Giving Thanks . . .for my Grandmother

Good Morning America has had a segment for a week urging viewers to give thanks to someone this Thanksgiving that you failed to thank properly in the past. Of course, I am thankful for my incredible grandchildren and my awesome children and my loving husband and my wonderful extended family but the rules say we must narrow it down to one person - one you may not have thanked properly before so I chose my grandmother.

My grandmother was born in 1877 and was of an era when women were basically homemakers for their husbands and the straight-laced disciplinarians of their children. My grandmother was those things but she was a visionary and was much ahead of her generation in many ways. She always thought just a little outside the box. She was very prim and proper and chastised me severely one time for having on just a "string between my legs." That description was of a pair of shorts I had on that were probably mid-thigh length but much too revealing for her tastes.

She was resourceful - having left with my grandfather and $25 in her pocket to move to Washington, D.C. , so my grandfather could attend Georgetown University Law School. She scrimped and saved and made that $25 last for an entire year.

Even though she was not highly educated, she designed and drew the plans for the home they built in Fort Payne which still stands today as a magnificent reminder of her many talents. The large brick home consisted of 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a library, a living room, dining room, breakfast room and kitchen - but the most fascinating room was the glassed-in porch which had a real fish pond in the floor!

My grandmother taught me how to cook many things, she taught me how to knit and had me knitting scarves to send to servicemen by the time I was 8 years old. Her house was between my house and school so every single day I stopped by her house on the way home from school knowing that a honey sandwich would be waiting for me when I got there.

Grandmother spent hundreds of hours with me - much of that time playing games. Her two favorites being gin rummy and Chinese checkers. She was not one of those grandmothers who let me win - she was much too competitive for that! She beat me almost every single time but we had so much fun that I always wanted to go back for more! She made me be the look-out for grandfather because before he came home from work, we had to put the games up because his philsophy was that if anyone had spare time on their hands, it should be used in reading the classics or the Bible and that card and game playing was a waste of the mind and a waste of time!

Grandmother worked very hard as most women did in those days because everything they did was a chore and very time-consuming but she never let me think that she did not have time for me! She made me feel special every day of her life.

She had a couple of vices but didn't try to hide them from me - just from the general public! She had a large closet (designed by her) - big enough for a chair and table. She hid in that closet for a while every day to play solitaire and dip snuff! Maybe we would all be better off today if we had a retreat such as that in which to hide and enjoy snuff!

Grandmother died when I was only 24 but 45 years later I still remember vividly her twinkling eyes, her laugh, her hugs and her unconditional love.

Thank you, Grandmother. I'll see you when I get to heaven.

I'm Not Saying I'm Smarter . . . I'm Just Saying.. . .

Are left-handed people smarter? Yes. According to researcher Alan Searleman, southpaws have higher IQ's, solve problems better and enjoy more extensive vocabularies than righties. Among the noted lefties are: Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso, for starters.

Also, every U.S. President (except one) since 1981 has been left-handed including President-Elect Barack Obama. The President since 1981 who is NOT left-handed is the present one, George W. Bush! . . . .'Nuff said.

Men and Women are Different. . .

Of course, there are the basic anatomical differences in men and women but there is another significant difference - the "woman common cold" vs. the "man common cold.'

The "woman cold" goes like this:

She drags to work with 102 fever while swallowing what seems like razor blades on her sore throat. She carries a jumbo pack of toilet paper to catch the constant nose drip and gets home from work in time to down a couple of Tylenol before her head explodes with her killer headache. She cooks dinner and gets the kids to soccor practice sitting on the sidelines in her camp chair, hoping she can stay vertical long enough to get home and finish that load of laundry before falling into bed.

After a week of this routine, the woman feels better and can stop carrying the toilet paper, cough syrup and Tylenol to work.

The "man cold" goes like this:

He wakes up feeling a little puny and calls for his wife. He says, "I'm terribly sick and need you to do a couple of things for me. First, I need you to call my boss and tell him I won't be at work for several days. Then call the doctor and get me an appointment for today because I need to be seen immediately. You need to cancel any plans you have so you can take me to the doctor. Then go to the store and get me a few things. I need tissues but I need the kind that have lotion in them so they won't chafe my nose. Get something to make me some soup because I don't really like the canned variety. Get ice cream, popsicles and apple juice in case any medications the doctor prescribes makes me nauseated. Turn on the T.V., get me a blanket and pillow and take my temperature - and bring me a cool cloth and a glass of juice - and you need to stay in this room in case I need something else." (All said in man-whine) This routine continues every day for a week

After a week, the man feels better, has spent $440 on doctor visits, shots, and prescription medication and is looking forward to getting back to work so he can tell his office colleagues about his "near-death" experience.

Something Not Quite Right About It . . .

We have already put our office tree up - 45 days before Christmas! When did we have Thanksgiving? Oh yeah, we haven't had it yet! There was a reason we put it up - something about saving time and money this year by making our own greeting card photos but it was still hard to drag that thing out of storage while we still had the AC running full blast!

Miss August- - - and her Proud Parents !

My granddaughter was named Miss August in the Fort Payne High School Calendar Girl contest. Kristen was really beautiful and displayed such poise on the stage. Congratulations, Kristen! We are really proud of you!

She is shown here with her beaming parents!