Sunday, December 27, 2009

Middle Age Blues

My husband would tell you they're caused by living with two women, one on each end of the hormonal flux. It really isn't my own aging that's getting me down. I'm fine. I just wish I could freeze time for everybody else. Gram passed away in October. Yes, she was 100. Yes, she had a good life. Yes, I was probably as prepared as you get for these things. BUT I still miss her every day and I didn't even see her anything like every day.

But what has me dwelling on the fragility of life today rather than back in October? The dog, who I did see every day. I admit that for the last few weeks, he's been a pain in the neck, barking for hours at a time, but I didn't know he was as ill as he was (and I probably still would have begrudged him the lost sleep, just maybe not as much). Jesse was 13 and also had a good life, but I'm still going to miss him, too.

I was there for Gram and for Jesse close to the end and I'm glad I got to say goodbye to both of them. They won't know, but I will.

They're not the only ones we've lost this year and my age peers seem to be going through the same thing now. I know I'm lucky to have had as much time with my loved ones as I have and I'm going to try to come back more often to this page to record some of those stories Gram told when she was with us in September.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Thoughts for the Day

On Customer Service: Every Interaction Matters - even the ones that never happen.

My daughter has a button that says "Question Authority."
I want one that says "Listen to the Answers".

Monday, March 23, 2009

New Haircut!


0323091851.jpg
Originally uploaded by gnaed1
That is all.

Monday, January 26, 2009

The ubiquitous BB gun story

This BB gun story happened to my husband and his brother and is a favorite with both of my children. Tony and Joe both had BB guns, but for some reason on this particular day Tony was using Joe's BB gun and he shot at something in the pond. Joe screamed that Tony had shot him in the stomach! Tony denied this hotly, declaring that he had shot the pond, not his brother, and to prove it, he fired again. He must have been an awfully good shot because he hit the exact same spot and the BB ricocheted once more off the surface of the pond and straight into his brother's stomach for the second time.

Note: Joe just had a red stomach, no serious damage. It was, after all, a BB. And the significance to the fact that it was Joe's BB gun is now apparent. Joe never told on his brother because they would have taken away Joe's gun, a fact that was very quickly pointed out to him by his loving brother.

We refer to this incident as "The time your father shot his brother in the stomach - twice!"

Saturday, January 24, 2009

New Car!


0124091708.jpg
Originally uploaded by gnaed1
Isn't it purty?

Thursday, January 22, 2009

The Rabid Fox Story

After my father swore it was mostly true, I figured I'd better tell the promised Rabid Fox Story. When my father and his brother, Harold, were middle sized boys of indeterminate age, they found a dead fox in the barn at the Old Simon's Place. Well, you can't pass up an opportunity like a dead fox just lying there at your feet, so they quite naturally dragged said fox into the Old Simon's Place itself and arranged it just so behind a door on the second floor. One does have to admire their willingness to work hard for a joke.
Then they went in search of "the girls," otherwise known as Carolyn and Marilyn, and invited them to go with them to explore the aforementioned empty house. Now, one would think the girls should have been highly suspicious of this offer, but they were apparently bored enough to fall for it. As they walked through the fields toward the house, the boys regaled the girls with tales of rabid foxes and the horrible death that would surely befall anyone unlucky enough to come face to face with one (complete with raving madness, horrific pain, and lots of foaming at the mouth, no doubt).
They all entered the house together and climbed the stairs. Once the girls were entirely inside the chosen room, the boys closed the door and screamed "Fox! Fox!" I am told that the girls broke land speed records getting out of the room, the house, and across several acres of fields to get back home while their brothers laughed their asses off.

I'll edit this with appropriate details as the kibbitzers provide them - like whether or not they left the fox there to rot in the room.
Note: Dad read this over and I added "Old Simon's Place". He tells me there may have been more partners in crime, but since he wasn't positive, I allowed them to remain nameless to protect the possibly but not probably innocent.