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!

Good News for Some People I Know

Healthy and Frosty Cancer-Fighting Beer Study

Beer assists in fighting cancer? A key ingredient of brew may contain a cancer-fighting substance, a German beer study indicated. Cancer fighting beer. Who would have thunk it?
Studies indicated xanthohumol, found in hops, inhibits a family of enzymes that can trigger the cancer process, as well as help the body detoxify carcinogens, science newswire Ivanhoe reported Monday. Preliminary studies at Oregon State University
show that xanthohumol can kill breast, colon, ovarian and prostate cancers.
"It's very healthy. I think the ingredients in the beer are very good," Werner Back of Brewing Technology
at the Technical University of Munich.

So much for the Home Field Advantage....

ALASKA'S top newspaper has endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for the White House, saying it would be too risky to put the state's Republican Governor, Sarah Palin, just "one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world".

The Anchorage Daily News, the leading newspaper in the overwhelmingly Republican state, called Mrs Palin's vice-presidential nomination "an improbable and highly memorable event" and added that "many Alaskans are proud to see their Governor, and their state, so prominent on the national stage".

But the newspaper editorial said home-town boosterism "does not overwhelm all other judgement".

Civics 101 by Sarah Palin

Asked by a news reporter what a vice president does, Gov. Palin said, "They're in charge of the U.S. Senate, so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes."

I think the only time the vice president has a vote in the Senate is in the event of a tie vote. Since the U.S. Senate was established, there have been very few times this has happened. Eleven vice presidents have never cast a tie-breaking vote and four vice presidents have cast 1 tie-breaker each.

I hope Gov. Palin would not be disappointed if she had to work crossword puzzles from the chair.

Great Times on the Plains

Another fun day at Auburn. Game score was not so good but we had a blast at the AU/ARK game. Eric, Amy and Susan looked great decked out in their Auburn attire and Will posed with Coach Pat Dye at the ceremony honoring the SEC Championship Team of 1983.

FYI

Samuel A. Maverick was an American pioneer who did not brand his calves and the term "maverick" evolved. Merriam Webster dictionary gives the first definition of maverick as, "an unbranded range animal."

Just to Clear Things Up. . . . .

The McCain-Palin Campaign finally allowed Sarah Palin to answer 15 minutes of questions from the press without being coached and this was her answer to one of the questions:

"It is pertinent. It's important because when you consider Barack Obama's reaction to and explanation to the association there, and without him being clear at all on what he knew and when he knew it, I think kinda peaks into his ability to tell the truth on and not only association but other things also. I think it just make us ask the question that, if there's not forthrightness there, with that association and what was known and when it was known, does it lead us to ask is there forthrightness with the plans Barack Obama has on say tax cuts or spending increases? It makes you wonder about the forthrightness, the truthfulness of the plan that he is telling America in regards to the economic recovery because that is first and foremost on America's minds right now."

Thank you, Governor, for clearing that up for us!

Now This is Funny!

For those of you who are familiar with the format of Facebook, you know that in your profile you state your political views, your religious beliefs, list your friends, and people can write on your wall, etc. A fake Sarah Palin Facebook page has emerged.

In it, Palin's political views were listed as "None-I'm not very political"
Her religious beliefs said, "Jesusologist"
She listed Katie Couric as a friend - then dropped her three hours later.
On her wall, Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote: "I seen how you been starin at me from across the water."
And McCain wrote: "You're a woman right? Are you busy for the next four years?"

Now I don't care who you are, that's funny!

Congratulations to Atlanta !

For the first time ever, Atlanta tops Forbes' list of the best cities to live for singles. But for the same reasons it is best for singles it would also appeal to those who are not single. For example, Atlanta was rated in seven different categories: number of single people living there, culture, cost of living, job growth, night life, dating activity, and coolness. Doesn't everyone want to live in a city which has culture, good job growth, has reasonable cost-of-living and is "cool?"

Last year, San Francisco won but came in second this year. It takes a lot of doing to top San Francisco. I imagine San Francisco rated very high in "coolness" but fell short when it comes to cost-of-living and job growth in California.

In the eight years Forbes has been ranking America's largest urban areas, Atlanta has come in the top ten but this year Atlanta's sizzling job growth pushed it to the top! Congratulations, Atlanta!

A Visit to the Cape

This past weekend, we returned to south Florida to visit friends in the coastal town of Cape Coral, where we lived for a couple of years.
This photo was taken at the Cape Harbor Marina as we were eating dinner on the porch of a neat restaurant called "The Joint".
The picture does not begin to do justice to the beautiful view of the harbor from this neat place!
We had a great time!

Remembering my Dad

As I turned my desk calendar over this morning and saw "September 10th" , I remembered that it was my dad's birthday. Not that it requires seeing a certain date to remind me of him. I am reminded of him every time I take a walk and remember the thousands of walks we took holding hands and tapping the sidewalk with my hand-carved little walking stick Dad made for me.

Every time I sing a tune, I remember the hundreds of times we sat in the front porch swing on warm summer nights singing "My Blue Heaven". Every time I play a card game, I remember the countless times Dad played "Old Maids" or "Rook" with me - often losing on purpose so I could win. Every time I read the comic section of the paper, I remember sitting with Dad and reading the funny papers from cover to cover every single night. We read them all but we always had a few favorites.

The blogsphere is not large enough to hold all the ways I remember Dad but I just wanted to say a special thanks to him today on his birthday. 105 years ago today the world was made a better place!

Uncle Sam $407 Billion in Debt

Last year the federal government had a deficit of $161 billion. This year we will have a deficit of $407 billion which by most calculations is $246 billion more in one year!

The federal agency cites a substantial increase in spending and substantial decrease in revenue growth as the reason for this - Really?? I would have never figured that out!

By the way, that figure does not take into account the takeover this week of the two mega-mortgage folks - Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. That should add a few bucks to the debt. Sheesh!!!

I don't think the feds use the same bank I do. My bank has a tendency to get nasty if I'm $3.00 overdrawn.

Good Health is a Blessing

As my readers know, I have spent the better part of three months visiting family members in hospitals! It is pretty awful! I personally have enjoyed a lifetime of good health - having retired from one company an entire year early because of accumulated sick leave! I have come to realize that having good health and not having to deal with doctors, medications, hopitals, and all the stuff that goes with it is a true blessing!

I have lost several friends to cancer and now have another dear friend who had surgery for a brain tumor and is now facing a battle with liver cancer. Depressing as all that seems, it should give us all a wake-up call to be more appreciative of our blessings - in my case, one of my many blessings is the blessing of good health! Thank you, God.

Let the Conventions Begin!

Back to back television programing such as two weeks of the Olympics and another two weeks of political conventions would cause most folk to want to jump off a bridge! I on the other hand - sick and twisted as it may sound - am in hog heaven!

I watched the Olympics every minute I could. (I even know the Chinese water polo players by their first names. ) And I am equally looking forward to tonight when our political candidates pull out all the stops to convince us they are the brightest, most capable, most experienced, most knowledgeable and most qualified people on the planet!

I love it!

Best of Show

At the Pebble Beach Concours, this 1938 Alfa Romeo 8c 2900 B Touring Berlinetta won the Best of Show!

It is very rare - being one of only 6 like it in the United States!

No - I'm not really a car nut - I just saw this picture and was highly impressed! Just goes to show - some things never lose their class!

Life in a Hospital

Due to family illnesses, I have spent the better part of the last month in and out of hospitals in Birmingham. My son was in UAB and Spain Rehab Hospital for more than 3 weeks and two days after he was released, my husband had major surgery and was in Trinity Hospital in Birmingham. I have had to reach far into the recesses of my being to find the patience and stamina to deal with hospital living. Here are a few observations about those experiences:

1. Chairs do not make good beds.
2. All hospital food looks and smells alike.
3. Hospital gowns do not cover basic body parts.
4. Private parts are no longer private in a hospital.
5. Blood is a common sighting in a hospital.
6. There is a unique smell in hospital hallways.
7. Hospital personnel always come in the rooms frequently in the middle of the night.
8. After a month, reading and working crossword puzzles even gets to be a drag.
9. There is a lot of sickness going on in a hospital.
10.They use a lot of rubber gloves in a hospital.
11. "Small Stick" means "This is going to hurt like hell"
12. All doctors use words you don't understand.
13. White uniforms and starched nurses caps have been replaced with pajama-type attire with
cartoon characters on them.
14. An intensive care unit is depressing.
15. You can meet nice people in waiting rooms.
16. And finally, having a good family is a real blessing! They are always there for you.

I have lots of family members who work in hospitals - helping people through some of the most difficult times of their lives. My hat is off to you! You have to be a very special person !