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An anniversary comes but once a year!

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 2:35 am

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An anniversary comes but once a year. It marks the day you stood up in church and recited vows to each other. It meant something to us and it was a death do us part vow. So, after 53 years we are still here and still together. I remember some of the early anniversaries and I don't remember them all. I remember we went out every year and had a meal and Brian bought me roses. Today a lady asked if he bought me flowers. I told her he didn't buy them today but I have flowers and butterflies to go with them and they last much longer than store bought flowers. She didn't understand. I had roses just last month and they lasted only a few days in our heat even with me changing the water every morning. I had rather have a rose now and then for no reason but love. Brian surprises me with one several times a year and they have more meaning than ones bought for an occasion that calls for buying flowers because it's expected of you.
With the years come routine and every once in awhile you break that routine and do something different. We've done many different things in the 53 years and we've lived many places. We've live in about a dozen different places in four different states. We liked every place we've lived. Sometimes, like the move from Arizona to Texas it is just time to move somewhere else. The climate was different in Arizona than in Wisconsin and it is different in Texas than it was in Arizona. Pennsylvania also had it's own climate. There was very little snow in Philadelphia. There was almost no snow in Arizona and in Texas but Wisconsin had many feet of snow each year. Brian tells people when we left Wisconsin that we went until no one knew what a snow shovel was used for and then we stopped. We still don't have a snow shovel. A broom does a very good job on the amount of snow we've had everywhere but Wisconsin.
Our oldest son was born in the Naval Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Brian was in the Navy when we got married. The other two were born in Wisconsin. They all live in different states now. I guess they got the travel bug from us. Well, the youngest and his family live in Wisconsin. The oldest lives in California and is an expert in the growing of grapes and making wine. He has a PhD to prove it. The youngest is a pediatrician. He went to college when he was just 16. We had to sign all sorts of papers just to leave him there. It was only two hours from home. While he was still there we moved across the country. The middle child has a degree in Electronic Instrumentation. He works on the electronics on those huge machines in an open pit copper mine in Arizona. He learned electricity and electronics while spending a few years in the Navy and got his degree piece meal. We are proud of each and every one of them. Did I get off of the subject? Every anniversary is another year spent with a person we love and cherish. I am hoping we have many more left to us. We are both in our 70's but mostly healthy. We do have our problems as we age but doesn't everyone. They are not something we sit and worry about or even think about most days. Our truck doesn't sit in the driveway most days. It takes us to breakfast or lunch or to the library or museum or to visit friends. Today, it took us to lunch at the Woodbine Hotel. That's a haunted hotel. It has ghosts on the third floor. I have not visited the third floor so I cannot personally attest to the ghostly visitor.
This was a very good day for us. We spent it together as always but maybe a little more together instead of us each doing "our" thing and getting together for some parts of the day. We are truly blessed to have found each other at that roller rink when I was only 18. I was 20 when we got married and he was 21. People thought we were too young or didn't know each other well enough. But, we knew better and we made it work for us. You can't just give up when the going hits a rough spot. Work around it and let love have it's way.

dooley

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Shopping today!

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 3:17 am

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Since we didn't go shopping yesterday that was our day today. First we went and had breakfast. Then, we went to Huntsville and did our shopping. I got everything on my list and then some. We went to WalMart for decaffinated tea bags. I use them to make iced tea. I drink a lot of tea and it has to be the decaffinated kind. We bought some other things there, too. Then, on to HEB for a few things. Then, to Kroger for the rest of the stuff on the list. They had peaches on sale and tomatoes. I bought lettuce and just a small bag of potatoes. We don't eat a lot of potatoes. But, I may make some potato salad. I did buy eggs today. I have a few to toss. Tomorrow we will go to the dump so it's a good time to toss them, I think. We stopped in Midway at the cafe and had lunch. It's a small place but the food is very good. We ate there one before and liked it. Maybe we will go back there again sometimes. It's not all that far away.
Home and things put away by 3 pm. Supper in town and home again before dark. Dark doesn't come at 6:30 pm in summer. So, that rounded out our day. Hope you had one as good.

dooley

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It's still summer!

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2014 3:30 am

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Here it is the middle of August, almost. It's still summer here, meaning it's hot, hot, hot and more hot. Each day is in the upper 90's and it says the weekend will be 101 and 102 degrees. It's good that every where we go has air conditioning but getting in and out of the truck and into a building raises the sweat on you forehead. It has a habit of running into my eyes so I have to have a kleenex in had to wipe it out again. I am not fond of winter but could use a shorter summer and more spring and fall. Fall is my favorite season. When I was a kid it was a time of weiner roasts and hay rides and, of course,back to school. Some kids have already gone back to school. They have the year divided up a lot different than they did when I went to school. They get more holidays and time off. I didn't have a big garden this year and what I had didn't do very well. I'm getting old enough that going out in the heat of the day to tend to things is a bit daunting. I always intend to get up early and do it and some days I manage it and some days I have other stuff to do. You know how the "other stuff" keeps sticking it's head in where it doesn't belong. It's the things that has to be done instead of the things that you want to do. We are retired so we don't have as much other stuff as people who are working or have kids to get ready for back to school days.
I still try to do a bit of sewing every day. I have four aprons hanging on the back of the door now and one that is a work in progress. I'll maybe get it finished tomorrow. I sell some but it seems I like to just give them to people same as with the shopping bags. It doesn't cost me a lot to make them and I like to see the happy smiles on people's faces.
It's my keep busy project. I was told to find something to do to keep busy so I didn't sit and stare at the tv all day. It would be hard to do that because we don't have a tv. We haven't had one for seven years now. I don't miss it. Sometimes when we go to eat there will be a tv and I see the news or weather. Mostly the news isn't good news and I can look outside and see the weather. Or read about it in the paper or check it out on the computer. So, I don't miss the tv.
Sometimes I'm on the computer since I have a facebook account to keep in touch with my kids. I also play some solitaire or mahjong on it. I sew and I read and I do crossword puzzles. I cook and clean occasionally. One thing I do every day is dishes. I never leave dishes sitting dirty. It's a habit that I learned from my mom. When I was working maybe I did occasionally but I had the boys at home to do them. I think they still do them with the help of a dishwasher. I don't have a dishwasher, never really wanted one though one time I did have one.
Well, anyway sometimes I write and we belong to a writer's group that meets once a month so Brian and I both write something for it. They think I should pull together all my Boomer Rabbit stories into a book. I think there are about 20 of them. I just never get around to doing it. That "other stuff" gets in the way, I guess. Maybe someday!
We're still feeding the birds. Well, Brian feeds them and I keep their water tubs filled. The squirrels seem to come and help themselves but the birds knock enough on the ground that would be wasted so I'm not going to complain about it. Once in awhile I see a little rabbit but they seem to prefer the grass that grows from the seeds. Most of the birds are cardinals and I like to sit and watch them. They have always been one of my very favorite birds.
So, we are not sitting around staring at the tv. We find all sorts of things to keep us busy. I still come to Gardenstew every day even though some days I don't write much. Wannabe and I exchange private messages to keep in touch every day. It's just an extra touch since we do chat sometimes. She lives in Illinois and I live in Texas. I think now that of the six brothers and sisters, each one live in a different state. I wonder how that happened. I think we all moved around so much when we were kids that we all chose a place we liked when we were a kid. Though I never lived in Texas I do like this part very much.

dooley

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