Mister B, Super, Biggity, Nist, Crash, my husband has a blog. Check it out. He's great, he writes a lot of words, he's blunt, real, and a funny. He's got a lot of good things to say.
http://www.2lasereyes.blogspot.com
Monday, November 26, 2007
Introducing...
Mister B, Super, Biggity, Nist, Crash, my husband has a blog. Check it out. He's great, he writes a lot of words, he's blunt, real, and a funny. He's got a lot of good things to say.
http://www.2lasereyes.blogspot.com
Friday, November 23, 2007
Day of Thanks
14 kids
16 adults
2- 20 lbs turkeys
lots of love
lots of thanks
lots of laughter
lots of food
lots of sweets
lots of fun
Giving Thanks
Poor Diddy
The Posse
Silly Boys
The Mighty Women
My Beautiful Boys- Bug just got up from a nap
Extremely Silly Men
I hope you all had a great thanksgiving holiday enjoying family and friends, and giving gratitude where it is do.
16 adults
2- 20 lbs turkeys
lots of love
lots of thanks
lots of laughter
lots of food
lots of sweets
lots of fun
Giving Thanks
Poor Diddy
The Posse
Silly Boys
The Mighty Women
My Beautiful Boys- Bug just got up from a nap
Extremely Silly Men
I hope you all had a great thanksgiving holiday enjoying family and friends, and giving gratitude where it is do.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
60 Years
This post is an add to my previous post "Remembering Joyce Birdsall".
Over last weekend, I thought a lot about marriage, and how people stay together. Most of these thoughts were spurred on by watching B's Grandpa morn the loss of his wife of 60 years this last weekend. One scene has stuck fast in my memory, and this is my observations of the situation, because I didn't talk with Grandpa about what he was feeling. The scene is of Grandpa, this 6'2'' 80 year old man sitting hunched over in easy chair gripping a black and white photo of him and his high school sweetheart, later his wife, and Grandpa's crying. This was how he was choosing to remember her, as the sweet beautiful teenager he fell in love with, now again these are my thoughts.
While watching Grandpa that weekend, I was reminded of a conversation I had with a family member years before. The family member mentioned that Grandma and Grandpa had been bickering and pretty grouchy with each other, and it was trying being around them right then because they were kept arguing. It showed me that they were normal. They fought, and argued, and sometimes didn't like each other at all, but they stayed married. At the funeral, a grandson shared a sweet and funny story about Grandma and Grandpa. He said one time he was visiting them when the lived in Arizona, and Grandma was in the kitchen cooking and Grandpa and him were listening to a game on the radio. Grandma yelled from the kitchen, "Bill, turn down that radio", and so he did. Then a minutes later, Grandma said again, "Bill, I said turn down the radio", and Grandpa, without saying a word, turned down the radio again. The grandson turned to Grandpa and said, "Why didn't you tell her that you did already?" and Grandpa said, "That's why we've been married so long." Marriage is about compromise and making it work, not sweating the small stuff, and not making sure you are always right.
After the funeral, we went to the cemetery to have Grandma buried. I took some pictures, and watched Grandpa during the brief service at the grave. His daughters held his arms, and later his grandchildren sat with him when he wasn't ready to leave her, his beloved. When the it was time to say the final goodbye, Grandpa went over the coffin and layed his hand on the top, and with tears in his eyes, he started to bend one knee. There she was, the woman he had spent 60 plus years with, and all I could see on his face was that he loved her. In the end, it wasn't the fights or years of making it work that he thought of, but it was that he loved her and all the years together were worth it.
Marriage isn't just about two people, but it's about family, great grandchildren, friends, and all the other people in life that are watching to see if marriage can work, and if people can still can be in love after 60 years. Recently one of my brothers helped B put a new part in our car, and stayed for dinner after the work was done. While we were catching up and enjoying dinner, B mentioned that his Grandma had died, and that she and his Grandpa had been married for 60 years. Max immediately said, "You guys'll be married for 60 years" and I said "Yes Max, we will". Thinking back on B's family, partly because Grandpa and Grandma stayed together, they kept generations of their family close and tightly knit together.
B and I have a chance at being married 60 years, because we married so young. After this weekend, I am convinced that if I live that long, we are going to get there. Because in the end, it's worth it.
Over last weekend, I thought a lot about marriage, and how people stay together. Most of these thoughts were spurred on by watching B's Grandpa morn the loss of his wife of 60 years this last weekend. One scene has stuck fast in my memory, and this is my observations of the situation, because I didn't talk with Grandpa about what he was feeling. The scene is of Grandpa, this 6'2'' 80 year old man sitting hunched over in easy chair gripping a black and white photo of him and his high school sweetheart, later his wife, and Grandpa's crying. This was how he was choosing to remember her, as the sweet beautiful teenager he fell in love with, now again these are my thoughts.
While watching Grandpa that weekend, I was reminded of a conversation I had with a family member years before. The family member mentioned that Grandma and Grandpa had been bickering and pretty grouchy with each other, and it was trying being around them right then because they were kept arguing. It showed me that they were normal. They fought, and argued, and sometimes didn't like each other at all, but they stayed married. At the funeral, a grandson shared a sweet and funny story about Grandma and Grandpa. He said one time he was visiting them when the lived in Arizona, and Grandma was in the kitchen cooking and Grandpa and him were listening to a game on the radio. Grandma yelled from the kitchen, "Bill, turn down that radio", and so he did. Then a minutes later, Grandma said again, "Bill, I said turn down the radio", and Grandpa, without saying a word, turned down the radio again. The grandson turned to Grandpa and said, "Why didn't you tell her that you did already?" and Grandpa said, "That's why we've been married so long." Marriage is about compromise and making it work, not sweating the small stuff, and not making sure you are always right.
After the funeral, we went to the cemetery to have Grandma buried. I took some pictures, and watched Grandpa during the brief service at the grave. His daughters held his arms, and later his grandchildren sat with him when he wasn't ready to leave her, his beloved. When the it was time to say the final goodbye, Grandpa went over the coffin and layed his hand on the top, and with tears in his eyes, he started to bend one knee. There she was, the woman he had spent 60 plus years with, and all I could see on his face was that he loved her. In the end, it wasn't the fights or years of making it work that he thought of, but it was that he loved her and all the years together were worth it.
Marriage isn't just about two people, but it's about family, great grandchildren, friends, and all the other people in life that are watching to see if marriage can work, and if people can still can be in love after 60 years. Recently one of my brothers helped B put a new part in our car, and stayed for dinner after the work was done. While we were catching up and enjoying dinner, B mentioned that his Grandma had died, and that she and his Grandpa had been married for 60 years. Max immediately said, "You guys'll be married for 60 years" and I said "Yes Max, we will". Thinking back on B's family, partly because Grandpa and Grandma stayed together, they kept generations of their family close and tightly knit together.
B and I have a chance at being married 60 years, because we married so young. After this weekend, I am convinced that if I live that long, we are going to get there. Because in the end, it's worth it.
Remembering Joyce Birdsall
B's grandmother, Joyce Birdsall, died recently after a five year battle with cancer. She and her husband Bill, B's grandpa, had been married for 60+ years and had been a couple for 65 years. This is them in the picture above, probably they're still in high school. He was a football player and she was a cheerleader. They married after she graduated and had four daughters. When she died she had 6 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.We drove down to Corvallis to go to the funeral last Thursday night. The funeral was on Saturday, so we spent Friday just hanging out with the family. The picture above is the picture that was passed out to family members, and it's the picture that Grandpa spent sometimes an hour staring at while sitting in his easy chair the days before funeral, most of the time his eyes filled with tears. Next to him was another matching easy chair which is now vacant, because his partner of 65 years is gone.
The funeral was very traditional with an elegant white casket, full service, hearse, and funeral procession of cars to the burial. It was amazing to realize, looking around the room that these people were here because of Grandma and Grandpa. This was their legacy. B and I and our children are part of their legacy too. During the service it was shared that Joyce was an amazing hostess who loved saying hello and hated saying good bye, which reminded me so much of B. She was a wonderful God fearing woman who lived a great life and left a great legacy.
After the service we drove to the burial which was on a beautiful plot out in Sweet Home, where other family members are buried. B served as one of the casket bearers. Watching the burial was so sad. As I looked at all the family members, I thought "this was momma bear, she started all this and here we are laying her in the ground." At the same time, it seemed like her time to go, and it was nice to know she wasn't in pain anymore and she was sharing eternity with her creator.
The hardest part was Grandpa. While staring at his wife's casket, Grandpa looked shocked like he didn't see it coming, even though she had been dying of cancer for years. Out at the cemetery, it was absolutely beautiful, and it was supposed to rain.
Here's some pics of the burial. Notice that this is in November and look at the scenery.
Carrying the casket
Great granddaughter and daughter
Son in law, daughter, and Grandpa Birdsall
Grandpa Birdsall's last goodbye
Grandson B, and great granddaughter lil' b
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Cookie Dough- I have a Problem
On Sunday night B, hubby, went out with a friend for dinner so I made lil' b a queso and put the munchkins to bed. While I was cooking the quesadilla I pulled out some cookie dough from the freezer that I had made a few days earlier, and proceeded to snack on it while it de-thawed. After a while I became quite full and decided that I would have to put dinner for myself on hold.
Fast forward 2 more hours. By ten I had stopped snacking on cookie dough and decided to throw the idea of dinner out the window, because I felt pretty good and the sugar had satiated my hunger. So who needs dinner and after reading for a while I went to sleep.
Then the next morning I woke up feeling less than great. Actually a wee bit nauseas, and I thought great, I'm either pregnant or I just ate too much cookie dough. I felt pretty embarrassed to reveal to my slumbering husband that I felt too sick to get out of bed and get our eight month old. I mean, who in their right mind eats cookie dough for dinner? Maybe a 13 year old having a "crazy all nighter b-day party", but I am not one of those anymore. Yes, I am a grown woman. I think I need to remind myself of that.
We had friends coming over for brunch, so there was cleaning to do and groceries to buy. So I did my best to act not sick and get over it, but I really wasn't feeling good. So I thought, I'll go do the shopping, that'll help. So me and my 3 year old went to Trader's to get some food. Well, I made it through the store, but on the way home my stomach was acting a little bit funny. So I started driving faster, realizing that something unpleasant was about to happen, and pulling over on the side of the road is less than elegant. I made it into the driveway, turned off the car, left lil' b in the car, ran inside, yelled to B to go get lil' b out of the car, and let it loose in the kitchen sink. Just about an hour before our guests came.
I can't believe I'm telling people this. It's so embarrassing! But maybe it'll give someone a good laugh. B has been bugging me to do a sugar fast with him to get healthy, and me, the sugar maniac, so far has declined, but yesterday I told him I was ready.
Fast forward 2 more hours. By ten I had stopped snacking on cookie dough and decided to throw the idea of dinner out the window, because I felt pretty good and the sugar had satiated my hunger. So who needs dinner and after reading for a while I went to sleep.
Then the next morning I woke up feeling less than great. Actually a wee bit nauseas, and I thought great, I'm either pregnant or I just ate too much cookie dough. I felt pretty embarrassed to reveal to my slumbering husband that I felt too sick to get out of bed and get our eight month old. I mean, who in their right mind eats cookie dough for dinner? Maybe a 13 year old having a "crazy all nighter b-day party", but I am not one of those anymore. Yes, I am a grown woman. I think I need to remind myself of that.
We had friends coming over for brunch, so there was cleaning to do and groceries to buy. So I did my best to act not sick and get over it, but I really wasn't feeling good. So I thought, I'll go do the shopping, that'll help. So me and my 3 year old went to Trader's to get some food. Well, I made it through the store, but on the way home my stomach was acting a little bit funny. So I started driving faster, realizing that something unpleasant was about to happen, and pulling over on the side of the road is less than elegant. I made it into the driveway, turned off the car, left lil' b in the car, ran inside, yelled to B to go get lil' b out of the car, and let it loose in the kitchen sink. Just about an hour before our guests came.
I can't believe I'm telling people this. It's so embarrassing! But maybe it'll give someone a good laugh. B has been bugging me to do a sugar fast with him to get healthy, and me, the sugar maniac, so far has declined, but yesterday I told him I was ready.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Book Nerds Holla Back
Ok, if you really like books and getting recommendations for new books to read I have found the site for you. I've been looking for a while at different library pages for recommendations (I know, the nerdiness is overwhelming, but read on), and occasionally I look up a book I like on Amazon.com and see if they recommend anything I would like too. Although I use these ones they have never really satisfied my desire, because what I've always wanted was a book recommendation search engine based off of books you already like. Amazon is annoying because sometimes you search a book and it just gives recommendations by what else the author wrote not the genre. But the annoyances and wasteful internet searches have stopped.
Go to www.whatshouldireadnext.com, who would have thought, it's such a tricky name, tee he.
It's awesome. You can ask for suggestions, catalog books you like which the site keeps on record, and you can even highlight certain books off your own book list and get a recommendation off of the ones you highlighted.
Check it out.
Eugene Bepo
So I had a great time in Eugene catching up with Beta. We stayed up late, and chatted like girls like to do, whilst three sweet babes were slumbering. We did fun things like go to Target, gosh I'm boring, but there's not that many things one can do with two nurslings, how'd ya like that word! Then I talked Beta in a haircut, sort of. She hacked off about 12 inches of black hair, and came out looking like a superstar part aeon flux. Super exciting, then back to the ranch in P-town. B spent the day with lil' b. They did fun stuff like go out to breakfast together at Bertie Lou's, go to Napa Auto, and spend the rest of the day with the Luters.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Away
I'm going to Eugene today to have girl time with one of my longtime best friends. I've been trying to get down there for a few weeks, because it was her birthday, my birthday, and both of our kids birthdays. But the weekend I was supposed to go our car broke down. CRAP! So we took it into the shop begrudgingly, and hoped for the best. Well, they said that we needed new spark plugs and wires, well we could fix those, but that really wasn't the problem. Then they told us that they didn't know what the problem was and we owed them fifty bucks for telling us that. Great. So I asked what we needed to do to figure it out, and they said we could leave our only car with them and they would drive it around till the car broke down again and then they Might have an idea about what was going on.
Ok, I'm really not that bitter at this situation. It's just life. But it's one of those frustrating situations like when you are really sick and you go to the doctor and they say that they can't help you, so you just return home sick and wait. I guess we have to learn to be our own doctors. So the car is driving but we can't take it out of town because it might just stop working anytime. I was so sad until me and my buddy worked out a plan.
Today I have her car from Eugene because I took her husband to the airport in their car and then I get to take it to Eugene to hang out with her then drive back, pick him up from the airport then he takes it back to Eugene. That's a mouthful. Still following? Well, it just means I get a night away, well with Bug, but that's a little break from two kids, and I get to be with Beta, my buddy.
Ok, I'm really not that bitter at this situation. It's just life. But it's one of those frustrating situations like when you are really sick and you go to the doctor and they say that they can't help you, so you just return home sick and wait. I guess we have to learn to be our own doctors. So the car is driving but we can't take it out of town because it might just stop working anytime. I was so sad until me and my buddy worked out a plan.
Today I have her car from Eugene because I took her husband to the airport in their car and then I get to take it to Eugene to hang out with her then drive back, pick him up from the airport then he takes it back to Eugene. That's a mouthful. Still following? Well, it just means I get a night away, well with Bug, but that's a little break from two kids, and I get to be with Beta, my buddy.
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