eBay experience

Well, I did try eBay again. Listed 18 items-sold one. Whoopie-finger twirl! Not sure I want to waste my time with that.

My husband says we WILL participate in New Paris Community Garage Sale June 1st and get rid of some things. He has been cleaning out garage. I need to get busy and round some stuff up. It is time to eliminate some of the clutter in our lives. Also if I live to be 150 I could not get all the projects done that I have material for. Not sure I can even read all the books I have and want to.

I hope to get more projects done, but when you have sewing patterns for girls from size 3 to 14 and no granddaughters that size anymore it is time to get rid of them. A lot of them have never been used-such was my dreams and goals.

I would advise everyone to try and accomplish what goals you can. Life is too short:) Of course if I quit watching TV, Pinterest, Facebook, blogging, games and searching on the computer I might get more done.

Being a creative person is not easy. You have dreams and goals and things you want to create and NOT enought time to do them. When you are working you think I will have time when I retire. HA. When you retire, you slow down, tire easily and time goes tooooo fast. Also the things you thought you were going to do it seems "what's the point".

Ok, reading this over I sound a little down and I am not really just a little discouraged. Time to get busy and do some sorting.


 

giving ebay another chance

Well, I have decided to give eBay another chance. I guess you can list 50 items a month without a listing fee and free pictures. So I am working on putting some vintage sewing patterns.

Some of these are totally unused and uncut. One of my failed goals-patterns bought for making grandkids some clothes. Also some are from my patterns of items to make for my kids.

I did do some sewing for my daughter. Made dresses for her when she was in kindergarten and first grade. I also made pj's for both my son and daughter.  By the time my son was in first grade I was working outside of the home.

I am getting slower and slower

Well it is taking me forever to get pictures taken and posted of what I want to elimante from my supplies.

It seems like I get more disorganized as I get older. I remember my mom saying she had two speeds--slow and reverse. I thought it was because she had polio when I was little and she walked with a limp. I honestly think it was also because as you get older you don't move or accomplish in a day what you did when you were younger.

I am hoping to get pictures up soon!

I am wishing everyone a blessed Easter. May God spread His love over His people and draw them closer to Him.

Best plans of mice and men........

Best laid plans of mice and men...

 

 

 

How often have we heard that phrase and can finish it. "They often go awry".

 

Well after my post yesterday, I decided to take pictures of some of the things I need to eliminate. My camera batteries were dead. I find I do not have the size I need in the house so now it waits till Saturday-store day.

 

I really struggle with trying to accomplish something and not getting it done or how to do it. I am also not a good organizer. When my plans change or do not go the way I think they should it really throws me. I can totally understand how "hoarders" get caught up in their messes.

 

I have a mess in the dining room. Box for things to donate to Goodwill. Box for things for my grandchildren. Box for things for my sisters. Box for things I would like to sell even tho I am not sure yet how I will do that.

 

Does anyone else struggle with sorting and organizing items? Am I the only one who cares about these things? Are the grand kids or my sisters really interested in what I have set aside for them. What to do and how to sell doll things or vintage items?

 

Sometimes I just am so overwhelmed I cannot accomplish anything.



 



The Fire

     I was reading some one's blog and they had had a small fire with minor damage. They went on to share how her sister had a fire and lost their whole house and contents. Luckily they were not home when it happened. Lightning struck their house and no one noticed the flames until it was too late.

     We had a fire almost 10 years ago. We were lucky too, but not because we weren't home we where and it was the middle of the night. I am convinced God woke my up. It was approximately 3:30am.  The morning of December 17, 2001. We were asleep upstairs. "Something" (God) woke me up, I realized smoke was coming up the stairs and the house was totally dark no alarm clock lights etc. I woke up my husband and said I thought the house was on fire. He tried the phone and of course it was dead. He pulled on pants ran across the street to pound on the neighbors door and told them to call the fire department.

    They told us to come in and get warm. We have a volunteer fire department so they had to call people in. I am amazed at how fast they got there. I told them I thought it was in the basement. How I knew that I am not sure, it was pitch black in the house. They went in and found the ceiling of the basement beginning to burn. There was a huge amount of "toxic" smoke.

     Our bedroom was on the top floor not main floor and fire was in basement. How did I know the fire was there? How did I wake up? Thankfully there was more smoke damaged than fire damage. It did take out our electricity because where the fire started was near the fuse box. It also took out our water system because our well and pump was in the basement.

     The cause of the fire was a dehumidifier. The fire investigator tried to get a number off of it and it was so badly burned it was unreadable. It was an inexpensive one from Walmart.

     The fire was out in a short time. We called our married daughter and she came right away. We went to her house and discussed what to do. We could not go in to see damage. Plus it was still dark. My daughter and I had planned to do Christmas shopping later that day. When my husband and I got to my daughters, we realized how very, very lucky we were to be alive. Because it was the middle of winter, flames would not have been seen for a long time and by then the smoke and "toxic" fumes would have killed us. Another lucky thing was that during this time our son and his 3 children were living with us. He shared custody with his ex-wife and it was not his week to have the kids so they were not there that night and he had spent the night with a friend.

      My daughter, son-in-law and their 5 kids lived in a big farm house. They offered to put us all up as long as necessary. That now made 13 people sharing a house. It was interesting. We did it. It is amazing what you can do when you have to.

     I took time off work and went to the house as often as I could to go through things and throw items into the huge dumpster that they put in our front yard. There was no heat, electricity, or water for quite awhile. They got a little electricity hooked up but still no heat or water. When I would call the "clean-up" place to check on progress because many days they were not there to do anything. I was told----"Mrs. Miller, you picked a bad time to have a fire"----REALLY oh next time I will call you first before I have a fire to make sure it is ok with you. They were overbooked and ran into other delays, but did not have the honesty to say up front they were running behind. They kept saying oh a couple more weeks, etc, but it ran a lot longer!! It ended up being 2 1/2 months before we could move back home.

     Oh and the "toxic" fumes-the basement was my craft area and I had lots of supplies stored in plastic bins. They don't burn they melt and release the toxic fumes. Again we were blessed by God's care. The items lost we  were able to replace and we were safe.

creativity or confusion

I am a creative person. I have always needed to do something creative. As a child, I would use graph paper to color the little squares into designs. Wish I had saved some they would be good quilt ideas now. My great grandmother taught me how to do 4 patch and 9 patch quilt squares sewing them by hand. So my interest in fabric began than and continued as I sewed for myself and my family. I still have those squares and am trying to incorporate them into wall hangings with some of the embroidery quilt squares I did as a child. I learned to embroider from my mother and did quite a few items. Most of those I still have. I have many items I purchased with the idea of embroidering them some day. More than I will probably get done at this time of my life.  My grandmother taught me how to crochet. So I have added yarn, crochet thread, hooks and pattern books to my collection of craft items.

Over the years, I have learned to do many other crafts. I got interested in making potporrui, growing and drying herbs and flowers. When I went to work at a greenhouse, I learned to do floral arrangements. Needless to say I added containers that could be used as well as wreaths and lots of silk and dried items.

Then I got interested in ceramics, yes I have paints as well as bisque to paint.
I think I could furnish a small craft shop with materials I have on hand-you name it and I probably have the supplies:  scrapebooking, beading, candle making, cards, home decor anything!

Now the problem is I get to creating and my mind goes in too many directions at once. As I am making something, I see possible options and my hands can't make it fast enough to keep up with my ideas.
I have always seen someones creative idea and that causes my mind to go into other directions adding or  changing what their idea was and make it mine but different.

If I could not create, I think I would stop breathing. But I wish I could be better focused and more organized. As you can see from the above picture, when I am creating, I am messy:)

The Amish

I read a blog where someone had gone on a trip and went through an area where there is an Amish community. My husband was raised Amish. He was one of nine siblings. He is a twin and likes to joke that he has 3 twin brothers. How is that possible? He had an older set of twin brothers. He and his twin are the younger set. There are 53 sets of twins in 3 generations of the Miller family (at least his Millers). Four of his siblings have passed away. Only one older brother and my husband chose to leave the Amish and live "English" as they call us.

Leaving the Amish and "going English" is a very BIG step. Merv and his older brother had not joined the Amish church so it was not as difficult as it can be. A tremendous amount of pressure is put on the children to stay in the faith they were brought up in. The parents feel like they have failed if the children leave the Amish church. He grew up in Amish area in Northern Indiana.

My husband was drafted during the Viet Nam war. The Amish are pacifist and do not believe in war. My husband did his service at a hospital in Indianapolis. I grew up in Indiananpolis and my senior year of high school worked in the office of this hospital. We met at lunch time in the cafeteria. We began to date and fell in love and started talking marriage. My husband said to me "I am from the Amish and most of my family are still Amish". I said "what's that"? He tried to explain, but I did not get it. He would go home occassionally for visits and as he began to stay down in Indy more and more, his family knew something was going on. When asked on one visit if he was seeing someone he said yes and it was serious. His parents wrote several letters to him prior to our marriage about what it might mean to marry English. They do not believe in divorce at all for any reason and they were afraid if we married we would not make it.

I grew up in a prostant church and went from the time I was a baby all through my growing up. Church, faith and my God and Saviour have always been important to me. Any time I dated someone I would invite them to church with me. We would go on Sunday morning or if we worked that day, Sunday evenings. Merv later told me he had not had any idea of what God or the church was about till he came to my church. In the Amish church, they meet every other week in each others homes. The preacher or preachers (sometimes up to 3) preach; but they preach in German, not the Pennsylvaina Dutch that the Amish speak in everyday. So he did not always understand what was being said and as with most Amish children they are just thinking of playing with their friends after service.

We made plans to marry and only 2 of Merv's unmarried sisters made the trip down. The Amish do not drive cars only horse and buggies. They do hire drivers for some trips. After we were married, we moved to Northern Indiana because Merv had a job waiting for him after his service was done. Once we were married his family was very welcoming. They have always been supportive of us. We have been married for 45 years this June:)

The Amish are very family oriented. Family is very important also visitation and caring for those in their community who are in need. They do not believe in insurance, but each church communnity will step in and pay the hospital bills of those in their church. If there is a huge hospital expense, they will have some kind of fund raiser and these are supported by the larger Amish community and a lot of the English too. The fund raisers are usually some sort of a meal and it is good food!

The Amish like the rest of us are not perfect, but they do strive to be a "plain" people and not "worldly". One of the discussions I have heard is people talk about the "shunning" that is done. This is not as practiced as it used to be. It would be done to those who had joined the Amish church and then left for assorted reasons. The act of shunning could be very hurtful, making the shunned person sit at a separate table when eating in the family home. I have never seen this pracitced in my husband's family. They are loving and welcoming. They do forget sometimes that I do not speak "Dutch" and will get to talking and not include me, but that is very rare. Most of the time when we are with them they make the effort to speak English. Most Amish children do not speak English until they go to school.

Originially it was encouraged that the Amish farm or carpenter or craftsmanship. Almost all of the women do not work outside of the home. Because of the economy that is not always possible anymore. A lot of the men work at RV factories in this area. The family usually has a very large garden, growing and canning a lot of their own food. The women sew all their families clothes as well and they do not have dryers so the clothes go on the line year round. The whole family works very hard. Children are expected do help with all the chores.

One change over the years has been the addition of phone buildings. These are not public phones with coin operation. Several families will get together and purchase a phone line with multiple numbers. The phones cannot be in the house, so they are at the edge of someones property. These have become necessary because of several tragic accidents where emergency personal could not be called in time to help someone. Another change all of the homes being built now have indoor plumbing. When my husband and I first married, several still had outhouses and pumped water for dishes. They do not have electricity in their homes.

It is an interesting lifestyle that I have been priviledged to learn about. At times I have craved the simplicity and quietness; BUT, I could not give up my TV, computer, and not being able to walk in and flip a switch to turn on a light.

SPRING:)

It has been many years since I could truly say, I am looking forward to spring:)



I worked at a greenhouse for 23 years. Many years I did look forward to spring but for the last several, spring brought me more dread than joy. It was an enjoyable but very stressful and physical job. Most of the year you work at a nice pace, but the 5-6 weeks of getting ready, stocking, long hours were getting to me. My arthritis would really get me down, but you have to push on, because that is when a greenhouse makes the money to survive the rest of the year.



I really miss working with the girls I worked with. They are more like family then co-workers. I had terrific employers who were really good to me. I will miss them this spring, but I will not miss the physical pain I was dealing with.


Now I am excited to watch the days get longer, the sun shine more and can really slow down and smell the flowers. I would be concentrating on work and getting through the season, that trees would be leafed out and grass green before I really noticed. Now I will enjoy that.



I loved waiting on the customers and helping them with their garden needs. I will especially miss helping them select perennials for specific areas. But now I can fix some of my perennial areas and make them more "senior" friendly.


I will enjoy going to the greenhouse as a customer and not as an employee. Thank you McIntosh for all the years and friendship.

Together time

Mary and I will drive to Bloomington next Friday to get Michael. He will be home for a week for Spring Break. I am trying to figure a time for us to be together as a family. Gage leaves April 12 for the Air Force basic camp in San Antonio, Texas. We don't know when he will be home again, probably be over a year:(

It is hard to work out a time that works for 16 different people. This is something I really want. Who knows when it could happen again.

We tried to work out a dinner for our 40th wedding anniversary and it just did not happen; here it is 3 years later.

We have had Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations together, doesn't matter to me if it on the "holiday" or a day close, but just getting to be together is important to me.

As I get older I realize these times will become harder and harder to do; 16 people with different schools, jobs, obligations it is hard to line up times together so the ones now are very important to me.

Some of my most precious memories are of times together as a family growing up. Maybe life wasn't so complicated then; but it seems we did not have many times when there were scheduling conflicts and we all managed to together.

I remember several Thanksgivings when we would have a meal with Merv's family here then drive on to Indy to be with my family. Many Christmases too. Made for a busy but full day.

Living 3 hours away from my family made the trip longer than a "day" trip. Several times for emergency's we made a one day trip out of it, but usually we would stay for the weekend or at Christmas time several days. Many is the time we loaded the car with presents (not letting the kids know) and had Christmas morning down at Mom's. Have some pictures and videos that are worth more than gold to me because of the pictures of loved ones who have since passed. Also loved ones still around, but don't get to see to often.

Need to remember the camera for pictures too. Mary took pictures at Thanksgiving and I love them. Even the ones where the grand kids are goofing off. It is difficult to get 16 people smiling and eyes open and facing the camera at the same time. I am so thankful to have those pictures, right now they are just on my laptop, need to figure out how to get prints. I will keep working at it and plugging away to get us all together.

Several years ago, my husband and I discussed adding a bedroom and bathroom downstairs because we knew as we aged it would be more convient for us. Also our house really only has 2 bedrooms and they are upstairs. We put up a divider in the biggest bedroom to make it into two bedrooms for our kids. The lady who owned the house before we did had had a toliet put in a small pantry area. No sink, you had to wash your hands at the kitchen sink.

We did not do it when we first talked about it because I did not want to go that deep in debt.

In November of 2010, I just mentioned to someone with my husband near by, that I wished we had gone ahead and put in the new rooms. I really did not think we would, it is just climbing the stairs with my arthritis is a pain. (haha) Well the next thing I know he has a friend who is a contractor come by and look at it and give us an estimate. I did not get my hopes up because I figured the cost would be more than we would want to finance.

Surprise, surprise, it was half of what I expected. So we refinanced the house and borrowed extra to do the rooms.

We told Rich (the contractor) what we had in mind and he made a drawing. One thing he was going to put windows in on the west side (of course), but I wanted a door on that side of the house instead of one of the windows. I just casually mentioned to Rich with my husband near by that maybe in the future we could add a deck. Next thing I know Merv has talked to Rich about doing the deck.

So now I will have a bedroom, bathroom, walk in closet (something I have never had), and a deck. I am so excited to watch the work that has been going on since a little before Christmas.

It is funny how the little things can excit me. When the walls first went up and I saw the closet, I kept talking about it. Then it was the doors. They are just beautiful.

Well, the room is pretty much finished. My bed is downstairs and I have slept in the room this week. It is a wonderful room. I am having fun slowly putting things in the room. Also going through things and sorting and pitching.

I will have lots of things for our community garage sale in June. Also donating things to Goodwill.

It was a blessing for me that my husband (Merv) has done this. What a considerate man!!
He did it because he knew I was struggling with the stairs and not having a full bath downstairs. It will also help the resell value of our house.
While doing this we put in central air and a new well. Life is wonderful!
Something else my husband does that is great. When he does not have work, he goes to the restruant uptown and after catching up on the "news" he brings me back a large hot coffee.

I am a Christian

First off, let me apologize to those who do not think this is important. And to those who have been hit over the head with radicial ideas in the name of Christianity.

I am a Christian. I believe in God, that Jesus was His Son, that He died for MY sins, rose again and is preparing a place for me in heaven.

Now to become a Christian, I believe I must acknowledge my sin, recognize that God sent His Son to die for my sins, ask for His forgiveness and then try to live a better life.

I am NOT perfect, just forgiven. I cannot be perfect only strive to live the life Christ would have me live. Following His example. And I fail-continually. But I am so glad He is there to forgive and guide me.

What bothers me is how people prevert the true gospel of Christ to suit their own agenda. My grandson has shared about a "street" preacher at IU and the crazy things he is saying. It bothers me that he calls himself a Christian preacher and then is pushing people away with the things he says that comes from the Bible or God or at least his interpertation of Gods direction.

It bothers me when people say they are Christian, but by the way they live and the things they do they give Christianity a bad name. The Bible says by our fruits we are known. I think sometimes people are producing some rotten fruit and claiming to be Christians. I repeat I am not perfect and I make mistakes, but I try not to push my Christianity down peoples throats. Maybe I do not witness like I should, but I am not afraid of rejection as much as causing someone to walk away from Christ because of my imperfections.

I have been struggling lately with a lot of anger and hate about certain things that are happening to people because non-Christians want to tear us down and tie our hands and bind our mouths to the truth. God has confronted me about that and I had to fall on my knees and ask His forgiveness. He had to remind me that He is in control and I need to trust Him that things happen because of His divine plan. I need to get out of His way. That is so hard I do not like not being in control.

Visit to Indy

This last week we went to Indianapolis to visit my sisters. The trip down was eventful! Merv is still recovering from his surgery so he wanted to stretch out in back and rest about 2/3 of the way down. I was driving. I thought there was a strange noise. At first I thought it was a lawn mower, ultra lite plane, or moped. I would slow up and listen and noise would stop. Finally I was going to pull over, but was in an area where there was not much room. I was getting ready to pull over noticed car smelled hot, thermostat did not register hot. Woke Merv as the car died and I lost power steering and power. Did not get complete off road but most of way. He raised hood and car was on fire. He called 911 and Birdie to come get us. Operator said get back from car so we unloaded it and fire department came and put fire out. Hamiltoban Co. sheriffs dept called wrecker, car was towed ($300.00) and later we made arrangements to get alternator repaired ($400.00). Rest of visit was good.

One thing we did was go to Lebanon Ind to drive past Great Grandmother Elizabeths old house and to visit cemetary where we used to play as children.

Usually when you go to someplace you knew as a child, it seems smaller. Not this cemetary-it was huge. Of course Merv had to remind us it has been 50 years and several people have probably died since then.

Great Grandmas house looked about the same, there were some changes but we found it right away. Great Grandmother enjoyed playing dominoes. We would sit around her dining room table and play. She was about 6 feet tall and wore button down the front housedresses. She was rather flat chested and to get them to fit her height the dresses were a little large through the chest area and would hang low and she was a very private person and would wear a brooch at the top neck area to hold it closed. I have several of those brooches. Her front parlor was rarely used and in the winter was very cold. She did not use her upstairs any more either, but we liked to play up there.
She was Grannies mother-in-law but Grannie had a better relationship with her then with her own mother. I wish I could remember more about her.

Changes

I am not sure if it is my age or just me, but when I have to "change"some things I really get flusrated. I got a new laptop. I have not had one before so I guess that is really not a change, but getting used to a new set up is. This is Windows 7, old computer is Vista. Laptop has no mouse yet and not so used to the finger pad. Also not hooked to printer yet so have to look up things I want to print out on old computer that is attached to printer. Supposed to be a way to send it to the printer, but kids have not helped me with that (and I don't want to try on my own).


The biggest change made is a new cell phone. I really hate that change, but old one was acting up. So it means contacting everyone in my list with new number, transfering contacts and numbers to my new phone. Also getting used to new set up on phone, it is very different from my old one. I get a pay as you go phone, not on husbands plan so I don't use up his minutes. It may not be the cheapest way to go, but I have gotten used to having a cell phone. Going online and setting it up was not hard, but aggraviting at times. Still working on learning the phones ins and outs. It has a camera and I was trying to figure out where the view finder is and if I had taken a picture, I would have had a shot of my eye. What I thought was the view finder was the lens. I still have not figured out how to put contacts in. Can't get the letters punched in right makes me unhappy. I know if I would read the book that came with it I would know whats what, but what is the fun in that its more fun to push buttons and see what happens. Isn't the best way to learn by trial and error?



Spare me from changes. Hope this phone is the last one I will ever need, but probably not. Can't they all be exactly alike!

ScFy

I am hoping this weekend there are a lot of good scfy movies on the ScFy channel. I am in the mood for some good "critter" features. Of course I could watch the 4 Tremor movies I have (again). I guess I am a little different than most "grandmas". Give me a good critter scfy movie over a chick flick any day. I even have some of my granddaughters watching them with me. I do not care for vampire, nightmare, jason etc type movies. I don't like sick people doing things to other people. I like over grown animals-something that won't really happen. I did not care for Kevin Bacon that much till I saw him in the first Tremor movie, love his character. Love the line-"I got me a plan"-as he is running toward the cliff edge with a bomb in his hand. I like all the Jaws movies too and Sheriff Brody's "I think we need a bigger boat" is a classic line. Jurassic movies are great also-course they had a bigger budget than most critter movies. Some are just too cheesy to be funny not scary. Some just go for how much gore can be shown without much plot. They do not need blood to be good. I like all the Alien movies, really any outer space creature is good. Anaconda, Boa vs Python are entertaining to me also. Of course I do not want to face any of these extra large critters. I wonder if one reason I enjoy these movies is that my first drive-in theater experience was "Them" about over grown ants. Also the cult classic "The Blob" came out while I was a teenager. I like some "ghost" type movies but not all. Like Ghost Ship was good but series Ghost Hunters is unbelievable. I would have to see a ghost to believe in them. With movies camaras they can do any trick and make it seem real. I have been known to jump while watching some of these movies especially at times you know something is going to happen any second now and sure enough as you are tense and waiting for it (jump) out pops the over grown supergator and grabs the person standing at the edge of the water. These movies are escapes for me. Even tho my life is good I enjoy the unreality of these movies. I also liked the Jules Vern books and movies based on his books while I was growing up. These are adventures I find interesting but would not leave the comforts of my home to try. I would not be the one to face down thses creatures either. Just let me watch:)

I have been thinking about my family history and wishing I had asked more questions and paid attention to statements made. I do not know very much about my father's family. I only know my dad's mom's maiden name. I do not remember whether Grandpa or Grandma had brothers or sisters and names. Wish I had paid more attention. I remember various cousins on that side of the family but how we all "fit" together I don't know. I remember going to an "aunt's" house but how they were related I am not sure. Do not even know birthplace to begin a search. I know of course Dad's brother and his sisters and their kids, but beyond that I do not have a clue. At a special 50th anniversary for my sister I made contact with some cousins from that side of the family that I do remember and need to follow up with them and get the information they have. I don't remember many stories from Dad about his childhood either. One story was why Dad did not like marshmellows. He and a friend cut school had a couple of large bags of marshmellows and that was all they had to eat that day. When he got home he was sick from all the "sugar" and then got a leather strap used on him for cutting school. His father believed in strict displine. Dad also was a bit of a "bad boy" he made a rubber band gun and shot rubber bands at people he did not like. He also made some metal slugs and used it at a neighbor hood store to play pinball as long as he could. He roller skated around the neightbor hood. Near his home was a business with a loading dock. Dad and his friends would skate off this dock. Back in those days they did not know about knee or elbow pads or helmets. One time Dad fell and landed with his leg under him and his butt landed right on top of his foot. He could hardly walk but did not tell his dad because he knew he would get in trouble. He had horrible back problems as an adult and always felt that fall probably had something to do with his back.
As a child, I spent more time with Mom's mom. Grandpa passed when I was 9 so Grannie was alone and we liked to go keep her company. Grandpa was a "fun" grandpa which we all liked. He was that way growing up and a gambler too. Grannie loved him but was not happy with his habit of risking his pay when they were raising a family of 7 during the depression. Grandpa was a mailman and also a crossing guard for the nearby school. All the kids called him "Grandpa". He was well thought of and died too young. Grannie made the best jelly. She would take several fruit juices and combine them to make a "mixed" fruit jelly and it was delicious. Her elderberry and black raspberry jelly was good too. She told me several stories but now I cannot remember all the details and I wish I could. One story she told was how her grandparents on both sides did not like each other and did not want her parents to marry. Her parents were having financial struggles so one lived in Indiana and one in Ohio so he could find work. I do not remember which one lived in which state. However, I do remember Grannie saying the parents of one and the sisters of the other intercepted the letters they each sent. Grannie's mom thought her husband was not sending any money because there were no letters. Grannie's dad thought his wife did not care or was not appreciating the money sent. Because of all this turmoil, Grannie's parents divorced which at that time was a horrible thing. So Grannie's grandparents announced his death in the paper. He did not die at that time they did that for appearances. It was many years later that Grannie found out her father did not die and that she had a half sister. I wish I knew all the details and Grannie probably told me, but now many, many years later, I cannot remember it all. I think this is why Grannie was close to Grandpa's mother Great Grandma Elizabeth. She had a good relationship with her and things were always strained with her family. She talked more of Grandpa's family then her own. I guess that is a good thing about blogging it is an opportunity to record our thoughts, history and stories that might be lost or forgotten.

Stuff

Last blog was about keepsakes. Well, what about "stuff"? I have too much stuff. Ask my kids and husband. I have asked what are they going to do with this when I die. My husband said just set it by the side of the road. I said if he did that I would come back and haunt him. I have 2 huge totes of stamped lines ready to be embroidered. The granddaughters have shown some interest in that, I know I will probably not get them done. Then there is my fabric-5-6 huge totes of fabric and projects started but not yet finished. I have quilt blocks and quilt pieces cut out for table centerpieces and quilts, but will I get them finished? I have doll clothes I started when the girls still played with dolls. I have scraps of material from my daughters wedding dress (a dear friend made it). And we won't mention the mending basket. Then there are the dolls I was going to repair, some are very old, purchased on ebay when I was going to open a doll hospital. And silks for arrangements since that is a skill developed when I worked. Cermaics to paint, beads to string, decoupage to do, cardmaking and scrapbooking and all the tools and supplies. Oh yes and doll house furniture kits (ebay again) to furnish the doll house. Who will want any of this or do I sell it now and then what do I do since I am retired? Oh, I forgot the yarn for making afghans and the several hundred of books I have yet to read. Is it any wonder that my dust bunnies are growing? Who has time to clean? I want to finish so many things and as you get older you get slower. Some things I need to let go, but like I have said I am a "collector" and there is always the idea that maybe I will get things done:)

Keepsakes

I have become the family's keeper of the keepsakes. I tend to be like my granny-I collect things. Not necessarily valuable things to anyone but me. Two of my sisters have passed on some items they had with the idea I will value them and keep them. They are correct. I have a bunch of old sepia tintype pictures that look like some of mom's ancestors, but I have no idea who they are. My aunt in Fla. might know if I could ever show them to her. Also I have become the keeper of a very old Bible about 6 inches thick that someone gave to Dad. It was printed in the 1800's, is falling apart, but in Dad's handwriting inside it says do not sell. Mom & Dad had 3 different times in their lives when they were apart. They wrote letters back and forth each time. Those letters are very fragile so I want to read them, put them in order and print copies and make a book of them for anyone else in the family that wants to read them. What is amazing to me is that they each kept the others letters, then Mom saved them all! What great history of their love for each other. So I guess it wasn't just grannies collecting, it was Mom too. Wonder what my kids will want to keep of mine?

Grandchildren

It is great to watch grandchildren grow and change, but it is also bittersweet. Two of my grandsons will graduate from High School this year. One is going to IU and the other is going into the Air Force. I realize that our relationship will change and that is more difficult for me then when my children "left the nest". When they come home for visits, their time will be taken up with friends and mom & dad. I hope they save some time for Mammaw. It has been so wonderful to watch them grow into fine young men. My mom used to tell me grandchildren were the best thing ever and if she had known how great it was she would have had them first (haHa). Children give joy, work and lots of worry; grandchildren give joy without the work and worry. You still worry, but not about the day to day things. I would not take any money in the world for the hugs and kisses and talks they give me. I look forward in some ways to the future and what it might hold for all 10 of my grandchildren. What will they become, what will they do, where will they go, but I also wish time would slow down. Hopefully I will take time this summer to spend as much time as possible and hold them close for awhile.

Finally figured out how to get this started. I enjoy the computer and all you can do with it, but not growing up in the "techie" age it is a little slow to figure out sometimes. It amazes me to see my grandchildren pop on the computer zip through different things faster than I can read the directions. I wonder what "new" ideas and inventions are out there in someones mind ready to be developed. I remember my grandmother talking about all the advancements and changes she had seen in her lifetime. She was born in the late 1800's and saw advancements in transportation. What awaits us? Will it be a blessing or a curse? Seems like all inventions and advancements have both.
Television-we have entertainment at our fingertips, movies to view whenever, information from all over the world but it can become ruler of our lives. I can remember life before television. We read, we played games, we used our imaginations, we were active.
We were one of the last homes in our neighborhood to get a TV. Dad said it was not going to last, I think it was the cost. Before TV Dad would play games with us. How many kids can say their Dad sat on the floor and played "Jacks", pick up sticks and other games with them. Once TV game into the house and Dad discovered sports on it that ended the play time.