Graduation Days

Today I am going to a graduation party. I wanted to make a card, something special that would include money. I hate to just give money. I have been mulling this over and nothing was coming to me, no ideas, no flashes, no great interventions. So here I sit, I decided to look up some sayings and came across this one.

During my second year of nursing school our professor gave us a quiz. I breezed through the questions until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"Surely this was a joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times, but how would I know her name I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before the class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our grade. "Absolutely," the professor said. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello. "I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.
Joann C. Jones

It is so true, we walk/run through life and never even engage in conversation with people. You see people walking together, each on their cell phones?? Dining out and checking emails, FB and Farmville. We are losing sight of things. My parents told me that you regard everyone as an equal, and NO job is demeaning, wether you clean toilets or are a Dr. you are working and that is to your credit. You are a human being and deserve that respect, say Hi, just be nice. You are no better than them, added to this was my dad saying, in his crude but true wisdom, "They shit just like you do" Think about that though, we are all the same, really. We all have the same bodily functions even if we are Dr.s , Lawyers, the President, when it comes down to it, we are no better, bottom line. Take away all of your store bought items and standing naked, no one would be able to tell if you have money or not, well now adays someone might have a tighter face, bigger boobs and no cellulite it's true. Why then do we feel we can't say hi to the bathroom attendant, the kid busing tables at a restaurant. I remember working in office buildings downtown, I was cleaning the air handling units in some office buildings and these were room size air units. I knew what I was in for so I wore a bandana on my hair and long sleeves to climb into these units to clean out the black dirt. We had to wear safety glasses to keep your eyes protected. I crawled out and into the hall and my partner started laughing at me, I took off my glasses and that was the ONLY white part, I was filthy dirty and all sooty. I went to use the restroom and an office worker came in while I was washing my hands and said "they couldn't pay me enough to get THAT dirty" I am a woman......I replied with," you don't get paid as much as I do and for the money I am making I can buy a lot of soap. " I looked around and in this beautiful office high up mucky muck bathroom, some High paid woman took wet wads of toilet paper and threw them on the ceiling. I never saw that kind of filth in the port a potties we used on construction sights. Why did she think she was better than me? To this day it makes me giggle, besides I like to get dirty. Take time to acknowledge someone...in a positive way.

Just Beautiful

I am not a green thumb, I don't know why unless the dirt in front of the shop is super growing soil, my flowers are superb!!! They are growing like crazy, my clematis is huge and beautiful and I keep taking photos of them and they all of course look alike but I love looking into their faces and really seeing what is inside of the flower. Lisa has Iris's that are just gorgeous, that is another intriguing flower to me, it is like looking into a tunnel of tissue paper. I am in love with them all. I just like to look at them and photograph them....natural beauty. I never was too fond of geraniums till I went to Quebec, and they looked so quaint in the window boxes and pots everywhere, I had to have them.....I love flowers. I love this weather too!!! Have a great weekend.

Viking Knitting

Wow, I had Sandy Bulgrin teach a class on Viking Knitting....she is an awesome teacher and thought of everything to bring including a garbage bin. It was a great class and I am excited for the next one, we made the bracelet above. It is easy and you finish the project and wear it home. Everyone was admiring their wrists as they left the shop. What is so cool is even if it looks kind of funky on the dowel it looks great after you draw it. Those my friends are all Viking terms....Thanks Sandy!!!! She is going to teach two more of the classes with one almost full already!!! She is also planning a beaded Kumihimo class on a Saturday, I need to get a photo of this. So not much new here, I have been spinning quite a bit, and eating fuzz too.

Turn on the lights

I know timers can be great, for putting a TV to sleep shortly after you go to sleep, for turning off lights and lots of things but tell me one reason you would use a timer for shutting off the air conditioning??? I went to bed kind of early after a day of doing nothing, but painting my nails/toenails, uhm that's pretty much it, oh watching all of this seasons Tudors...uhhhh, getting a few groceries. I guess that kind of day makes me tired. So I have the air on but I am hot, sweating hot, so in the dark I find the remote for the airconditioner and start pushing buttons till I find the one lowering the temp, this wall unit has Cool, Dry, Air, fan speed, and a timer I found out. I sleepily crawl back into bed and just start dozing off with the comforter pulled to my chin and it quits??? The air quits, I first check the clock to see if we lost electricity but it was still solid and bright? I get up and turn it back on again, go back into bed and fall sound asleep, only to wake up to sweatfest, no air. I get up crabby now as ever grab the remote and hello Jan turn on the lights to see what the heck I was doing, sure enough it was on timer??? Now please what reason would you have to turn on the air, to make it nice and cool and then turn it off in the midst of sleeping??? If it were cool enough to do that I wouldn't have turned it on????? Now I learned to turn on the lights before I pull that one again. I am going to take a nap.

Beware checks in the Mail

Does the government try to make you crazy??? Every month I pay my use tax, this is the tax you give me when I sell you something. State of Wisconsin wants their money and they have a website to do this. If you have ever done anything on a Wisconsin State website you will know that it is a bumbling mess. I try to navigate through it without pulling my hair out, but I guess I am a nimrod? I got two checks in the mail from the State of Wisconsin??? It was for Use tax, this should not be...I call and wait a reasonable 20 minutes, with the parrot, our first available representative will take care of you in order of calls.......Hi my name is Carrie, can I help you??? uh yeah I was sent money and I don't think I am supposed to get this money...Ok.....
So I guess, I filed but missed putting my name as the preparer and then when you get to the bottom you have to click on approve and I forgot when I get to the bottom I have to go back to the top of the page and reenter my password and then scroll to the bottom of the page and click OK and then ....so they sent me the money I paid back and now I have to pay again and send the money back so they can credit my account and pay me back again????? Yeah....I will not forget to play ping pong with my mouse again and bounce up and down on a page, entering here and then here and then here and kill me now...I already hate bookwork.

Bucket Lists and Old friends

I didn't know what you call it when you are 14 years old but I had a list of things I wanted to do in my life. One was ride a bike and deliver newspapers throwing them on porches, the other was to pump gas at a station. Those were two outstanding things on my list and I did both of them. The first one I did in Illinois helping my cousin deliver papers, it was fun and I wasn't a bad throw either. The second I did when my best friend wanted to get laid by her boyfriend that worked at a Martin station. At the time I didn't quite get that term and I don't know how much she really did, I was rather naive about that. I was a great excuse, she could do anything as long as she was with me, she was pretty, sexy and I was .....me. I was the excuse, not that she was ever under any curfew, and I didn't know what she was doing. My dad called her a slut, but she wasn't like that around me, but knowing what a bad judge of character I am and how good of one my dad was, I am now sure he was right. She always had boyfriends, I always got her car. She had a Road Runner, gold with a white roof, she would go with her boyfriend and I got her car?? Sounded good to me, so I must have been 16 and we had to meet this guy at the gas station where he worked, he was a cutie and he really liked Julie, so much so he left me in charge of the station while they went " somewhere" I probably thought they were just riding around??? duh!!! He had a friend Al that they kept trying to set me up with, Al had frizzy hair and black glasses and the farthest thing from my ideal date. I had excuses for that one too. So while they were out "riding around" gas stations at the time were full service, so I got to be a gas jocky for a few hours, it was always something I wanted to do. So time after time I think of Julie, and I did see her a time or two after graduation and she always had elaborate stories of driving a semi truck across country??? I think what she meant was driving to truck stops across Country and another time she stopped at my house, I was kind of shocked, she had two kids and I may have been having a rummage sale or just moving in??? Today I saw her and her mom, she still looks the same, now she raises horses and either owns or keeps 30 of them on their farm. She is married and all she said about her kids is they are grown and she has two grandchildren. I didn't have much to say to her, but my mind floated back to high school and our friendship, she had a nice car!!!!!!

Going to miss you Uncle Ray

If you had ever wanted to be entertained and laugh till your sides hurt, you should have met my Uncle Ray. He is my dad's brother and they were two opposites. My dad was more reserved and quiet while my Uncle was the center of attention. He could tell stories and make you laugh really hard. If by chance you made him laugh, he would start knee slapping and you could get caught in the slapping action and or mugging if you sat too close to him. He ran a campground in Rome, Wisconsin for years and worked for the City of West Allis for many more before that. Everybody liked him, everybody knew him, he was that kind of guy. He lived life to the fullest, and when his diabetes started getting out of control his legs bothered him the most. He wanted to go fishing in the pond where he was living in a Senior home, so off he went with his scooter and fishing pole and set off some sort of alarm and the employess thought he was escaping??? He thought that was quite a story. I could always count on a hug from him after my dad died. Somewhere I have recordings of him and dad talking about their childhood, I am going to have to find them and make some copies, besides it would be great to hear my dad talking after all of these years. I'm going to miss you Uncle Ray!!

Great Weekend!!!

What a great weekend!!! The weather held out for our Mothers Day Art show and we had a huge turnout!!! Chris the jeweler did an awesome job of setting it up and getting some good vendors in here. Saturday, I had a little visitor to the shop and he and his sister take great pride in rearranging the sheep in the shop, but funnier yet was one of the sheep, has rockers on it, and I found this!!! He is so cute and right after I took this shot, Iggy of course had to sit right in front of him for his shot. So I planned on taking my mom out for Mothers day dinner and I had called her and told her that early in the day, at 4pm when I closed I left to go pick her up and tried to call her....and call her and call her every five minutes till I gave up...and went home. She called at 5 and asked what we were going to do???? I asked her where she was??? Oh I went to get the mail....really mom, what did you do all day??? nothing?? and you had to get the mail at 4pm when I was going to pick you up???? We cancelled and will go this week sometime unless she has to get the mail....LOL

Memories

Sometime we only have memories and the strangest things sometimes set them off. My dad's favorite brother is dying, my dad has been dead for over 20 years, I miss him, and when I would see or talk to my Uncle it gave me a reassurance of my dad. They were two very different men, my dad was always doing stuff with us kids and was very much a family man, my Uncle liked doing stuff with his friends and was more selfish that way. My Uncle was an extrovert and my dad was shy, and quiet, he was slow to anger but then it would be over, he never held a grudge. I used to love when my Aunt and Uncle would stop over, my Aunt wore high heels and Uncle Ray would wear a suit, it was very 50's ish. I would gaze upon them in envy of being an adult. My Aunt has passed quite a few years ago, she was my favorite Aunt, and now my Uncle is dying. Diabetes runs rampant in my dad's side of the family. All of my Uncles, and one Aunt have diabetes and four of them dyed because of complications of it. My grandparents were literally taken piece by piece by diabetes, a foot, a calf and leg, treatment has come a long way but it is still a devastating disease. They are not doing dialysis on my Uncle any more and he should die within the week, it is plain as that, a fact, a week. Now we wait. All the calls have been made, but nothing will prepare the family for the final call. My dad came to visit Uncle Ray about a week ago, my dad and my Aunt Marian, my Uncle told his daughter they were there, they are waiting, maybe this is a premonition. My dad had told me his Mom and dad came to visit him about a week before he died. Maybe this is the way to make dying less scary, fear of the unknown. Being reunited with loved ones that left ahead of you. So we wait...I am sad, it will hurt it is our loss, but he will be out of misery, and with his family. He will be telling jokes and making stupid balloon animals, riding some sort of motorized ATV or cycle or hunting, fishing. He will be home.

Finger Aerobics

At noon today is or was sign up for SOAR, which is a spinning retreat and it will be in Delavan this year. I was talked into taking a class by a friend. Being a Judith McKenzie junkie, I signed up for her class. I had the fastest fingers you can imagine and after wading through the "do you want to's and the would you likes" I am signed up. It is in October so it is something to look forward to of course. So if you plan on taking a Workshop you better hurry and register

Daily Laugh

This morning on our walk, we pass the light sign which has removable letters on it. From time to time the letters get rearranged which amazes me that these kids can be so creative in a timely manner. So this morning our sign read " Mother's Day Fart Air" it made me laugh, uhm yes it should say Mother's day Art Fair!!!!! Then along the way is a row of Apple trees and they are in full bloom, they smell and look so beautiful I always take a moment to just soak up their beauty and study their Artwork. Meanwhile my furry friend is sniffing the treemail and leaving his notes. I had a great two days off, Sunday I watched old movies, and Monday I got the errands done for the week. I am taking an online photography class and it has assignments which I actually look forward to. I sent them in and am awaiting my final results. I love having homework, (only when I love what I am doing do I love homework) It makes me do something I may not have done otherwise. It challenges our brain and who doesn't need some brain arousal. Well I am off to do some spinning so I can send it off for sale. Enjoy this beautiful day!!!

I need to vent!!

I was watching the protests on TV for illegal immigration....Ok, first off, it is called ILLEGAL immigration, there a millions of immigrants here legally. I understand you have to do paperwork and wait to get a green card but so did the people on Ellis Island, they were subjected to body searches, if they coughed they were sent back. They were scrutinized and questioned and quaranteend. I am watching these people protesting in Spanish??? How can we be educated on their protests if I can't understand what they are saying???? I have a pet peeve with the fact that they have a sign saying in plain English "Drivers License for All" really?????? Why???? Yes I had drivers education in school but my son had to earn enough money to pay for his Drivers Ed outside of school. If he couldn't afford the education he certainly could not afford a car or gas money let alone insurance. Driving is a Priviledge not a right, where do people get off having every darn thing handed to them and then to say you are here illegally???? A man came on and said through a translater that he is a welder and got hurt on the job and the Workers Comp called immigration because he is illegal. His family will suffer if they deport him. What were you thinking????? Of course they will suffer, you are doing something ILLEGAL. File your paperwork, learn English follow the rules of a Country, or go back to the Country you are calling home. I do understand racial profiling and that is not an acceptable process, but saying that, I have seen many blond haired Spanish speaking people. I believe if, like the welder you are busted then you should be deported, not breaking down doors and seeing if "your papers are in order" My grandfather came here from Yugoslavia, he had to learn English, even more interesting was when he married my grandmother a native in this Country she lost her citizenship and she too had to apply to become a citizen. They were proud of being in America, they did what they had to do to become American Citizens. They were embarrassed that they spoke a foreign language and worked hard to speak English. There were no road signs and advertising in any other language but English. If I travel 5 miles from me to a specific area I cannot read the ads on billboards, if I go into the stores in that area, they play Music in a language I can't understand???? When did I cross the border??? Why am I a natural born citizen shut out in my own Country. I am miffed at these going ons. I can think of a list of things I would like to do that are illegal, if I do them should I be punished???? Why? It would hurt my family?? Why do I have to follow the law??? Why do any of us have to follow the rules??? I say we all protest the fact that Illegal is a stupid word and we should be able to do whatever we want!!! A free for all , no rules no prisons,
Things I want to do illegally
Speed, I want to go as fast as I can anywhere I want
Shoot my gun, up in the air, at squirrels off of my back porch,
Rob a bank so I have lots of money
Park my car anywhere I want
Have no insurance on anything sucking my accounts dry
Drink and Drive
Shoplift, If I want something why can't I just take it?
Live in a camper on the beach, what you think it would disrupt the beauty of a beach???? a trailer park?
When does being illegal stop??? Go get your papers and then you avoid the problem. Many millions of people have followed the rules and are living here and enjoying America.....I am not just speaking of Hispanic people either, it was just that they were on TV, it is all immigrants, from all Countries.
Ok I'm done, is it just me???