Green Thing

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.
The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days."
The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."
She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.
But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags.
But too bad we didn't do the green thing back then.
We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.
But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.
But that young lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.
But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.
But we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
Please read this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart-alecky young person...
We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to tick us off.

from an email.. thanks Joe

Attitude

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror,and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.
"Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today."? So she did and she had a wonderful day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.
"H-M-M, " she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today."? So she did and she had a grand day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.
"Well," she said, "Today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and she had a fun, fun day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.
"YEAH!" she exclaimed, "I don't have to fix my hair today!" Attitude is everything.

Have a Good Day! Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

(from an email)

Monday with Morgan on Tuesday

Things to do:

1. Swim

2. Lay around

3. Eat Stuff

4. Be Awesome

Memorial Day 2012

Never Forget

5 on Friday

1. What will you be doing this Memorial Day weekend?

Well I always watch the race. My ex and I went to it for years and loved the excitement. I always tear up when they play Taps. Glad I am not going this year since I heard the weather forecast say 95º Yikes.

2. Do you have any Memorial Day memories to share?

I remember my grandma R. and I would load up her old car with Lilacs, Peonies and glass canning jars and head out to the cemeteries. It would be my job to dig a hole for the jar, fill it with water and place the live flowers in it. All the while, my grandma would visit with people that she only saw once a year. Good memories. To this day Lilacs and Peonies are my favorite flowers. I always feel bad to see a grave with no flowers or flag on it. It was called Decoration Day and was also a social occasion for my grandma. I feel we lost a lot of the significance of the day when Memorial Day was changed to the last Monday in May to provide a three day weekend for the nation. Just MHO

3. You have the ability to snap your fingers and be instantly transported to one of three places whenever you wish to go there. Which three places would you select as your destinations?

I would like to go back to Fort Mountain State Park in Jawja. The second would be Myrtle Beach. The third would be right here in my humble home.

4. Which business do you have the longest continuous relationship with: your bank, your auto insurance provider, your home telephone provider, your cellular phone provider, or your cable company? How long have you been with them?

That would be my bank. I have been with them for 30+ years.

5. What is the most embarrassing question you've ever been asked?

I am pretty straight forward with my life and possibly share way to much. It is pretty hard to embarrass me. I am pretty hard to shock too.

How to save money on gas

Is your wallet like mine? Mostly empty from rising prices. While I am retired and don’t put that many miles on my car any more, rising gas prices really dig into my limited income. A lot of the way to get better mileage is just common sense.

1. Don’t use premium fuel if you don’t have to.

Don’t buy premium fuel thinking that your engine will run better. The only difference you will see is less money in your wallet. Most cars are designed to run just fine on regular gas.

2. Keep your tires properly inflated

Low tires will reduce your mpg significantly. Even more importantly they compromise safety and handling.

3. Don’t idle for long periods of time

When you are idling you are getting 0 mph. Turn off your engine if you expect to sit more than 30 seconds.

4. Drive smoothly

Fast acceleration can reduce your mileage by 2 to 3 mpg. Get up to speed and use your cruise control. Keep your lead foot under control.

5. Get a tune up

A tune up on your car can reveal both minor and major issues. If an oxygen sensor is out on your car, it can end up causing your car to use much more gas than is necessary and thus drain your fuel tank much faster. Simply tuning up your car can boost your gas mileage by 1 to 2 percent and fixing a broken sensor can increase it by up to 40 percent.

I recently went down to Marv’s to fill my gas tank. I handed Aaron a $50 and said “fill er up” He did and came back for more money. Shocking! (I am lucky to have a very smart grandson who is a mechanic and takes good care of my car.) Just remember I grew up in the olden days when a gallon of gas was something like 39¢. Today here in Podunk the price is $3.80 per gallon. So it is very important for me to try to save as much money as I can.

Gay Marriage

Depending on who I talk to, this gay marriage debate is either the end of the American Republic as we know it or the beginning of a bright new day for America the Beautiful. Well do you wanna know what I think? Since I am admitting to a certain amount of bias, this is simply my humble opinion. So here we go:

American Society has condoned sinful behavior for a very long time. If we are to protect the sanctity of marriage, why do we allow cohabitation at all? Or even divorce? More babies are being born out of wedlock. The nuclear family (mom, dad, and kids all living and doing things together) has become irrelevant. Music has become noise, television has been catering to the lowest form of entertainment. Things continue to get worse.

There are those who believe that this is Sodom and Gomorrah revisited. There has been sin in this world since Adam, Eve, the serpent, and the apple. Do we really want the government serving as God’s defender? I think he can handle that task himself just fine.

I don’t have any answers. But I do have questions, many many questions.

A Letter to Older Me

Dear Older Me,

I know I’ve got a few more years to go before I’m considered “old” so I’m telling you now, you’re in for the ride of your life. You will NOT grow old without a fight. It’s not that you’re in denial; you’re going to find that there’s way too much life to be lived still.

Play lots - video games, dance, paint, play with a yoyo, jump rope while singing the childhood jump rope songs, take in some homeless animals, and LAUGH!!! Create moments…seek moments where laughter is overflowing. Blow milk bubbles (of course, don’t forget to take Lactaid), lie on your back and watch the clouds. Have a picnic, find some romance. (PS…there’s no such thing as being too old for romance).

You may not like the word “no” very much but brace yourself. Not every idea will be met with thumbs up, even from your kids. But that’s okay. By then, there will be ankle locators for the elderly so they’ll keep tabs on you wherever you are.

Oh, and by the way, prepare yourself, Older Me, because you are taking that Thelma and Louise trip with your twin sis living life close to the edge. Bring plenty of extra underpants because the trip will cause leakage in great proportions from laughing so hard. Also, never leave home without enough money in your pocket to either call a cab or for bail money. Never say never to jumping out of planes, going on a safari in Africa or staying in a 5 star hotel, being treated like royalty. You deserve to be waited on hand and foot, even if they are a bit wrinkly.

You’re going to love being a Grammie. It’s going to feel like nothing you’ve ever felt before to hold your beautiful grandbabies and know that you are holding a piece of heaven here on earth. It’s okay to slip the grandbabies cookies when their parents aren’t looking and give them the wink. It will always just be your secret.

Find a place to hang your car keys. You will lose them many times before you figure that one out.

As much as you hate the thought of hot flashes and irritability, enjoy every minute of it. It will save tons on the heating bill in the winter time.

When you get the urge to do something out of the ordinary, make sure that you tell your kids what it is and where you’re going, just in case, somehow, along the way, you get lost and can’t find your way back home.

Laugh when you wear two different shoes or drop half a bagel down your cleavage….at least you will still have cleavage, even if it is tucked inside of your socks.

Sing loudly…and trust me, others will sing right along with you.

Never fear admitting you’ve forgotten something. It’s not that you’re forgetful; your brain is just taking a power nap.

Cherish your time. Most of all, love yourself and all the other things will fall right into place.

Signed,

The younger ME

Monday with Morgan

I had a busy week. I ran and played and played and ran. Went to Corbin’s game and got a new pair of leopard shades. Skinned my knees and gave my mom and dad fits. All in all it was a very good week.

5 on Friday:

1. Messy or Tidy?

I'm not saying I'm messy, but if there's an opposite of O.C.D, I probably have that.

2. Coke or Pepsi?

Neither, A&W diet Root Beer please

3. Pop or Soda?

Pop

4. Do you eat a lot of fast food?

Yes but I don't understand fast food. I've been eating it for years but I seem to be getting slower and slower.

5. Do you always pay attention to conversations?

No not always but sometimes I make up words and slip them into conversations just to see if anyone is actually profettishing attention to what I'm saying.

Pollen : The Magic Fairy Dust of Satan

You can count on the arrival of spring to bring many things - sun, birds, flowers, and Beelzebub's magic fairy dust. Yeah, Beelzebub, aka Satan, sometimes goes by the name of Mephistopheles - he brings out the big guns in spring. It's called POLLEN, and it sucks.
Every spring, my enjoyment of sun and breeze is marred by the choking, sneeze-inducing, eye-watering, asthma-producing Devil Spew of Pollen. It causes me to morph from a reasonably sane person to a snorting, sniffling, dripping, coughing, tearing, and very bitter red-eyed shrew.
I'm just looking outside my window right now (as best I can look through eyes that are puffy slits), and I am not enjoying the scenery of the pretty trees with their pretty white fluffs of flowers, because I see the wind loosening the flowers, and like demonic snow, the pollen is flying. Flying straight into my mucus membranes and making me slowly die. I dream of taking others down with me as I go.
My head feels like an evil force removed my brain and took a large cotton ball and rammed it into my brain cavity. I can't smell anything, I wheeze when I breathe, and my allergy medicine is making me feel like the head zombie on the Dawn of the Dead. In short, I'm moving to Antarctica. Snow can't make you sneeze, can it? I'll just have to stay away from the penguin feathers...

I’m not green

Every time I turn around there's a billboard, TV commercial, online ad.. or whatever- about being or going Green. You know? Recycle this. Reuse that. Refurbish. Re-gift. Eat local. Buy natural/organic... Among other things!! I do my part as best I can but I don't generally go out of my way.. Most of my green activity comes naturally. Sorry, I don't recycle the few and far between bottles and cans I manage to bring in to my house. I leave that to the dumpster divers. What I don't understand is.. Why are newspaper and phone book companies still not Green? Even if it is recycled paper! Makes no sense to me that every 3-4 months I will step outside and discover a stack of phone books on my porch! I didn't ask for those! I do love those cute & fashionable reusable grocery bags they make now. I haven't bought any for myself.

Rules

1. Always tell the truth.

2. Work Hard.

3. Keep your promises.

4. Be Kind.

5. Be Grateful.

6. Say Please and Thank You.

7. Try New Things.

8. Be Proud of Yourself.

9. Use Kind Words.

10. Don’t Whine

Monday with Morgan

Morgan and Aggie came to visit.

Morgan decided to climb the stairs. She seems to be part monkey any more. Never still for a second.

I had a lovely Mother’s Day.

Happy Mother's Day

5 on Friday

1. What did you do for Cinco de Mayo?

Uh.. who me? Are you serious?

2. Is society overly obsessed with celebrities?

Oh yeah, many times I have noticed instead of hard news they now report celebrity gossip. I really am not interested in how much Lindsey Lohan drank last night or that George Clooney has a new trophy girlfriend.

3. If you could name a planet what would you name it and why.

Holy crap that is hard, probably some soothing name like Serenity or Blessing or even Happiness. I am goofy that way.

4. What gift would you like to receive on Mothers Day? ( Must be Tangible )

I would like a few plants for outside, maybe a hanging basket of flowers and of course my traditional (new) Boston Fern.

5. Are you competitive?

I am an extremely competitive person. I am the oldest of three and always have felt the need to prove myself to everyone. And I can be a sore loser

Some sentences and some sarcasm

I've had the luxury recently of driving to another town alone in my car. This means I get to shout freely at bad grammar on the radio, drivers with poor driving skills and whatever else irritates me. It's really liberating but it's also possible that my crazy is getting out of control.

I phoned an old friend to catch up.. here is how our conversation went. (made up name to protect the complainer)

Millie: "How are you doing?"

Me: "Oh, I'm doing pretty well--keeping myself very busy. How about you?"
Millie: "Oh...me? Well, I'm just terrible--you know, the usual. [Insert 20 minutes of how bad she has it]. You should really call me more often!"

Me: "Well, Millie, as inviting as that sounds, I honestly dedicate the majority of my free time to systematically ripping off my toenails."

BREAKING NEWS
The Pity Train has just derailed at the intersection of Suck It Up & Move On, and crashed into We All Have Problems, before coming to a complete stop at Get the Hell Over It.

Morgan on Wednesday

It is hard to believe this cute little tree climber will soon be 2 years old.

Thoughts

1.My whole life I have been forced to be frugal and I don't like it...just once I would love to go crazy and spend whatever I want.

2.I bought some of that fancy coffee creamer, Coffee mate Hazelnut. Don’t think I like it.

3.Has any one read the Hunger Game series? I am still working on the first one.

4.I think the older I get the happier I have become. Or is that contentment?

5.Does anyone iron any more? When my oldest son was born, we didn't have very good insurance and so I did the doctor’s family ironing to pay off the bill. I still love to iron.

6.A lot of my friends live in my computer and to me this is perfectly normal.

7.I think moist is an awful sounding word, and so is booger.

A very Big Deal

These are two of my favorite people, my beautiful granddaughter and her husband. They are smiling because they are on their way to graduation

Here is our girl getting her diploma. The university did a live stream the ceremony so I got to share in this life changing event. This is a screen shot.  The camera was set so that the heads of most were cut off, all I saw of Adam was his chin. Lucky for me Katie is petite.

Another photo of the honored couple.

Was a very emotional day for me. She looked beautiful. Proud of you baby girl.

Our boy Adam was smiling and so handsome. We are so proud of him.

And again the honored couple.

Katie and her mom. 

Anderson University is a small Private Christian college in Anderson, Indiana. This years graduating class was over 600 students. Kate already has a good job with a well known Investment company. She has such a bright future and this old gram is so proud of her SBG. (sweet baby girl) and yes I still call her my baby girl. And what is even better, she lets me.  Thanks to Jimmy and Gary for sending me these photos.

Out my back door and thru the screen

 

Mama and daddy goose and their goslings. They were out near Little John eating the grass.  I took a couple pictures thru the open window and tried to be very quiet going out side but they went down the bank and into the river.. they swam upstream all in a little line.

5 On Friday and a picture

1.  What is the best part of May?

The nice weather as it is going to get and stay nice very soon. Also the name, it is easier to text than something like  oh say …January.

2.  Do you usually consider the glass half empty or half full?

There was a time when I would have had to say half empty, but I am happy to say I turned that corner and now my glass is always half full.

3.  What part or parts of your body do you shave regularly?

hmmmm well now that is a very personal question but me being me I will answer it for you all. I just do not shave any part or parts on a regular basis. Lucky for me my hair grows very slowly.

4.  What day is typically your busiest of the week?  What day are you usually the happiest?  What day are you usually the saddest?

Haha tricky question. how bout sometimes all on the same day.

5.  What is one thing you believe people would be surprised to know about you?

I never read a book twice. I cannot read something that I have read before. I do not like to read something when I already know how it ends. If I start reading something and I have read it before I will put it back down. And usually I know within the first couple pages if I have read it before even if it has been 30 years since I read it.

And I will finish up with a couple pictures of our girl watching her big brothers ball game.

                       

Choices

 

I am not sure where I want to go with this, all I know is that a family of 6 was driving on US 24 in Whitley county. They stopped at a stop light and a drunk driver crashed into them killing an innocent, beautiful 3 year old boy named Ethan. The other family members were hospitalized with broken bones etc. They will all recover to face the loss of their son and or brother. The alleged driver of the alleged murder car complained of pain and was treated and released from the hospital.  He is now being held in jail with 8 felony counts. His bond is $25,000. This little boys family will never be the same from this man’s stupidity in getting into a vehicle and driving drunk. If he has any conscious at all, he will be haunted by the fact that he allegedly took this young boys life for his selfish, major lapse in judgment by driving drunk. I guess it is never too late to increase awareness of alcohol and its misuse and abuse. Drinking alcohol has a great effect on peoples lives in our country. Alcohol is the #1 drug of choice. It is so easy to preach about this problem but the facts are that it hurts families, kills our innocent children and scars others for life. Alcoholism can be and is deadly. All of you who CONSTANTLY bash the police for pulling over drunk drivers....think of how different this entire family's life would be if an officer had caught this one in time. I really hope they throw away the key on this one. So, so sad. So sad to see how one decision to drive drunk can change so many (innocent) lives in an instant. Everyone thinks it'll never happen to them, they haven't drunk that much...then things like this happen. Should make everyone rethink drinking any amount and driving. Sometimes I wonder why these drunk drivers live and people like this little boy die. Drunk driving is the same as taking a loaded gun and firing it in  random directions and hoping it doesn't kill anybody.

Out my back door

The first few photos show a pair of Canada Geese and a big Heron. They are enjoying the day.

Then there is little John who is still fishing, he is a very patient fisherman fo sho, and his new friend a big white goose.

And the last picture is just out my backdoor and across the Wabash, the river is up some from the down pour we had yesterday. I will never be tired of my view.

I give up

So I wrote this whole long post , and explained some hopes I have and some goals I made for myself. But then it was too long and rambling, so I guess those goals weren't meant to be and I should just forget them. Just kidding. But they weren't really that exciting anyway.

So instead, I'll leave you to ponder this: Who would win in a fist fight between Aunt Jamima and Mrs. Butterworth?