Six Word Saturday

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Creativity was never my strong suit

I've read several blogs lately showing the really cute and creative Halloween costumes that moms and grandmoms have made for their kids and grandkids. I love seeing all the cute ideas people come up with but it leaves me feeling a little deficient in the creative talent department and it takes me back to my first attempt at creating a Halloween costume for one of my children.

When my son was 2  I came up with this creation made out of a paper bag, some paint and a few cotton balls. 

I apparently thought it was so great that I saved it for my daughter to wear 2 years later, or maybe I made a new one....I don't remember.

Yes, they have seen these pictures and yes, they have given me a hard time about the way I dressed them up.

What can I say? For a young military family in the early '70s at least the price was right.

I'm sure my creativity gene will kick in one of these days. 

Reverse Psychology.....Bah Humbug!

In spite of my best reverse psychology efforts the snow came.

This is what I woke up to at about 6:00 this morning. I had to take the picture with my phone because I left my camera at my daughter's last weekend.

We lost one big limb from an Aspen tree. There were lots of big limbs down around town.

Oh well, what's the problem with a little snow if you can turn it into a big snow pumpkin.

Hope and EJ

The good news is that it has stopped snowing, it will be 60 degrees by Saturday and it will all be melted.

(Oops, I hope my reverse psychology talents don't suddenly kick in)

There's A Storm A'Comin'

The TV weather folks are all agog. We are supposed to get our first snow of the season, starting tonight. Right now it is just raining, but they say the snow will come later and won't stop until it has dumped 8-10 inches on us.

I know what you are thinking.....you're thinking I'm a little off my blog mojo if I'm resorting to writing about the weather. Well, there may be some truth to that, but what I'm really doing is trying a little reverse psychology. If I actually talk about the snow that they say is on it's way, maybe it won't actually won't come. I might be left looking a little silly if I write about the big storm that never happens, but that's okay. The TV weather people will be looking silly right along with me and they have been known to be wrong before.

Actually, a 10 inch snow is not such a big deal here....it takes at least a foot or more of snow to get us really excited. The weather folks and even the news folks, on the other hand, are pretty excited about this one. I guess it is because it is the first of the season and they have been waiting a while for such "exciting news".

I will come back and let you know if my reverse psychology works and the snow doesn't come. If it doesn't work and I wake up to everything covered in white, well, I guess I'll be outside shoveling snow.

Time Flies And Then You "Catch Puberty"

My immediate family's "Birthday Season" comes to an end with my oldest grandson, Jared, turning 11 today. I know it is not very original, but I have to say it anyway.....Time Flies. It seems like such a short time ago that he was just a little guy and my only grandchild.

He is now the oldest of my 7 grandchildren and we have both changed over the years, but time has been a little kinder to him.

Photo by Leah Valentine

He plays baseball, basketball, is a good student and has lots of friends. He is a pretty serious kid who is way too hard on himself when he can't do something perfectly.

He says he is not looking forward to "catching puberty". (I bet he and his friends have some pretty interesting conversations about that.)

He is a little "too cool" sometimes to participate in the shenanigans of his brother and older cousins, but he is always kind and protective and playful with the little kids.

He recently "confessed" when his mom found his name scratched into a window sill. He swore he couldn't remember doing it but it must have been him since it was his name. His 8 year old brother finally 'fessed up as the culprit.

Yes, I couldn't be prouder of this boy who was the first to teach me how much fun it is to be a grandmom.

Happy Birthday Jared!

It's October Again

It's October again and I don't want the month to go by without a reminder that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We should all, of course, do a breast self-exam every month, but if you are not up to date on having a mammogram, please get it done this month.

I have written a number of times about my best friend who died from breast cancer nine years ago. We were best friends for over 40 years and I still miss having her in my life.

           

           My friend in 2001

These pictures were taken in 1964. My friend was having a high school graduation picture taken and I fixed her hair and went with her to the photographer. We were the same age, but she was brainy and graduating from high school a year early. For some reason I decided to have my picture taken while we were there. The best thing about the pictures is that they provided us some laughs years later about our hairstyles and the serious looks on our faces. Maybe we were just trying not to laugh at our hair.

Whatever you hair looks like today, put a smile on your face and do whatever you need to do to take care of your breast health.

The Green Thing

This isn't something I wrote or even thought of myself, but when I read it recently I really liked what it had to say.  I wish I knew the origin so I could attribute it properly. I have shortened it some from the original I read.

The Green Thing
In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.  

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana . 

In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us.
When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. 

But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.

We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.

We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

I am not lamenting our modern conveniences and I certainly have no wish to go back in time, but I thought this was thought-provoking in terms of The Green Thing. 

Now I May Never Retire....

Image from Google Images

I talk a lot about retiring, but so far it is all just a lot of talk. A recent conversation between my granddaughter, Hope, who is 9, and her little sister, EJ, who is 3, may keep me on the job a lot longer.

EJ is now going to the same preschool Hope went to. Mrs. G was Hope's favorite teacher and is now also EJ's favorite. EJ said that maybe Beck, who is 1, could have Mrs. G for his teacher when it was time for him to go to preschool.

Hope: Mrs. G might not still be there when Beck goes to preschool. She might retire by then.

EJ: What does retire mean?

Hope: It means when people get older they retire. They sit at home and watch TV and get plumper while they are waiting to go to the retirement home. 

Egad! I think I will be going off to work now!

Mailbox Romance

I know graffiti is usually considered to not be a good thing, but in this little saga in nearby Denver I find myself cheering for the brush and the paint.

Late last year someone started a romance between these two mailboxes who already seemed to be leaning one another's way.

City officials were apparently not amused and the mail boxes were painted over.

It is, however, hard to stop true love.

City officials tried again to stifle romance with their cans of paint, but new messages appeared., including 

I'm here........I'm here too

More city paint, but true love triumphs again.

Images from Google Images

I don't know how this story will end, but I am voting for Mailbox Romance.