I Owe You an Apology

 Yes you - or me, you owe me an apology - Yes, YOU! Got it? I discovered this morning, after many years of blogging, I can acknowledge and reply to comments! Go figure! So, dear friends and commenters, I scrolled through what is called "Stats" concerning this blog, and there were hundreds of comments that I have not acknowledged! Yours may have been one of those, hence the apology. I promise I will do better! If I owe you a response, let me know by commenting below!

Wishing you all the best! Remember, live your moments to the fullest. Acknowledge your self-worth, love yourself, forgive yourself, be kind to yourself, and of course, to others!

Oh, by the way, we had a family night last night - those are always special! This week we also had a brief visit form grandaughter Kairi. She just moved from Helena, Montana, to Laramie, Wyoming! Much closer! It was a gift to see her and how happy she is!

Mom's Reggedy Ann and Andy's

This is another of Mom's wonderful poems! The picture shows just a few of the hundreds she made or collected! If you look carefully, you will see our Grandson amongst them. I'm looking for a few more pictures to update this blog. Before Mom passed, she donated all her Raggedy Anne and Andys to a museum in Iowa, so they could be enjoyed by more boys and girls!

Mom’s Poem about her Raggedy Ann and Andy Collection

In Nineteen Seventy-three,

I started a new family tree

I was at a flea market,

And there I found something neat

Just lying around

I looked at the faces on the tin,

And just like that, I began to grin!

I had an idea as plain as could be

I would make these dolls just for me.

 At that point in time,

Raggedy Ann and Andy were born

And walked right into my heart and home

I’ve made their bodies and painted their faces

I’ve even made them different races

 In the end, they are all Ann and Andy’s

And all as sweet as cotton Candy

Two-hundred and fifty-three

 Take up a lot of space,

But each is in their place

They sit very quiet –

And I love them all,

The thin, the fat, and the short and tall

 

(Yvonne 2003)

Wasn't that Glass FULL?

Nice warm day,

Snow didn't melt,

No golf tomorrow...

Well, the Westies were outside most of the day. I got my golf cart out - but Mil sent a note and said the golf courses won't be open tomorrow. I was so looking forward to a round of golf.

I started a Facebook group today for AFTAC. If you have to ask what it means, you shouldn't join th group. Happily there are already two members--myself and Dick. We were both once stationed on Easter Island.

Two of the grandkids are spending the night -- I guess because tomorrow is a national holiday - Martin Luther King Day. Sometimes I wonder if we have made any progress at all. I know we have, but, really, sometimes it just does not feel like it. (You can tell I'm an INFP)

Whew... just had another static electricity event. Never happens to me when I'm alone, but if Carolyn sits down, then gets up... this computer just plain craps out.

Talk about the great comedy

Eric and I got the new motor installed on the boat. Next step - take it for a trial run and make sure everything is working -- everything.

First, even reading the instructions, it wasn't easy to get the thing tilted for transportation, but, I did figure that out.... I need to buy one of those transom gizzmo's.

Picked up Trenton and Eric, stopped at the gas station bought some high octane gas - the boat guy said by the best, you'll be sorry if you don't. Okay...

Got to Cherry Creek. Only 15 folks in line waiting to put their ships ( I swear some of em were ships) in the water. Went fast though, room for 7 or 8, if you are good at backing up. Lana you'd be proud - I done good.

Eric finish's off and we are in the water.... I hook up the electricity and push the start button. Nuthin, absolutely nuthin. Of course, the fuel line was still in the truck!! -- Eric gets back, I said we need the fuel line - sorry.

I'm looking, Trenton is looking, the back end of the boat is definitely sinking. I open up the lid and the battery compartment and fuel compartment are half full of water. Oops, forgot to put in the plug....

Flip on the bilge pump-- you guessed it, it wasn't hooked up to the battery either.

I find the plug get it in, back end stops sinking

Eric returns, we have the situation under control. Hook up the fuel line - push the starter button, nuthin! Okay, don't panic, what did I forget now, let's see -- oh yah, that little red switch has to be in the up position. Push the starter button - smooth as silk, we are in business. But wait, we only have two life jackets. We send Eric off again! Of course the trailer and truck are at the far end of the parking lot. Of he goes -- what a trooper.

He gets back to the boat. We are just about to take off .. Crap, I forgot the camera and more importantly I forgot the temporary license for the boat. I'll go this time.

Get back to the boat, damn, the fish finder, depth thingy. One more trip to the pickup -- I think we are ready to go!

Snap in the depth finder Nuthin! You gotta hook up the electricity for that too. Well at least we didn't have to go back to the shore and treck to the pickup truck. Okay, now we are finally off - yes, really, we are.

We do all the right things from then on out. Try to follow the break-in instructions, 3/4 for so long, full for so long, nothing for too long, forward, reverse Try the Aerator - works good. Took pictures to prove we did the deed. Spent a few hours on the water, just tooling, and exploring, depth finder seemed to work, saw fish.

Okay - Bilge pump stopped working. I knew that fuse holder was kinda cralppy. I'll replace the electrical panel for sure.. Need to add a switch for the depth finder anyway. May as well do it right.

Fish finder also needs to be moved -- very inconvenient where I put it. Interesting how different things seem on the water than when sitting on the trailer in the drive way.

So lots of lessons learned today. Don't be rushed by the long lines of boats waiting. Make sure you have everything on board before parking the truck and trailer. Make sure you have all the electrical hooked up, the gas line in the boat, the gas tank full - oh, and get a better seat for the driver. I bought too cheap, no support --

Boat 4000$$ Motor 3000$ An afternoon with son-in-law and grandson on the lake -- absolutely priceless!

Enjoy your moments

Just Another Day?

There really isn't such a thing as "just another day". Every day is unique in its context, beauty, moments, realities, and parallel places. Well, just a clue to what is real and what is not real. Maybe it is all real.

Went shopping for a bigger motor for the boat, the timeline is going to be real tight - but, I think it well make it. Grandson Trenton called and asked if the boat was ready. We are going fishing Saturday if the weather gets a bit better.

Kindle is our daughter, she has a couple of great websites. What a neat kid - vegproject.org and veggietrip.com . Check em out if you get a chance.

Back to fishing (I do tend to wander a bit, so if anyone is reading, just hang in there!) I got my fishfinder, boat roaps (docking rope), anchor rope, a couple of cleats, some rod holders - stow and fish, some Cajun line - my sister highly recommends it - and it isn't expensive! I also got some of those new fake marinated minnows.. could save me some money this year. Minnows are very expensive - at least they were last year. We had contests to see who could catch the most fish on one minnow - if I recall one of the guys caught like 12 on one minnow -- seems impossible to me, but when the fish are biting. even when there is only a fin left, it works.

I am so excited that I can hardly stand it -- just like the Pointer Sisters song.

Please take care, enjoy each moment - share them when you can - smile at someone you haven't smiled at for awhile - keeps you young and brightens their day!

Saturdays

These are not just any other day of the week, though, sometimes they feel like it. I'm an early birder today, trying to get wireless working on one of the 4 computers we have hooked up here. Some success - some failures, but gotta keep trying.

I'm getting ready for a few weeks of vacation. Headed to Canada, then to Myrtle Beach, then to somewhere in Utah for a family reunion. So right now, I'm concentrating on the boat. I just bought one, then I needed to get a picku-up to pull the boat. Got the boat from my Goddaughter's husband, and the pick-up from my son-in-law. Yesterday I put in the rod holders. Now I'm working on the electrical.

Life teaches us these lessons - sometimes we learn them well, sometimes we need to be taught again. Not sure why I wait until so close to vacation time to start preparing and making sure everything is in order - maybe it is the last minute adrenalin rush (I was this way with college papers as well).

Maybe someday the grandkids will read these and get to know grandpa better (they used to call me grumpa! - maybe I still am, but they haven't called me that in awhile)!

So, have yourself another really great day - don't loose sight of the important things in life - you know, those moments that pass by so quickly, you can't get them back! Enjoy them as they come.

Experimenting

I've always been a bit of a blogger, even when it didn't know it was blogging.. Maybe even before blogging existed. I used to write rather long articles on our family website... of course the only one that read them was me, while I was writing them. There is a therapy in writing - and every onece in awhile something wonderful and new comes to mind and you feel like (well I felt like) you really created something almost eleoquent in its simplicity.

So I went about searching for how to create a blogsite... googled it, and here I am. Nothing fancy for now, just writing for writing sake.

I'm 62 going on 63. I still work full time - enjoying it more than ever - there is something very freeing about this age when it comes to the work place. Maybe I'll explore that sometime as well.

I noted when I set this up that I could publish it somewhere else - and I may do that eventually, but, let's see what happens.

My first grandson will be , hmmm, well, a year older on the 27th. The kids moved back to Colorado from Blue Springs, Missouri a few weeks ago. They are so happy to be back here. Something about those mountains really keep drawing one back.

To another subject. For a period of about 4 years I used to write a daily - Where's Lanny to my staff and certain team members. I followed that up with little missives and stories -- I guess I was blogging then to.

Maybe someone will read and comment - I'll see. Whatever the situation you find yourself in, find the positive - and enjoy each and every moment.