

They say that you can't go home again.  I think I know that. But I still want to revisit where I stepped as a child, walk along the stone wall fence on my way to the little ocean inlet where I used to fish with Grandpa...checking out all the pink trees and hummingbirds along the way...so much changes and yet nothing changes.

Love you all.   Till We Meet Again

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Martha Behind Bars

Well it's finally done.  Martha slipped quietly into the jail compound area without any hoopla..you might say she had a cloak of invisibility around her.  Much to the dismay of the crowd gathered to track her every move.  Bravo, I say, good...let her have some peace.

She's woman enough to stand her ground, serve her sentence, get it over with, take her medicine, bite the bullet, go for the gusto, grab the brass ring......oops..she's already climbed that ladder of success...firmly hitting her head on the glass...THUMP!!!  She should of realized, long ago, you have to belong to the "good ole' boy group" to pull any crap on the stock market. 

I highly doubt that any of our famous "Robber Barons" of yesteryear would of withstood half the scrutinity that Martha has been put through.  I do feel so much SAFER with the flower lady behind bars....don't you?

Just testing...print is not right ... too wavy too small...I feel like one of the three bears...who's been messing with my print?

Homework Assignment..Make A Holiday

Well, for one thing I would want the holiday to fall on a Monday..giving everyone a three day weekend...Yea!!

I firmly believe that this day should be called the "The Unique Day"..it needs to be spent doing what really turns you on.

Everyone could go around saying.."Oh!! Look MY holiday is just around the corner!"  Then they could celebrate to their hearts content doing whatever, with whoever they want...and blame it all on the Uniqueness of the day!  

Ya gotta understand...Mom, Dad, Grandma & Grandpa....etc. all have their day...........this holiday would be for all the people that fall through the cracks in holidays...poor, lonely souls that never get to celebrate......

The only requirement would be that you would have to spend the day doing something fun, something Unique...something you had not tried before..in keeping  with the spirit of the holiday.

Obituary

After living a long, full life....Sandra Lee Doscher, age 103, passed from this mortal coil on All Hallows Eve.  It is said that she succumbed  in front of her "antique" computer.  They found on the screen a half written Halloween tale....she was continuing the tradition of telling a "scary story"shortly before her favorite holiday...some people are claiming  that she had scared herself to death.  Sandi, as she preferred to be called, is survived by her husband of sixty years, three children, 8 grandchildren, 6 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great-grandbabies...It is also rumored that she will try, aka Houdini, to return..the sign will be the other half of the story appearing mysteriously.  She will be missed....her tombstone shall read

"Till We Meet Again"

Scarey Story Part Deux

In their haste to exit the door, Sabrina tripped and fell directly on the dreaded black bag. "Oh, my God!" she yelped as she fell....not wanting to touch what she knew was in the bag.  The rest of the group turned back to help her...Seth reached her first, pulling her upright and away from the bag.

"Oh, no, no, no" she moaned..."I touched it!!"A sense of calm descended upon the group...they gathered around their friend to try to soothe her. Angie said "Listen, I don't know where we were running to.....Josh won't be back until tommorrow with the van". "Yeah, we have to wait, it's too far to walk, especially in the dark" said Tony.

"Let's go back inside where it's warm and bright at least" said Angie.  Sabrina let herself be led back into the cabin, she felt herself being lowered into one of the overstuffed chairs...she closed her eyes and let herself drift.

Tony motioned to the others to come into the kitchen. "I didn't want to get her anymore upset, but I noticed something funny about that bag". Angie and Seth said almost in unison .."What??" "This is really messed up but I swear that I saw the bag move a bit!"  Angie said "Oh, no - nothing could be alive in there..could it?"  "Now I'm scaring myself silly".   Seth said.."well, you know what we have to do, don't you?" The other two shook their heads...no, no,no.....but Seth continued "we have to and I mean HAVE to open that bag"

"Okay, if we do it..we do it together, but first I want to get something" said Tony.  He reached around Angie, opened one of the kitchen drawers and pulled out a huge butcher knife.  "Now, I feel better"..he said.  The threesome slowly entered the living room heading even slower for the front door..stepping nearer, nearer and nearer with each passing second.

Tony, again, was first at the door...he grabbed the door handle, turned it and yanked it wide open...all in one fell swoop..not giving themselves time to even think about it.  Standing in front of them was a tall, gaunt figure of a man dressed in total black holding THE BAG.   Angie almost fainted with fright, Tony stepped back a bit and Seth's heavy breathing belied his steady gaze at the man in black.

"Oh, MY!!" said the stranger..."I didn't mean to frighten anyone, I'm so sorry..it's just that my automobile broke down and I'm trying to find help".

Tony gathering his wits about him asked "Who are you and what's in the bag?" Now Tony was not painting a pretty picture standing there with a butcher knife poised ready to strike...but the man in black started to tell his tale...

"I'm a traveling salesman, I've covered hundreds of miles today...normally I would be pulling into a motel just about now and resting"  "But, my office had received a call telling me to come out on this route that there was a customer near here that really needed our merchandise.  Do you know where 7235 Wells is?"

Angie, Tony, Seth and a now awakened Sabrina looked at each other before answering...."Whew!! why that's our address, right here..said Angie". "Who asked you to come here?" asked Seth.

The man in black replied "He said his name was Raji Rapoor".  All four gasped together at once..

"What's in the bag????" asked Sabrina.  The man in black replied...my samples of course..."Samples of what???" asked Tony

Small headstones..in minature to illustrate what the finished product will look like to my clients. said the man in black....

The four friends decided not to spend the night, in fact they decided never to ever go back to the cabin in the woods....ever

PS. Right before they left they threw the Ouija Board and Pointer into the fireplace...the dying embers caught the board quickly.  If you listened hard enough you could hear a soft moaning...saying....my head, my head...ohhhhhh

Scarey Halloween Story

It was a cold, miserable night...the winds were howling, pushing the trees against the roof of the little cabin in the woods.  Slivers of rain poured in torrents off the sides of the roof, every lightening bolt made the occupants of the cabin jump.

Four people huddled together, sitting in front of a roaring fireplace, seeking warmth.  They were all young very alive and bored to death.  Seth, a nice looking young man of about 20, turned to Angie, a not quite beautiful - but almost there girl of about 18, asking "Ange, don't you have something we could play? Take our minds off this storm? Damn boring just to sit."  Angie smiled, turned to the other girl, asking "Sabrina..where did we put that one board game? You know, the one where you ask the board questions and it answers you?"

Sabrina started to get up, she was a real beauty with dark flowing hair, pleasant smile..."oh, let me look, just a minute I'll find it" as she exited into the next room.  The other young man in the room started to get up saying..."wait a second, I remember seeing it when we loaded in the supplies...it's in the kitchen"..Sabrina turned to him and said "Oh, Tony you notice everything..how do you keep it all in your head?"

Within minutes the two of them returned bantering with each as couples tend to do.  Sabrina held the game in her arms, "where do you want to play?" she asked the group.  They pulled a small cocktail table over by the fireplace so they could see better and opened the game.  They started to position the pointer shifting positions slightly so that all four would be able to lightly touch the pointer surface.

A sudden burst of lightening illuminated the whole room casting hideous shadows of imagined creatures against the walls, just at that moment the pointer zoomed to "Goodbye".  "Hey! Come on guys, don't fool around " said Angie.  Tony, Seth and Sabrina looked at one another and said in unison "No, we didn't do anything..we didn't move it really".Angie said  "Ok, let's start again but really concentrate this time please".

This time theboard seemed to have a life of it's own..it was moving easily on the different letters, first an R, followed by A J I R A P O O R.."Hold it, hold it" Seth shouted ...it's spelling out a name! Raji Rapoor..look! Sure enough it was. "Oh" groaned Sabrina " I know that name". "A few years ago, there was a horrible murder committed in our town...they found this poor young man's body murdered and his head was missing!!"

Tony said "yes, I remember that...they never did find his head did they?" Sabrina shook her head no.  The others looked at each other and Angie said "Well guys the board is evidently trying to tell us something...unless one of you is doing this..why don't we continue and see what else it will say?"

They started to play again, this time addressing the board as Raji, asking who he was, what had happened on that terrible night years ago? The answers started slowly coming off the board one letter at a time...Seth had opted not to touch the pointer this time, but instead to write down all the letters that were flowing off the board.

It started with an..I  W  A  S  M  U  R  D E  R E  D B Y  A  R I  V  A   L  M  Y   W  I  F  E  A  R  R  A N  G  E  D   I  T...M  Y   H  E   A   D  I  S   I N  A  B L  A  C  K  B  A  G  A  T   U  R  D  O  O  R..

Then the pointer just stopped. Nada, Nothing..no movement...the group breathed a deep sigh jointly..Seth said..."Yum, guys...err..we have a problem..ummm." " Come on spell it out, what's wrong?" Angie wanted to know.  Seth handed the paper that he had been writing on to Angie, she started to read it and her face went totally white. Sabrina grabbed the paper, saying "okay, a jokes a joke but it's not funny anymore"  She looked down at the paper and it said:

I was murdered by a rival, my wife arranged it, my head is in a black bag at ur front door.

Tony, either out of bravery or stupidity, reached the front door first...gingerly opening it - there sat a black bag.   "I'm not opening that bag" Tony said.."in fact, I'm out of here"  The rest of the group grabbed their coats and ran for the door...

What do you think was in the bag?  Who do you think placed it there?

Life or Death???

Well here we go again.  Here in Florida we have a very sad case of abuse taking place.  We have a woman who has been under a death watch for years...being held hostage in a horrible tug of war between her parents and her husband.

Last year, after God knows how many years, enough people were up in arms over this woman's treatment that Governor Bush stepped up to the plate and had a law passed that protected her rights as an individual.

Today, our wonderful State Supreme Court overturned the law on one technicality.  Now the ball is back in the parents court..do they press on? Find that last bit of inner strength to try to defend their beloved daughter's right to life?

Right now I'd really settle for a King Solomon's judgement, it would be better than the crap we get from our Supreme Courts.  But, unfortunately, I believe the husband would allow "his" baby to be split in half rather than to walk away and let the people that love her take care of her.

For the love of God...this woman breathes, she smiles, her eyes are open....who knows what she thinks?  If this is allowed, this is the start of something very ugly my friends...really.  Do you want someone else to decide the quality of your life?  Well, if this goes this way...that's what is next.   Oh...what about people who have woken up after years in a coma?  I guess they should feel grateful they weren't married to someone like this guy.

Oh, in case you are wondering, the husband has forbidden any theraphy for her FOR YEARS!!! He also has in previous years stopped her FAMILY from even visiting her...he didn't want her videoed either...what does that tell you?

I tell you a dog has been treated fairer than this woman....

I'm adding this web site to this entry..didn't have it yesterday...it explains about Terry and her parents fight..http://www.terrisfight.org/

I'll put it in comments too I'm not sure the link is working up here......Sandi

 

 

WINNER PHOTO CAPTION

Hear Ye Hear Ye...the winner is MzGoochi......her winning line was:

LOOK OUT BELOWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

Congratulations....you have a zany sense of humor and it is appreciated by all......now pick a funny picture, get everyone to come up with a tag line and you have (1) day to do it in...

Running a close second was DvlWitGrnEyes...and referencing Alfred Hitchcocks.."The Birds"

Her site is..http://journals.aol.com/mzgoochi/Rememberwhen/

 

CAPTION PHOTO CONTEST

I actually won something...Yeah!!! I don't know if these pictures are funny enough...I'm trying to choose from three of them....Anyway I'll post it soon so that you can give them a line tag...these pictures belong to my son Kenji..giving credit where it is due...thanks.. Last time there were ten of us that played...come on and join in...you'll only win laughter...but that's a good thing....

Just what does this picture say to you?

Halloween Party..Parti..Parti...

Ohhh...ohhhh I love Halloween. My hubby was born on November 1st...so of course he loves it too.  My sister is born the day before Halloween, so of course I used to tell her "that the witches brought her to us"...I was mean.  But now we are the best of friends.  sibling rivalry being what it is.

oh my goodness too many choices, look at the costumes above..I think even at my age I'd look grand as Catwoman with a whip. all dressed in black leather...whew!!! I'd have to put Joe into the Straight Jacket before the party!  I kinda liked the white outfit for him...kinda of a "Silence of the Lamb" type thing...ooh can't make up my mind.

Oh, but look at that Gladiator! Whew...he might have to put me in the straight jacket!  Oh I like the spookly ghost lady too...really erie looking...I could do little weird howls all night long.

Nope, Nope I found it by sheer luck....#2..Vamperilla...my favorite of all time...used to collect her comic books.  Still mad that they took Buffy & Angel off.  Oh, goody! I'll cover the mirrors so I don't cast a reflection, get rid of the garlic in the fridge, ban Joe from bringing any holy water home, and hide all the crosses.

Just call me Vampi!  Oh and Joe...he'll be the guy in the Gladiator Outfit.......Get ready to party.

Homework Assignment #24..Wedding Music

We had a small wedding in Tokyo, my immediate family flew over, courtesy of Air France (Dad worked for them at that time).

It was held in one of the hotels in downtown Tokyo, food was served banquet style and the room was nicely decorated.  We had a small band and for our first song we chose "More" the theme from Mondo Canne...(which, if memory serves me correctly..was an awful movie about terrible, odd things in life)  But, both Tom and myself loved the theme music!

My husband was also very fond of Nat King Cole...so "Red Sails In The Sunset" was also on the menu....I can close my eyes and hear "See the pyramids along the Nile...."

I really didn't  have to worry about the wrong music being played because other than three or four dances...no one really danced. The band kind of played easy background music the rest of the night.

 

Homework Assignment #23 Time Capsule

If I could leave five things for future generations...it would be the following:

1. All the photographs that have meaning to me
    My daughter holding my first grandchild/grandbabies/ youngest son w/girlfriend/oldest son w/girlfriend/oldest son age 3/ myself & hubby/older son..beautiful daughter's wedding & (1) ex/Seabiscuit/War Admiral Race of 1938...with the story of my father/History of hubby's father & WWII prisoner of War Story/Older son in front of Takabayashi Castle...samurai in the mix/Picture of Oba-san & grandson in Tamagawa w/stories.

2. A Stamp Collection

3. A family bible detailing back to the 1800's in South Carolina

4. All the Genealogy charts/information on family on both sides going back as of now to the 1600's.

5. Voices on tapes of both my grandmothers detailing their live...put on CD's along with all other relatives now alive...so in the future they can hear our thoughts, beliefs and goals....and well wishes to the future generation.

.

 

Colors Rise to Occasion - Pink Under Attack!

Figured HOT pink would be good....So my sister told me I tortured Barbie by giving her a haircut, perm & localized strategically placed tatoo's.....She sold pretty fast on ebay though....

People have asked for more...still working on them.....doing an OOAK (one of a kind creation) takes time....

So what do you think?   Pretty in Pink?????????

9/11 Another Day of Infamy

We are a fast paced society.  We like to compartmentalize neatly into different areas things that occur, especially things that take us by surprise.  So I guess it's only natural that we have become a society of things pre-9/11 or after-9/11....sort of an B.C. or A.D. type of thing.

Life changed for so many people that day.  I can only use Roosevelt's thoughts and say that it was indeed a day that will live in infamy.   The evil that was done that day, I believe, will be spoken about for 1,000 years or more....if mankind survives that long.

Sure, evil has been with us since the dawn of time....but so has good.  The people that reacted swiftly in New York, like stopping the trains from going under the towers, to evacuating people as quickly as they could...the first responders going into hell beyond the call of duty - all in the name of good.  Evil danced in the streets even as people jumped to their doom.  Men of good continued to climb, trying to help, trying to save.

We have so much suffering going on in this world...it shouldn't be the way it is.  There's no need for it to be that way. Maybe I'm crazy but I really think it all comes down to greed.  One group wants superiority over the religion, the land, the women or whatever, and that gives them a real good reason to kill.  I guess control also has a bit to do with it..most dictators are control freaks.  Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini & let's not forget Sadam...oops almost forgot Fidel...boy, we certainly don't run out of idiots do we? 

So, imagine trying to explain to a child why their Mom or Dad is gone.   It's hard for me to understand it, much less really wrap my mind around all the thoughtless deaths.

I still can't get my mind off of the children in Russia that were just slaughtered...for what?  Because of an age old hatred going back hundreds of years - my father hated your father so I'll kill you type of mentality is just so unbelieveably stupid.

I have a tape of the World Trade Center being built, from the architect's first renderings to the final walls put in place..it was a marvelous feat of engineering. 

Seeing the city skyline - you realize that something is missing. The twins shone like a beacon for so many years that driving into the city...you could see them even before you hit a bridge....I'm glad that they are building tall and proud in that same spot.

We need to show the world that we will not cower, we will not falter, we will not fail and that only the good shall prevail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Test

Well this is another test...I wrote a whole piece on 9/11 and it's gone...wouldn't add the entry lets see what this sucker does...

It's 2 am - waiting for storm to pass over begone!

Type it in green in honor of all my foliage that is now all over the yard.  Trees bending, swaying...but not yet breaking and that's a good thing.  Now they are saying that Francis might turn back into a hurricane once it hits the Gulf...this is the storm that will not die.  With all this going on the news has been sketchy down here about the world...I've been trying to watch the horrible sequence of events that happened in Russia.

My heart goes out to everybody that lost a loved one.  How do you shoot a child?  What sort of evil has to possess you? To take aim at the young of your own species...to wipe out your own future...with no thought,  no rhyme, no reason.

And I really don't care to hear that the terrorists are victims themselves..there are ways to overcome without the violence.
If all Muslims, everywhere, do not want to be painted with the same brush of evil....make a stand NOW, declare these people evil, renounce them in the name of your religion.

I honestly do not know how this type of horror can continue without it escalating to a "us and them" mentality.  These people put no value on life as it is...so what are they fighting for?  Freedom....they wouldn't be able to kneel at freedom's door....

It seems that they just love death...oh well, thinking about it from a male's viewpoint..who wouldn't want - what is it? 75 virgins waiting on them to fullfill their every need? Yeah, that's certainly worth killing children for.  So I take it that they can't get the virgins in real life, because they are such loosers, but their  charismatic leaders can instill so much evil into these loonies that they believe beyond belief in life after - or at least one filled with plenty of sex.

I can't get the pictures of the children out of my head.  I believe in God...but oh my God..I want your wrath on these people.
My moral dilemma is that Christianity teaches us to turn the other cheek, to forgive the unforgivable.  I just feel so much hatred of what they did and why they have done it...knowing that they will not stop.   These aren't my children....but I cannot forgive or forget.

 

Huff & Huff Till Your House Blows Down

Well here we go again. I can't wait for summer to be over....unfortunately hurricane season doesn't end until November.  I feel like Florida is a bowling alley and the storm is barreling down the lane, trying to knock out all the pins!

We have so many people evacuating from south Florida up towards the north that if we were a boat we will surely flip.  The news shows have shown the roads and they look like a parking lot moving slowly, ever so slowly.  Well, at least people have learned from the recent hurricane and they are leaving to protect their lives.

Here, in St. Pete, we expect to get a tremendous amount of rain, some wind but then again...this storm might have a mind of it's own.  In the past here in Florida..we've had storms cross the state, hit the very warm gulf waters, revitalize and strike the coast further up.

It's just not totally predictable. I guess we just stay glued to the TV set for the time being.  We got in a bunch of water, canned goods, candles and we just hope for the best.  I pray that the people in the direct impact path are safe or out of harm's way.

Convention Flashbacks

Boy, here we go...poor New York City.  Well, I don't think the protesters are anything like the ones that took part in the Chicago Convention in 1968.

I was there. I lived through it. Terrified. We lived about 12 miles away from the downtown area in Niles, Illinois.  The level of violence escalated to the point that all hospitals in surrounding cities were put on alert for emergency services.

As we watched TV coverage none of us knew just how bad everything could get.  One of my neighbors was a freelance reporter for a news magazine...he had to go right into the area to do his reporting.  He was standing by a group of people in front of a restraunt..all of a sudden the cops started pushing people back.  There was no place to go...he and about 10 others were pushed right through the plate glass window and really cut up pretty bad.  He said at the same time, there was all kinds of debris raining down on the protesters heads - ashtrays, pens, various metal objects being thrown out of the hotel's window's.

It was a total riot, out of control and Mayor Dailey had lost it. You had Yippes, Hippies, Crazey's,Violent & non-violent all mixed together in the center of their city.  Don't forget shortly after this you had state guardsmen shooting young students at Kent State.  A terrible time.

So no, please hopefully no full blown riot in my city that I love.

Besides, the Republicans have to have their day, it's only fair..

 

Homework Assignment #20 Fave HS Class

Well, we need to get back into our time ship and return to a far, far away year....to hear the tales of schools of yesteryear. Everybody in? Ok..here we go.  

It was the year 1958...the height of pink poodle skirts, saddle shoes with white socks, sighing over Elvis, swooning over Fabian, doing the real Lindie - flips & all, getting on the Alan Freed Show, American Bandstand, watching "submarine races" while parked at Forest Park, drag racing down Crossbay Blvd. and not getting caught! Oh, My! You meant classes, teachers, learning, books! 

Well, yes I did have a serious side... my favorites were drama & chorus. For several years running I played Emily in "Our Town" to the point that the script is still embedded on my forehead today.  I didn't have a terrific voice, it was so-so good for a chorus...but not a stand alone and belt it out type.

One of my best friends, Linda, had the most beautiful voice I had ever heard...bell-like she could sing without music - people just stopped whatever they were doing and listened as if under a spell. I often wonder where she is today? We both married, moved and lost touch..sad.

The music part of it was great, we would meet in the music hall earlier than the class would start so that we could have a jam session.  Even though it was the fifties, it was New York and racially mixed in schools. My school had a really cool mix of kids...so we had black, white, and everything inbetween in our music class.   I found that music ties everyone together and we had some remarkable, enjoyable moments in music during that time.  One of the kids was very gifted on the piano..he would start playing "Heart & Soul" just pounding it out...we would begin to sing in unison...it was fun.  Everytime I hear that song I go back to that classroom.

 

J-Lands Ball......Could of Danced All Night

Wow....J-Land really knows how to PARTY!!   The ballroom was decorated to an incredible level...the flowers alone had to cost thousands.  Very high style.  Tables were set with an extremely elegant touch..linens just perfect...matched only by the glorious china that was used. 

The Band played on....people came & went throughout the night...dancing the night away, outfitted in the most attractive attire.

The poor bartender was kept extremely busy by a select few. (We will not mention names as a precaution)

The highlight of the evening came as we all waited with baited breath for the announcement of the King & Queen of the Ball.   The excitement grew & grew until we almost couldn't stand it....Yeah..it was MZGoochi (Lahoma) and Quitlaffinatmysn  

 

The only fly in the ointment was a rumor that someone had "tied up" Johnny in a hall closet? Alot of the ladies got upset hearing that....was it true? Did anybody see it?

Throughout the night we also heard feedback that John's front yard was being filled with Pink Flamingoes...let it be known that the culprits will be caught!

At 1 PM we were treated to a wonderful fireworks display arranged by a very talented guy....

All in all a magnificient, magical, marvelous moment in time for all of us.

Thanks much and goodnight.

Middle Class Gets Wacked

Well, I never thought that in an election year the incumbent President would wheedle a hurtful bill through Congress...just doesn't make sense to me...oh, wait...there are all the grateful large conglomerates that will "owe" him.

Maybe between the election race, campaign propaganda, terrible war news, beheadings, and hurricanes he figured we the public just wouldn't notice that our rights are being taken away from us.

I don't know about you but when my husband works longer than forty (40) hours the extra overtime pay surely does help.  I think it's fair..he works harder, longer and gets more.  Evidently, Mr. President, you don't think so.  

I have tried to read the new rules, which by the way, are set to be enacted upon on August 23rd!  Isn't that remarkable? I don't think Superman at the speed of light could of beat these jokers out.  The rules are confusing, which is par for the course, that of course plays into the employers hands.

I really don't know how this man can look at himself in the mirror....America's middle class is in too much trouble as it is without additional rights being taken away from us.

The polls are saying that Kerry is down a bit because of the Vietnam boat vets...well, folks come into the year 2004 and we have good ol' George selling us down the river without the damm boat.  I really am more interested in the here and now - not the heretofore.

I am so angry right now...I normally don't get angry - but the very audacity of his administration to push this through as a giant plum to the good ol'boys. 

Besides which, the Vietnam Vets are funded by an old buddy of President Bush...someone who has donated over 4 million dollars  to his campaign.  However, being as truthful as he can Mr. Bush proclaims that he has no knowledge, no involvement at all with the Vietnam Vets.  Maybe I'm reading too much into 4 million dollars.  Anybody written you a check like that lately?

This is literally ruining our heritage.  You could stand up and be proud - this was a place that if you worked hard enough, long enough, struggled enough, you rose ever so slowly but you bettered yourself and your children.  Mr. President, you are taking that away from us...you born with a silver spoon - how dare you!

 

Homework Assignment #20 Favorite Entry-Straight From The Horses Mouth

(This is my original entry, but when I first started I neglected to make paragraphs and as my son pointed out - I could make people blind reading the runon story, so to save your eyesight I'm retyping it hopefully the right way)

Hello, again.  This past year my family underwent a remarkable passage back through time...no we didn't have a time machine....we have a dad who is turning 88 this year.  With his memories took us and horse lovers back to the 1930's and the competition between Seabiscuit & War Admiral.

My dad was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Queens...near Aqueduct Racetrack.  During those years a teenager did what he could to help his family survive, so Dad applied to a stable at the track to clean barns, hot walk..whatever..he really loved horses. 

Turns out he was working for Sonny Fitzsimmons, a really great trainer at that time. One day Dad is told to go meet the horse cars bringing the new stock in to break...he and another guy get four horses off the car...one of them really looks like a wild mustang and is small in comparsion to the others.  Well, Dad gets him to break to the bit and gentle..that horse's name was "Seabiscuit".

He spent almost a year with Seabiscuit, including surviving a really bad trip down to Florida for the winter.   They were locked inside a horse car and it started filling up with water from a bad storm they encountered running through Florida.  My Dad really thought that they were all going to drown.  Dad said when they finally opened the doors and the water drained out, the Florida sun shone through .. he thought he had died and gone to heaven.   It was so beautiful & different from dark, ice cold New York.

This last part would be interesting enough, however, it gets better...times were rough in the 1930's jobs were fought for and what you had yesterday didn't count much towards tommorrow.  In 1935 Dad found himself as low man on the totempole looking at other stables for work.  Well, he applied at a Belmont Stable and was hired on to again break to the bit and gentle more horses.

He was sent down to Maryland working at the Glenn Riddle Farms and given the responsibility ofseveral horses...one of those horses was none other than "War Admiral".

Little did my Dad know what the future would hold for both these horses....that they would both go down in history as two of the world's best.

When Laura Hildenbran's book "Seabiscuit" came out, my sister Barbara thought that there might be "some" interest to someone to interview my Dad and glean some "hands on history" straight from the horses mouth.  So far, Dad's fifteen minutes of fame hasn't stopped.  This past year, he has given several speeches at various libraries...attended by horse lovers...especially the one in Gainesville.  He has been interviewed by radio, TV and various newspapers starting with the St Pete Times and reaching as far as Europe.

Even though he is the age he is...he's loving it.  Since alot of the people that shared his experiences are no longer with us, the memories can sometimes be very bitter-sweet for him to remember.

He was asked how he felt about being the first man to "break" both Seabiscuit and War Admiral...Dad responded.."I was only doing my job"...and the stories he can tell........

Infamous "Safe Place"

Well, I guess I caused this myself.....when I thought the hurricane was coming this way I tried to gather up "important" papers/things and stuffed them away in what I thought were "safe" places.

Anyway, it's almost a week later and I can't find a  damm thing...not my need to pay before they are overdue bills, beloved photos and thank God I didn't have to secure something living in my "safe" spot. They would be gone forever. 

And whatever was I thinking?  If Charlie had hit us headon as it planned to do....there would be no "safe" spot.   My husband is beginning to believe that "blondeness" is a real disease.. he doesn't want to catch it....I haven't made up my own mind on that yet.

Hey! Wait there might just be a benefit in all of this. While I'm looking for all my "safe" stuff I'll discover all my other "safe" places that I've used throughout the years.  You would be amazed at what I've managed to squirrel away and not find.

Although, I don't know how cool it is to open a little box tucked away in some drawer and discover 13 baby teeth....my oldest "baby" is 38!  The phrase "What was I thinking?" is running through my head.

I guess, you had to be there - at the time I thought it was important to put them in a "Safe" spot...you never know about the tooth fairy...might come back and repossess them.

Who's on First & What's on Second?

Normally...husband comes home putters around, has dinner, dessert and takes himself to bed...as he gets up before the sun rises.   Well, the pattern just didn't fit well today...Joe came home but instead of puttering he was muttering....things like - "hey, there's nothing holding us here", "Why don't we just pack up and go?","This place is too damm hot even for me" (He's part sun lizard anyway).

All throughout dinner, saying "wouldn't you like to be closer to the grandchildren?" "I can take the colder weather really I can", telling me to call my sister in Washington State to check on work conditions there...I'm like where is this coming from?

I've moaned & groaned for years over the fact that my two older children are so far away in New York, but never got this type of response from him before. 

It turns out that our youngest, one of the reasons we're down here, has decided to move up to New York!  So, now, Joe is getting to feel a little of the empty nest syndrome that I suffered a while ago - I don't think he likes it too much.

Anyway, I guess we'll just have to look into our different options...we've been here so long it's hard to imagine moving.  But, I've always been a cockeyed optimist anyway, so it might be just the kick start that we need.  

The Hammer Came Down

Well, I'm back at home...it's Saturday...it's so weird, we didn't hardly get even any rain, wind nothing.  But my heart cries for the people in the lower counties that faced such devastation when Charlie ripped through their area.  Well, I was a girl scout until I was 17 years old...so the saying "Be Prepared" stuck with me all these years. 

The people in Charlotte County really thought the storm would hit us here in Tampa Bay so they didn't do as much evacuation as we did up here...more than 1-1/2 million folks got the hell outta Dodge! They started early enough on Thursday to motivate people to leave, I just hope that because it didn't hit that the next time people won't ignore the warnings.

Especially since they predicted 11 hurricanes this season and Charlie was only number 3!  In fact, there is another one following Charlies path that will be over Cuba by this coming Thursday...so we shall see what occurs and say a prayer.

My husband, Joe, insisted that I go to my parents before the storm was to hit as he was worried about all the trees on the property - why do men always want to do the danger bit?  He wouldn't leave - if a tree hit the house hey it hits the house, you have insurance...it's not worth your life. 

Then I go to my Mom & Dad's figuring sanity will prevail...I walk in and find out that my 87 year old Dad went up on a ladder to the roof to remove his TV antenna.  Storms & hurricanes must bring out the testosterone in men no matter what the age!

I'm thankful that the storm did not hit the Tampa Bay area....sorry about where it did hit...but I do believe the devastation would of been greater because of the larger population, taller buildings etc.

We'll be on watch all week ... maybe we'll dodge another bullet.

NOt One but TWO Hurricanes..oh, boy!

Well, I wish I hadn't mentioned hurricanes in my previous journal entries.......you all know Murphy's Laws?  Well, what can go wrong will go wrong?

Our poor state of Florida is so water logged now I'm really worried what these storms will do.  My own house is rather old and the roof is not that good...so I'm just trying to secure things as best that I can.

I was looking forward to doing the family research today at Mom's but we all have to get busy and ready for this storm "Charlie"... I have to laugh...that's my Dad's name.  I don't know how much of an honor it is to have a hurricane named after you...I'll check with him on Saturday about the honor.

We are in a low lying area but still mid-county Pinellas...so it's hard to know if we should leave and I know Joe won't want to.  I guess that's living on the edge in Florida.  So I'm filling up water bottles, pulling out candles, batteries...luckily we have a wind-up crank radio so I don't have to worry about that.

When Joe gets home we'll have to secure the outside, which is going to be a mess...he has so many plants in pots - some are very heavy I don't think they could move...but I don't know how strong the winds will be.   I just remembered the trees..we have so many trees - oh, well I just have to say a prayer that they don't come down. 

Oh, man they are issuing evacuation warnings already...have to go check out the website...can't remember what level we are.  See ya!

Footsteps In The Past

I recently got hooked on family research...only because the computer makes it so much easier to track down our ancestors.  Well, I downloaded so much STUFF that I'm drowning in paperwork.

My Mother had started doing an ancestral chart and got it to go back several generations with the help of the family bible that she inherited from her Mom.

We are lucky, in that, my Mom's side of the family all stayed put pretty much in South Carolina...we've been able to trace them back to 1732 when they landed at Charleston.  I have alot of the censuses that were taken early on, also ship lists of names.

I find it really interesting trying to flesh out and make by-gone people whole. 

One of my sister-in-laws is doing the same for my husbands side of the family.....she has done remarkable research and then proceeded to make copies for all of us.

Anyway I find myself at age 60 dragging my paperwork to my Mom & Dad for HELP.....that's what I'm going to be doing all day.

I guess it's true a parents work is never done...HELP

This could be fun using the IM just to jot down quick moments in time...

Murder

Living in Florida, seeing the coverage of the terrible murders in Orlando makes my heart weep.  I'm still shaking my head asking Why?  A stupid X-box?  Six horribly dead - four with their lives come to a dead stop over a game?

People in the chat rooms are dissecting the people involved and making poisonous statements based on race, I just don't believe that.  I can't understand it, how can someone talk another person into beating someone else to death....rev them up until they go berserker?

I know that under pressure, such as a battle in wartime..the adrenaline levels can cause men to overreact in a kill zone but a stupid X-Box?  Or did four psychopaths just happen to become friends knowing they could count on each other to kill with no remorse?

Watching the news you could see the pain in the face of the lead officer as he spoke to the newsmen...he stated that he had never seen anything as bad as this crime and he hoped that he never would again.

Say a prayer for the families left behind.  Say a prayer for ourselves to give us the strength to deal with these criminals.

 

Homework Assignment #18 Re: Tatoos

Hi....Didn't have the whatever to do this to myself...but Barbie was a willing victim.  She has tatoos on her thighs, ankles, arms, above the belly button, across chest and lower back above buttocks.  Daisey chain flowers and feathers.....she came out kind of Goth.

Rain Drops Keep Falling on my head

Boy, wish this rain would stop.  Open my front door and it is deluge, I have a couple of steps up from the walk into the house...well, the water is at the top of the first level.  Oh, you say it pools by your front door...I wish!  it's 3-4 inches high from my door to the street and my driveway is 50 foot long.

I really think the ground is so saturated that it can't take any more water.  I told my husband Joe he better start looking for a row boat.  When the sun finally does come back we are going to be steaming with humidity.  Makes me miss the 28 inch snowfalls that I use to get in Chicago and New York...almost.

Joe has a way with plants and wants to sell them at the flea market and maybe E-Bay...but this rain is really raining on his parade.  Too much and you can loose everything you've been growing for years.

I know I shouldn't complain..there are people in this world who are dying because of lack of water.  Anyway, just gonna keep my fingers crossed that we don't get hit with a hurricane because there's no where for the run off to go.

Again into the Void

Every four years this country undergoes a tremendous upheaval...one that viewed from outside would seem to rock the very foundations of liberty itself.

The political rhetoric has reached deep into murky, dark depths to recreate the past as they would have it be.  To change a man from a hero to a coward and claim no knowledge of what is being done or by whom.  This is some way to win an election.

Could (13) Thirteen men stand on a stage beaming with pride at their past leader and within days the world is told...not true, none of it...in fact they go a step further and say Kerry actually endangered their lives. 

I. for one, believe the men that stood with Kerry..THEY were on his boat, THEY lived through it, THEY stand with him now. 

Hey, I know what, can we find the "buddies" that Bush hung with and see if he "inhaled" or not?  They could stand and testify for him at the Republican Convention.

Actually, if you think about it, it took Kerry less than seven minutes to jump off the boat and rescue his crewman....ask yourself "What would George do?"  Oh, wait....we know that answer..we saw him in action in sunny Florida, molasses moves faster than he did.

We need a change, we need to be part of the rest of the globe...the world has gotten smaller as we have gotten smarter...a new administration could achieve alot more through diplomacy working with other countries to bring peace back.

I hate these hurtful ads the type of hype that should be banned.  The PR firms that think them up have no right to be proud of their work..it does not serve the American public any good. 

One more thing, I remember being behind the war in Vietnam in the early 60"s but turning against it myself after living in Japan and seeing  the effects of the war on our boys.  There was never any question about our men over there, very proud of them.  But the war was fought for all the wrong reasons and I think history has proven that so I think Kerry coming back and doing antiwar stuff is understandable. 

I believe we must defend our country, but follow the old adage "Walk softly and carry a big stick"....

 

 

Terror Alert

These terror alerts are not all that new...does anyone remember hiding under their wooden student desk at school...waiting for either the "bomb" to fall or the "all clear" to sound?

Well, the classroom has turned into a city caught in the same web as we were when we were children..only the villians have changed.  These past few years have been remarkable as far as history is concerned....the Berlin Wall coming down, Communist regimes ending , wonderful scientific discoveries, Europe uniting in a common cause for once.

Instead of being able to laud the human spirit we once again have to look at evil squarely in it's face.  It's almost as if we have to find someone to blame for it....we are a target..no one is to blame. Doesn't matter if you are a Democrat or a Republican....the terrorists are not going to give up or go away easily.  We really do not need to attack one another...we are a nation of people united in the belief of Freedom...we all bleed the same.

Our biggest enemy is our mindset that we "forget or diminish" whatever happened yesterday...like the saying..:Wait..It'll blow over".   We need to remember, we need to watch out for one another.  Hey, believe me, if I see anyone doing something suspicious I'll be the first one to "drop a dime".

Didn't mean to go on like this but I had read a post on one of the chat boards and the stupid person stated that he was "sick" of hearing about 9/ll.    It got me going.

 

 

Homework Assignment #17...Animals Speak!

Pets...they come into our lives, take over, you love them like crazy, give them human attributes and cry like a motherless child when they leave...K.T. was a small boned Dalmatian, so small that people thought she was a puppy at age eight.  But she had the heart of a bull mastiff....she tolerated me, it was okay for me to feed her, wash her, comb her but her love was all for my hubby.

Anyway, the question I would ask K.T. would be:

"How do you know to exactly sit at the door and wag your tail for Joe when he barely has turned onto our street...? You can't see him or hear him?? Tell me how you do it? Huh, Huh....please

I think her answer would be that she could just "feel" that the time was right and she had waited dam long enough for the love of her life to walk through that door!

Grapeleaves

Standing at the kitchen counter trying to open this darn old bottle of cured grape leaves I flash back about forty-five years ago and it almost seems like yesterday.  My Grandpa was from the isle of Crete, coming from a village high in the mountains...as tough as nails and yet the gentlest man I've ever met.

"Nick" came to this country at age 16..and when war broke out he joined the army at 17...of course, he was sent back to Europe with the cassons.  He never spoke greatly about the war years, just kept everything in.  He met and married my grandmom, a South Carolina belle, started a family and enjoyed an American way of life.

He was an excellent chef....no one ever went hungry in his house.  My grandparents house was the focal point of the family, all our vacations, holidays were spent there, drawing all fractions of the family like a magnet every year.

For some reason Grandpa decided to teach me how to cook and I will forever be grateful that he did.  One of my first lessons was making "grape leaves" filled with chopmeat, rice & cumin..rolled just so - so, add water, lemon juice and wait for the aroma to fill the kitchen.  Forty-five years later my husband is grateful that I'm a good cook and it's all due to someone that he never had a chance to meet.

It's funny, standing and rolling the leaves makes me feel a compelling connection to my past, I can hear "Nick" say "Don't forget to pinch the stem off if it looks tough" followed by "that's right..you are doing a good job".  Anyway I know that I learned the right things sitting at his kitchen table.

My Grandad & Grandmom used to "battle" with one another, playfully it would seem.  Grans would say "Nick!" What is that man doing now?"  Grandpa would counter with"Lee! What are you going on about?" "I'm just cooking"...then either side would enlist myself or one of my sisters to "tell" Nick this and he would do the same, as if they couldn't hear what each other was saying.  It was hilarious.

Oh, boy when everyone came for dinner the dinning room table creaked & groaned under the weight of the repast that Papoo would present to us mere mortals.  Grandma was allowed to set the table, with us helping, fix real ice tea and help bring the food in.....everything else was pure Grandpa.

Every time we would be leaving..they would be on the porch waving goodbye and Grandma saying "You'all come on back now yahear".

I spent almost every summer with them in Norfolk, loving the southern night air, humming birds and pink trees...but most of all them.

And the beat goes on

Today went by rather quickly for some reason, I turned around and here it is evening and the convention in Boston is on.  I heard a rather familiar voice introducing a past president and was amazed at the reception he received.  I do believe if he were running again or allowed to run...Bill would sweep the field!  Oh, I know the law was changed after Roosevelt's s three terms...but I do really do believe Bill Clinton could do it again with no problem.

I have a feeling that John Edwards is kind of cut from the same cloth..extremely good at speeches, terrific appearance and oozes likeability.  You just look at him and you like him.  

Being an ex New Yorker I had not expected Hilliary to be totally taken to heart by New York...however, from everybody I've spoken to she is doing a damm good job, pays attention and pulls her weight.

You know, when I think back about the scandal in the White House I can't believe that we let Ken Star run with all that crap.  It cost the taxpayers millions to try to nail Clinton on something that should of remained private between him and his wife.  Is there any wonder that we have lost "face" around the world....I mean the jokes that went on and on were not doing our national interest any damm good.

Well, I firmly believe that Bush should follow his Dad and let history repeat itself.  I just wonder what went through their minds...it's going to be 1,000 young people lost after the invasion!  Were they trying to impress us with Shock & Awe? Looking now it was a failure...well, now wait..maybe not a failure...the oil wells weren't hurt too much if that's what counted.  And WHY did they let everybody keep their weapons? That made alot of sense, arm your enemy.

Normally I feel more compassion for people but I think we are beating our heads against a brick wall....this region, it's people so unstable, so volitile, yet unchanging in thousands of years...how can we think that we will instigate change? They want us out of there, they are not and never will be grateful for American blood spilled on their desert sand. 

With a change of administration comes a ray of hope that we can restore our sanity  and lead this nation forward in peace. 

Sunday, Sunday...lazy day

Hello again.  I have to get used to writing my thoughts down, it's something that I haven't done since I was a "lovestruck" teenager mooning over Fabian & Elvis.  I can remember writing poem after poem about love and a teen's rather slanted view of life.

I loved acting, was in drama class, acted in plays..took lessons outside of school and wanted desperately to be an actress.  Family, friends and yes, strangers had told me that I was very good.  The star magazines ran different contests at that time....one was to get an interview with a famous drama coach.  I wrote from the heart and won!  At this point, her name is lost to me but she was the drama coach for Sal Mineo, Tuesday Weld and others. I think I impressed her, but because I had only 8 months left of school before graduation she felt I should complete school first.

I also managed to put myself on TV specifically The Alan Freed Show.  They had a contest for "Miss April Showers"....well, I wrote, got interviewed and was picked as one of the contestants.  I found myself in a dressing room surrounded by pretty girls mostly models with makeup on I would swear was an inch thick.  Here I was barely 16...only wearing lipstick!  Well, you can quess what happened I looked like a ghost, granted a pretty ghost...but not enough to pull in the votes from viewers.   One of my most vivid memories is standing back stage waiting for my turn to speak on camera to Alan Freed and the person behind me sweating profusely was none than Chubby Checker in his checkered suit!  At that time he was extremely heavy and the warmth of the lights really got to him.  I don't remember if this was his first TV appearance or not...but his song "The Twist" really caught on.

As I have said life is full of surprises and twists.  Eight months later my life went in a different direction and I don't really regret it. 

Talking about poetry makes me want to look for my old poems, think I'll do that....bye for now

If I had a SUPER power

I think I would like to be known as the Super Silly Lady.  I would spread silliness wherever I went.  It would be great, come across someone arguing...point my finger and declare them "silly"... soon they would be laying on the floor reeling with laughter. 

My powers would spread slowly....each person infected with "silliness" would infect others....slowly gathering speed around the world.  Finding "silliness" in all four corners of the world soon there would be no cause for fighting, war or mayhem...we would all be too busy laughing at one another.

Along with the "silly power" comes attached kindness and concern for others......finding a whole world changed from being hateful, warlike, deceitful, uncaring...into a wonderful paradise where neighbor cares about neighbor, people are truly happy for one another and people treat one another as they would like to be treated.    Silly Rules!

9/11 Intertwined Memories

Yesterday, with the Commission's Report coming out, my emotions got the best of me and I relived the day of 9/11 over and over again.  Just couldn't get past the horror of it all.

My early working life evolved around the site where the "twins" would be built.  I worked for a Japanese Import-Export Company, Okura & Co. situated on Church St.  Our building was part of the area that was torn down to make room for the towers.  So we moved up Broadway near City Hall...still being able to revisit the area and watch demolition. 

I got married, left the country for awhile, moved back to another state...and finally in 1971 wound back up in New York..and the towers still were not totally completed.  I forget what year it was but a good friend of mine, Guy, worked in construction for years on the towers.  He arranged to take me on a tour of the not yet opened Tower I and it was awesome tour that I will never forget. He took me over to an area in the center that acted as a wind tunnel..partly blocked with wooden boards there was a squared off hole that when you put your face there you could hear a terrific howling coming up through the area.

Later, in the 70's my ex's company relocated from Broadway back to their old area...and moved into the towers.  During those years I had to make the trip into the city many times to meet with him because of one thing or another...so I found myself quite familiar with the Towers and the underground maze of trains, shops, etc. 

After moving to Florida, on my trips back to New York to visit children & grandchildren, I hungered for the city skyline view.  I guess I still do, but now it hurts to look and not see those two majestic towers shinning in the distance.

I was at work, doing a bridal consultation with a young couple, when another employee said "oh! My God..turn on the TV..a plane just flew into the WTC, it was on the radio!"  I jumped up, said "excuse me" to the couple and ran for the phone...my older son and daughter work in the city.  My daughter works for a prominent real estate lawyer and had clients at the WTC..I really needed to know where both my kids were.  I was really lucky I was able to reach her husband who didn't know about the situation because he had cartoons on for the grandchildren.  He grabbed the kids, jumped in his car and sped off after my daughters express bus.  He was able to stop the bus before it was caught up in the mess that ensued with people exiting the city.

My son was at work already quite near the Empire State Bldg. his company decided to send everyone home and clear the building, not that everyone could get home. 

After finding my children safe, I found myself very angry at an unseen enemy.  Someone had destroyed thousands of people without a second thought, wiped them out with a particularly horrific strike at the center of my world.  I cried for the people lost, for the children who would not know their parents, for the parents who would never know grandchildren, for lost friends and lovers.   I cried for myself....all my memories gone in a flash.\

My feelings today are whatever is necessary to combat this evil must be done.  We all have to watch each other's back...if someone acts suspicious well do something about it, let someone know.  The public is very fickle, it's concious mind holds on for only a brief time before jumping to a new subject.  We need to stop this mindset...we need to focus and not let the enemy win.