Bits n' Pieces

We went for a hike today. It was sunny, but very cold. We decided to go east into an area known as Opal Creek. We had to drive about 14 miles off the main road to find the trail head, but it wasn't too tough a drive. There was snow on the ground at the higher elevation, but not much. Just enough to wet the trail and make things stick to you. It wasn't a long hike, just about a mile in and a mile out, but we had little kids with us, so it seemed wise to keep it easy. the payoff for the uphill hike was a beautiful waterfall. Oh...and the fact that the second half of the hike was downhill.

Ben decided he has a new name for me. He told me yesterday, "Gramma - you're a gramma and a cracker 'cause your white, so I'm gonna call you GramCracker."

Yikes. Out of the mouths of babes...

Ryann got a 'Bop - it" game for Christmas so we had a Bop-it tournament this evening. The Bop-it is a device with a couple different places on it to pull, twist, bop or talk into. The device has a beat and in rhythm it will tell you which thing to do - twist the knob, pull another knob, bop the button or speak into the microphone. If you put it on a group setting it will also tell you when to pass it. The beat continues as it tells the person which part to do in totally random patterns. If you don't do it on time, or do the wrong thing, it berates you and tells you you are out. Great fun, and anyone can do it. Uh...almost anyone. But enough about that.

Its late and time to try and sleep. As always, I hope the very best for everyone.

It's Over

I did it. I survived another Christmas. I only made a few mistakes. I cooked 2 Christmas dinners and then played the "fix-your-own-there-are-lots-of-leftovers" card after that. I plan to play that card for the next several days. I successfully shopped for and delivered presents for the 16 people on my immediate family list, and only one or two items need to be returned for size or style correction. All in all, I have to say the day is declared a success. Nobody got sick (yet) or had to go to the emergency room for stitches. Maybe I should knock on wood or something.

I can hardly wait to get it all put away. I absolutely hate having Christmas decorations up after Christmas. Even a few days makes me antsy. I do have a few simple sewing projects yet to finish, but they aren't a big rush. I have to admit I do have a bit of the after-party letdown...maybe even the blues. Maybe its because January is typically SO incredibly boring in Oregon. At least the boredom will be taken away for a short while during my brother Jim's visit the second week of January. That'll be fun to catch up and enjoy some time together.

I don't know what in the world I'll do when my grandkids are past the toy stage. I won't have any excuse to get down on the floor and check out the toys. I got Sophie and Juliet a doll house that I'm just itching to play with. I've found that to be the key with my grands. Find a toy that I want to play with and they'll like it too. Usually I score a win with that philosphy.

Its getting late now. I'd better try to get some rest. Our big football game (Rose Bowl- Oregon vs. Ohio) will be on New Year's day so we are all looking forward to that.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you all joy and happiness in the New Year.

Wow...this is a busy time of year. It takes so much energy and time - then its over in a few hours. I was thinking about this today as I was hanging out of a tree trying really hard to reach a place I shouldn't have been trying to reach. One of these days I'm going to have to realize I'm not 16 anymore and either give up on those unreachable things or...or...or what? I guess just give up.

My studio is a mess. I can call it a studio now because I have a corner set up just for painting. It was my office before, but studio sounds so bohemian. I like that idea. I'm going to start wearing only overalls and caftans and use words that don't really mean anything. I'm going to search for the 'truth' in my art. Or not...

Yeah, that's a bit much even for me.

Somewhere in my house I have a box with lots and lots of smaller boxes of lights in it. I remember putting it away last year when I put away the Christmas decorations. It's no where to be found now. I suspect its in the same hiding place as the mate to my best socks. It might also be in the same place as my winter gloves. Dang it, I know I had some...

Ah well, I'm rambling more than usual so it must be time to close.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all - Good night.

Love, Deb

Define A Good Hair Day...

I'm having a good hair day. You know those days that happen once in a great while, where your hair and makeup just "work"? OK, so I guess that doesn't really apply to guys...well...most guys anyway. It was just one of those days when everything comes together. People in stores were pleasant, the lines at the post office were short. It seemed like everyone was smiling. Maybe that was just a crazed look, I could be wrong - but they seemed to be smiling. The rain let up for part of the day, and the freeze appears to be over, at least for the moment.

I'm almost finished with my Christmas shopping and I still have 2 weeks until the big day. Wow, that could be some sort of record for me. I've decorated the house and part of the front yard. I also decorated the back deck this year. I've turned my dining room lighting fixture into an homage to "tacky" - but its shiny and it sparkles, that's all that's important.

Tomorrow I'm headed to Vancouver to see my friend Irene and my girls. Maybe I'll finish up the last of my shopping there. That would be a bonus!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

It's very late and I can't sleep. I ran out of sleeping pills and Tylenol PM just isn't doing anything. I was in bed for a couple hours just staring at the dark. Every few minutes I cough, so I'm sure Bruce is getting cranky with me. I'm not sure if that's keeping me awake or my thoughts. I have a chronic cough, but it gets worse when I've been sick. Seems like I've been sick a lot this year. Allergies don't help.

Whine, whine, whine...

OK..I'm done with that. Sorta.

Have you ever watched people walk? Especially when they aren't aware that you are watching? You can tell a lot about a person by how they walk. At least you THINK you can tell a lot about a person by how they carry themselves. Who knows if what you perceive is what really is. I like to watch people in malls or crossing streets. I make up little stories about them in my head. I tend to walk at a fast pace and with purpose. My pace may be slowing a little, but it is what it is.

We're supposed to get snow or freezing rain tonight. That should make life interesting tomorrow. It's been bitterly cold the last week, but should warm up into the 30's soon. Local news must be slow because they are covering the weather as if it were going to be the biggest storm of the century. Weather wise, it will be dud I'm sure. Maybe they'll make up some news.

As usual, I'm rambling. Perhaps I will sleep now.

Goodnight.

Is the week over yet?

Son Kevin has had the week from Hell...and its only Tuesday.

Sunday, with a record cold front in Oregon - his home heating system went down. Turns out the problem is a part that has to be ordered (of course) and won't be available until Wednesday. Hopefully that willl fix it. We have plenty of room and heat here at my house so the whole family came here. Its been like an extended slumber party so far. The girls are having a great time.

Monday as Stephanie was driving from one school to another for her teaching job, she was overcome with the smell of gasoline and fumes. She called Kevin who had already left for school in Eugene (75 miles away) and he turned around and changed cars with her. He took the sick car straight to the dealer where they were able to fix it. Not cheaply of course.

Since it was too late for him to go to school, he decided to study for his final exam scheduled for today (Tuesday). The exam was open-book and open-Internet and was expected to be brutal. When he sat down to study he realized his wi-fi card in his laptop wasn't working so he took it to the Apple store to have it looked at. It needs to have a new card installed. It'll take several days and the laptop needs to be sent away. The machine has a very nice one year warranty. He's owned it for one year and two weeks. He has a lot of material on the laptop so he decided to use it anyway and took my little notebook computer to act as his emergency Internet access.

He managed to get through the exam ok. After speaking to his classmates it was pretty clear that it was a very difficult exam. Not one person managed to complete it. Kevin feels OK about how he did, so that's good.

After his final, he decided to go home and check his house. It was 41 degrees inside. Luckily no pipes have frozen (yet) so if the heater is fixed on Wednesday as promised he may get through the rest of the week with no new disasters. He did have a scare with a leaky pipe, but it turned out to be unrelated to the freezing weather and he was able to fix it. It's supposed to get down to 10 degrees tonight. I'm sure everything will be fine.

Really.

I mean it.

Random thoughts...

I'm just curious...

WHO was the guy who decided it would be a great idea to incorporate his falling leaves into Halloween decoration? I'm referring to the large orange plastic leaf bags that have a jack-o-lantern face on them. Fill them up with fallen leaves and you have an instant decoration plus your yard gets cleaned up. Was he struck with the idea? Was he even a 'he'? Maybe it was a woman. I'll have to research that someday when everything else is finished on my to-do list.

WHO determines spelling of a word? Is it the people at Websters Dictionary? Is it by popular vote? Why do they have so little imagination?

WHO was the first person to be imprisoned for tearing off the 'do not remove under penalty of law' tag on his pillow? How many years did he get for the offense? Was it just a slap on the wrist or a whack on the head with the pillow?

HAS anyone ever really died because some guy tried to save them by using a toy swim ring as a lifesaving device? When it didn't work, did the guy just walk away and say "well, I tried"...

WOULD a dog stick to a refrigerator if it ate enough magnets? When they ...uh...'passed'...would that product then stick to the frig?

Yes. I have deep thoughts. I have that kind of time.

A thought...

Writing in a blog is a little like writing your thoughts, rolling them up, and putting them in a bottle. Then, you take the bottle and toss it out on the waves. You can watch it for a little while, but soon it gets out of sight. Out of sight out of mind. It doesn't take long to forget them entirely. And you never know for sure if someone sees them, or if they make an impact on someone or bring on any other emotion. A few send me notes from time to time and I just want you (you know who you are) to know how much I appreciate those. The email address I've had for many years is momaj@aol.com.

I'm just thinking. The first part of December always throws me into a tizzy of thought. I'll try to stop that.

Maybe.

Dad, the Gunslinger

I've been doing some genealogy research on my family and was looking for newspaper articles. I found some cool ones that mention my grandmother. They are mostly in what I would call the local gossip column. One mentions that "Mrs. William Stewart and son Raymond, visited in Oxnard Saturday evening." The date of the paper is May 4, 1917.

I found a cool article that mentioned my dad dated September 23, 1963. The headline reads "Gun-wielding robbers get $350 from liquor stores" and mentions the two stores that were hit. The portion that mentions my dad is quoted below.

"William M. Stewart, owner of the store, chased the robbers, firing a gun shot at one of them, but they rounded the corner of the building and escaped, he told deputies.

The two men entered the store about 9:20 p.m. and walked up to the cash register, Stewart related. He said one of the men pointed a small automatic pistol at him and demanded all of the money in the cash register.

Stewart handed over about $150 from the register and was told to get down on the floor, he said. He began to crouch, pushing a burglar alarm button at the same moment, and the two robbers fled.

He told deputies he ran to the door and fired one shot from a .38 caliber pistol before he lost sight of the robbers."

When I was a kid, this sort of thing happened a time or two each year at my parents store. Back in the 'old days' the bad guys would run instead of opening fire on people just for the sake of killing. The alarm mentioned was wired up to our house, so when it was pushed it was the job of whoever was home to call the police. I remember doing it several times. Then we would drive the 3/4 mile to the store and hope we didn't run into any bad guys or dead bodies. I remember one time in particular jumping out of my mother's car well ahead of her and running into the store (yeah, I was THAT stupid...) to find my brother Bill and Chuck (an employee) laying face down on the floor. Billy looked up at me with his huge eyes and said "are they gone?" I must have missed them by seconds. I sort of gave up my Annie Oakley ways after that and was a little more careful. Billy had kids by that point so I must have been around 12.

Ah, memories...