Summer 1999

July 1999

Manistique, Michigan

Our first week away vacation as a family. Because we enjoyed it so much, every year after that we would pick a new spot on a lake somewhere in Michigan to spend the week during the summer. What great memories.

We stayed in a small, very rustic cabin on Indian Lake.

PaPa Mike and Grammy went with us.

The kids' ages were 9 (almost 10), 7, 3 (almost 4) and 2. Oh my gosh, were they cute or what?

It was the week that JFK, jr. died in that horrible plane crash. I remember that, because we had taken our small tv and were glued to the news once it happened.

Meet Me In The Stairwell

I came across this in myspace this morning, copied and pasted it ~

You say you will never forget where you were when
you heard the news On September 11, 2001.
Neither will I.

I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room
with a man who called his wife to say 'Good-Bye.' I
held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the
peace to say, 'Honey, I am not going to make it, but it
is OK..I am ready to go.'

I was with his wife when he called as she fed
breakfast to their children. I held her up as she
tried to understand his words and as she realized
he wasn't coming home that night.

I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a
woman cried out to Me for help. 'I have been
knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!' I said.
'Of course I will show you the way home - only
believe in Me now.'

I was at the base of the building with the Priest
ministering to the injured and devastated souls.
I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven. He
heard my voice and answered.

I was on all four of those planes, in every seat,
with every prayer. I was with the crew as they
were overtaken. I was in the very hearts of the
believers there, comforting and assuring them that their
faith has saved them.

I was in Texas , Virginia , California , Michigan , Afghanistan .
I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news.
Did you sense Me?

I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew
every name - though not all know Me. Some met Me
for the first time on the 86th floor.

Some sought Me with their last breath.
Some couldn't hear Me calling to them through the
smoke and flames; 'Come to Me... this way... take
my hand.' Some chose, for the final time, to ignore Me.
But, I was there.

I did not place you in the Tower that day. You
may not know why, but I do. However, if you were
there in that explosive moment in time, would you have
reached for Me?

Sept. 11, 2001, was not the end of the journey
for you. But someday your journey will end. And I
will be there for you as well. Seek Me now while I may
be found. Then, at any moment, you know you are
'ready to go.'

I will be in the stairwell of your final moments.
God


During the next 60 seconds, stop whatever you are
doing, and take this opportunity. (Literally it
is only 1 minute.) All you have to do is the
following:

Stop and think and appreciate God's power
in your life, for doing what you know is pleasing to
Him. If you are not ashamed to do this, follow the
instructions. Jesus said, 'If you are ashamed of Me, I will be
ashamed of you before My Father'

If you are not ashamed, copy and send this message...only
if you believe 'Yes, I love my God. He is my
fountain of Life and My Savior. He Keeps me going day and
night. Without Him, I am no one. But with Him, I can do
everything. Christ is my strength.'

Summer Boredom

Well, its mid-summer. The kids are bored. Big surprise.

Swimming pool, trampoline, bikes, scooters and the simple joys of the outdoors aren't enough to keep them entertained.

"I'm bored! There is NOTHING to do!", (pick a child) says.

Granted, I've been working quite a bit this summer. I'm not their entertainer, but things are a little more limited when I'm not home.

And lets face it, things are different than they were 20 years ago. Well, lets see, I mean 30 years ago. Is THAT how long its been since I was a kid? Wow.

My own Mom was a SAHM (the acronym now used for stay-at-home-mom). You know the story..."us kids were out the door in the morning and came in after dark..." Kids galore in the neighborhood.

We didn't have five television sets (only one), satelite tv (cable came later on in my teens?), multiple portable electronic game players (we had Atari, or in John's case, ColecoVision, the stay plugged into the tv kind), iPods, a COMPUTER (wow, would've that have been fun!) (I had a typewriter that kept me busy as a young pre-teen), ect. We did always have a trampoline, which provided hours and hours of entertainment. We jumped from the trampoline onto the top of the garage and back, time after time. The sprinkler went under it on hot summer days. It was a blast!

But back to the kids galore. Neighborhoods were just different. Seems there were several kids your age to match up with on any given day. Boy or girl. Slip-n-slide, clubhouses, swingsets and riding bikes. Always something to do with someone. Traci, Debby and I would play with the old-fashioned tape recorder and act like we were news reporters or singers. Oh how I would love to get my hands on those tapes.

In our neighborhood, Matt doesn't "hang" with anyone. He has to ride his bike a few miles away to meet one of his good friends and a good 20 minute drive to hook up with the other. Both of those being his closest two friends. Everyone else is a drive away as well. Rachel has three girls in the neighborhood. They go in spurts. A few days will go by with no one getting together and making plans. Why? I have no idea. Alec has two kids. He stays pretty active with either one or both, depending on whose home.

But all in all, the three spend a lot of time indoors, either planted in front of the tv or computer. Rotating between the two, with an occasional trip to the pantry or refrigerator.

What a waste of summer. Six more weeks left to enjoy sleeping in and being lazy. Way too long with their dull schedules.

I bought some math and language arts workbooks for Alec to work on this summer, to keep his mind fairly sharpened. Its hard enough to get that kid to brush his teeth everyday, let alone keep his mind focused on learning.

Matt is at a stand still on his truck. He is at the point of painting and needs to go and pick up the paint that he and John ordered. John and I are running to and fro, between work, laundry, suppers, fixing our a/c (John on Sunday), fixing the highly rutted driveway from the rivers flowing down it after every huge rainfall (also on Sunday), fixing anything else that needs immediate attention, pool maintenance, grocery shopping, church, camping and open houses, there hasn't seemed to be any spare time for his truck. That has played a huge part in his boredom. Plus the fact that he has put in applications all over with no luck on landing a job.

Sixteen + no job + no wheels = bummer deal.

Child # 1, aka Josh, doesn't have time to be bored. Working 5 1/2 day a week, taking long bike rides (which he loves), church and last but certainly not least, Miss Krista. No crying out in boredom there. He probably wishes he could be bored.

Such is life.

I'm sure a lot of other mothers are hearing the b-o-r-e-d word by now.

Scrump-dilli-icious

We were invited to longtime neighbors of ours for the fourth of July. They served up some wicked awesome grilled pizza.

Before that, we had never had it. As we sat at their table and chairs on the deck, chit chatting and munching on chips and deliciously homemade guacamole, Joe prepared tasty pizza after pizza for us.

Thin, hot off the grill tasting crust, topped with a homemade oven-roasted tomato sauce! Then...and then...globs of melted mozzarella (not the boring shredded stuff) plopped here and there, in between the red peppers, mushrooms and sliced pepperoni. He also made some with sausage and onion and other with feta cheese and spinach. Oh-my-goodness.

I had to have the recipe immediately.

That is what is on the menu for today's dinner here at the homestead.

I'm making the dough and sauce before I head off to work this morning.

Don't try and sneak into my backyard, say around 6ish.

As Rachel Ray would say, Yum-O.

Albertine

Truth

"The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning to its course.
All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun."
Ecclesiastes 1:5-9

You Look Like....

For at least the last ten years or so I have been often asked, "Where do I know you from?"

99% of the time I have never met the person asking.

I hear it SO often. WHO are these people that supposedly look just like me?

Or, if I'm with a crowd of people, someone nearby will say to their friend, "doesn't she look like so and so?"

WHO is so and so?

What makes them look so much like me.

Today, after pulling into the oil change place, the young female attendant immediately asks, "Where do I know you? I know you from somewhere!"

Never laid eyes on her. After a few moments she figures that I look like a lady she lived down the street from.

Does this happen to other people?

I'm not kidding. It happens A LOT.

Weird.

Copa Copacabana

Had this song in my head all day yesterday.

No idea why.

John's Day

Happy 40th Birthday to my husband!

Captured

4th of July fireworks at Frankenmuth.

They were "cracking" the glow stick so that it would start glowing. I didn't realize the shot that I actually captured until I viewed the picture.

Remember that feeling?

That loving feeling?

*Sigh*

To be 18 again.

Motley Crew

Jayson ~ Jessalyn ~ Rachel ~ Luke ~ Matt ~ Trevor ~ Alec ~ Josh ~ Travis

Booger Man

Reader beware: this post might make you totally ga-rossed out. Totally.

A funny memory from our Keys vacation just hit me this morning.

We had just picked up our rental car (mini-van) in Miami and were headed to the Keys, via one of the expressways there in Miami. John is driving, I'm in the passenger seat, with all five kids in the back of the van.

A sudden erruption of "Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww!" comes from the back. They are laughing and pointing, while continuing their wild screams of "Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!"

One of them begins to describe the guy driving beside us, who is picking his nose and EATING it. Its one of those moments that you think, "why on earth would I also look?" and you LOOK!

He WAS picking his nose and EATING it. He was going to town too. He was a man in his late 50's or so and was digging in. It was so digusting.

John was completely repulsed and I had to hush the kids, while trying to contain my own laughter and added description of how I too had witnessed it.

WHAT in the world are people thinking?

I have witnessed many a kid picking and eating, but a grown man? SICK.

I'm about the throw up myself.

I warned ya.

Names

In 1900, the 15 most common female names were, in order:

Mary
Ann
Helen
Elizabeth
Margaret
Catherine
Lou
Ellen
Ruth
Lily
Rose
Dorothy
Florence
Frances
Alice

In 1970, the 15 most common female names are, in order:

Christine
Jennifer
Elizabeth
Angel
Michelle
Mary
Amy
Kimberly
Milicent (?)
Catherine
Heather
Kelly
Sarah
Nicole
Stephanie

In 2008, the most common are:

Emily
Madison
Hannah
Emma
Ashley
Abigail
Alexis
Olivia
Samantha
Sarah
Elizabeth
Alyssa
Grace
Isabella
Lauren

...and Nicole Kidman choose the name Sunday Rose for her daughter, born today.

Why Sunday? What's wrong with Wednesday or Tuesday?

The name "Sherry" came in around #40 in 1970.

I noticed that the beautiful name Elizabeth was on all three lists.

I still wish that I would've named Rachel: Rachel Elizabeth Lynne. I like the "e" on Lynn.

*****

"A good name is more desirable than great riches;
to be esteemed is better than silver or gold." Proverbs 22

"So that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow
– in heaven and on earth and under the earth –
and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord
to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:10-11


*****

Jim Croce - I Got a Name (1973)

Executive Assistant

Rach is with me at work today giving me a hand, earning some extra moola.

She wants some moola. Don't we all.

We've been so busy here, Jim told me last week to bring Rachel in if and when I needed some filing and miscellaneous stuff done that I can't get to.

She was all over that.

$$$$$$$$$$

Garbage Pickin'

Josh lost his set of keys.

He woke up Monday morning and had to use his spare, after quickly searching before work.

Last time he had them was when he took Krista home after vacation. When he came in the door that night, he was talking on his cell phone and came to say goodnight to me as I lay in a twilight sleep on the couch.

Fast forward to Monday evening:

"Mom, I can't find my keys anywhere! Can you help me look?" he asks.

So I begin my search. We are looking in places that didn't even make sense that they keys would even end up in: cupboards, drawers, under places in rooms that Josh wasn't even in...

"Did you check the garbage that Matt took out just a little while ago?" I ask.

We go out to the trash can and pull the heavy garbage bag out. We give it a shake. We give it lots of shakes. We are hoping to hear the familiar rattle of keys. Nothing.

So we are back to square one. Start searching again. By this time Josh is getting very frustrated. Not angry frustrated. Bewildered frustrated.

After a few minues, I decide that we should actually go through the garbage bag. Open it. Pull stuff out. Move stuff around. Dig. Josh is repulsed by the idea. This is a kid that can't reheat leftovers because the refrigerated smell of already cooked food disgusts him.

I grab my cleaning gloves. Mom to the rescue. He smiles with relief, "Thanks Mom".

*hands shown are not my own*

We go Trash Diggin'. Garbage Pickin'.

Empty boxes of food. Lots of coffee grounds. Bits of food scraped from plates. Barbeque sauce. Newspapers. You get the idea.

All the while Josh is standing, holding a new garbage bag that I am filling with those wonderful used goods. Lucky for him, the garbage hadn't been heating in the sun for a few days... We all know what kind of smell that produces.

I find an empty water bottle. We think we are close. Josh now remembers throwing away a water bottle when he came home Sunday night.

A little more rifling through and......Well-ah! His set of keys, that now included his new "Mile Marker 0" key chain that he got in Key Largo, covered in coffee grounds.

He was estatic. Overjoyed. He hugged me. He thanked me. He KISSED the top of my head. SEVERAL times!

THAT is what I have to do to get a kiss from my son?

I think I'll "lose" some more of his stuff in the garbage when I'm feeling a need to get a kiss from my son.

Garbage Pickin' = X-tra Love.

Ain't that sweet.

More Pictures

Out on the coral sandbar at John Pennekamp State Park. Our first day of fun.


1st night, watching the sunset down at the jetty.



Enjoying coffee down at the jetty and off the lagoon side balcony in the mornings.


Another view inside the townhouse.


Our townhouse is the one with the light on outside.



Rachel and the guys feeding the fish in the lagoon.


Hat shopping at Kmart. They should've bought them.


Loved the beach scenery down there.

I wanna go back...

Cubans

Well!.... we were only 90 miles from Cuba at some point in our vacation...

Blessings Jar

Debbie and Amanda had picked out that pretty little Blessings Jar for me for my birthday.

Its been on my kitchen table for a month.

This morning was the first time that I pulled one out, as I was headed out the door to work.

What a wonderful scripture.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,
but in humility consider others better than yourself"
Philippians 2:3

I need that put on a bumper sticker. Wouldn't the world be a better place if everyone did as this instructs?

Blessings!