Good Times With The Moo

As I said in Monday’s blog, the entire week I was in Fresno was a good one, full of many positives and many things to be thankful for. As for the title of this blog, one of Lia’s many nicknames is ‘Missy Moo’ or sometimes just ‘the Moo’.

Aside from the joy of just being there and playing with Lia, my main side agenda was to find shoes for the wedding. I have humongeous ‘special’ feet that require a certain type of shoe and Walmart and Payless just wasn’t cuttin’ it…SO…I deemed it appropriate to go to a REAL shoe store and get some decent shoes. There was a SAS shoe store in Fresno and I had gone online and knew the style I was going for. They had just what I wanted. They even had a sale going on, so I got the black dress shoes I wanted PLUS a nice white dressy sandal for the summer. It still put me back over $200, but I expect to wear these shoes for a long time to come. AND THEY’RE COMFORTABLE!! In the future, I’ll need to get another pair of black shoes for winter wear, but now that I know of the existence of that store, I can save up for the next shopping trip.

The other big agenda I had was trying to find some neighbor kids for Lia to play with. The last time I was down there, we had gone on a walk and I noticed some kids playing in one of the yards down the street. They weren’t there this trip, but down another street, I noticed some kids and an older adult playing hide and seek. Lia and I walked down there and it turned out that the grandma watched the 2 kids in the mornings. We introduced ourselves and chatted a bit and then I had to get Lia home for lunch. That evening, Sarah went over with us to meet the mom. The next day we went there a bit earlier and Lia had the time of her life with these kids. The girl is almost 3 and the boy is almost 5, so Lia fits right in the middle at 4. Unfortunately, that was the last play time while I was there. The next time we went over, they had something else going on, and after that Lia developed an ear infection and wasn’t able to go out for the next couple of days. So hopefully, Sarah will be able to keep the connection going.

Since next week is Holy Week, and then after Easter Marv and I are going to Virginia for Paul and Anne’s wedding, this will be the last blog until April 20^th. I’m sure I will have lots to write about when I get back!

So until then, God’s blessings to all. Happy Easter. Christ is alive!!

Thankful/Positive 3/18 to 3/24

Obviously, this whole last week was non-stop thankfulness to be with my precious granddaughter. I cannot praise God enough for the wonderful gift of this child. There’s really nothing more I have to say. I’ll share the general stuff on Friday.

AAAaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!*

OK. I don't have anything here. Very hectic, as usual, but rewarding as well. As usual.

Lia starts pre-school in the fall, so visits 'up north' and 'down south' will reflect that new scheduling. This time right now with her is very precious. The milestones will start coming faster. I want to be as much a part of it as I can.

So Monday's blog will contain a bit more, as will next Friday's. And for extra bonus points** for some lucky reader, SUGGEST some topics for me to talk about! Either comment on this blog, or leave me a comment or message on Facebook. I'm open to ANY*** subject!

Catch ya on Monday! ♥☺

* I have been "with child" all week and couldn't get a real post together!
** Bonus points not worth anything, just 'bragging rights'
*** Any subject that I approve of....

Thankful/Positive 3/11 to 3/17

Awesome find last Monday! I went downtown to get something from the Christian bookstore, only to find that it had gone out of business several months before. But that's not the awesome part...in it's place was a WONDERFUL shop called Re-Stored. Proceeds go to charity, they had a rad Christian music station playing, the decor was inspiring AND...amongst the "gently used" things were 2 books (1 sci-fi, 1 mystery) a butterfly ring and the cutest little moon chair for Lia. I was so stoked that I went from there to the Lighthouse Mission thrift store and found a cute little porcelain cup for Lia and a Corningware casserole dish WITH LID!! WOWSERS!!

The week ended by going down to Fresno. Can't ask for more than to be with my Lia...details on Friday....

Hanging Out The Laundry

My grandparents lived with us from the time I was 4 years old until they passed away. My mom always had a job, so everything I know about being a housewife and mother I learned from Grandma. She came through the Depression, so she was a very frugal woman. Her constant motto was, “Waste not, want not.”

Unless it was raining or it was winter, we ALWAYS hung laundry out on the line. Didn’t matter if it was a bed sheet or a dress shirt. It went on the line. And I have to admit that I really loved the smell of linens after being outside. Having to iron all the clothes was not my favorite…

And even when we did use the clothes dryer, Grandma would set it on a minimum number of minutes and then take the clothes out. If the regular clothes were a bit damp, all the better for ironing them right away. Everything else was draped over stuff or laid out on a bed to finish drying. And that’s what I learned. You put the dryer on a set number of minutes, and then drape the damp stuff out to finish. That’s just how it was done. It never occurred to me to put more time on the dryer…

When we were first married, the house we lived in had a clothesline in the back yard. It needed new line, and I made sure Marv took care of that so I could do the laundry properly. And I did enjoy the peace of being outside and hanging laundry. Over time, though, I started to revise my ways. Linens, towels, underwear and socks still went on the line. Regular clothes went in the dryer. I might still have to drape some of them, but for the most part they were dried in the dryer.

When we moved to our present house, there was no line in the back yard. I was nonplussed at that and asked Marv to put in a line. There was one in the garage near where we would be putting the washer and dryer, but it wasn’t nearly long enough to hang a load. With all that’s involved in setting up in a new house, the line didn’t get put in as soon as I wanted. So I was forced to do most of the drying in the dryer. Socks and underwear would fit on the inside line, but not linens or towels. As time went on, I became quite used to putting ALL the clothes in the dryer. And if they were a bit damp when I checked on them, I put more time on the dryer. Finally Marv got around to asking me where I wanted the line put in the backyard. I found I no longer wanted one. The one in the garage was suitable for the little amount of line drying needed.

In the 36 years we’ve live here, there have been maybe 2-3 times that the drying conked out on me in the middle of doing laundry. I know it happened once in the summer, and I had to drape clothes all over lawn chairs in the back yard. When it happened in winter, I had to drape clothes all over furniture in the house. Stuff that I could put on a hanger was easy to deal with. Sheets and towels were harder. But all in all, I don’t really miss having an outside line. Just once in a while though, on a summer day, it would be nice to bring in bed sheets smelling like sunshine. And yes, you can get that “springtime fresh smell” from fabric softener, but it’s just not the same.

Thankful/Positive 3/4 to 3/10

Well, last week started with Marv at the ER with what we thought might be kidney stones, but thankfully wasn’t. Still a few problems, but he’s dealing with them.

The week ended when we made our annual trip to get our taxes done, and found that we will get a little money back. Not enough to pay off the credit card for the trip to Virginia, but every little bit helps, and we’re grateful for that. Our custom after getting our taxes done is to go out for a nice dinner at Black Angus. And it’s always a wonderful dinner. We can relax and know we did our duty to “render unto Caesar…” Although it would be nice if Caesar wasn’t so darn greedy…

30 Days of Pictures - Day 8

A picture of the cast from your favorite show

I really struggled with this one. There was Psych, one of my current favorites. What’s better than the bromance between crazy Shawn and the bit more practical Gus? Then there was Scrubs, with the bromance between JD and Turk. And the entire cast of that show was outstanding. Great stories too. But when push came to shove, it was 3rd Rock From the Sun. Hands down. From the very first episode, I was in love with the entire cast.

It was fun watching Tommy grow up. Harry was ALWAYS a hoot. Sally the Amazon could take ANYone in a fair fight. Or an unfair one… And Dick was always, well, Dick. Who could argue against that? And his love for Mary Albright was a constant amidst the continual craziness.

The ones missing from the picture:

Nina. Sensible Nina. Puts up with it all and carries on.

Mrs. Dubcek! What a wonderful woman! Chain-smoking, questionable fashion sense, deep voice. Awesome!

Officer Don. His love for Sally was another constant. I think he was the sanest of the whole group, which made things hard for him at times.

One of the things I enjoyed the most was the sense of ‘family’ among the 4 aliens. They really did watch each others’ backs and cared for each other. And I loved how the episode would usually end with them all out on the roof overhang in the evening, reflecting on things. And I LOVED THE LIGHTS!!! The idea of stringing Christmas lights for an outside setting was amazing to me. And sometimes the lights would change from just normal Christmas ones to other designs. Then I started seeing all theses different designs in mail-order catalogs. I REALLY wanted strings of different kinds of lights to have outside!! Of course, there wasn’t anywhere I could’ve put them…our backyard isn’t conducive to that sort of decorating. But I still wanted them!! I’ve seen all sorts of lights for different holidays, as well as just plain decoration. I even bought a set of butterfly ones for Sarah’s first apartment. Those are now in Lia’s room.   

And now it’s over. The aliens have gone back to be subject to the Big Giant Head, and Earth is just a little bit saner and less funny.

But I have the entire series on DVD!!!! WOOT!!!

 

Thankful/Positive 2/26 to 3/3

Last week’s highlight was a workshop that Paula and I went to at a craft store in Chico. It was a class showing us how to make a mini recipe book. It took 3 hours, which was longer than I thought it would take, but WOW! it was fun! Just a bunch of gals having a good time. The book turned out great, and will make a nice present for my almost daughter-in-law.

And of course, since we were already in Chico, Paula and I had to do some shopping! This time it was just going to Winco, but I always enjoying hanging around with Paula. And we got chocolate covered banana chips in the bulk section! YUM!!

It's All About Davy

I loved Davy Jones. I mean, I REALLY loved Davy Jones. After all, I’d had many crushes over the years, starting with Timmy Martin on Lassie. But Timmy wasn’t a real person, he was an actor playing Timmy. Davy was REAL. And I was so much more mature by the time Davy came into my life: 13 years old! That’s practically a WOMAN!! We had the same initials: DJ...Davy Jones/Dorothy Jackson. We both were born in December. We were even the same height at that time: 5’3”. (I got a little taller later on; Davy didn’t)

I watched the show; I had all the albums; I had Davy posters all over my walls (and ceiling-wink, wink) and just KNEW that someday we would marry…

And then came the issue of either Tiger Beat or 16 where it was revealed that Davy was MARRIED. Oh, the pain! The betrayal! I had been SUCH a FOOL!

The posters came down. But they were in a file where I could look at them once in awhile and bemoan my innocence. He was so lovely…so very lovely…

I got over the pain. I still loved the music. I watched some of the reruns on Comedy Central and marveled at the cheesiness and juvenile humor, but still enjoyed the fact that they were clean episodes. I still loved Davy.

He appeared in a free show at the fairgrounds in Chico several years ago, as the opener for Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits fame. Marv has always known of my “Davy crush” and insisted that we go. Sad to say, Davy was NOT at his best at that show. I was very disappointed and I think the last vestige of the “crush” disappeared that night, but the memory of the love remained. (BTW—Peter Noone was AWESOME!! Had the whole audience singing “Henry the VIII” at the end of the evening!)

And now Davy is gone. But I’m STILL his “Daydream Believer.”

xoxoxo ♥ Davy  (30 December 1945--29 February 2012)

PS. I forgave you long ago for being married…I just wish I hadn’t chucked those posters when I cleaned my room out prior to getting married. *sigh*