My oldest son graduated from High school today

You grow up longing for a family....and then, miracle of miracles you find a wonderful man, who is just crazy enough to want to make his life with you and (in my case) less then a year later you have a perfect baby boy.

My Joey Po was such a cool baby. He has always had these eyebrows, you see. So expressive! LOL Anyway, he has always been his father's son. They look alike (Joey still has his hair though). They think alike. They are big flirts. My Joey is a clone of the man I love more then anything in this world.

Today, my eldest son graduated from High school. He is joining the Marine Corps. He is going to an incredible college. He is handsome, strong, kind and wonderful. And now he's a grown man going out on his own. The first chick out of the nest.

I wonder, what I could have done better? God knows, I can't take the credit for this! I go over every one of my flaws and pray to God that I have not screwed this wonderful boy up. Our family dynamic is changed forever. He doesn' t need my permission to do anything. Did I tell him about Jesus enough? Did I teach him enough about being a good man, so that he can know what to do when problems come up?

Seriously? I doubt it. I am such a goofball. It's amazing to me that he has survived thus far. But the one thing I did do, with Joey and with all the kids is to tell them everyday in every way how much they are loved and valued and how proud I am to be their mom.

My Joey... congratulations on your graduation. I love you. I am so very proud of you. You are the best son a mother could ever dream of . Now go out there and take on the world. You can do ANYTHING.

Goodbye Michael

Could you believe it when you heard about the untimely death of Michael Jackson? I couldn't. I grew up with Michael. I had Jackson 5 posters on my wall. I have listened to his music all my life. I watched his astounding rise to heights of fame and fortune in the 80s and his disintegration in the 90s.

Michael's amazing talent as singer, dancer and composer brought him all earthly fame and riches and yet he was never a happy, well adjusted man. His repetitive plastic surgeries left him looking freakish.....his bizarre behavior lost him many fans and cost him millions of dollars in legal fees, leaving him nearly bankrupt.

Tonight I am grieving for the young boy he was. I wish he could have loved and accepted himself as his many fans did and do. Goodbye Michael. I hope you finally found the peace and love you craved.

I'll Be There

You and I must make a pact, we must bring salvation back
Where there is love, Ill be there

Ill reach out my hand to you, Ill have faith in all you do

Just call my name and Ill be there

Ill be there to comfort you,

Build my world of dreams around you,

Im so glad that I found you

Ill be there with a love thats strong

Ill be your strength, Ill keep holding on

Let me fill your heart with joy and laughter

Togetherness, well thats all Im after

Whenever you need me, Ill be there

Ill be there to protect you, with an unselfish love that respects you

Just call my name and Ill be there

If you should ever find someone new,

I know hed better be good to you

cause if he doesnt, Ill be there

Dont you know, baby, yeah yeahIll be there,

Ill be there, just call my name, Ill be there

(just look over your shoulders, honey - oo)

Ill be there, Ill be there, whenever you need me, Ill be there

Dont you know, baby, yeah yeahIll be there, Ill be there

just call my name, Ill be there

Happy Father's Day to the best Daddy ever!

You are the best man I know and the most terrific father any kid could hope for! We all love you so very, very much! Happy Father's Day!

finding blogs

One of the things I am doing this week, because, well because there's not much else I can do right now, is finishing up the pile of books on my bedside table. The latest book is: The Rough Guide to Blogging by Jonathan Yang.

Near the beginning of the book is a chapter on how to find blogs, containing a list of blog search engines and portals. For your edification I shall list the links here:

http://www.technorati.com/

blogsearch.google.com

http://www.portal.eatonweb.com/

http://www.blogpulse.com/

http://www.blogcatalog.com/

http://www.blogsearchengine.com/

http://www.icerocket.com/

If you can't find some blogs to interest you on one of these sites, you might as well give up.

Happy Saturday ya'll!

curtain tie backs from salt and pepper shakers

So I have collected some Asian figure salt and pepper shakers with the idea in mind that I would make them into curtain tie backs. Today I finally got around to making them.

It was fairly simple. I collected the salt and pepper shakers, some fringe ($1 at the craft store), tassels, glue and gold elastic string.

The first thing I did was to glue fringe round the bottom of the figures and when that was dry, I glued a tassel on the bottom as well.

Next I poked a length of the elastic string down through one of the holes at the top of the figure's head. I tied a really big, secure knot on that end and then pulled it up through the figure and laced the other end of the elastic cord through a second hole in the top of the head. Threading the elastic down through the body I again tied a nice big knot in the end and pulled it back up through the salt shaker.

This is how it looks as a finished product. I like it! And I can't wait to see how they will look on the living room curtains at the Victorian!

You could alternately use a fine wire and bead it (or not) or use ribbon or cord (if you can secure it well enough). The elastic string worked well for me, though.

Think of all the fun you could have finding the figurines that appeal most to you! A little whimsey in the decorating makes all the difference. Don't you think?

Photo's from Saturday

The back door

Joe working on the power switch to the pool pump.

The kitchen

Ben's room

My Parlor




The house, looking through the apple tree

My garden freshly weeded.

Two quick things to share...

First: Matthew made this wonderful folding stool all by himself. I mean, it is really well done! I couldn't have made it so well! Way to go Matt! You may have found your true calling!

Second: Gillian was the feather duster in the 5th grade production of Beauty and the Beast. She is carrying on a long family tradition in theater!

Congratulations baby girl! You were spectacular!

Thank you for allowing me to brag on my babies. They are just so cool!

Feeling a little better today..

I admit that I have been feeling a little down lately. I want to move NOW. YESTERDAY even!!!

And what with the van being in the shop for at least a week, I can't really move anything else and it's hard to drive down to the Victorian and stay for only a couple of hours and then rush home to make supper.

This morning, though, I did something that has made me grin all day long: I ordered my chickens from Ideal Poultry.

This time I decided to get Black Cochins. ( http://www.dtbcentre.co.uk/cochin.htm )They are beautiful and friendly. I've a dozen hens coming and one rooster. The chicks will come in the mail and if all goes as planned the post office will call me so that I know to come pick them up. Usually you can hear them peeping in the back ground LOL What a cheerful sound!

I will have to keep them in a tub in the house for several weeks...but soon they will be big enough to be out in their coop. If I have the yard fenced in by then, they'll get to free range. By Thanksgiving or so we should be getting eggs from them.

Next on my list? To go see about getting a couple of goats...Jane? You didn't think I was kidding about that did you? LOL

Though we have been going down to the Victorian most weekends lately. This weekend we had a special reason. The Annual Keuka Lake Triathalon. Gillian, Jimmy and I volunteered to help out for the race.

Arriving at 7 a.m. after hugging a greeting many old friends, we were given tee shirts, breakfast and instructions as to where to go and what we would be doing all morning. We were given a spot on the running leg of the race abut 1.5 miles in.

Boring and slow at first, by 9:30 or so we were getting many of the runners coming through. Our job was to warn on coming traffic that the race was taking place and to hand cups of water to thirsty participants. In addition, I was asked to remind athletes who were running a shorter race that the turn around for the "sprint" was the traffic cone just past where I was standing. As it turns out, many of these people were quite religious. I heard many of them thanking God as they received news they were near the half way point in the race! LOL

It was a perfect morning and we had a wonderful time helping out. AND on top of that our friends at the Yates County Red Cross( http://www.yatesredcross.org/ ) received $20 for each of us who volunteered!

Jimmy and I have even decided to start running. Who knows? Maybe next year we'll be contestants instead of volunteers.

One step closer

Usually when we move which ever corporation Joe is working for moves us. Packers come and pack us, then the movers come load move and unload for us and sometimes they even help us unpack. What could be simpler?

This time Joe is working for himself, and as far as I know, he has not hired his favorite employee a moving company to get us back down to the Finger Lakes. I have moved a LOT of our things already. Piece by piece I have put them away in our "new" home. Still, we have a lot of stuff here at the Buffalo house that can't/won't go until the last possible minute. I had thought we would rent a u-haul. I was not looking forward to this very much.

This morning, however, my beloved offered me an alternative: Pods. No, not the Invasion of the Body Snatchers kind! The movable storage kind! How cool is that. We load it at our leisure call them to pick it up and tell them when and where to deliver it.

I am excited! We reserved a time and date for the pod to be delivered and we are now, officially one step closer to going home again. Yeah for us!

We're showing the house again today

Dear God,
As you know we are showing the house again today. Though we have had a contingency contract for 3 months, our agent is insisting that we make the house available to others. And so I come to you today to ask that you help me not to want to beat family members because none of them know how to make a bed or clean their rooms or empty a trash can. Please help me to remember that every dirty sock I find just means we have clothes to wear and every cup and plate hidden under the sofa means we have plenty of food to eat.
Thank you for not sending any more potential buyers who make comments such as "The house is too old. I want a new house" or " I don't like the wall colors" or "Why are there boxes everywhere and nothing on the walls? It looks empty." Take from me the urge to murder all of these idiots and the sadistic Realtors who inflict these people upon me.
Help me to find every unpleasant odor and fabreeze it out of existence. Assist me to find every smudge, finger print and crumb and remove them from the sight of any who would make an offer on this house.
And most of all Lord, please sell this house for good today. My dream home in the country is waiting and I desperately want to attend to things there rather then here. And help me to hold on to what little sanity I have left.
Thank you ahead of time for these blessings.
Amen

Conservative Rap

There has lately been chatter about a rap video created by two Dartmouth college students. It's all about conservative views. Now, I am no rap fan and this video isn't going to change that, but I do appreciated this political view point.

Have a listen for yourself:



I try very hard not to judge anyone, but we all do to some extent. Unless your behavior causes harm to me or mine or other innocents, I would not presume to interfere with how you conduct your affairs. It seems to me that the same "grace" should be offered to those with a traditional conservative point of view as well, and I would appreciate only thoughtful comments, please. Thanks.