F is for Fun

What a crazy busy month this has been - in a good way.

A fun sister weekend last week, and a fun trip this week.
In between was my grand daughter's birthday, and my youngest had her first choir concert.
Years ago I would complain about having to go to so many of these, but I think when the kids are all finished with school (next year), it's one of the things I'll miss the most.
Silly, huh?
My baby - front and center. (Black hair)


My sister has an old school chum from here, who often makes the trip out west to see her. This year, she invited me to tag along. I was happy to do so, since it has been a few years since I've been able to get out there.
We had such a good time - Karen is very easy to get along with. I haven't talked that much in... well, forever. I was almost hoarse from chatting by the time we got there. If anyone wants to know my life history - just ask Karen.

My brother in law had an itinerary planned for us - after a good night's rest (in a bed as cozy as my mama's lap) we drove all the way out to an outlet mall in California, and shopped the morning away. I got some great deals - a name brand purse and shoes at a Walmart price. How can you beat that?

On the way back, we stopped at a place my sister has been telling me about for years - Apple Hill.
It was different than I imagined - I had a tight little community in mind, but what it actually was, was a lot of different apple orchards spread out over a large area. We drove to just a few of them, and sampled the goodies they had to sell.
...A yummy lunch and gooey caramel at one, colorful pumpkins and gourds at another, and a petting zoo somewhere else.



This place forced us to stop for it's gorgeous gardens...

We drove past Lake Tahoe as the sun was setting - Beautiful!

Autumn in the Sierras. *Sigh*

Saturday was a little more leisurely. We went to the doll show at the Holiday Inn. I didn't splurge on any dolls (no room for them at home), but I did find a few little treasures to bring home.
We had a late lunch at Red Lobster with the girls, then we met the whole family for an early dinner at Los Tres Amigos (at least I think that's what it was called.)
I'm not sure that a bucket of shrimp followed by a ginormous mesquite chicken burrito was a good idea. My tummy threatened mutiny the next morning...
But it was so good to spend time with all the kids - I fell in love with Ty's little baby girl. (He said I could have her - I'll go back and collect one day! :-)

I got to play with the pets too - couldn't be helped, they loved me.

The first night, I convinced Lucy (the cat) to come sit on my lap while we watched Castle and Gilmore Girls. I haven't had a cat in decades, and this one is such a friendly one.
I was a little horrified when she got up, however, and I found that I had metamorphosed from human to centaur.
She had left so much hair behind, that I'm going to have to go get a wax job to get it all off! Ha ha...

It's always fun to go visit my sister's homes and see that the little nicky-nacky's that I painted for them ages ago, are still alive and well, and on display. The ones I did for us have mostly been lost and/or destroyed years ago.
It's nice to know someone out there appreciated them.

That's my week in a nutshell. I'm done traveling for this year - now it's time to light the home fires and settle in for the winter.
I love to travel and see what this wide world holds, but I also love to come home to my own little hamlet, and my own kith and kin.
The kids were here when I arrived, and my darling daughter had made a tasty meal. I was greeted first by my youngest gran - It doesn't get better than this.

Sisters are Good for the Soul

I just got back from a Ya Ya weekend with my sisters.
We"ve been trying to do this at least once a year since our mom passed away to strengthen the family ties.
It's been a real blessing in all of our lives -
(...I think, at least it has in mine!)

When we were growing up, there might have been disagreements and rivalries, but those are all but gone now -
I think we've learned to value and appreciate each other, not so much in spite of our differences, but because of them.

We started off by dinner out at a local rib joint, then we drove up to Heber to ride the Heber Creeper's Haunted Train.



We were planning to go home and watch scary movies after that, but we had a much better time just talking - so much better, that we were up until 3:30AM doing it!

We talked about everything from the origin of silly phrases, to the traditions of ancient tribes - the discussion there led to how many of the tribes had a person who was the "story teller."
He was in charge of keeping the history of the tribe, and passing it down by word of mouth from generation to generation. Often they carved symbols on a stick, since there was no written language - those symbols helped him remember the story.
I was thinking later, that my oldest sister is the "story teller" in our little clan. Most of us girls came in at the tail end of the family, but being the second oldest, she was there at the first. She knows so much more of our history than we do.
I love hearing her tell it - she is the strongest link in our family chain.

After a breakfast of Janell's yummy breads the next morning, we drove around town re-visiting all the old sites where we grew up. Our home town has changed so much, we hardly recognized most of the places.

Just a couple of them...
One of the old trees that are still left on our lot - I climbed every tree on the place at least once.


The first church house I went to. I was really young when we moved from this neighborhood - I barely remember going here.


After that drive, we went to lunch at Kneaders, and then we visited the gardens at Thanksgiving Point. It was a beautiful day for that, the weather couldn't have been more perfect.
It's amazing - just a few days ago there wasn't any fall color in the valley, but this weekend, it had already peaked.

Could not have been more perfect.


Some grannies stroll, but we grannies roll

I was fascinated with the fishes in the coi pond...

Like I said, perfect...


I got back just in time for my little gran girlie's birthday -
she's 5.

Back to work for a couple of days, then I'm off again...
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Flu Season

My husband sent me this as a forward yesterday.
I'm posting it here mainly for easy reference - it's good information to have on hand. Hubby says there have been people out with swine flu in both of the places where he works, so it's still a threat out there.
Consider this my public service announcement.

Prevent Swine Flu - Good Advice

Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital , Saifee Hospital , Tata Memorial etc. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W).

The following message given by him, I feel makes a lot of sense and is important for all to know

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected o ne. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.
;
4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but *blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*
&nb sp;

5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

FOG

This has been a strange year. Especially this Fall.

Usually the leaves turn and it's beautiful for a while - and then winter comes, but Old Mom Nature has it backwards this year - we're getting the nasty weather first before there's even any colored leaves in the valley.

What I'm getting at, is that this morning we woke up to FOG. ...In October.

Weird.

I'm off for a sister's weekend tomorrow (after work, that is.) We're all going to be there this time, so it should be all kinds of fun!
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What's New?

It's Monday again, and I feel like I've been AWOL forever.

I've got to learn how to manage my time better now that I'm working again - no more playing all day... (sob)

I'm working on cards today.

Tomorrow is the deadline for the Oct. Sketch for My Sketch World. I just barely made it under the wire.
...Can't show you yet, but soon.
I've got to get one done for my little gran's birthday this weekend too. They've come to expect grandma's cards, and I don't like to disappoint them.

Last weekend, I had to run over to the store to get my schedule for the next week, and I took my 2 girls with me. They had fun perusing the Halloween aisle, while I took care of business, and this is what they came home with.
(The outfit, not the dog.)

Pirate Puppy

Yes, I do believe he's snarling - I don't think he's amused at all.

If you want to see where I've been hanging out in my head lately, this is the place:

It's called Wings Neck Lighthouse in Massachusetts, and I've just added it to my list of dream destinations. The lighthouse can actually be rented - is that cool, or what?

As I was working on the computer today, my printer went *grind* spr@ing *pop* and died. Poop. This is not a good time for my printer to expire.
(As if there were one.)

So far behind on everything else,
...But I'll have to catch up later - got to run!
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Clackity Clickety Clack

I've had a very productive week. Sort of.

Besides typing up a very long chapter of family history, I've produced 6 new chapter's of my second "novel". (A record for me.)
...My second novel that no one will ever see.

Maybe by number 9 I'll have something I'm ready to share, (LOL) ...but right now, I'm just learning the ropes.

I must say, I'm enjoying it more this time around. The first one was excruciating, and felt like hard labor, even torture, but this one is almost writing itself.

I guess it's just less scary now.

Artistic productivity means, however, that my productivity as a housekeeper has gone down the chutes.
My house is a shambles, and spiders are building condos in every corner.

I'm going to have to take a break soon, and clean.
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It's All Good...

Some days are ok. I had one of those today...

I checked off all the little items I had on my list to get done before work, and I started to take some R & R, when I decided I needed to run down to Walmart and see if I could find a couple of shirts that would pass as work uniforms.
(I just can't justify spending money for their monogrammed gear, when I know I'm only going to be there a few months.)

I ran into hubby's mom there. She snuck right up behind me, and when I whirled around to see who it was, she said; "Oh, it is you."
(Scary, does she do this to people often?)

My mother in law is legally blind. She has to get right a person's face to see who it is.
I could see that she was in need of a "seeing eye child" (much like the ones I take to the store with me ) to read the labels and prices on the things she was looking at, so I stayed with her until her daughter caught up with her.

I headed off to work, and arrived there during the afternoon rush. It was really busy.
I thought I saw my neighbor wandering the isles, but each time I went to look for her, I couldn't find her. This happened a few times, until I finally caught up with her in the back corner of the store.
I had a fun chat with her for a few minutes before she had to leave.

Later, I was measuring fabric for a lady, when someone else came up and asked, "Can I just ask you a question?" I recognized her immediately, although it took me a few minutes to place her.
I told her to let me finish up, and I would go help her find what she was looking for, and called her by name.
She gave me a deer-in-the-headlights look, so I told her who I was. She was embarrassed not to know me, (but hugged me anyway.) It was one of my husband's favorite cousins who we don't see often because she lives out of state now.
I got to hang out with her and catch up a little bit.

You see?

Fun.

My shift went quickly, because it stayed fairly busy. I'm getting to know my way around a bit more, which helps too.
Things were going great, that is, until one of the managers came and insisted I take a break. (I've never had one of those before, and I only had half an hour left of my shift) I really didn't want to take it, but I obeyed.

...Just that few minutes off my feet made me feel so tired! If it hadn't been for all the weird noises in the back room, I could have fallen asleep.

Anyway, that was my day.

I came home and crashed, but hubby woke me when he came home, now I'm up for the night...

Going to go finish my chapter.
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BOO!

I've started a new project. It's a ghost story.

That being said, I was laying in bed this morning, half asleep - thinking about what I want to have happen next, when I received three distinct "pokes" on the shoulder.

I jumped about 3 feet!

...It was just my daughter, letting me know it was time to drive her to school.

Scared the bejeevers out of both of us!!!

Honestly, she is so quiet - I'm going to have to put a bell around that kid's neck or something...


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Again...

Doesn't it seem sometimes like you just live the same day over and over?

It happens so often to me, that I have a hard time knowing what day it is!

It's October today, and I'm doing the dance of joy. Not so much because it's October, but just because I'm finished with the job I was doing on my friend's scrapbooking website. I have to appreciate those girls more now - I never realized how much work that was!

There's actual frost on the pumpkin today (the pumpkin that randomly sprouted from a jack-o-lantern seed last fall - in my front flower bed, no less.)
Summer is officially over, but it would have been nice if we could have had Fall before Winter arrived!

My daughter made the comment last night, that she's tired of only having 2 seasons.

Amen to that!

I'm liking my short shifts at work so far - it breaks up the day, but doesn't wear me out. Good times.

I removed my previous post because I was getting some bizzarre and crazy searches on it. (I'll explain later - or not.)
Weirded me out a little.

Anyway - I'm babbling, so I'll go find something else to do today...
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