GrannyJ’s

Oh-Ten? Two-thousand and ten? Ten? What will you say when you have to say 2010 aloud?

Twenty-Ten! Just sounds more logical than Oh-Ten or Two-thousand and ten?!?!? That's my opinion and you know what they say about opinions, right?

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.

Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see it. In his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed.

It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.

She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

A lot of people start decorating for the holidays before the Thanksgiving leftovers have been eaten... What about you? When are you going to start putting up your holiday decorations this year?

Have the tree up already, the wreath is hanging on the front door, some lights are up on the eave of the house and have "some" trim/decorations on the hedges out front. Also have all kinds of "hand drawn Christmas art",  from the grand babies, displayed on the front of the refrigerator. Now... I need to get in the Christmas spirit and start making candies, cookies and getting that fresh baked smell of homemade breads filling the house with it's intoxicating aroma. I love being in the kitchen, just never enough time. *sigh*

My Snowman

"There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child" ~ Erma Bombeck

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with our oldest son, his wife and three beautiful grandchildren. We gobbled down turkey and all the trimmings and ate until we all felt like a stuffed turkey probably feels. Daughter-in-law cooked the entire meal, complete with homemade dessert (pumpkin pie, chocolate pie and a cheesecake) and scrumptious homemade yeast rolls. Yummy good!! The grandkids enjoyed seeing Pe-pa (better half) and Grandma (me), along with their Uncle C (youngest son) and Aunt C (his wife) too. Yes... the Grandkids were the joy of the day and we are so very thankful for having them in our lives. Thankful too for our health, our wonderful sons, their wives and our three adorable grandchildren. What? You don't believe the grandkids are adorable? Well just look at this!!

Now, are they adorable or what? :-) Ages (from left to right) 9, 4 & 5

Every thanksgiving is a wonderful celebration for us and I give thanks to my friends near and far too. I try to keep in touch with everyone, sometimes it's only on the holidays, but it is indeed the thought that counts.

Gina? I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your better half and Barney and you're feeling LOTS better. LYGF, Take care of YOU!

Something isn't working right. I wrote & saved a big long post and can't find it anywhere. Boo Hoo!  Oh well, watch these little videos and have a chuckle or maybe even two. :)

Typing, shorthand and business economics.

It's been a a while since I've posted, kind of looks like it's been a bit since a LOT of people have posted something recent. Gina, where are you?

Met with my Best Friend Forever (Skyrat (Gina)) about a week ago and golly gee, did the time pass way too fast. It had been several years since we eyeballed each other, so the getting together was GREAT!! She's having a time with the big "C", but you know... she's never been one to let things get her down and so with that said, I admire her courage for hanging in there during this bump in the road.

Sometimes I ask myself, how I'd be able to deal with what she's going through and even though I've had a "small" part of the "C", I can't imagine having to go through what she has... and currently is. You know, call it gutless, chicken, lazy or whatever, but I would have crumbled long ago. That just goes to show you the stamina Gina has.

Anyway, better half and I have been to California (again), Georgia, Chicago, Wisconsin, and all States in between. It's been a long run/ride, but hey... at this day and time, I'm happy there's work/a job out there. Seems like the economy skips along, doing fairly good and then the bottom falls out of everything. Not sure it's the economy or the people in that big house on the hill, causing the problem, but hope it gets "nipped in the bud" and SOON!

Or well the wedding is over and thank goodness. 

Better half and I were about ready to drop by the time everything was did/done. We had to pick up the cake in one city and then drive to another city to pick up the veggie & sandwich trays, then home to load up the soup, potato salad, pasta salad, salami wraps and gallons of iced tea. Then shower, get dressed and high tail it to the reception hall, walk a mile (or so it seemed) lugging stuff into the hall to put in the fridge, then decorate the hall in a big hurry, then finally rush to the church and get things set up there. The bride was about 45 minutes late, who would have guessed? I think son was getting a little worried, as he kept walking into the foyer and asking... "Is she here yet?" Ha Ha!

Everyone enjoyed the food, music and dancing. Granddaughter (10 yrs old) caught the bouquet, grandson (5 yrs old) caught the garter. Thank goodness they are still young, this old couple can't do another wedding for a long while. LOL It was really funny when grandson caught the garter, he stood there, caught it and then didn't know what to do with it, so just dropped it to the floor. Everyone just laughed, then this little girl ran over and grabbed it up, but gave it back to grandson. It was one of those Kodak moments and indeed priceless!

We have been busy with the herd of cows, working them, making steers out of the bull calves and putting up an electric fence, in every spare moment we have at home. Sure makes a difference when there's so much stuff to do and not much time off before it's time to get things ready for the next week on the road.

Was scheduled to go to Georgia, but that got canceled in a hurry, what with all the flooding and such. As a matter of fact, the major company we deliver to, called dispatch and told them to wait until next week.

Brother in Law had an accident while operating an 18-wheeler. 

Totaled out the tractor and trailer, front wheel went off the pavement where road construction was going on (one lane only - head to head traffic) and the load (bars of lead) shifted, causing the trailer to roll and the rest is history. BIL didn't get a scrape or scratch, not even a bruise and no broken windows in the tractor, but a tree will have to be pried from the grill before the tractor can be uprighted. Soft shoulder (muddy as hell) from all the rain. Happened on I-64 in Indiana, not far from Evansville. Anyway, BIL is no longer employed with company, insurance said they can't cover him as unfortunately this wasn't the first accident he's had. And life goes on, but sure gives one a wake up call! Like for instance, what better half and I would do if he lost his job????? Not quite to that retirement/draw social security age, too old to find much of anything else and unable to be on my feet for any period of time.

Well it's time to hit the bed, catch a few winks and up at 4:00 in the morning, to start the day. Have to be on the other side of St. Louis by 7:00 and it seems EVERYBODY starts crawling out of the woodwork early.

Hey Skyrat (Gina), LYGF... have a great week, HAPPY BIRTHDAY once again and I can't wait to see you next month!!

Which relative - dead or alive - do you wish you knew better?

My Grandpa on my Dad's side of the family.

When I was small I lived with Granny and Grandpa was the best, he was a carpenter by trade and was always making things, things like wooden toys to play with or letting me help him clean up the tools before he put them in his tool chest. He was working in St. Louis and just got his paycheck, some low life's mugged him, beat him to death. I still think about him and would really have enjoyed getting to know him better.