Just another day in Paradise

     Whilst I reminisce, you may want to get coffee and a donut. I can't sleep.
It's probably the same ol' same ol' but I can't put my finger on the reason.
I've been awake a while - checking for new material on f/b and cleaning up the kitchen (too tired last night - achy and feeling soooo tired) but that's a nuther story.

     Currently, I'm being serenaded by the public access channel on TV. The show is a black n white montage of b/w scenes from southern WV during the early part of the 1940 - 50's, it appears to me, involving the coal mining industry. The scenes from the shopping in the hardware store really caught my eye: the kitchen stove - just like Mom n Dad's that is still in the basement, the woman in pedal pushers and checkered blouse, the women with shirtwaist dresses, short sleeves and hairstyles of the 50's, standing in front of the butcher's counter being handed their choices by men in aprons. Then, of course, there is the music - folk music before it was popular - telling the stories of coal barons raping the land and labor unions trying to hold life together in face of incredible odds in the time before social consciousness.
     Now, I see some balding guy tell the story of how he was brought to folk music in 1963 by watching on TV MLK's march on Washington with his Mother... Now, this same guy is singing his poetry to piano music in a folk music kind of way. 'The Room at the Top of the Stairs' is his poem/song. John McCutchen music for acoustic guitar and banjo.
     It's nice to hear polite discourse. I've been monitoring the ways of the scofflaws in the 7th grade for the past two days. It seems like a nice easy job: 18 kids in one room, no real work to do (for them) that counts toward the final grade/goal; hormones raging; evidently no idea how to entertain themselves w/o violence, sex or mayhem being involved... just a little chunk of society.  'Jobs' is the answer, even if you haven't asked the question or have no idea that there is even need for a question. Everyone needs meaningful work to do.
That's why I have to keep going with the job. I need something meaningful to do. Even if I am constantly self assessing my performance and constantly finding it lacking. Maybe that's why I can't sleep.

     And on to the mundane details of our current existence: the LHS has more problems that now amount to @ three thousand dollars, now... and the garage charges interest on the unpaid balance, of course... I finally paid the other 2k. The prevailing wisdom is Get It Fixed; pay the man; drive it; trade it later when incentives are in place. Hummmm...
     Linda didn't come on Friday - she went to see her kids in Ohio. Sandy came, God Bless her, and will be back on Monday, if she doesn't go to Pittsburgh with her brother's family. [brother tried to commit suicide earlier this week, is being transferred from the VA here to the VA in Pittsburgh to treat 'pain' associated w/heart. Long/short: nobody in bros family  can drive in Pittsburgh traffic, so Linda will probably take them all...] I can send my grades over the interesting net...but who will see to it that my room is not trashed by raging hormones, Vandals, and scofflaws?
       It's time to 'make the donuts' as they say in the business... I gotta get dressed. I don't really wish I could sleep in on a Saturday, but sometimes I wish I could rest...

The End is near ... a.k.a. Judgment Day 6p.m.

Something to look foreward to; the flowers are out, but not ready for cutting. Hope the rain holds off another two days and then we will have fragrant beauty inside, too.

From the rumours on f/b and conversations w/ my co-workers, the end is near - if not even here already (and just passed me by.) So, what did I do with the last 24 hours of life (as we know it now)?

• Went to work so that I could help reward the chillin's for their Westest performances which were polite, if not stellar... that's a whole'nuther story, if you've ever seen a middle school after days of politeness and following the rules.
• Came home in the sprinkling rain, after stopping to get the mail from Park and stock up the ol' stomach w/ Mickey D's double cheeseburger, coffee and, of course, I got fries with that.
• Stan and I had dinner together, watched something funny on CMT, and after trying to find the websites for Joey's graduation pics which were gone from my aol mail; sometime after 9, we called it a night and slept like babies (up ever few hours...)

The sun peek'd out last night before sunset and promised a better day today. And so it is!
There is nothing artistic, funny or even pleasant to report.
And that's the way it is, May 21, 2011, here in the valley.

Saturday in the Valley again...

Words cannot describe how lovely this place is in the spring.
When the lawn is manicured, the place looks cared for and loved.
The guy at the garage, Jeff,  reminded me how clean Dad kept his cars and his house. Jeff said, "I was in your Dad's basement once or twice to set his automatic garage door opener on the Chrysler. The basement was cleaner than most people keep their houses.'
I hope I haven't let Dad and Mom down. The place is not the same. I know that.
The LHS looks good since the boys at the garage washed and waxed her (even polished up the chrome on the wheels). They found my seatbelt, too, when I took it back last week. The buckle was inside the console (which they had removed when they fixed the A.C.)
I saw on the interesting net that the Fiesta outlet SALE is again in June with a Carnival atmosphere (some days in the 20's - I don't remember exactly. Now the company is selling sets of Fiesta with Java Mugs (instead of tea/coffee cups) finally 28 bucks right now on line in most colors - but not in hunter green - must have been discontinued - I have a mug but it was chipped, by Judy, who left her gum on the Haywood-Wakefield china cabinet.
Now, why do I remember THAT and forget so much more important thngs?...
I changed the settings on the I-phone so that the photos can't be traced by google - to protect the kids from stalkers. Now, there is a location sticker on this blog post creator... what IS going on?
Norma called.
I gotta go get something for dinner from the freezer. Hot and Sour soup would be nice if someone delivered out here.  Maybe tomorrow...

It is a glorious day here in the valley!

Saturday - the last one of the"vacation"... sunny, warm to cool... grass green and trim... no bunny guts on the back porch today (I swept them off yesterday).

Stan slept until 4 PM - we got cleaned up and he ate something around 6:30 (P.M.)

The days n nights are turned around.

Exxon in the news is a good topic for the blog.

The stress has not lessened. However, when the sun shines, I think there is hope for time...

Time to get a haircut: I cut Stan's hair today. I saw Oprah has a bob that makes her look 20 years younger. I want to look 20 years younger, too. Mebbe I will get a bob tomorrow... mebbe not....

Life looks do-able when I'm feelin' good; not so do-able when I need aspirin, or I'm sweatin' as I walk around...


All the tax checks have been cashed - the government got its share. Exxon stocks have been advertised in our paper as being VERY profitable this quarter. I guess that doesn't mean much to us as we drive gas-guzzlers - money in money out - the AC is fixed in the LHS - yes almost 1k. So that's @ 2k so far this year to keep it on the road. I couldn't get much of a car for 2oo a month payment, so I'm lucky.

In the idle moments, I think about decorating our living space.
It makes me happy to think about it; it makes me sad to know I can't afford much to anything for decorating.  Whenever I hear a lawnmower, I think of $$$.Whenever I see a commercial for an electrician switching out receptacles, I think $$$.


I used to consider the money; now I see money first, then the choices.



Good times: the girls cooked and cleaned up. The kitchen is vintage.



Good times: Delia drew the solar system and Zoey walked on the Moon.

 It's hard to get good pictures of my family. But I did manage these. ;-)

And so it goes.

We're gonna be in pictures...

 We have Easter/Spring Hats!

We also had a lot of fun things to play with and things to do, but Grandma got tired of waiting for this old computer to load the pictures and she quit for tonight.

Tomorrow, perhaps, she will have better luck with the technology and with her patience.

Life is a highway.

with parts under construction...
Never mind; when the road ends, that's where you are!

The trees are leafing profusely. Green is just popping out - even as I type. Grass, cut last Monday, is lovely, neatly clipped on top, growing longer as we converse, and shows only a few of those yellow-headed dandylions of last week.

I've changed my profile pic on Facebook to a Peony. (Patricia - pink peony. I didn't think pansy was appropriate with my "personality"... don't go there.) I hope the rain stops before the peonies are in bloom. They smell so good and look so good for such a long time, if they are not drowned by the rain. 



Sandy sent me a n Easter Lilly. It was here at the house before I got back from shopping yesterday. The lilly shows 5 blooms now and several for later. But it doesn't have much of a fragrance. Susie sent me a card for Easter. She echoes my thoughts every time she writes. I hope her situation is easier in the coming months. Butch is out of sight; Larry visits more often now.

The rain is intermittent - drizzle, pouring, sun-like, overcast, wet, wet, wet.

Stan is still asleep. I am guessing he doesn't want to wake up. It is now almost 11:30. The mail has come to the box by the road. The rain is lighter. I may as well get the newspaper when I get the mail.

Purple Irises might work. I like them too.

More than likely the poppy gets my vote, too, considering Memorial Day is close at hand. Lots of 'P' flowers in the spring.

Easter Plans?

Vacations, and the holidays attached to them, come and go without much fanfare here in the valley. We seem to have misplaced the joi de verve of these traditional days.

Next Sunday is Amanda's birthday. Happy Birthday Amanda. I haven't forgotten.  I was thinking about you, and that momentous occasion, when I read your blog just a few minutes ago.  Enjoy and do something you've decided is celebratory: something different from the normal day.

That date is shared every year with Grandpa's birthday in 1917 and , this year, with Easter.

Maybe we will have some "ship loads of gold" to celebrate or pickled eggs. I'm sure if Delia and Zoey get over here, there will be CANDY and some outdoor egg hunt. If it happens, they will bring the celebration, like they bring the sunshine when they come to visit. With just us, there is no energy to do anything extra.

I have done all the required things - paid the taxes, closed old accounts, prepared for the next go-round of medical activities... It's all just tiresome.
I hope Spring Break is more fun, but realistically, I don't expect it.

L8tr, Sports Fans.