On Being a mom

I pretty much raised my son alone. His dad and I got divorced when he was less than a year and his dad pretty much chose to drink rather than be a dad. After a few weak visits he pretty much dropped out of the picture which was fine for me, but left a little boy wondering what he did. My dad and brother were good to Mike and did their part to give him the man he needed and were both great influences on Mike. My dad was more like a father to Mike, and when he died Mike was 12 and he pretty much fell apart. I remember looking at him and he was a real cutey, of course I was biased what mom isn't. I was strict with him and never wanted anyone to say he came from a single parent home. I taught him values and morals and sometimes it was more do as I say than as I do. I watched him grow into a polite young man. I remember for what seemed like a few weeks he got weird looking, it's hard to describe but his face changed, he got a little homely, almost like I didn't recognize him. I will call that few weeks puberty, I see lots of kids get this way, and then they blossom into their teens. He broke from that weird stage and was ambitious with sports and I was there all the way, soccer, football and his favorite wrestling. I have gauged my age by his milestones, when he turned into a teen, I was the mother of a teenager, then his 20's, and now he is 33. He works very hard and has done really well with his life. He has had expensive taste since he was little, all I would tell him is "you better get a good job to support your taste" and he never got that from me, the only label I wore were Calvin Klein jeans from Kohls. He got married this summer and has a beautiful wife, home and still is playing hard and working hard. I look at him and his face is changing again, I see a mature man now and not that little boy anymore. It seems like it was a dream that he was a child. He has just written an app for Iphone/pods with another young man and there was an article online JsOnline
I am watching my baby boy, that seemingly disappeared into this mature, entrepreneur, with a home and wife and dreams change again. It is a good change and I am so proud of him. Who would ever have thought the baby I held would be what he is today!!! I am just reflecting on time and man it is really passing quickly, here I am reading an article about my son....thanks for letting me reflect...I wonder if he knows how much I really love and respect him and how proud he makes me? I think I may cry.

Thanksgiving

It is once again upon us, the Holiday Season. It is also the time of needy families, the less fortunate of us. I am a firm believer that we need to help our own. I know there are hungry children in India and a zillion other Countries around the World, but alot of that has to do with their government not getting aide to these people. Here in the US, we have no excuse, we have hungry people walking the streets right next to us. I am not a proponent of offering Ipods to kids to bribe them to eat their free breakfast at MPS, but I do believe children should not be punished for their parents, which is twofold, because some parents believe we are responsible and they are not. Deb from Bella Vita day spa has a mission of a family that has lost everything to a fire. She herself had the same thing happen to her and so this is dear to her heart. We went to dinner last night and she filled me in on the family.
The landlord in their apt. was having some work done and it caused an explosion of the building and they lost everything. They were all out of the home, the three girls were at school, the mother works at George Webbs, and he was at work, as a truck driver and recently got laid off. This is a family that is struggling to make ends meet but are a working family. They have just been allowed to rent an apartment from a rental company that was kind enough to let them live month to month. We are going to collect money to buy the kids Christmas presents, and me in my pea brain said "Oh a WII would be fun, uh, they don't have a TV? They don't have beds, linens, clothes....Jan they lost e-v-e-r-y thing. That really struck a cord with me...the saying "how would you feel if you lost everything.....and then got it all back?" What if you didn't? They don't have dishes, cookware, bathroom stuff. So if you have some extra things that you can part with, any furniture, any things, please stop by Bella Vita, Deb is a drop off spot for anything you can give. I have a cash box in the shop. The dad was called back to work, which is a good thing, but that doesn't begin to ease the stress of what they are up against. They live here on the south side of Milwaukee, the kids are still able to go the same school, so they are not totally uprooted from their routine, the school has helped them out also. So at this time of Thanksgiving, take time to really appreciate all we have and how some people have nothing and not because they aren't trying, just through bad luck. Think about if one day you lost everything!!!!

It's five in the morning?

Morning World, it was like I was the only person on earth this morning when we walked. No cars, no people, a light fog settled around the ground and a chill in the air. I am always on the lookout for animals but as long as I have lived here and walked here, all hours of the day, I have never seen a deer, I did see coyotes once and tons of racoons. I love seeing wildlife.
I have had a very busy weekend, the opera, catching up with friends I only get to see during deer hunting, dinner and more dinner. So today I am going to spin, and tomorrow I am going to clean...did I say that, did I actually verbalize that comment. I also need to take some photos, I need to shoot something, catch something in my lens, something to go awesome. Last week I took a bunch of photos only to find my camera set to indoor lighting also called Tungsten, they were all bluish, on one hand I can fix them but on the other, I caught something in the sky that I would not have seen if it had not been blue. So it worked out OK. If I don't take photos today, I will tomorrow. Iggy is not a good source, he is a brat and turns his head or squints his eyes. Well it's early I am on my second cup of Joe and playing Mai Jong....have a great day!!

Dancing Leaves

I love when we walk this time of year especially in the morning. This morning was a windy blustery Fallish day. I love to watch dancing leaves, they flip and twist like trapeze artists. Iggy chases them and picks them up in his mouth only to realize they must not be too tasty. I would love to see someone set music to dancing leaves, actually I bet if i went on you tube somebody has. The other fun thing to watch is plastic grocery bags, they can really put on a performance, twisting and puffing up and soaring high and then gracefully falling down only to be swooped up again by the wind. Simple pleasure I know.
Dear Hunters:
I know you have been making notes and plotting your trip for months now. I know you have your duffle bag packed your rifles sited in and pocket snacks carefully thought out. I know you are waiting for Friday after work to hit the road. I also know you are praying that the boss lets you go early because in Wisconsin, companies actually close for deer hunting season, due to lack of attendance.
I also know how much I yearned for Deer Hunting season so I could enjoy ME time, when my husband and his brothers would pack up and leave. So Dear Hunters it is a two fold excitement, You are excited to go and do some male bonding and woman are happy to see you go to lay on the couch and read a book, dine on mac and cheese and listen to some great music, shop and just be alone. So this next statement would void out any of the above, hence ruining the whole mystical event of deer hunting.
The deer are right here!!!
In the last month my encounter with deer has been more than I have ever seen while trapsing through the woods with my stiff coveralls on, picking up boots that weighed 10# each and trying to bend my knees with stiff fabric that was like cardboard, looking like an orange pumpkin and breathing like a dragon in heet. Not to mention holding my pee till my eyes turned yellow and freezing my fingers that if a deer did by chance meandor in site of me, I would not be able to pull the trigger anyway, they could wave at me and flip me off for all I could do. Then the intense fear that when you do see a deer, you have to look behind it and around it to be sure you have a sure firing path, so not to have to mount your neighbor on the roof of your car instead of that running deer. All while this poor deer is running for it's life. I used to hunt and I have shot a deer, well a unicorn, my first deer and it only had one antler???? I was teased endlessly for that one, but there again, the rules are....shoot only bucks......(check for horns).....know where your people are ....(check for a clear shot and overshot).....take the safety off.....(frozen fingers, manipulate that little button)......shoot before someone else does .....(I am in a line of 50 men?) and this deer is at full bore. So after, they told me to do the ritual cutting off of his male genitalia and swinging them around my head and whooping and hollaring, comes the gutting, which being fully prepared brought sugical gloves....LOL, right next to my wad of toilet paper.
So I have had the experience, or how about the one where I am hunting and decide to eat my lunch, put my gun next to me and open my little baggie with the salami and cheese sandwich and homemade cookies, turn to see the worlds largest buck getting up from his nap, about 10 feet "behind" me with a rack that would have made most men cry. Problem is I had food in my hand, deer, food, deer , food, well after that internal conversation all I could do is watch his butt run off into the woods, he wasn't going to wait to see the outcome of this thought process. I finished my sandwich...
I don't hunt anymore, I do but I use my camera and these were in Cousin Center on the lake, looking at me and caring less, they were safe. I quit hunting after I was driving on I-94 early one morning going to a show opening weekend. This deer was running for it's life across a corn field and it had this look of fear that I will never forget. That was an end to the era of my hunting. I am not hungry so I don't need the meat, I am content to catch them in my lens and enjoy their beauty.

Jiggle race to the checkout

I am not competitive, I don't care if I win, it is not important to me. I was walking into the grocery store and this woman walked a little faster, like maybe they were giving something away free. I walked a little faster, then she was cut off by an older woman and I kicked it into high gear (mind you me walking in high gear) passed her up and entered the store. Now i don't like grocery shopping, what was I thinking when I went shopping at after work time. So let the games begin....I am doing my usual strolling and putzing and here comes Speedracer doing speed shopping, swooping around your cart like we're on the Autoban and then slamming on the brakes, right next to another cart....Ok so now no one can go anywhere and then she gives a huff at the person on the other side of the jam that asked her very nicely to please move one way or the other. This is where I take a deep breath, put my 357 back in the holster and take a vallium. Just kidding, but my goodness, no one seems to have any manners any more. Then I am looking for Androille sausage so I ask the meat clerk, but this is how I pronounce it, "Excuse me sir, do you have Anjoulullie sausage, laughing and he says you mean Androille??? Well yes of course that is what I said you just didn't hear me correctly sir!!!! Ok so now I am on a soup kick, I am going to make soup, mmmmm a good thick stewy kind of soup. I have my cart filled with about $100.00 worth of soup ingrediants and then pass the deli counter and Oh they have that fresh soup that is so good and costs $7.95? Now what the heck am I thinking, I hate eatting the same thing for a week, and I am going to make a soup kitchen kettle of soup, then what throw it out???? So common sense kicked in and I now have two eatable containers of soup...... Sometimes I get smart!!!! Oh oh so I am on my way to the checkout and here comes ms. I'm gonna beat you to the checkout.....the hell you are, I kick in to quick steps and trying to look like I am not going to break into a run mode. This was the same woman trying to outrun me getting into the store, OMG, I just want to go home and play Mai Jong and eat soup!!!!

Belly Laughs

When was the last time you had a really good belly laugh. Someone made you laugh so hard and you had a really good hearty laugh. We had passport Saturday yesterday and Kelly had us laughing so hard. It sure makes you feel good to throw back your head and laugh. I think sometimes we live life so seriously and so intently we miss these moments. I really enjoy when we get together and knit, we exchange stories and life and share ideas. We did Mosaic knitting and my fear that it would be difficult was for nothing. Everyone did a great job and almost finished their projects while sitting there. I love how everyone helps each other with the little things. I love the "Oh I did that too" It is a time for us to learn and share and of course laugh.
I have been spinning alot trying to get some orders finished. I have new porcelain buttons coming in this week, they are beautiful. Lots of small changes in the shop and all for the better, some purgine and cleaning going on.
Today will be a day of spinning and watching the Packers, maybe I'll cook.....hhhhmmm nothing to cook...ok we'll have left overs then.

Getting younger and are there any ugly kids anymore???

When I was young we had some non pretty kids around. Not including acne, but just in general not really cute. Now it is hard to find a kid that you would say is really homely. I think they must have burned those genes out during the major drug age of the 60's??? and I went to lunch this afternoon and these managers are getting younger and younger. I thought about it and my SIL has a brother that owns I think 2-3 Dairy Queens and is only in his early 20's. He has been a kid that had his sights set on achieving business's and is quite successful. He started working when he was 13, and has not stopped. He has owned the cars of his dreams, bought a beautiful home and has two children and a lovely wife, they work together and bring the kids to work. So I guess I am just getting older...I know what a surprise. It is good though to see someone working hard to achieve their dreams rather than laying around thinking they are entitled!!! Back to work for me....

Catching up

The bills are finally paid, my phone is switched to RR, so ATT won't gouge me anymore, Iggy and I both got haircuts and I just have to do the bookwork for the shop and that is on my agenda for today. The Trunk show was a huge success and we had a lot of fun besides, time is so limited when you try to pack all kinds of stuff into it. Saturday night we had the "Wedding" dinner at the Serbs, my sons in laws and our whole family went. Then we were informed there will be lots of photos, well none of us are camera crazy. So now the games begin, the Massie fashion show. What to wear, well for me it's a no brainer I will put on one of my black uniforms (that is what I call my clothes) my brother on the other hand has Jeans, and that pretty much covers it. Jeans and a khacki top. So my son says just wear some khacki pants, what we used to call Dockers and a nice shirt. Scott goes into a fit and says "I'm a blue collared worker not a office worker?" eh Scott, I didn't say a tuxedo? So Cheryl was sent to task, find Bubba some decent clothes. She bought him some black dress pants and a nice gray shirt, he looked nice, other than the pants were too long and dragging but his comment was ....it will be dark? uh Scott, the Serbians live in a house with real lights....oh yeah. I told him he needs something kind of nice anyway, what if someone dies and he has to go to the funeral??? I'll wear jeans their dead and won't care anyway!!! you have a point there. So now we all get into the car and I can hear groans of uncomfortable dress clothes, I start to laugh, this is why I wear pajama like clothes all the time, comfort people....comfort. We went to the dinner and the food was wonderful, it went off with just a few moments and they will go down in the Serbs books. Mikes FiL reached across the table to propose a toast to Cheryl and she tried to take his shot of Cognac. He quickly recoiled and I injected "geez Cheryl if you want a shot just ask," we were all cracking up...and then there was bread and lots of it, home made warm bread, no butter. Scott was in a panic, where's the butter? so I asked the MIL , Butter for what??? uh Scott wanted it....LOL
Then we thought the roast pig would be warm, they always eat their meat cold??? I don't get it, but it is there custom. So Scott was not thrilled that he had hot bread, no butter and cold pork. Funny how we get so used to our way of doing things that any other way is "wrong"!!! It isn't wrong it is just different. We all carry over things we have done since child hood and they are not wrong, just different. A real good one is eatting Corn on the cob, That was our meal, maybe with beans, but corn was our main food, until I got married I thought everyone just ate corn on the cob for the meal. Where is the hamburgers/hot dogs???? Isn't corn enough???? So this is how it goes.....In a sense it is a tradition and as Americans we are losing tradition at an alarming rate. I don't have any traditions? We eat Indian Tacos for Thanksgiving, but that has been changed to family turkey,since no one travels anymore. I celebrate Christmas Eve, more than Christmas day, i love Christmas eve. After watching the Serbs and all of the rich tradition, we are losing so much, by not remembering something to take along.

Close Encounters and Congrats!!!

My son has been working on an Iphone app for about a year now. It started a lot longer ago, he was planning on an alarm clock that wakes you earlier if it is sleeting or snowy. It is in the future going to wake you up earlier if the weather is nice so you can ride your bike to work. It was hard to get someone to do a prototype and then alas, the Iphone. So he has been diligently working on this program and it has finally been accepted!!! So now you too can own an app that wakes you early if there is inclement weather, a great thing for us living in the North. My brother and I went and celebrated with them last night after we all got tweeted with the good news. On my way home, I was still reeling from the good news, and the huge coke I drank. I was on the main drag to my home and Iggy was resting on the passenger seat next to me, when suddenly like a dream, this huge buck walked in front of the car....I mean this bugger was as long as my car is wide and I slammed on the brakes, the dog hit the floor barking....and I bit the steering wheel. Holy Crap he was 10 feet in front of me and then gone....He was huge, enormous, I think it may have been a darn Moose!!! I have never been that close to hitting one and I usually see them on the sides of the road, this one snuck out from construction barrels and totally ignored the fact that my face was pressed against the windshield and the dog was smashed into the heat vents. I had to pull over after that and pull myself together or maybe it was to pull my hands off of the steering wheel and my foot off of the brake, not too mention almost relieving myself after that huge coke. It really took me a while to shake that scary feeling...
So Iggy and I both got defurred today, he looks funny and won't let me take a photo, the brat. Kim Leach is coming today and I made Julia Childs famous Boueff Boignainan...or something like that. It smells fabulous!!! Bon Appetite

Full Moon

Oh yes there is a full moon. Welcome Wackos!! I went to Spin In, what once was Wisconsin's main Fiber Festival Sunday. I had a good time but the whole event seemed depressed. Lots of sad faces and the energy was lacking. I loved Spin in, we used to travel to different little towns where the Guilds worked all year on making their Spin in the best ever. We would go to little towns, high school gym and the whole town seemed to join in, to make the event a smash!!! The pom pom girls or some sport group would have a bake sale, or with the helps of the moms sell hot dogs and chips for the lunches. It was great and some were better than others but it gave each Guild a chance to show what they have. We planned our weekend around it, I remember camping in Mishicot with my dad, son and a friend. It rained all weekend but we had a great time, soaking wet!! I visited area tourist traps and have such fond memories. I don't know if I have hit a wall or if it was just better when we all had a hand at making it work. I don't think I am the only one that is feeling this way. I miss the old Spin In....I also miss when fiber people were nice and cared about each other. I miss the fact that they all wanted each other to do well, there was no anymosity towards each other. Now it is so the opposite of the down home people it once was, it is corporate America, cutthroat and nasty. This one hates that one and that one hates the other one and God forbid you do well, no one wants to see that. I'm a little ashamed of this, what happened to the caring sincere fiber group?? Is it Cliques or Money??? I wish it was fun again, I also wish I was thin....I think I need to take off those darn rose colored glasses, this is the way it is now, I just don't understand.

Falling Back

Turn back your clocks, it's the mantra for us Midwesterner. Us Farmers that need to work during the daylight hours, to harvest our crops and make hay while the sun shines. No burning the Midnight oil....So since I turn the lights on with a switch now, it always makes me wonder why we are still doing this. Farmers use GPS to do thier field work these days, They don't even leave huge rocks or trees to navigate by anymore, the World has changed. I still wonder why we change the clocks. Is it too screw with our bodies? Is it to make this the longest week in life, till next year, the week that we drag ourselves through, slugging coffee and trying to make our bodies realize we gained an hour, kind of?? Seriously a week of clock watching...isn't it time to leave work yet? Am I late for, whatever? I love the trying to figure out the old time. "If it was 3:00 yesterday what time is it really today?" Did we loose and hour or gain an hour, I'm confused. In case you didn't know this, I woke up this morning at 4:30, I have no idea why, but I am wide awake and alert and refreshed. I am on my second cup of coffee and watching infommercials on TV. I have not bought anything as of yet but my willpower may be going down as the sun is coming up. I had to walk Iggy at 4:30 and 99% of our walks are uneventful and quiet. Iggy isn't a barker until it's 4:30am and people are sleeping. He was sniffing some bushes and something must have moved...of course it was something, it's 4:30 no one is up and milling about. He started barking his head off, all the shusshing in the world was not going to stop him. I was sure I was going to see lights going on in bedrooms all over the Village. As I drag him backwards up the hill, still shusshing, he was intent to keep looking back to find what it was that "moved". Ahhhh this is a great start to a new day!!! Now he is passed out on the couch and I am blogging it.