The newest member of our family...Clancy

I know you have been wondering when or if I would get another dog after Mason died. It only took a few weeks. Meet Clancy our newest member. Can I just tell you that in the past we have been very lucky in picking a very laid back dog/puppy. Let me be the first to assure you that this time we might have gotten our comeupance! This little guy is a pistol and I will be enrolling him in obedience school as soon as I can catch him!

Shopping with my husband or how I ended up with Orthopeadic shoes-

I will admit that I love to whine.

Sometimes it is just a past time or to see if anyone will listen....but mostly I do it to annoy the husband.....especially if it is about something I know he knows something about.

Truly, I am ok with that.

I have plantar fasciitis..it comes and goes.
He knows something about this....all those years of education I guess!!!
Usually, it is not so bad.
...but I have been wearing some very pretty shoes that aggravate it so after church yesterday we went shoe shopping together(what ??? you thought that crack of lightning was all about the weather??? think again!!)
We went to a place that specializes in
1) Very expensive shoes
2) VERY UGLY SHOES
3) Very comfortable shoes
4) Fits orthotics
Just where you want to go and buy shoes-if you are a retired nun with gnarly feet and need those lovely orthopeadic shoes

Here is a picture of what he thought I might wear:
http://www.drewshoe.com//default.aspx?page=sc_detail&pid=20

we finally compromised on these:

http://www.kumfs.com/foot+care+&+orthotics/orthotic+capable+shoes?cid=566
(Look at the picture--it is called a santorini)

Actually, they are pretty comfortable....considering he dissed over 40 pairs of shoes I am happy I am not wearing the nun shoes..although I have been told "you don't follow directions well"
Duh ---really???
and this is new news????

so, I was quite happy just complaining...

Really.

.....but I will let you know if it helps with my plantar fasciitis

Not my sister---really

Here are the 2 girls who are not related.
(This was taken after Thanksgiving dinner.)
(The "Not my sister "award )
Aren't they adorable?
They really could be sisters but will have
to settle for being cousininlaws!
Not a bad deal.

A thought for Thanksgiving

I am shamelessly stealing this from Derailed.

Thank you.


http://www.inspiringthots.net/movie/life-on-train.php

Anthropomorphizing

So, the new dog did not last after he decided that my husband would be a good lunch/dog chew. Back to where he started.....happiest dog I ever saw when he saw his original owner(who has him BACK on the lab adoption page.. go figure).....still looking for a new dog but guess a puppy will have to be considered.......

some people have NO CLUE as to how to train and raise a safe and happy dog.....

LISTEN UP PEOPLE.....dogs ARE NOT and I repeat NOT -anthropomorphic(capable of having people feelings).......They are dogs that deal better when they know the pack rules....not people rules......

I don't care if you think your dog has people feelings.....
go read a few books about dogs......The Monks of New Skete, The Kohler method of dog training, DOG OBEDIENCE......
and then we will have a conversation.

Sheesh....you'd think I was trying to balance the national budget talking to some people who see NO NEED to take their dog to obedience school.....and then the new baby comes along and a painful lesson is learned and doggy has to go away cause doggy is trying to establish a pack rule.....NOT people rules.

ok...go enjoy your turkey day while I go and let go of dog owners who do not live up to my standards.

It is so hard to be right when no one listens.

Might not keep the dog but THIS is a keeper!!

My little great niece...dressed as a lady bug.....isn't she the cutest thing ever??!!!
SHE is a keeper!!

A new dog --maybe

I am thinking of NOT keeping the dog we have from www.labadoption.org
---Denver--he is not quite what we have in mind.
I will know after his trial period....which is 2 weeks.

NOt that I am trying to replace Mason....but Denver is not a Mason.

Seems to be a little more nervous for a lab than I like.


We will see.

Yoga or what was I thinking?

Yogs....something I have thought about for awhile. I have sisterinlaws that teach it, do it, love it. A Daughter that thinks it is a great way to stay flexible.....for someone that is old and out of shape..she likes it for the strength training. And friends that swear by it.

Okay, the downward dog, plank, cobra....all seems like greek to me still. I am in this class with young women who have taken yoga before so I am like a project for the teacher. She says something and I just look at her.....In reality I am trying to decide if I really want to try that pose or just pretend that I did. My neck is not liking yoga all that much. So I am careful about the positions I put my neck in.
They just think I am being old and can't do it.....while that is sorta true....Really I am just considering whether it is worth it or not to try.

I will say, that the first time I walked into class and there were no overhead lights on and mood music playing...I was a bit taken aback..I have gotten used to it now with the lights on in the corner. I have even gotten used to the teacher talking about finding my center and breathing and all of that...but I guess the bottom line is this....

Type A personality not withstanding....I have a heck of a time relaxing and doing the peaceful thing....
Just not my personality.
I will continue to try it for a while yet. The daughter is sure it will grow on me...

Let's just say......I don't think so.... but I am willing to give it another shot...
but I don't think yoga is my friend.....but I can totally see why yoga/pilates would be a neurosurgeons friend!!

a few special moments

I am blessed with wonderful nieces and nephews. I know most of them pretty well but I know the ones my kids age the best. I have had some very memorable moments with some of them.

To name a few:

DC- Gave me a book mark he made in grade school because he knew I read alot and thought I could use one and I was/am? his favorite aunt...... It is a beautiful pink flower between 2 pieces of contact paper. I still have it in my nightstand all these years later and everytime I see it, I smile.

D- who, in the middle of his parents divorce, wrapped his arms around me and told me he was glad he had an aunt who loved him as much as I did (that made me cry--we were at Michigania for the first time without his dad)

E-who had vacationed with me while recovering from surgery on her knee and was always VERY gracious when everyone took us for mother and daughter...but the most special was being invited to go with her and her mom to find a wedding gown for her.......how fun and fabulous and special.

T- my dad used to bring him and his brothers up to me while he(my dad) would do boy scout camping with one of my sons and his middle brother. This left him here with the younger cousins being the big helper and he HATED my cooking but ate it anyway....knowing that papaw would stop at McDonalds for him as soon as they were on their way home. He and E would also get together and play their violins for me.....Lovely. But the most special is when I played the piano for his wedding and I could see the faces of the bride and groom and when they pronounced them husband and wife, he looked at his bride and told her how much he loved her....I cried and was unable to play the recessional well because of my tears.

M-Has had to put up with looking the most like my oldest son and all the times they were together growing up, being mistaken for mine and having to listen to his aunt rant at him until I realized he really wasn't the kid I needed to be yelling at-not that mine needed that much yelling...... He would just smile and shake his head and go on and hope I wasn't cooking healthy for dinner.

J-My bowling buddy-not!!...but give me a few minutes alone with him to convince him I am really NOT that competitive (I did mention I was on the bowling honor roll at my bowling alley, didn't I )











---and we will then roll a few. He has taken the high road on this due to the advice of his dad......but I remember him with my dad going to the caves(mamouth cave in Kentucky) and him grasping my hand really hard and assuring me he really wasn't afraid to go in....really....

So I am lucky to have had these moments with all of them. Mostly they all agree that if there is information to be gotten, I am the one to do it. Of the 2 that are married.....and the one that is engaged.....I know they had a lot to say about me before I met any of them...

something about me being a bit intimidating...or was that BLUNT??


the "Aunt 20 questions" took me back a bit. ...but I have managed to live with that.

(I guess they really don't realize that if they love 'em, I love 'em; if they hate 'em, I hate 'em.)

Go figure.....I just thought I was being friendly....

A bowling team name?

Most of you know that I bowl.

and I LOVE it.

So much so that I bowl in 2 leagues in the winter and thru the summer.

My bowling team consists of me , Alice,who has a Masters in computer programing engineering, and my greek friend Joy. (I think they are tied to the Greek mafia but I am only guessing).
We are 3 girls that couldn't be more different if we tried. Alice is quiet, bright, articulate, not married, no kids(in other words.....she is sane), Joy is greek and firey and funny and a grandma and a dutiful daughter and wife and we love her, and then there is me.....I need not elaborate...but I will tell you that the 3 men we bowled against in our summer league had 10 300 rings between them and they changed my name on the bowling board from my name to "Miss ADD". They were pretty fun to bowl with ....especially since we bowled our brains out and beat the heck out of them...they with their 300 rings!!!!!!(and , NO , that is not being competitive, that is just having FUN).
So, we needed a new bowler in our winter mixed league as we are now a 4 person league and not a 3 person league. We could find no one willing to bowl with us(ok....let's be fair....I should say...to bowl with ME!!)
Finally, it occured to me to ask around work if anyone would like to bowl with me and my 2 friends.
Believe it or not, Kurt, a young Spanish teacher.....very quiet, very bright, and wanting to improve his bowling, agreed to come and bowl with us.
So Kurt is added to the team.
We made him our anchor bowler(that was usually my spot but we felt he could pull it off..ie, "Kurt, we need a strike so get one"..would work for him).
But coming up with a name for our team was/is difficult. We were the Ball Busters....doesn't seem fair for Kurt.
We were Jamingo(all our (the girls)first and last initials for a name in the summer and KP wouldn't fit in with that)
We opted for 3 girls and a guy but later.....others(at work) suggested the names of Our Boy Toy or Kurt's Angels.
I personally like the Our Boy Toy but Kurt is young enough to be 2 of our sons and one of us, a grandson, so we think we are settling on Kurt's Angels.....
unless someone else has a better suggestion.
I mean, really, it is all in the name don't you think?
Our first night of bowling was a lot of fun except for the fact that my average was 174 for the evening...Boy does that hurt....cause there is NO WAY I can maintane that average all season.
The other teams will really LOVE bowling with us when I bowl my usual 148-152.
They kept telling me to roll it in the gutter, but I am not a sandbagger....I will take those 6 strikes in row and hope for the best.
So there.Put that in your pipe and smoke it and hope your team bowls mine next week!!!

Oh and any name suggestions will be taken under consideration.

The "Not my sister "award

We vacation in Michigan every summer for the past 19 years at a place called Michigania http://alumni.umich.edu/michigania_camp/schedule.php.
Our kids loved it so back we would go.

Our daughter loved it so much, she has actually worked there for the past 2 summers.
(This summer she was the director of Nature.)

Part of the experince of Michigania for the little ones, is earning awards that you receive on Friday before you leave on Saturday.
Let me assure you that this is a BIG deal for the under 10 crowd. If your kid doesn't receive one, the ride home on Saturday is TORTURE. My kids over the years have received the most interesting/boring/funny awards.

I never knew how much effort it cost the counselors(ie the daughter) to come up with these awards and try and make sure that the little ones all get something from at least one area.

Adults even get awards for funny things. One year, there was a group of campers that sunk a sail boat-a pretty BIG sailboat- and their award was something like.... "The campers least likely to be invited back to the sailing area" award.
So you get my drift on these awards.

This summer, we were at camp with my nepwhew and his fiance. His fiance looks more like a family member than the nephew since she is very tall. When we went looking at colleges, she went with the daughter and I and every where we went, they all thought I had twins entering college....Poor fiance had already graduated from COLLEGE and was not amused that they thought she was a high schooler...but she took it with good grace.
So we are at camp and most of the campers realize that the daughter is the director of Nature and then they see the fiance walking around camp and ask her many questions about the Nature program and what time the Nature activites happen. After the first few times, she started giving them bogus times as is was just easier than saying "umm..... I'm not the director of Nature."
This happened all week, every day.
Friday comes, and the daughter is up giving out all her little awards and finally got to the last one.
(some of her awards are "the best rock polishier" "the best leaf print T-shirt maker" "the best cricket catcher(to feed the snakes with)" "the best bunny holder/ petter/ etc" "the most consistent trail hiker" and so on and so forth.

she started with "I have never given this award before and I probably won't have to ever again.... I am an only daughter, I have 2 brothers, no sisters, you can ask my mom -she is right over there.
"The NOT my sister award" goes to M********, my almost cousin, fiance to my cousin, D*****."

Lots of clapping as she goes to get her award and -no joke here- 4 people turned to me while they were side by side and said
"she's joking right? They really are sisters aren't they?"

some people just don't listen.

"OH, by the way, mom" or how we enable our grown children

I was sitting on the couch(really reclining and taking a snooze at 11:00 pm) when my middle son came in from the classes he takes at the local college and sat down in the chair across from me. This is important to note as most of my kids never voluntarily sit anywhere near me for fear of the dreaded 20 questions game happening (like "what's new?" "How was work?" you know...those really HARD questions to answer).
So I asked "what's up?"
"Well, tomorrow we are having a barbeque at work."
"That's nice."
"Umm.. I need to bring something."
"Like what?"
"I don't know.....food."
"Dessert? Hot Dogs? Salad? It IS 11:00 at night...I don't have a lot of stuff in the house."
"I don't know ...something."
"Brownies? for how many?"
"ummm. .... maybe 15? I need a meat too."
"Oko......I have brats in the freezer, buns...you can take those."
"ok...how about brownies?"
"ok...I will see if I have a mix."

Ok, remember it is 11:00 at NIGHT. Without even thinking about it, I took this on as my own issue. Said child goes off to his room as he has to work the next day and do some homework. I, of course, want to make this easy for him(I am always pleased when the word homework comes out of his mouth...especially if he is doing it!) so I trudge off to the kitchen to see what I have in the way of a brownie mix. (I am thinking 30 minutes, I am out of there and then I can go to bed as well. )
Needless to say, I had no brownie mix or cake mix or much of anything as the daughter had cleaned me out on her way to her house at school/college......Shopping at the parents is soooo much easier than going to the actual grocery store don't you think?

I realize that I needed to make the brownies from scratch...no prob...piece of cake...except, I don't have the right ingredients....After much worrying and improvising, I finally get the brownies from scratch done..used my last 2 eggs, went and put it in the pan, set the timer, went to snooze back on the couch and I was pretty ok.
Well, somehow I managed to not realize that I needed to put the mixture into a square pan and in my daze, I put it in a rectangular pan.
Suffice it to say, that I made the best homemade brownies that were, and I kid you not, paper thin and pretty CRISP... not burned I might add.....CRISP.
Let me assure you that they looked pretty awful.
"enough of this." I said and off to bed I went. "so he takes the brats only and the buns, not a dessert. It will be ok. "

So, being ithe enabler that I am,
I worried about him not having a dessert all night so I got up at 5 in the morning trying to figure out what dessert I could make without any eggs.

Just so you know, 1 cake mix mixed with 10 oz of your favorite soft drink works pretty darn good for a back up. the only cavet I have to tell you, is the soft drink needs to match the batter....in other words.....chocolate cake-use coke or Dr. Pepper or any dark color
for white cake-use sprite or 7-up(for those of you that are on Weight Watchers if you use diet pop, 1 slice(2 inch square) is worth 2 points.)
After much searching, I get the cake mix done and I am waiting for it to be done so I can leave for MY work...
rushing is never good because I ended up hurrying the cooling process and just as I put it on the plate, I leave half of it in the pan.....no worries.....I just dug it out, turned it upside down, sprinkled powdered sugar on it and called it a day. (This was just for a bunch of young men who will eat ANYTHING)
So the boy had a dessert and brats and buns to take....he was happy, I was EXHAUSTED and muttering what the He** was I thinking...he could've stopped at the grocery store and PICKED UP something for dessert.
One of these days I will not be so obsessive or compulsive....maybe soon I hope!

I saw the boy later that night after he was home from his class(again at 11:00 pm) and asked him how it went at the barbeque.
"ok." he said.
"Was there enough food?"
"umm...sorta."
"sorta???"
"well, I forgot to get the brats out of the fridge so we were a little short on meat."

'Nuff said.

*sigh*

Happy Birthday Tina!

Happy Birthday Tina! ....I can't quite figure out what the heck is going on since my birthday is in Janurary and, obviously, we are in summer clothes....I do remember many birthdays like this one....and I DO know when your birthday really is, I just couldn't find this picture. Hope your day was great!

Do I really look like a Flamingo?

Recently, the daughter and I were out and about.....dropping off her car for a minor repair, running other errands, etc. It was just cool enough for a light weight jacket so I brought my brand new Liz Clairborne got on sale for a fabulous price reversable jacket....perfect for the day coat which happens to be pink on one side and paisley pink and tan on the other. As I get out of the car where she is dropping me off.....her comment--
"you know....you look like a flamingo in that coat don't you?"
"A Flamingo???"
"yeah...it's a pretty pink coat mom"
"but a good price, the right weight .."
"but very PINK"
"A Flamingo?"
"mmn yea...maybe you should wear the black coat...Um you're kinda embarrassing me"
"ME an EMBARASSAMENT? surely you jest"
"umm ....no"

The fashion police are alive and well and apparently living with me....although I always assumed they were watching out for the husband and not me.

Happy Mothers Day Mom!

Happy Mothers Day!
YOU LOOK AWESOME! --- I can only hope I look as good at the same time of life!
There are no words to describe all that you have given me and taught me over the years.
You have been an inspiration to me.........
I wish I had taken better notes, though.
I had no idea the final exam lasts a lifetime!
Have a great day!

tastes like chicken.....not!

I was invited down to Chinatown yesterday to have lunch with my little SeaKyung(my foreign exchange daughter who lived with me for 2 years on and off while she was in high school...hmmm I should blog that story) and her Chinese boyfriend who is from Beijing. They thought it would be nice to have a real authentic meal like Gregory eats and Eric just RAVED about the food in Beijing when he came back from a visit with Greg...so I said, " OK".

All food was orderd by Bean( the boyfriend)
All food looked interesting...
All food was good....

We had soup that tasted like grits.....very good . I would eat it again
rice cooked in leaves...good
shrimp wrapped in rice wrapper....ok
beef wrapped in rice wrapper....better....I think it was the wrap part that was not so good...too wet/sticky
babecued pork in a roll......VERY good would have every day
potatoe puffs....very very good
and something that looked like chicken wings.

Keep in mind that they had NO forks....just chopsticks....
I try to pick up the wings with my chopsticks.
get it halfway at my plate and it falls in to my tea....
finally....after a half a dozen times I get it to my mouth and start to chew.....

Just so you know.

Chicken FEET do not taste like Chicken......
not now.. not yesterday... not EVER!!!!

I guess you can take the girl out of West Virginia but even the West Virginian doesn't do FEET
*ugh*

Me...an Illegal immigrant??????

So I was called an illegal the other day.

Now I consider this a stupid discussion in the first place.
I feel that there are borders for a reason and you live in Canada you are CANADIAN you live in Mexico you are MEXICAN you live in America you are AMERICAN..do you see where I am going with this?
If you want to migrate to America....follow the proper protocol

but I digress..

But to be told that my ancestors were illegal is the height of stupidity.....

1) how do you know that if I don't know who and when and where MY ancestors arrived...I am guessing that there were not laws that were in force then cause I am thinking my ancestors arrived a very LONG time ago...and were LEGAL immigrants

(also, imagine their surprise when I told them...umm, sorry, but I do have Native American Indian in my blood. and go take your freaking Percent rule and put it where the sun don't shine...) so let's see....NATIVE AMERICAN or um, I'm sorry what did you say you were...Italian? Polish? EUROPEAN?????

2) you only care because your grandfather arrived illegaly and now everyone else born here is legal and you don't want grandaddy sent back to Russia... or Afghanistan or wherever the heck you came from
Mind your own damn business....spend the money to become legal.....learn the freaking American language and keep the Spanish America the beautiful in Mexico if you can't freaking sing it in English.

Enough said.
I think my position is clear and I HATE talking politics.

Don't make me do it again.....this is America..... if you don't want to come legally....go back to where you freaking came from.

Idiots.

Bowling with the team

Ok, I admit.....I couldn't resist......Bowling I mean....
16 of the Scholastic Bowl came to bowl for our end of the year party. One of the young men(there are only 2 girls on the team. go figure) who has been my JV captian and is now one of the varsity captains, has taken up bowling and wants me to coach a bowling team for our school.
Now, believe it or not, I am NOT that competitive (although I do think people would disagree with that statement) but this appeals to me on a few levels.
1) I am a pretty good bowler
2) I think I could be a pretty good coach ( I am fond of saying ..."just cause I know how to pick up the spares, doesn't mean I can)
3) I don't care if they win or lose as long as they have fun...or so I say now..

but anyway, a lot of work to start a team of anything at a high school and I am not sure I am up to the challenge but more on that later......

Bowling today with 16 little dumplings.... the chant
Beat Mrs. O
Beat Mrs. O
brought out the worst/Best of me.

I rolled 5 games.....
181
132
165
206
200

Ok so the 132 sucked but no one came close to it...

Man, I loved beating all these boys who thought they could beat me.

Maybe I am more competitive than I thought....
but here is the bad part

I can hardly lift my arm.
Obviously I am not meant to bowl more than 3 at a time.

It doesn't pay to try to be a 16 year old again

I might have the experience to bowl well
but they have the youth.

They are probably out doing something fun now
and I am going to put the heating pad on my bicep.

*sigh*

coaching

I have coached Scholastic Bowl for the past 4 years. Admittedly, not my long suit since I am not a trivia or a math person, however; it turns out I have the good sense to pick the kids that are.
My JV team came in first within our league this year. Quite a proud moment for someone who never dreamed that this was something I could coach. (Really, I am just waiting for that big ole trophy to come so I can display it with pride and , yes, I do mean to gloat just a bit!)

One of things that my kids learn from me is strategy on how to play the game. They have the brains and I have the experience to actually teach them how to improve their game.
I have to admit that the kids on my team don't quite know how to take me. What with the accent that shows up from time to time and my "Let me be blunt" personality, I think they sometimes don't remember that it is an HONOR to be on my team!!!

They actually believe that since I was born in West Viriginia that I have a gun and a gun rack on my truck and know how to use it. So much for the stereo typical WestViriginian......at least they know I wear shoes.

My kids have the advantage of having someone like me ( and most of you know what that means) to coach them and the positive thing about it is that no other coach in the league intimidates them. I don't think the same can be said for the other schools about me. Trust me when I tell you that my kids love to see me take on a coach that think they know the rules or how to read the questions or don't like how something is done and I know how it is done.

(I did mention that this was not my long suit but I DO know ALL the rules just in case I need to look smart. NO ONE tells my kids they are wrong because...they're not(at least about the rules). just stating the facts. It is the only thing I could be sure about....because really...do you know all the capitals of the African provinces off the top of your head and without looking? Or which general led which battle during some obscure war? I think not. So I went with knowing the rules....being the rule follower I am.)

It has been a beautiful thing.

IBM

For those of you that know me, you know I married an Irishman. Not only was it the happiest day of my life but it gave me an ethnicity that I did not have before and that has been a great thing.

When I first moved to Detriot all those years ago, one of the best parts, beside the husband, was learning all about the ethnic people who lived there. They had festivals every weekend downtown and we would go and try the food and have an absolutley fabulous time.

Where I grew up you were either black or white and believe me when I tell you that you wanted to be white.....so here I am in Detroit where not only do you have your black and white but you have your ethnic....Italian, Irish, Polish, Indian(not American), Jewish, etc. Loved it loved it loved it......until.....EVERYONE kept asking about my ethnicity(telling them I was West Virginian didn't seem to appease them) I would be badgered and badgered with

Them: "Who are your people?
Me: "my mom and dad???"
Them : "NONONO..where are you from?"
ME: West Virginia?
Them:" NONONO. What is your background?"
Me: "American?"
Them:" NONONO. What are you?"
Me: "A girl?"
Them:" What is your background?"
ME:"Well, I went to college at...."
Them: "NO!!!! What is your ethnic background? What part of Europe did you hail from? What are your traditions? What is your food?'
Me: "Heinz 57, Don't know, don't care cause we've been here for a coon's age, most protestant religious traditions and beans and cornbread. And by the way, you people are crazy!!!!

I pesonally thought they were going to slap me. So --What are you or what's your background--is a question I have hated forever.--at least once I moved North.....back in West Virigina, they still don't care and that is a good thing in my mind.

But the good news is, once I married the Irishman, I took his last name and from that day forward I have been .........

...IBM.....Irish By Marriage....

It has been a beautiful thing......shuts people right up when they query the question.

But having been IBM for close to 30 years, how do you manage to NOT remember to wear green on St. Patrick's Day?

Must be getting old!!