Tuesday, November 30, 2010

my "third" grandma: Granny

Yes I have a third grandma ... well actually I had four but the one last really never had an interest in me at all.

So this post is about my Granny. Now I can pretty much sum up this relationship in one word: FOOD! cause this granny could cook!

One of her sons lived with her.... all his life (that's right, he never married and stayed home so his mom could take care of him. but that is another story)

Now granny never really "TALKED" to her grand kids verbally. She talked to them by feeding them well. And did I mention she chewed tobacco?

Most of my memories of her are about her cooking and her garden, burning papers in the back yard burn barrel, and her 'spare bedroom' with the vanity.

I think mostly why we did not talk a lot is because us kids were always outside playing or had our mouths full.

Her living room was icy cold and the spare bedroom was warm. She slept with her windows open and I loved sleeping in her bed and listening to the sounds of "outside". I rarely fell asleep with my head where it was "suppose to go" because I could lay at the foot of the bed and be even with the window sill and listen to outdoors and watch fire flies.

But back to the food. Peach cobbler and pot roast. Oh My God! I wish I had watched her more often make these. It was like she had a magic oven: put in dish, pull out heaven! lol!

Her kitchen was SO small the oven door almost hit the "opposite" wall. If there wasn't a nice big doorway... about four feet wide; you would not have been able to bend over to pull anything out of the oven. Seriously, her kitchen was so small the frig was in the dining room. I'd say about six feet wide and MAYBE four feet deep. On the back wall was: wall -> stove -> itty bitty counter space -> double sink, with small window above -> another itty bitty counter space -> wall.

But again back to the food.... another great thing she would do is each morning cook up a bunch of sausage patties... a plate full and over flowing. Then we could help ourselves as the day went on and we got a hunger pain or two.... what kid doesn't? lol!

Now this was all new and exciting to me since my mom never did anything like this. In my home, we had to ask for everything and any snack we felt we needed. But granny would get upset if we DIDN'T eat when we came over.

So when I was little she would toast a slice of bread... barely toast it... cut or pull it apart into four sections, place a sausage patty on one and cover with another and give me and my cousin each a small "sausage sandwich".... Oh My God! I have no clue what brand of sausage she used. But it was great! not too spicy but real sausage.

Back to the spare bedroom and the vanity. My cousin and I would spend hours at that vanity or laying on the bed, just talking about all kinds of things. Usually one of us would be on the bed, the other at the vanity brushing our hair.... girly things, lol! That was our 'haven', our home away from home. And granny had a box or two of 'jewelry' and just 'stuff' we could play with.

I had more free reign had granny's than at home; but shouldn't it be like that?

Now back to FOOD again, lol! In the summer, the bottom drawer of the frig was filled with cherry tomatoes. I'll never forget my cousin introducing me to them. I was always like "ick tomatoes?" and she dared me to try one.... so me being me, I did and never hated tomatoes again. We would grab handfuls of them and run outside to devour our treat! Granny would just smile and nod her head.

At this point I will mention that while granny was my granny, she was my cousins great granny... but my cousin is about two years older than me. My family dynamics is very complex and complicated. :)

Ah, I also should mention the "phone". See Granny had a party line phone and for those of you who may read this and not know what I'm talking about: see long long ago instead of those nifty cell phones we can carry around, phones use to either hang on a wall or sit on a table connected by a wire to phone lines...similar looking to electrical lines.

These were large heavy duty phones with the mouth piece and ear piece separated from the dialing part ... yes dialing part... of the phone by another wire. And in the "old days" many people would share one phone "line" although they would have different phone numbers.

So if you wanted to make a call, you picked up the handset and listened -if someone was already talking, you would politely hang up and try again later.... (well unless you are a curious young child with an older cousin who loved to teach you new tricks...then one of you would hold the button down on the phone while the other unscrewed the mouth piece, removed the microphone thingy...and then you both listen to the neighbor boy talking to his girl friend and laugh hysterically).

Anyways.... so we kids would also answer the phone and it took someone calling like four times asking for "Beulah" and me telling them they had the wrong number for Granny to finally ask who they were asking for. Well I thought Granny's name was "Granny"... but it turned out it was "Beulah".

And I hope you've enjoyed these memories of my "Granny".

Monday, November 22, 2010

it is just me?

or has everyone really decided to dump all sense of "responsibility"?

I'm thinking the latter.

Let's see, no one feels the need to 'be on time' anymore.

more and more feel that the gov should support them.

no employers feel the need to keep around good employees anymore

well, employees don't feel the need to do their jobs

parents do not put kids first anymore

divorce is up

marriages are down

shack ups and break ups are up

cheating is at an all time high in schools

oh the list could go on and on...

yes, I'm aggravated big time.... I'm tired of people saying they are going to do something and then NOT do it.

especially since I am the type who means what I say and does what I say I will do.

grrrrr.....

Saturday, November 20, 2010

loneliness

In this world of overpopulation and "interconnectedness" available via the internet; it seems to me that people are more lonely than ever.

One can be lonely due to no one being around on a regular basis OR one can be lonely while in a crowded room full of family and friends.

I like being alone. I can do what I want, when I want. However, that doesn't mean I would not like to share my life with someone. But I don't feel "lonely" too often. Mostly when I am in large crowds, I feel disconnected but not lonely.

However, there are those who NEED someone who cares about them close by all the time. They NEED that bond and when there isn't one, they suffer greatly. And it isn't really that easy to find someone who is willing to bond with you on such an intimate level that you KNOW you can trust. Too many times that trust is broken and then the person feels even more isolated and maybe even unworthy and even less likely to look and find someone to trust and bond with.

So what is a person who longs for trustworthy companionship to do?

well, they cannot force anyone to 'be there' for them; but they can work on themselves. Yes maybe they are already a super great person.... but no one is perfect! And we ALL can stand a bit of "refreshing".

Even old hags, like me can always benefit from some constructive actions.

First and foremost, maybe make a list of things you like about yourself and a list of things you would like to change about yourself. Think about all aspects of your life and YOU personally: mentally/physically/spiritually/emotionally. You can add your hobbies and talents, just anything and everything you can think of.

Really be honest with yourself. If you don't drag out things that make you uncomfortable, you are NOT being honest with yourself.... just saying. Be honest.

Then make a plan on how you can make those good things about yourself even better! That is right, put the bad list aside for now. For one month, just think about the GOOD~!

After actively working on those things for a month. Take out the list again and see what you can scratch off the bad list. There should be at least two things. Surprise!

Keep working on those positive things for another month, pull out your list again and see what else you can scratch off the 'bad' list.

AND see what you can ADD to the positive/good list.

You may just be even more surprised.

How does this help loneliness? Well the more comfortable and happy with yourself you are, the less you will feel the need for others 'approval' and 'presence'.

This 'new and approved' attitude will shine through and attract the kind of person you WANT to share a life with and give you the strength and confidence to forge a wonderfully strong bond with someone who is worthy of YOU.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Sometimes we need to check if "it's all good".

There are those days when we stop rushing around like chickens with our heads cut off.... and if you've never actually seen a real chicken run around like this, then you need to get your butt to a working farm.

Then we have those rare (or rarer) days when we actually can stop and take a breath.

These are the days to not only stop and breath but look around you and take stock of your life. Ask yourself some of those hard questions, not necessarily in this order but like:

Am I happy?

Am I where I want to be?

and:

If NOT, how can I change?

Am I living up to the morals I think are right and just?

Am I being a good mom/wife/husband/father/daughter/son/grandchild/etc....?

Am I taking responsibility for my actions?

Am I still growing; spiritually and mentally and emotionally? Is that growth in the "right" way?

Do I love enough? Do I SHOW that love enough?

Am I taking my loved ones for granted? Do I appreciate them and their efforts?

Does my heart still sing when I come home? Is my home a sanctuary? Is it filled with peace and love and harmony?

Am I serving my God to the best of my ability?

Are people happy to see me?

and the list could go on and on.... I think you get the point. Try not to let the 'bad stuff' you find overwhelm you.... just be determined to do better.

So on these still quiet days, think about yourself and see if "it's all good".

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

FINALLY!!

Ok, I know I can be stubborn, but my tomatoes really out did me. Here it is Nov 9th and I finally have two small tomatoes on one of my plants. I doubt they will make it but geeze! Why did they wait so long????!!!

gosh dern matoes!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Say what? II

these kids just want to play ball!

we wanna play!

I wish to vent!

I've had my morning coffee and now desire to vent a bit.

subject: welfare
(of course! lol)

what should 'welfare' be like? ideally a 'helping hand' for those rough spots in the road of your life. This can come from your religion, family, neighbors, etc... those who are willing to offer that extended hand.

what welfare should NOT be: forcing citizens to pay for other peoples laziness. I feel the same way about prisons also. We -the public, should not be forced to support these people: those who willingly commit acts of evil and the lazy.

So I am refusing to do this anymore. I will make sure I do not earn enough money each year to pay taxes; but just enough so that I do not take money from others.

Those in the prisons, should be growing their own food, trading any excess for health care; etc.... in other words, they should be self sustaining. A wind farm and solar can net them any energy they need; no TV or cable.... let them learn from BOOKS! I'm sure many can be arranged to be donated. Make them responsible for other peoples lives; if their "arranged partner" dies, so do they. Mix up the races. Make them responsible. There is a ton of other things they can be doing to benefit the society they wronged.

It is NOT justice for the victims to pay for the comfort and care of the wrong doer.

Those who are incredibly violent and have no remorse, despite all efforts to rehabilitate them, should be removed. Yes, humanely put down: killed. IMO.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

OMGosh! I cannot believe it!

This girl has SEVEN kids and she isn't but 17. Two sets of triplets! And she is living off of her government. (not in the USA)

HERE