JENNY - I can understand your ongoing dilemma with Megan, because I've been there!  You and Bob, want so much to spend time with Jonah, on his birthday and at Christmas,  but seems like her parents are always there, and like they are the preferred grandparents?    I have to admit, that I was very much like Megan, when my first two children were very young.   I wanted my parents present for all festive occasions, and I know I shut-out AJ's parents, even though they were here also.  Looking back now, I can see that his parents were usually lingering on the sidelines, and that my parents took precedence.   The truth is that I was aware of it at the time,  but that was the way I wanted it.

I regret so much from those days, but I got my payback, when my son and his wife had their two babies.  My dil, Jackie, went back to work very soon after each baby was born.  Her parents offered to take care of them during the day,  five days a week in their home.  Well, long story short, the kids grew up with a real closeness to Jackie's folks  and we were the "distant" grandparents, even though we all lived in the same town!  Needless to say, I felt terrible about it, and left out, and I still do. There's lots more to the story, but I've said enough. 

I just want you to know that the "grandparent problem" happens in lots of families.   The MIL/DIL problem, can be pretty dicey too.  I honestly do love Jackie, and I think she loves me too.  She is a wonderful wife and mother, and I couldn't ask for anything better. Somehow, we missed out on a lot, early on, and we never really caught up.

MarsGal, I sent Tom in Indps a note about the commissioning of the USS Indianapolis and knew he'd be hearing about it on computer, TV and radio.  He wrote back that not only did he know about it, he will be there!  I am sure I'll get a first-hand account of it.

Marilyn, you had first hand experience with the MIL/DIL conflict so maybe that's why I suggested letting the younger family make a schedule for the grandparents.  My suggestion was made without the benefit of experience.

Good luck, Jenny!

Mary Ann[/b]

Beverly...
...of course you will, he is not going to change now  ...quoting : " Not always easy to deal with a very independent (his nature!) and stubborn 85 year old, but I think I'll keep him! "

Jenny...
...i am the last person to give you advice on " daughters "...just a shame you cant be in two places at the same time, but God never gave us that option...

Great Mary Ann. I understand that the tickets are sold out for the event. Who knew they sell (or give out) tickets to such a thing.

It is 38^oF at 6:15am, skies are mostly clear. I have a nice view of my favorite constellation, Orion. Too bad that, as usual, it was clouded over for the Orionid meteor showers the other night.

The cat furniture is put together and in its corner. Before I even had it all together, Oscar was occupying the bottom "cave". The top perch is huge with more than plenty room for the cats to stretch out. It took a little longer to put it together because I had to go by feel to secure some of the parts. There are two boxes, and the sides do not have solid wood backing. Instead, they each have covered corner posts inside to hold them up. I sincerely hope they don't go and rip the cloth sides.

Today is my annual trip to get my eye exam. Tomorrow the pest control guy will be here. Other than that nothing of note to report.

MarsGal, your cat furniture sounds interesting and I've got to get Kendrick something like that.  He is too big for the tower he has.  It doesn't help that I have a small condo but, as it is, I have a cat bed and scratch lounge on the floor already and they take up enough room.  Tom spends most of his time downstairs working and I spend most of my time here on the computer, so why not let the cat take over the living room!

When I was young, we had no lights around us and we could see the stars.  Now we are so well lit up that I can only see the moon when it is south of us, no stars.

I got up in the middle of the night for about an hour, went back to bed and slept well until 8:30 and dozed off until 9:15 when I decided I'd better get up.  Tom is away for much of the day.  He is teaching/subbing this morning at the Kent Skill Center.  He has not been subbing much this year because what he is going for someone is more lucrative and it is something he enjoys too. 

Tomorrow Tom said he'd take me to Walgreen's to get my flu shot.  I've gone there most of the years the shots have been offered.

Mary Ann

Good morning all you Bait and Tacklers.  I've been up for quite a while, had breakfast, cleaned up the kitchen and dressed for my morning walk (which I have not taken yet!).  My plans for the rest of the day are mostly catching up with laundry and some other chores I've been neglecting.  I have some library books I need to finish before Friday when my young friend Eddie comes to take me to the library and to Kroger for my weekly grocery shopping.  I'll probably have to renew a few of them as I played bridge yesterday and was out all afternoon as well on Tuesday when I had lunch at the local retirement home and then played bridge after lunch.

I hope Every One looking in here this morning has lovely weather and a beautiful day!

Sue

Good morning from another lovely Interior day! Farrah is sleeping next to the computer, and I'm sitting here having a rare coke. Yesterday afternoon, Claire and her daughter came and put together a black wrought iron monitor stand and a couple of matching pieces of desk furniture for me. My hands with osteoarthritis have gotten clumsy and weak.

I was thankful, yet sad as it wasn't long ago that I could quickly do that myself. Or it seems that way. They also assembled my new one cup Keurig. The only remaining piece is a nine-part cube organizer, the type that uses cloth holders. Clare knows a young guy who might stop in to assemble that for me.

This last will likely be the last portion of my office setup other than putting papers in their new places and cleaning up the remainder. I have a thirty-three-gallon paper filled plastic tote that I need to clean out and either toss or file. It's papers that I used to keep in an old black filing cabinet.

Another issue is my freezer is full of frozen food I can't seem to eat as I've become a grazier. Another is I have four gallon- bags of dried beans and six of dried cherries, cranberries, and plums that a tenant gifted me when she moved. I don't seem to have the energy to cook as I used to, yet I have no one who will eat dried beans, and no agency will take them out of their original packaging.

I'm getting old.      

Welcome to the club, Patricia.  I find I'm not as dexterous as I once was.  And if something doesn't interest Tom, something doesn't get done!  Nag, nag!  At least I have someone to prod whereas you do not. 

Right now I'm trying to send a picture to someone.  The picture is on an external drive and doesn't want to be attached to an e-mail.  I copied the picture and put it in the e-mail and it never made it to its destination.  Now I'm having trouble with the drive.  Don't bother trying to give me instructions; I'll get it on its way soon.

Mary Ann

Good morning!

I am feeling so much better today and as always I wish to thank those of you that shared your thoughts or experiences with me regarding my issue yesterday.  I sometimes wish I did not share so much with you all because it is personal and I post others issues, which is not my place and could come back to haunt me🤪, but you are ALWAYS there for me and I trust YOUR opinions better than almost anyone's, so I share and you come through and make me feel oh so much better, and I thank you so much.  The issue has been settled and we are going to see our boy on OUR SCHEDULE! 

MARILYNE, your honesty regarding your family situation really helped me as you can and have see; it from both sides....so thank you for sharing. 

JACKIE, sweet answer from you.....and yes, IF ONLY we could be in two places at one time😘

I know it would probably be in our best interest to get more involved with friends and not be so tied into the family, but for me that would be nearly impossible😩😢😤🤣. I still and probably always will feel family is FIRST!  It was just how it was in our time frame that we grew up in. 

MARY ANN, I hope you were able to get that picture sent!  I messed something up on my iPad last night and had to ask our youngest son for help this morning to get it back!  Sometimes I feel so dumb!  I touch one thing and can mess things up pretty badly! 

PATRICIA, you just summed it up in your last sentence of your post....."I'm getting old"!  Sadly, this is true and it is a bit alarming for us to have to admit that to ourselves🤬 There comes a time that we have to do it! 

MARSGAL, sounds like you did a great job of putting together the kitty thing, even with all the extra help you were getting from Oscar! 😻😻

Washer and dryer are in need of me, so off I go to get another load going!

Have a great day.....our sun is shinning and the snow is melting prett6 quickly🥰

Jenny

Jenny, In my first marriage, we were all over the map due to Vietnam's army deployments, so not close to either family for visits. I was alone in three different army posts, including Ft. Sam Houston, where my daughter was born in 1972. Due to his being at war, my first marriage saw little togetherness. For some reason, his mother hated both his first wife and me, so we never spent time with his parents. I think she was too controlling and drove her son away.

In my second marriage, he had a rocky relationship with his folks due to their using the last surviving son card to bring him out of the service. He had been assigned as a hazmat tech and fireman with the USS Saratoga and after leaving the service, moved to Alaska, where we met. After the war, he elected to join the Air Force, and we traveled to several AFB bases. Because of his estrangement with his parents, they mainly connected through me. So, I had not spent any holidays during my marriages with either set of inlaws. And due to the military, only one-holiday with my parents during my second marriage. However, I visited several states as a dependent.

A late hello to everyone!  We had our computers turned off most of the day, because of the warnings that there would be rolling blackouts, (power outages) to try to prevent wildfires from getting out of control. I haven't turned on the TV yet, so don't know if there have been any major fire problems anywhere here in California?  I'll take a quick look, and then turn the computer off again until evening.  The winds are suppose to die down by then.  Humidity is extremely low everywhere.

Marilyn, I know the blackouts are so inconvenient, but if they do what the authorities want, better safe than sorry.  Nothing of consequence happened to any of our B&T friends so you didn't miss much.

Tom and I went to Denny's for supper for a change and I had grilled haddock.  Years ago Norm and I went to a nearby restaurant and I would get broiled haddock.  Usually nowadays fish is unnamed or cod or pollock.  I can't tell the difference between the varieties of fish so it doesn't matter.

It is 7:39 pm and it's dark.  It wasn't long ago that I would sit on the deck at 10 pm and it would be semi-light.  Time sure has flied.

Mary Ann

Good morning Mary Ann and all. I didn't have a very good night and stayed in bed till 10, but now I'm ready to face the day! It's a beautiful sunny day with a temp of 85.

Yesterday was doctor's appointments for both of us. Mine was with the pulmonologist and she said "See you in 6 months"! Since I have the chest vest therapy machine at home it means fewer trips to the doctor. There was a lady in Chape's doctor's office who is 101. She was complaining that she didn't want any more medicines and wanted to get out of there to go for ice cream! I was eating a nutrition bar and she said "Ice cream is better".    I agreed.

Mary Ann - I also miss the longer days. Our longitude here is in line with Detroit. When the time changes Vermont will be getting dark at 5:00 p.m. I used to hate that when I was working in New Jersey because it meant walking out to a dark parking lot. We had our flu shots before our trip to Vermont at Publix. They give each person a $10. gift card so I had $20 off one of my shopping trips.

Jenny - I'm glad you're feeling better about your situation. I agree with the idea of talking to your son in a non-judgmental way. I have three daughters and one son. My son has no children and with three daughters I've never had to face that problem. Also, as far as I know they've always shared with the other grandparents.

Marilyne - You said that when AJ had the bone marrow biopsy you stopped at Denny's for coffee. I had to smile because that's what we did. Chape didn't want to get out of the car so I went in and got coffee and biscuits to go. I never knew you could get food to go at Denny's. I've been watching the news about the awful fires and power outages.

Time to get something done!

Not much going on here today.  It is a beautiful day but supposed to rain over the weekend.

I spent the morning watching Rep. Elijah  Cummings funeral.  I've watched a lot of funerals of famous political people starting with Pres. Kennedy.  Today's was interesting with so many important people speaking.  His wife is a very good speaker.  I wouldn't be surprised to see her run for his seat.  It got very lively when his Baptist preacher spoke.  It was nice hearing Pres. Obama and remembering the biggest scandal during his 8 years was when he wore a tan colored suit.

I have my visit with the hematologist Monday afternoon and have finished filling out so many papers!  Now I want to copy them for my records.  I'm not looking forward to this, especially if they do a bone marrow biopsy.

We ate breakfast late but now my stomach is growling so guess we better think about eating.

Marilyne, I've been keeping up the Calif. fires and sure hope all is going OK.

When we lived close to our son and family years ago, they always came to our house for Christmas Eve and her parents for Christmas.  So we really celebrated on Christmas Eve but it made everyone happy.  

When we were living in IL, Larry's family were having a sort of family reunion that Christmas and wanted him to come home.  We couldn't afford to go at that time so I told him to take the train home (it was on the weekend) and we could celebrate Christmas early. He didn't want to go but his family were pretty insistent.  Our two oldest were just toddlers and the important thing was for them to enjoy Christmas and their gifts.  So we had an early Christmas and I remember it as one of our best Christmas years.  Larry surprised me with some nice gifts and the kids were happy.

Mary Ann, it has been many years since I've been to a Denny's.  They don't have any around this area.  When we lived in Maryland we used to go occasionally.  They used to have a good chocolate dessert that my mother loved, so she always looked forward to going.

Hope everyone is having a good day.  Beverly, I hope all goes well with your husband.

Jean,  your mention of the Christmas in IL with Larry's family as being one of the nicest, reminded me of the year we all of a sudden decided to have our Christmas at midnight instead of waiting until morning.  I spent Christmas with Norm and his family those years and it was a "spur of the moment" decision.  I don't recall that any of us received anything special, but we all enjoyed doing something different for a change.

I remember when I was a child, Norm and I could not go downstairs until Dad went down and turned on the tree lights.  Then we had to eat breakfast before we opened gifts.  One unmarried aunt, sister of our mother, alternated between our house and that of Mother's other sister in IL at Christmas.  She usually spent Thanksgiving with the IL family because there was less time to travel.  And what fun it was for Dad, Norm and me to go to the train station to pick up that aunt.  Those were the days!!!

I got my flu shot today so I have that out of the way for another year

Mary Ann

Things seem to have calmed down around here for now, as far as the power outages are concerned.  The fire is still raging up near The Geysers, near the town of Geyserville.  It looks like the same pattern of destruction that happened in different areas of Northern CA, in the past three years. The wildfires get out of control so quickly, and then it's just a matter of evacuating people, and trying to save homes and structures.  It's so sad to watch TV, and see people interviewed, who have absolutely nothing left.  Everything they owned is wiped out within minutes.  Now they are telling us that Saturday, and Saturday night, will be the worst of it.  Apparently the winds will be extremely high, which blows the sparks in all directions.

JEAN - I didn't know you were facing the possibility of a bone marrow biopsy?  I certainly hope they will find no need for you to have one, and that your other tests will be okay.    I still enjoy going to Denny's. There are not as many as there used to be, but we have a few remaining that are close by.  There is something comfortable and cozy about going there, and the food is always good.  Not gourmet fare, by any means, but it's fresh and hot, and they get it to you in short order!

MARY ANN - When my brother and I were young, Santa Claus, always left our main "big" gift sitting unwrapped, under the Christmas tree. It was usually something like a tricycle, roller skates, Teddy bear, or doll buggy with a doll in it.  David always woke up first and then would wake me up, and then we would get our parents, and we'd all go to the Christmas tree, to see what was waiting for us.  Then we played with whatever it was, while Mom made coffee and breakfast.  After that we tore into all the rest of the wrapped presents.  When my three were young, AJ and I followed that same routine.

Marilyne, I saw on the new a few minutes ago that Northern Cal is again plagued by wildfires.  The talked about the outages, so hope you manage to keep your power on.  Here in Texas, last Sunday night, there were 3 tornadoes right near my general area, by the time all was said and done, Northeast texas had 11 tornadoes of varying strength. The devastation here was awful, but I'm sure you got to see some of it on the news.  The first one missed my area by about 3 to 5 miles. 

Tomereader, the tornado that missed your area by 3 to 5 miles was too close for comfort.  We do have tornadoes in Michigan, in fact, we had two very close to Grand Rapids many years ago, but they are rare.  So are forest fires.  We have a lot of wooded areas, most of them in the UP and also northern lower Michigan.  Any storms that try to cross Lake Michigan dissipate over the lake or lose their strength.

I've been doing more genealogy lately and I found proof of when my dad's uncle died.  We had a "supposed" date but this was a probate record.  I don't know if he and his first wife were divorced (he was married three times) but she was also married three times, the second marriage was two years before Dad's uncle died.  I don't delve into the whys and wherefores, especially a relative I didn't know and who is not a direct ancestor.  The story with that man was that he committed suicide by hanging from a bedpost.

Weather permitting, tomorrow Tom and I are going on a color drive and plan to stop at his former MIL's for a visit. 

It's getting toward the cat's and my bedtime, but I'm not quite ready yet.

Mary Ann

New news on fostering;

https://www.seniorsandfriends.org/index.php?msg=163160

Just a quick HELLO as it is late and I should be in bed! 

MARILYNE, I have bee; watching the news regarding the fires and it is so upsetting.  Dave and Michele lived in Healdsburg for a few years so they have many friends in the area and have heard of a few that have lost their homes and some vineyards.  now of course there are so many other areas that are also under the watch, including where we were last week. 

We stopped and had breakfast at a Denny's in Dana Point last week when we arrived in CA and we both thought the food was excellent and well priced.  We have a couple of Denny's in Denver but they are not in very nice areas and the few times we have eaten there we found it to not be very good. 

MARY ANN, I do hope you and Tom can get away to see the colors tomorrow.

TOMREADER, I am sorry to read that you are located near the area of the terrible tornadoes, but thankful they were just close and not right there by you.  The picture out of that area sure look awful.

JEAN, I, too am sorry to read that you may be facing a bone marrow biopsy as well.  I hope and pray you get the news that it is not necessary.  This will be a long weekend for you as you wait. The story you shared about the special Christmas that you celebrated early so your Larry could go home to spend Christmas was a very special one. 

PATRICIA, I appreciated reading your post about the life you had with husbands in the service during the Vietnam War.  Those must have been hard times for you and your daughter spending so much time alone....even during the birth of your daughter.  It certainly shows that one can choose to survive no matter what the circumstances are even when they do not have the love and support of family.  Thank you for sharing.

I really must get to bed.....
Pleasant dreams to all. 

Jenny

 

Good morning.  A little early for anything important to report.

Jean, I just read where you might be having to have a bone marrow biopsy. I sure hope that everything will turn out ok. I will keep you in my thoughts.

I, too, watched the funeral for Elijah Cummings.  I don't live down in the city anymore, but I know he was very well liked in the city.  I thought that it would be a very spiritual service.  What a beautiful church that was.  There have been some controversial situations lately down in the cit about how a lot of people felt he wasn't doing a very good job keeping the city clean and trying to do something about all the killings.  So, it was very heartwarming to hear just what kind of a person he really was. Lots of really nice stories about his life.  But, 4 hours was a long time to sit for all the people that attended. And, his children spoke so well of him.  And, yes, his wife and the preacher got very emotional.  I thought there would have been  more spiritual music, tho.  No hand clapping.

I need to get myself moving on with my day.  Again, I will thinking of you.

Joy

Good morning everyone.  I had a rather hot shower this morning; it seems something happened to the cold water intake.  Cold water came from the sink faucet so I hope it is only the shower thing. 

The sky looks a bit dreary this morning and I hope it brightens up.  In taking our ride, we plan to go to Sheridan MI (45 min away) to visit Tom's former MIL.  She is the one who I went to Denmark and Germany with in 2000.  She calls me her "little sister" since she is quite a bit taller than I am.  As Norm used to say, "isn't everyone?"

Mary Ann

Mary Ann, here is a live feed of the upcoming (3ominutes from now) commissioning of the USS Indianapolis. https://navylive.dodlive.mil/2019/10/25/uss-indianapolis-lcs-17-commissioning-ceremony/

Gee, what a surprise (she said sarcastically). https://www.space.com/space-could-become-war-zone-soon.html

MarsGal, thank you for that link.  You know that Burns Harbor/Port of Indiana is on CST, do you not?  So it will start at 11 am my time.

I will be able to watch some, if my computer works OK, but I have been after Tom to take me around the county to see what color there might be.  We decided to go into the next county east to visit his former MIL  I know I will also get some details from my Indps cousin.  Tom used to be managing editor of the Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) and I am sure that is why he will be at the commissioning.  He still works part time for them as a free-lance writer.

I used to think as time went on that countries would be more progressive and conditions would be better.  It disturbs me that there is so much hate in this world, even in the US now.  I think we're going backwards.

Mary Ann

The live feed is on NOW.

I watched Federal Dart and Juno heading up river at Marine City this morning. What a lovely sunrise before-hand. Also, the autumn leaves are spectacular. I hope our down here get nice like that this year.

Good morning, it snowed yesterday but only a dusting. I knew about it before I looked as I woke up to no street noise. Those from snowy areas know what I mean. I was out yesterday with friends and bill paying, so today will be a quieter day at home

Patricia, plese keep the snow your way! I did see the snow that Alberta got yesterday and they may also keep it. Just hope and pray CA gets rain..lots of rain...no storm. I watched the devastation on the news yesterday and it sure makes one sad.

MARY ANN, enjoy the ride today and the visit to your BIG sister!  I always smile when you mention things that Norm used to say to you😘

We are to get to 70* today, but then the temps will plummet!  We hope to get out and batten down the hatches as prepare for winter.....😤😤😤.

AMY, agree......I hope California gets some rain...the fires are terrible. 

Have a super good Saturday 🦋

Jenny

Good Afternoon,

Far northwestern Oklahoma received 13 inches (that's right - THIRTEEN) of snow on Wednesday/Thursday!!!!!  Broke all kinds of records for October.

It rained here that entire time.  I think the official total was 4 inches but I suspect it was more in some areas.

And, naturally,  there was somewhere I had to be at a certain time every single day all week! 

Today, there's nowhere I need to go (other than the mailbox) and, naturally, the sun is shining and there's no wind. <sigh>

Not happy with half time score of OU/Kansas State game.  Think I'll go get the mail and see if they improve during my absence. 

Wishing Everyfriend Everywhere an Enjoyable Day.