To my children

 

I've made mistakes being a Mom, more than I'd like to admit. I am not perfect at all. But I'll always be there for you, to hear you, to cheer for you, to laugh or cry with you, to protect you with my life and tell you things you don't want to hear.  

I will love you even at those times when you don't love me. No matter how old you get, no one will ever love you more than I do, because I am and always will be your Mom.

My Act of Kindness

Winter is cold in Nebraska and today was typical – 4 degrees above zero at 11 am. The tail end of a sleet storm had hit Sunday night and the streets were covered with both snow and ice. It was windy, cold and spitting snow.

The best place to be was at home. But, here we were, attending the funeral of an old and loved friend.

As we were leaving the church, preparing for the long drive to the cemetery, I felt a tug on my arm. An old gentleman who had been sitting in front of us in church was standing there with his car keys in his hand. He said “would you please go to the parking lot and bring my car to the door….I’m afraid that my wife will slip on the ice.”

Now mind you, I did not know this man and he didn’t know me, but here he was giving me the keys to his car. I took the keys, asked where he had parked and what kind of car it was…”white”…”Ok, but what model” “it’s a van”….

Because the departed was a dear friend, we had been asked to ride to church in the mortuary’s limo. The other occupants, her daughter and son-in-law, were starting to leave the church so I didn’t have time to quiz him about his van. I planned to push the horn button until a white van answered.

I told my husband to wait in the limo and I would find the van. The funeral was not large. Many of the older family members and friends did not attend due to the weather.

To make a long story short, I found the van, (using the honking horn as my guide) and drove it to the church door. The elderly gentleman and his wife were waiting for me. They did not go to the cemetery nor to the luncheon following the ceremony so to this day I don't know who they were and I have never seen them again.

Although this wasn’t an outstanding act of kindness, in my heart I felt that I had done something very good.

Horses---my first love

Back when I was a pre-teen, horses were the love of my life. Now that I'm a grandmother, I have passed that love onto our youngest granddaughter. "Becca" is 14 and loves to ride....luckily we have friends with horses! Our friends also have 3 goats......playing with the goats is fun, but nothing compared to playing with the horses.

Riverview Park aka The Henry Doorly Zoo

We live in Omaha, Nebraska, home of the Henry Doorly Zoo, a wonderful place to lose yourself for hours. I grew up a block away from the zoo and consider it one of my old 'stomping' grounds. Prior to becoming the world renown zoo that it is now, it was called Riverview Park. In 1898 Riverview Park was part of the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition. The next time you watch the original WIZARD OF OZ with Judy Garland, look at the hot air balloon Dorothy is going to use to return to Kansas....it says STATE FAIR Omaha!

Anyway we, the neighborhood kids, would play softball where the antelopes now roam, make dams in the stream that wanders through the park, ending in a big lagoon where we would ice skate in winter. Things have changed a lot in those 60 years...but is it still a wonderful place for kids.

We took our almost 4 year old grandson to the park on Friday....we wanted to see the new Madagascar exhibit and show Andrew the baby animals.....he has been to the zoo many times in his young life and thoroughly enjoys walking the paths in the Lied Jungle, seeing the monkeys high in the tree tops and hearing their screeching calls. We were there from 10 Am to 3 Pm and had a great time......Andrew ran, climbed and splashed his way through everything he could find.

But, by 3 o'clock, he was ready to have a drink of water and settle back in his car seat for the ride home. We are so fortunate to have our grandchildren in Omaha where we can call their parents at a moment's notice and say "Hey, we'd like to take Andrew, Rebecca, Jenny, Austin, Mason, Connor or Hayden to the zoo with us for the day"

I Make My Tea in a Mr. Coffee Coffee Maker

I have made tea in my Mr. Coffee Coffee Maker for years....we drink a lot of tea and its easier and faster than making it in a tea pot or one cup at a time.  I use 3 Lipton tea bags, two are black tea and one is green.  But, we haven't a water softener and we live in an area where the water is rock hard,  full of two minerals -- calcium and magnesium. 

I always have major tea stains in my sink and coffee cups.  Plus the tea looks murky.  The tea leaves a filmy layer in the cups and if I don't rinse the cups right away, the stains "set" and are very difficult to remove.  If I do rinse them in the sink and do not immediately clean the sink, it gets really yucky too and I have to scrub it with cleanser.   It sounds like I'm a terrible housekeeper but actually I'm not.  I just have this problem with tea bag stain.

Last week my husband suggested that I put a coffee filter into the coffee pot, put the tea bags into it, and let the filter catch the residue from the tea bags.  Zoweeee, it works, my tea is clear and the flavor is as good as ever.

This residue stuff does not always appear.  I think that our water utility company treats the water differently at some times of the year.  It depends on the water itself.  Our water is taken from either wells around Omaha, or from the Missouri River...a scary thought.  It is purified and treated and passes all its' inspections, but.........

Tip of the Day - foggy shower mirror

My favorite "Tip of the Day"....clean your mirror with shaving cream!

I like a HOT shower and although we have a fan in the bathroom, the mirror gets steamy and foggy. If you clean your mirror with shaving cream, as you'd do with Windex, it won't fog up.....it will be perfectly clean, no oily film and you'll see your reflection as usual.  You can use a coffee filter to wipe off the shaving cream.

But, don't do what I did! I pointed the can of shave cream at the mirror and pressed the button....whoosh, I had a gob the size of Texas on the mirror with rebound splatters all over the wall! And a whole bunch of shaving cream splatters on me.

I know better now!

Surviving the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's

A friend emailed this to me. Wow, I was born in the 1930s and can remember doing most if not all of the dangerous things mentioned. Even putting my children on their tummies and letting the toddler stand between Daddy and I as we drove down the street.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight.

WHY? Because we were always outside, playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.

Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. If YOU are one of them ........ CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?

100 Years from Now.......my legacy

..........................100 Years From Now.......


It will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in or what kind of a car I drove, but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child...

Grandma

Grandpa and Andrew

Both Ken and Andrew had a busy day....Ken was working in and on my flower garden, and Dru spent his time feeding Cheerios to Fredthedog on the back deck. A few hours of fresh air wore both of them out.

This spring we planted a flower garden around our little pond in the back yard. Then, after the dogs found it was fun to hop into the pond on hot days, had to put a decorative wrought iron fence around it. This also cut down on the visits from the many rabbits, possums and raccoons who used it as a watering hole. Unfortunately, we have a little bunny rabbit who visited last night and nibbled ALL the blooms from Ken's favorite daisies plus ate all the lower leaves from the Asian lilies, making them look like palm trees, bare stalk with a mass of leaves on top.

I am really miffed at the squirrels that make their homes in the two oak trees in our front and back yards. I didn't mind them jumping off one tree and bouncing along the roof to the red oak in the back.....even though it is usually about 6:30 am when I'd hear them ta-bump, ta-bump, ta-bumping as they pranced along on the roof above our bed. But, when they started to dig up my newly planted tulip bulbs and either replace them with walnuts or acorns....that was tooooo much~!

We bought a "humane" critter trip in hopes of catching them. The little bunny who has eaten most of my husband's prize Asian lilies is also on my list...I've put fresh sweet pea pods and carrots in the trap, hoping that he/she will be enticed to stop by and have fresh veggies instead of our flowers......much cheaper too.

We have caught several possums and once, the raccoon who had been supplementing his diet with fresh fish from our neighbor's goldfish pond. All we could do is to turn the possums and raccoon lose.

The raccoon was a cute little guy, he didn't snarl and show his teeth like the possums did. We just opened the trap and out he scampered, right to the nearest tree and up. Since this was early evening, I imagine he came back down when it got dark and returned to where ever his home was.

The goldfish are still disappearing from the neighbor's pond, so spending a few hours in a cage and in an unfamiliar tree wasn't too traumatic.

Memories of my first and only Love

You're listening to the radio when suddenly "that" song comes on. You know the one ....it was "your" song when you were dating that special person. You stop what you're doing and the memories come flooding back.

I am back in high school, walking down the halls of South High School in Omaha, Nebraska. I remember the joy of seeing my special guy and holding hands as we talked on the way to our next class. Somehow I knew that he was the "one".

We dated throughout high school and spent many evenings in his car, parked in "lover's lane" (with about a dozen other cars) and listening to Johnny Mathis, Pat Boone and other crooners of our era.

We celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in April 2009 and he is still my one and only and my best friend. This is our special song and it can still bring tears to my eyes.

**********

The Twelfth of Never by Johnny Mathis

*

You ask how much I need you

Must I explain

I need you oh my darling

Like roses need rain

You ask how long I'll love you

I'll tell you true

Until the twelfth of never

I'll still be loving you

Hold me close

Never let me go

Hold me close

Melt my heart like April snow

I'll love you 'till the blue bells forget to bloom

I'll love you 'till the clover has lost its perfume

I'll love you 'till the poets run out of rhyme

Until the twelfth of never

And that's a long long time

Until the twelfth of never

And that's a long long time

*********

Is there a special song in your life?

Mr. Sandman Bring Me a Dream

“Please Mr. Sandman, Bring me a Dream”…. Remember that old song? So, just who is this Mr. Sandman? The Sandman is a well-known character in many children’s stories and the favorite of mothers of little children everywhere. “Time for the Sandman”…”Oh, oh, Mr. Sandman is on the way”

The Sandman comes at night to sprinkle “sand” or “dust” into the eyes of sleepy children (or adults) and send them off to dreamland.

What! You don’t believe me! Didn't you ever wake up in the morning with gritty eyes with maybe a little grain of “something” in the corners? Yep, its Mr. Sandman at work!

Hmmm, you’re too worldly to believe that aren't you. Actually the "sand" is dried mucus secreted from glands near the eye. The mucus helps the eye retain moisture at night and protects it against foreign particles. When you sleep, the closed eyelids retain the moisture allowing the mucus to gather in the corners of the eye. When you wake, the dried mucus feels like sand in your eyes or a little piece of grit in the corner.

And another myth bites the dust!

3 ways to make money at home

Making money at home....Nope, I’m not talking about a “get rich quick” scheme….you do have to work a little. These are three of my proven favorites.

1. Big Crumbs …BigCrumbs is free to join, and to start using it you simply need to login to the BigCrumbs site through JeansJeans and use their links to retailers to shop, rather than going directly to EBay or the retailers' page.

BigCrumbs is completely FREE! It costs you nothing to join so you can’t lose! You not only get money back on your own shopping, but you get cash back on the shopping of everyone who signs up under you. And it never costs you a dime! You just keep collecting money. It’s a win/win situation.

I use BigCrumbs every time I shop, both on Ebay and on the listed stores. It only takes a minute to sign up ...Put BigCrumbs on your desktop..as a reminder to start there. I travel a lot and it’s amazing how much money is deposited in my PayPal account every month thanks to using Ortiz or Travelocity for airfare and hotel charges. It just keeps coming and coming.

2. Ebay...the tried and true online auction house. I have recently opened a new store Finally Foundit Collectibles .

I offer New & Used items including: books, glassware, Home Decor, model trains, S&P shakersPlus clothing items : Tee shirts, jeans, toddlers and pre-teen, women, teen girls, men, teen boys

Mark us as a favorite and come back often as we list many items each week.

PLUS, purchases in this store will qualify you for BigCrumbs refunds. (be sure to join BigCrumbs by clicking on JeansJeans )

3. eBid....eBid is a new-kid-on-the block sales site. It is similar to Ebay but since eBid does not have the high listing, plus Final Value Fees and requirement that the bidder/buyer use Paypal, items tend to be less expensive. You can find me at MJ's Closet.

Time for Grandma to smell goooooood

I don't usually buy items from "across the pond" but decided to try some perfume from an internet seller, Fragrance Online....It was fairly inexpensive, was the designer perfume that I usually use but I had some doubts about how good it would be.

Much to my surprise it had a really great smell which lasted easily as long as my name brand perfume did. And at a MUCH cheaper price...not a cheap perfume, just at a cheap price.

I bought some perfume for my daughter and also for myself...Lancome for both of us. Since I am the caregiver and, of course the grandmother of little Andrew, I felt I could treat myself once in a while.

Andrew snuggles up and seems to like it a lot, but that could be because I smell so much like his mother!

Candy, gotta love the stuff

Remember those old fashioned candies....names that you seldom see any more. Try these sites:

http://www.oldtimecandy.com/
http://www.nostalgiccandy.com/
http://www.sweetnostalgia.com/

OK, I admit it, I like candy. When I was a kid, Hersheys was my very, very favorite choice.....those nice sized bars (either they have shrunk or my memory is getting bad) that MELTED.

Now this is a secret just between you and me. I would take a Hershey bar (wrapped of course) and stuff it into my back pocket to soften. Then after the bar was no longer solid, really nice and gooey, I would take it out and unwrap it. Yummmm, licking the melted chocolate off of my fingers and then licking the wrapper was one of the joys of my young life.

At 8 years old....joy came easily.

What will you find in

MJs Closet ????

Something OLD or Something NEW

Shirley Goodnest and Marcy

Sometimes cute little articles are sent to me by my friend Corky...this is one of them.

A mom was concerned about her kindergarten son walking to school. He didn't want his mother to walk with him. She wanted to give him the feeling that he had some independence but yet know that he was safe.

So she had an idea of how to handle it. She asked a neighbor if she would please follow him to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, so he probably wouldn't notice her. The neighbor said that since she was up early with her toddler anyway, it would be a good way for them to get some exercise as well, so she agreed.

The next school day, the neighbor and her little girl set out following behind Jeffie as he walked to school with another neighbor girl he knew. She did this for the whole week. As the two walked and chatted, kicking stones and twigs, Jeffie's little friend noticed the same lady was following them as she seemed to do every day all week.

Finally she said to Jeffie, 'Have you noticed that lady following us to school all week? Do you know her?' Jeffie nonchalantly replied, 'Yeah, I know who she is. 'The little girl said, 'Well, who is she?

''That's just Shirley Goodnest,' Jeffie replied, "and her daughter Marcy". ''Shirley Goodnest? Who the heck is she and why is she following us?

''Well,' Jeffie explained, 'every night my Mom makes me say the 23rd Psalm with my prayers, 'cuz she worries about me so much. And in the Psalm, it says, 'Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life', so I guess I'll just have to get used to it!'

May Shirley Goodnest and Marcy be with you today and always.

Admitting to ENVY!

I am not a perfect person....... I know that and I regret it (but not always)

When provoked, I do have a temper, I do not clean my house on a regular basis, I do not love holidays (I tolerate them but not love them), and I am often filled with ENVY!

I am envious of people who have tons of money but didn't work to get it. Do they deserve it just because they were lucky enough to be born to rich parents? Are their genes better than mine? Why should they drive expensive cars, buy shoes that cost more than I make in a month, and spend their time at luxury resorts!

I am envious of singers who have no talent but stand on a stage and yell out words to the beat of loud guitars and drums. It's a good day for them if they are sometimes actually on key and the words they yell are not too obnoxious for small children to hear. I envy the money that they receive and even envy the smirks on their faces, knowing they have no real talent and those who buy their photos, disks and tickets to concerts haven't a clue that they are being laughed at.

I am envious of those semi-talented people who can write a blog about doing home repairs, dredging up old recipes or rant about how to make a million dollars by blogging.....and make a million dollars by blogging.

Why not me! Is my blog not good enough? Are the ads too boring to click on ....surely there is something there to interest a viewer or aren't my posts even provocative or cute enough to at least rate a comment?

Where are the hundreds or even thousands of viewers who wander the internet? What do I need to guide them to my site?

Nebraska Huh!

Hello, welcome to my home state...Nebraska...that funny-shaped place between South Dakota and Missouri. We have the Cornhusker football team, Chimney Rock, we host the College World Series every June and can expect at least one or two tornados every spring.

Okay, Nebraska isn't known for it's scenic beauty although we do have some....yep, and contrary to the belief of much of the United States, Nebraska does not have wild animals roaming our prairie, we do have hot and cold running water, and 99% of the households have indoor plumbing.

Plus, we have the ever popular, widely known tourist attraction Carhenge.

The old TV series MUTUAL OF OMAHA'S WILD KINGDOM was not photographed in Nebraska. We do not have lions, tigers and bears running loose nor do we have elephants, zebras and giraffes. Not unless you count those in the Henry Doorly Zoo, which IS located in Omaha, Nebraska. Do you think I'm kidding...people on the coasts aren't even sure if we're part of the 50 states. Just ask anyone from the East Coast where Nebraska is....bet they give you a blank stare and say "daaaaaaaaaah".

A long time ago when I worked in the Mutual of Omaha building (Mutual of Omaha is an insurance company) we hosted a nationwide seminar with representatives from all 48 states (I told you it was a long time ago). Some of these folks had never been west of New York and we were in hysterics over some of the questions and opinions held by some of the attendees. I will admit that the majority of them were pretty young....beginner insurance agents.

"Where do you keep the wild animals?" (in our backyards, doesn't everybody?)

"Does Marlin Perkins work in this building?" (only when he's doing commercials and he's paid big bucks to come)

"We weren't sure if you guys had indoor plumbing" (see that little building with the heart on the door..be sure to take your own toilet paper)

"My mother was really worried about me coming out here....she wasn't sure if you had hotels and things like that" (Come'on Mom, this is 1957..we've even got an airport and a Budget 6 motel)

I really shouldn't laugh about their lack of knowledge....I thought that all New Yorkers lived in apartments or row houses with adjoining walls, the only grass and trees that they see were in Central Park, New Yorkers didn't own cars so didn't know how to drive. And, everybody in Kentucky raised race horses.

I've learned so much since I've gotten older! (although having seen some New York drivers on our Nebraska "interstate highway" I think I may have been right about not knowing how to drive!)

A Mouse in My Closet

Scratch, scratch, scratch...as I lay in my bed, I keep hearing sounds....not loud bangs and thumps, more quiet and subdued. But in my heart I know....there is a mouse in my closet!

He is either in a box wanting to get out, or on the outside trying to get in. Either way, he is not welcome. If he would have just gone about his business without making a sound (quiet as a mouse?), I wouldn't have known he was there, and wouldn't be planning his demise.

Now, I don't generally have food in my bedroom closet, so will assume that he is planning to scamper into the kitchen later on tonight...or possibly my computer room! Both places are guaranteed to have pieces of popcorn scattered around the floor....except for the ones that Fred the Dog found before I went to bed. Fred the Dog is great at cleaning floors....he finds all sorts of goodies on my computer room floor...I like to nibble as I type...and I'm sloppy.

I poke my husband to wake him up..."there's a mouse in the closet"....

"Hmmmm" as he rolled over the other way.

"I SAID THERE IS A MOUSE IN THE CLOSET"

At 2 AM I suppose I shouldn't have expected him to immediately get up and look for a mousetrap. But it was worth a try.

Oh well, I know how to set a mousetrap. So I climbed out of bed, put on my slippers and padded my way downstairs. I was greeted by Fred the Dog and Kuper the Keezie, both of whom prefer to sleep downstairs in the family room......they have heard my husband snore and know that distance is the only way to sleep undisturbed.

"Hi guys, guess what, there's a mouse in the closet"....neither dog was impressed and didn't bother to get up, although they did wag their tails. The mousetraps were in a drawer in the laundry room......when we first moved here, we bought them by the dozen. This was a newly established development and the field mice had no place to go.....what could be better than relocating to a nice, warm, cozy house. I think we caught 27 of them that first year.

Getting back to my mouse in the closet....I piled a gob of peanut butter onto the little latch thingy and went back to the bedroom. Husband was still snoring happily.

I set the trap, thanks to the 27 opportunities I had last year, I was a pro at it. The trap was carefully positioned near the closet door but not where "someone" would step on it on his way to the bathroom. That would have been a definite mistake. Then I went to bed....knowing that tomorrow, I will probably have to attend a mouse funeral.

Wrong....when I woke up and peeked over the back of the bed, the mousetrap was sitting there but no mouse. Disappointment and relief...I really don't like attending mouse funerals.

This went on for a few more days...each night I would position the mousetrip with a FRESH gob of peanut butter. Each morning there it sat, undisturbed.

But finally, hunger or curiousity got the better of him.

The mouse in the closet is gone.....sent away in a little box to be picked up and delivered to his final resting place...the city landfill.

Tuesday's Soap Box

Today is the first day of our new year, 2008! Congratulations to all of you who have made it!

I’m going to climb on a soap box for a few minutes and rant about something that is not earth shattering, will not cause the 2008 elections to sway one way or another, nor will it make you as rich as Warren Buffett or Bill Gates. But it does cause problems in your personal life (I do not mean your LOVE life)

Split ends, brittle hair, little wads of hair in the drain after you wash your hair? Oh yea, admit it….I could probably throw in dandruff too, but I’m not sure about that.

The shampoo companies are getting R-I-C-H, thanks to the constant TV ads promoting hair products. Head and Shoulders, Dove, Pantene, and many others......how many people walking around your town have silky hair that flows and glistens like the ones on the ad….you buy the stuff and hope for the best.

And your skin.....dry? flaky? itchy?

Read the ingredients on your shampoo bottle, bar of soap or on the bottle of your child’s bubble bath.

Do you really NEED to be that clean?