Old letters and memories

My storage areas are in dire need of purging, tossing what needs to go, keeping the necessary, or at least what seems important. I started in the basement cabinets behind the bar. It was fairly easy until I came to the pictures and letters. I sat in a pile of stuff reading letters that my mom kept, some from me and my kids, some from her and my dad. It was fascinating reading about life events from 20 years ago, details long forgotten. Most of these letters were written in 1993 after we moved to Garden City from Baton Rouge. It was heartbreaking to leave my parents and I went through the heart ache all over again with the letters. I wrote so many letters during that time. They stopped once we got a computer and started using email. Kind of sad, that. My mother loved hand written letters from loved ones and spent a lot of her time writing to relations and friends. She was so great about keeping in touch with friends from much earlier years. I tend to live in the moment. It's not that I don't cherish old friends, well, perhaps I don't cherish them as I should. I found one letter from 1979, where I complained about not being able to find the time to sit down and write a letter because of chasing a toddler about and cleaning up, etc. etc. I'm glad I finally did. That's the great thing about these blogs. You young mothers, when you are grandmothers, will find your earlier musings to be most interesting. Maybe not as interesting as finding a folded letter stuck in an envelope in your own handwriting, but still very good.

tipi time

 

 

 

It looks like we will finally be setting up the tipi! We were hoping to have this done much earlier, like springtime, but now we are shooting (so to speak) for the 4th of July. Chuck and our neighbor, Jim, went out to our land near Hutchinson a few weeks ago and set up the poles. Back in Wichita, Chuck and I visited the Mid America All Indian Center two Wednesday nights in a row to observe someone erecting actual tipis. The following Wednesday, they let us spread our tipi out on the floor of the center so we could trace out our design. The next problem was where to paint it. They wouldn't let us do that at the center and our driveway seemed too dirty and too hot, so we settled on the basement, which has worked out fairly well. Chuck has been applying paint section at a time. Our son, Keenan, and his two oldest children, Ari and Keira, will be here next week. They are excited to see the tipi and hopefully camp out in it. I'm praying for unseasonably cool weather and not too much wind so we can enjoy being outdoors.

Texas Trip March

Chuck and I recently took a leap into unfamiliar waters, taking a road trip to Texas with two grandkids, sans parents. Last Friday morning, we loaded up the new Jetta with Charis and Blaise in the back seat and headed south for Arlington, Texas to visit the Texas Roaches, Keenan, Sara, Ari, Keira, and Asher. Charis and Blaise were very excited to be going to see their cousins and aunt and uncle. The trip down went very well, only stopping twice at the usual places, the OK welcome center to have lunch and the Texas welcome center to run off some wiggles and to pose for a picture.

We arrived at Keenan's house in the afternoon and relaxed outside while the kids ran and played. Saturday held big excitement of a train ride to Ft. Worth to see the beautiful Water Gardens. It was a hot day and the water was very tempting, but signs every where prohibited wading or swimming. We had to be content to water gaze and clamber around. We had fun people watching too while we cooled off in the shade.

Back home, the kids rested in front of a movie while the dads went shopping. Later, Sara fixed us a mini seder meal of matzah ball soup, matzah, and haroset. Mmmm!

Our little passengers weren't quite as happy on the trip home, and were very worn out, but it went pretty well, especially after Blaise fell asleep, finally.

A big thank you to our hosts for putting us up and all the cooking and cleaning. We had a great time!

And thanks to Kelsey for helping me with the slide show. Sara helped me with this before, but I lost the instructions.

Wings of Life

A friend asked me for the recipe for potato salad, the only potato salad I make and have been making for over 30 years. It's in a cookbook called Wings of Life that I bought when Chuck was in law school in Lawrence and I worked in the library. It was a book I was cataloging and I convinced Chuck to let me buy it as I promised to cook delicious meals for him. It was pretty clear at this point that I was not my mother, not one of those homemaker types that cooks up hot meat and potato meals every day. Some days I just didn't FEEL like cooking. And I was getting a reputation in my family when they would come to visit. Oh, you want to eat? The whole hospitality thing took years to get used to and I'm still "practicing". Chuck would complain about it back in the day, but when I did cook on a regular basis, he complained that he was putting on weight. But couples adjust to each other. As a result of my not cooking, Chuck learned that he liked being in the kitchen at times. It was either cook or go out to eat and we couldn't afford that, so he cooked. Now my spotty meal planning works well for us. Sometimes I cook, sometimes Chuck cooks, and sometimes, often times, we simply graze. At dinner time, we saunter into the kitchen and see what we can throw together. I am so blessed to have a husband that likes this system as much as I do. As for Wings of Life, I don't remember what recipes I used from that other than the potato salad, and that recipe was worth the price of the book.

Natural woman

I have to admit, I'm kind of surprised that my daughter would turn out to be a big proponent of natural birth. I was a part of the hippie generation, and going natural was rather a fad and both of my ob/gyns were reisigned to this and hospitals made an effort to accomodate women's wishes. But going natural today flies in the face of conventional wisdom. Most women have the notion that labor and delivery should be entirely devoid of pain and see no problem with asking for drugs. Doctors and hospital are thrilled about this and more than eager to comply and everywhere you turn, you hear the fear. Not fear of being cut open, or taking drugs to dull the senses and what it might do to the baby, as was my fear, but fear of the natural process of giving birth. I figured that God made me, my body, and gave me the ability to carry a child and deliver the child and then nourish it throughout it's infancy. Call me naive, but it worked out splendidly.

Kelsey, my daughter, had her firstborn in a hospital. Her wishes were to have a natural childbirth, but the professionals got in the way. As soon as we walked in the door, the staff was in control. Kelsey was made to lie down, endure a catheter, told not to eat or drink, was hooked up to every kind of monitoring machine and then when things didn't move along (surprise surprise) fast enough for them, they gave her drugs to speed them up. That caused more pain so they gave her drugs for the pain. Brent and I stood on the sidelines, not really necessary except to give Kelsey our love. It was an agonizingly long labor and so hard on my sweet girl.

In her second pregnancy, Kelsey researched natural births and gained a lot of helpful information, including hiring a doula to assist through labor and to be an advocate at the hospital. What a difference this made! Kelsey labored at home with the doula and Brent and me, arriving at the hospital with only enough time for the doctor on call to catch the baby. It was comical to see the staff running around with their forms, but with not much to do. It was over before they go started! This experiece gave Kelsey the confidence to go for a home birth with baby three.

When Kelsey went into labor for her third child at one o'clock a.m., she counted contractions by herself and tried to sleep in between until 6:00, not wanting to wake anyone unnecessarily. The midwife and her doula arrived about 9. They were wise enough to let Kelsey make the calls. Clearly, Kelsey was in charge, not a doctor, or staff. If she wanted to walk, she walked. If she was hungry or thirsty, she ate and drank. Sometimes she sat with all of us, sometimes she just wanted to be alone or with her husband. When things got tough, we were there for her to lean on and cry on and to pray for her. We all felt like an important support team for Kelsey. At 1:44 p.m., our little Iris made her appearance, surprising us all. We knew the time was close but not that close! The long dance was over at last. Kelsey cried tears of relief and joy.

Now for the real work, raising the children, and that is also painful at times. But children are a blessing from the Lord!

New Year's Eve 2011

 

Just took a quick look at our 2011 pictures in Picasa. It's like the entire year at a glance, in living color. Almost all of the photos are of my treasures, my family. My husband, my children, my grandchildren are my reason to get up in the morning and carry on. I thank my Father in Heaven for everyone of them and ask His blessings on them.

I am also very grateful and relieved that the Creator of the Universe cannot be voted out of office. He was and is and is to come! This is reassuring as political leaders come and go, so greedy for power, so full of lies. All we want is to live our lives, love and provide for our families, enjoy our friends, enjoy freedom. Sadly we share the planet with those who want to kill and steal and destroy, and many of those are in positions of power.

I don't know what is coming in the next year, who will be president, how many freedoms will be left, how prosperous we will we be, but I do know that God sits on his throne and he will not change no matter how many claim he doesn't exist. He is Lord!! He is King! Allelujah!

Come Lord Jesus and revive us again!

Toilet paper

My friend Shana has started a blog with a bang and much enthusiasm so I thought I'd blow the dust off of mine and crank it up again. It's one week until Christmas. My last blog was in the heat of summer and now it's sweater weather. Woot! Is it just me, or have the past three months just whizzed by in a blur? Seems like yesterday I was tossing out the rotting pumpkin. Someone has made the observation that life is like a roll of toilet paper. It goes slowly at the start and then, zip, you find yourself clinging with that bit of glue to the cardboard tube. Not that much paper left on my roll. Sigh.

Ok! That was a cheery bit of insight. On to happier things. One of my granddaughters has a birthday tomorrow. She will be five. Grandchildren are the sweet reward for nearing the end of the roll. I'm going to hang on as long as I can.

Hotter than a match head

The high temps made me think of the journals I wrote in 2000 and 2001. There truly is nothing new on the Earth, hot summers come and hot summers go but I will be very happy when this hot summer goes. In 2000, September 2, I wrote, "We were charmed by Cheyenne, WY, and even talked about moving there. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was the magic of the day or perhaps because it wasn't 105 degrees there." Yes, it was still 105 degrees in September. I remember being very bummed about it. Packing for cool British Columbia was difficult with the heat blazing in Kansas. Later in the journal I remarked that Canadians were so relaxed and laid back because they didn't have to suffer in the heat.

In 2001, "Our trip began much as it did in 2000, except that we left the first week in August instead of September, and what a difference a month makes. Winds again blasted Wichita with over 100 degrees, drying and burning both plant and animal. There had been 20 days of this when we left, with no end in sight. We expected to drive out of it like before, but even Wyoming was hot." As I recall, it was still very hot in Kansas when we returned mid September. Sigh. I am trying to keep a better attitude this time, being grateful for the a/c and knowing it will come to an end. And maybe next summer will be better.

Life on Mars

Here is another mini series I recommend. A few months ago, Chuck and I watched the British version of Life on Mars. We saw this first because it is the original. Last night we started on the American version. It promises to be just as good. I suppose you could call this science fiction since it deals with time travel and they do try to explain how someone from 2008 suddenly finds himself in 1973. It doesn't make much sense, but that matters little. It is interesting to see what a man from the present reacts to life 35 years ealier. Sam Tyler is hunting down a killer who likely has taken Sam's girlfriend. During the hunt, Sam is hit by a car and wakes up in 1973. Conveniently, he is dressed in appropriate clothes, has a car, ID, and a job at the same police station where he had been working in 2008, only this time at a lower position. He goes a little crazy at first, understandably, but soon settles in to fighting crime while trying to figure out why he is there and how to get back. I enjoyed the British version to hear all the fun slang. In the NYC story, it is a hoot to see things come to life from a time when I was young. They show the twin towers, which gives an eerie feeling of sadness and doom to come. Sam meets the serial murderer he was chasing in 2008 but now he is a little boy. He also meets himself and his young mother. I'm ready to go watch the next episode!

Rain Shadow

I really am trying to post more blogs. Looking at my blog history, there were 30 posts in 2008, the year I began this, 25 posts in 2009, 10 in 2010. And so far this year? Ta da...3. Facebook happened in 2010 and that slowed my blogging down. It stopped some people competely, ahem, my brothers. Still, there is nothing like a blog for ramblings.

Rain Shadow is not a reference to the lack of rain here in Kansas. Our springs are usually quite wet, sometimes flooding, but not this year. Come on rain! Rain Shadow is the name of an Australian mini series filmed in 2007, starring Rachel Ward. I loved Rachel in The Thorn Birds, a mini series we enjoyed in 1983. She was beautiful back then and at 54, is still a gorgeous woman. In this series, she plays a sorrow hardened veterinarian in a region of Australia called Paringa. Think of the Flinthills and you will get an idea of the country. The photography is stunning and worth the watch if just for that. Rachel's character, Cate, runs off assistant vets sent out to help her, due to her prickly personality, but one young woman vet stays and weathers Cate and the locals and the never ending drought. This is the story of Paringa and it's hardy inhabitants, but especially these two strong women, who both love and hate Paringa. It's a compeling drama and one I didn't want to see come to an end.

I'm not much good at movie reviews but I appreciate hearing about good things to see through Netflix. If you discover you like similar movies, then perhaps my reviews will help. If not, then you will know what to steer clear of. Chuck really liked it too and I wouldn't say this is a chick flick, even though the main characters are women and there are some really hunky guys in it. Ok, maybe it is a chick flick. But one that guys can enjoy as well. It's certainly not Lifetime. Men are not made out to look like creeps.

Land - ho!

Since Chuck is in the land business, we thought we should own a parcel for our own enjoyment. So, a few months ago, we began a search for some acerage in the country where we could pitch a tipi and have a private camp. We finally found 40 acres just west of Hutchinson that seemed perfect for we wanted to do and we made an offer. A couple of offers later, we had a deal. And then the deal died due to a lien on the property. We gave it up and planned to keep looking, when suddenly the deal was alive and before we could sneeze, we were signing papers at a closing. Yee haw!!

The land has a pond with dock, storage garage, water well, garden plot, and lots of trees. Chuck, Charis, and I drove out yesterday after church to plant some seeds in the garden and have another look around. Sadly, we forgot a camera so I don't have current pictures, but those will be coming shortly, I'm sure. We have a lot of plans for the place and are excited about jumping in. I will post updates as things progress.

I need to think of a good name for our place.

Running on

After swimming for exercise three years, one of those in a master swim class, I had to give it up due to allergies. Why it took three years to manifest, I have no idea. The last couple of months I would get out of the water feeling great about my swim, and then sneeze all the way home. And then sneeze for the rest of the day. My left eye would turn bright red and a rash would pop out around my left eye. It took a good two days to somewhat recover. Allergy pills didn't seem to even slow it down. I tried ear plugs after suffering an ear infection and then added a nose plug. All to no avail. Sadly, my last day in the class was last week.

So, I'm going to take up running again and hope my knees don't give out on me. I participated in a two mile race on Saturday, a fund raiser for Youth Horizons, a mentoring group in which I participate. I wasn't too optimistic about running the whole way because the last time I ran, I ended up wheezing. Oh yes, I forgot the wheezing. I'm not sure if that was a swimming by-product or not. But Saturday, I plodded onward in a slow and steady jog and maintained it for two miles and came in at 22 minutes. I was pretty happy about it and thrilled that I wasn't wheezing. Next Saturday is the Emma Creek Classic, a 5K run. I wish I had more time to train, but I think I will do ok. At least I know I can make it two miles. I had planned on running this morning, but it was raining and it doesn't take too much of an excuse to postpone a run.

Time to swim

I somehow dragged my body out of bed at 4:30 this morning after being out late to see Riverdance (so worth it!), having a hard time dropping off to sleep, (visions of tappers in my head), and then waking up too often before the alarm went off. I didn't want to miss this morning because the game plan was to time our 1000 yards. I can't remember what my old time was back in March 2010, probably around 25 minutes. It wasn't much better today. I was pumped and optimistic and ready to stroke it! I started out strong, but around 400 yards, started to feel fatigued and gasping for air, and realized I was swimming too fast and too strong, for me. I tried just slowing down, but instead felt panick setting in. I had to stop and catch my breath (how embarrassing!) and then start again. I forced myself to calm down and think about my form and breathing and found a comfortable stride and got through the last 600 yards without difficulty. But the stop dented my time and I came in over 22 minutes. I can't remember the seconds. So, hoorah, I am officially the slowest swimmer in the class. But then, I'm relieved that I am not moving to the next lane just yet. Maybe next year! I need to work on those long distance swims, breathing in, breathing out, pull pull kick kick kick.

Christmas Pt 2

 
Ah, I couldn't get all the pictures in one post. Can't leave out the youngest! Here is Blaise admiring his new cell phone. Such concentration!
 
And my favorite. What is on your head, Uncle Keenan?

We mostly stayed home during the Texas Roaches visit to keep warm by the fire, but on Monday, Keenan, Sara, Brent, and Kelsey, went to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader, while Papa and I babysat all four kiddos at the Gray's house. I would say they all had a wild good time. We are so blessed indeed!

Merry Christmas 2010

 
We were so blessed to host Christmas to all our children and grandchildren this year and what a merry time we had. The gift openings were spread out so as not to be too overwhelming to the kids. The stockings were opened Christmas afternoon when Keenan, Sara, Ari, and Keira arrived. The rest waited until Boxing Day when Brent could join us. He had to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We did get to have breakfast with all the Gray's on Christmas morning and watched while Charis and Blaise opened their gifts from Santa.
 
Keira got a cash register as one of her gifts. It came with all sorts of accesories. To make change, she tore a dollar in half.
 
Ari's favorite stocking stuffer was an Ironman toy. He took it to bed with him.
 
Charis loved her microphone to help her put on shows.

Charis visits Santa

 
Chuck and I took Charis to Botanica to see Santa last night. That was definitely the main attraction for her. She insisted we keep moving through the display of lights and was impatient to get to Santa. But first we had to go through the candy cane forest and swirly twirly gumdrops, otherwise known as the butterfly house. The line was long, but Charis did not complain once about having to wait. She kept telling me she wasn't going to sit on the big guy's lap so I was perpared to hold on to her.
 
When we got up to the front of the line, an elf picked Charis up and set her in Santa's lap. Not a peep of protest. He asked her name. That was a mistake because of course, Santa should know her name. She asked me about this later. Oh Santa. Then she told him she wanted ear plugs and a fishing pole. You can see in the picture that he is listening very carefully. He was quite interested in a little girl wanting a fishing pole, but never mentioned the plugs. This worried her but I assured her we could write a letter and remind him. Oh, the plugs are so she doesn't have to hear Blaise cry.
 
These are some dancing Christmas trees.
 
And last, but not least of the beautiful lights, a fountain of lights in the Shakespeare Garden. The night was gorgeous, not windy or too cold, perfect for walking the gardens of Wichita. It is definitely looking a lot like Christmas!

Our State Fair!

 

The Kansas State Fair ran from September 10 through the 19th. Since Chuck displayed a painting in the fine arts competition, we have made more than one trip to Hutchinson for the event. Chuck took Charis up on the first day. Kelsey and I had to stay behind and work a garage sale. That's all I have to say about that.
 

Charis wore her Dorothy costume, which seemed so appropriate for a Kansas fair.
 

Tuesday, Chuck and I drove up with the Grays to look at the animals, eat fried stuff, and ride some rides. We stayed long enough to see the sun set and the lights come up on the rides. The hot day turned into a lovely evening. Chuck and I went up again on Sunday, the last day to pick up his painting, which won a prize, and to see some things we missed the other trips. Someone told Chuck about a hypnotist show so we took that in. Very entertaining!
 
It was such a fun fair. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and are already looking forward to next year. After all, our state fair is the best state fair in our state!

Mother's Day

When your mother is no longer in this world's realm, Mother's Day can be bitter sweet. The last time I saw my mother alive was Mother's Day, 2003. I'm sad that I can no longer visit her or call her up or send and receive emails, but her memory grows sweeter every year. And someday I will see her again. Until then, my own children bless and honor me in so many ways. I suppose somewhere in my wicked past I must have done something good, as Maria Von Trapp says, because my cup runneth over.

My son and his sweet wife and children sent me a package full of treasures and a card. Kelsey and her family brought me flowers, chocolates, and a card. My husband bought me chocolates. And even my sweet sister remembered me on Mother's Day with a lovely card. Thank you all! Having you all in my life is the best gift of all. Thank you for making me feel so loved!

Kelsey, Charis, and I went for pedis and manis yesterday. Afterwards, Brent took pictures of our painted hands and feet. Charis with her tiny purple fingernails, Kelsey's lovely, youthful hands, and mine, well, they looked like a grandma's hand. It kind of shocked me at first, the weathered skin, the wrinkles. What happened to my hands? But after all, I am a grandmother now. I've had my childhood and my youth. Now is a different season and I'm ok with that. Most days. I'm grateful for my good health and that I have the energy to keep up with my grandkids. What are a few wrinkles?

Botanica in Spring!

Ah! The loveliness of our beautiful botanical gardens in Wichita in April. These tulips were in Bloom yesterday for Kelsey's birthday. It was enchanting strolling around, gazing at the explosions of colors and inhaling the sweet fragrances.

 
 
 
 

Artsy fartsy news

Things are happening for Chuck in the art world. He is a member now of Kansas Academy of Oil Painters as well as the Kansas Art Guild. He is a new member of KAOP and is the new president of KAG. But, better than that, his Rose of Sharon,aka Galaxy Rose, and Iris opus #2, are currently on display at City Arts along with others from KAOP. The Japanese Iris has been chosen for an art show at the Garden Show in March. It is good exposure as 45,000 people are expected to attend. Last Friday, an article appeared in the GO! section of the Wichita Eagle, featuring Chuck's Rose painting and a buffalo painted by a good friend of ours, Mary Binford-Miller. Mary, already well known, is one of Chuck's teachers. He hangs with good company. I am proud of my sweetie!