Tis the season...

I've been avoiding the "Christmas" shopping push...

I've been avoiding it because I just can't "seem" to get into the "spirit" of the season...

I haven't even put up the tree this year...

But, in my defense, I "did" manage to put lights up outside the house!

I think it's because, as my kiddos have gotten older, the "requests" have just become MORE expensive! Thus, the reason (to some degree) for my "FUNK" with getting into the "Holiday Spirit".

That, and the fact that the commercial advertising seems to have drifted away from the "true" meaning of the SEASON!

I've noticed that more and more, children just don't even KNOW we celebrate the birth of Jesus! They don't know that Jesus received only 3(three) gifts upon his birth! It's really saddened me, especially this year, to see that it's all about "how much" they received, not "How Much" they have put into giving, not just at this time, but, all year long!

Last year, my son had developed a "questionable" opinion as to "EXACTLY" what Christmas meant to him. He figured that the season was just a time to spend money for things that you normally wouldn't buy. And sadly, he's probably correct with that thought.

I decided that I wanted them to understand and more importantly to experience the "JOY" of doing something for someone else, something unexpected!

So, one Friday afternoon I cleared the carport and dragged out all, and I do mean ALL, of the storage containers of Christmas decorations.

Next, I dragged out those two kids of mine! Set about first, collecting all the "ornaments" that meant something to us. Those went to the side, along with things of importance. Then we seperated all the different artifical trees, each in it's OWN little area. This continued for several days.

At last, we had completed the task and had divided things evenly. I moved all the decorations we decided to keep into the house.

The other 4 sets...well...we decided that we wanted to give them to families in need of them...so...

I contacted the Local Sheriff's office. They put me into contact with the Local Shelter for Women and Children of Domestic Violence. Once I explainedwhat we had and how I wanted my children to learn from this...they were happy to make the necessary arrangements with 4 different families.

To be continued....

WOW...Time Flies!

Well, sorry, I know it's been awhile....things are always buzzzy for me around the holidays!

My in-laws 50th wedding anniversary was the 19th! Since, they married in the 50's my 3 sisters-in-laws and I decided to throw a Sock Hop style bash! We had great fun decorating and getting all the good foods done and I might add, it was a HUGE success! Aren't they just the cutest???

My s-i-l, K-woman (not to be confused with K-girl) created a wonderful "Memories" book and had been working on it for a while now. She had been "sneaking" into town whenever my in-laws were out of town and we spent the time foraging through my m-i-laws keepsake boxes. I worked on the pages for Andy, K-girl, and T-man which went into the book by birthdates. I even managed to find the very first Valentine's card (with envelope) Andy sent to his dad while he was stationed on a battleship in WWII. I then found lots of great pics of he and his dad and he and his mom. I think the pages turned out really nice. But, I will have to include pics as soon as I can get copies of them up. Of course, my s-i-l, K-woman has been providing CDs of them growing up for the past few Christmas', which really helped in getting pics for the book!

Then, Thanksgiving hit! Wow, it's been a whilrwind of activity for the past few weeks and I still can't slow down! Christmas is coming and so far, I haven't managed to buy hardly anything! See, I've also been sick for the past month with this sinus/throat/lung thingy that I just can't seem to shake! I even went so far as going to the Dr. for shots (and anyone who knows me knows I HATE shots!!!) of antibiotics and steriods to assist with getting it gone, but, alas no such luck! This bug is holding on tight!

I will try to get some of these cool pics of the party up over the next few days.

Till then.....

TGIF....can't wait for the weekend.

Well, it's Friday! Thank God.

K-girl managed to make it home for her b-day (mostly to gather loot!). Her dad did a wonderful job of buying her present this year! She managed to get a flat screen tv! for her dorm room. It's only a 19", but then "how much tv" is required in a 6.5 x 10' dorm room? At least it's HD with the digital tuner and will also connect to her laptop for DVD viewing!

The J-man (that's her guy) gave her some very nice perfume. She loved it! Even brought it home for me to smell (how sweet is that?).

Then the bub (T-man) is awaiting his most prized "jacket" arrival. He found this jacket last year, Browning 506 Carpenter's jacket, which he absolutely loves, and unfortunately, has decided he "can't live without". Problem is, he outgrew it! Of course, he swears that his grandmother "purposely shrunk it" when she washed it last week for him. So, I went back to the store where he found it and needless to say, they no longer carry it! So, off to the 'trusty internet I go' to find it. Searched the Browning home page, and of all the 'vendors' I found only ONE who had it in inventory any longer! So, I ordered it! Hopefully it will arrive on schedule today!!!

Course, then that brings me to the weekend. And since I still have not mustered the 'strength' to tackle things around the house lately, I will do it this weekend! I have got to get back into the swing of things soon! My house looks like a pack of wild monkeys went crazy and threw crap EVERYWHERE! I'm beginning to wonder it I will ever be able to get things back into order any more! Some days I look at it and wish I could just 'close a door', I swear!

until next time....

Happy Birthday to the koolest kid I know! K-girl!

Happy Birthday baby girl! This was K-girl in 9th grade! Her first year Marching!




This was K-girl her 10th grade year, working the Flags!



This was her first deer hunting with her dad!

Now she's all "grown" up and living on her own, away at college!

Life will never be the same!

We love you baby girl and miss you to the moon and back!

Things are finally looking UP!

Well, after months of struggles, maybe sometimes soon things will become "normal" again. MAYBE. The pessimist in me is struggling with my ability to see something possitive, yet.

My K-girl has gotten a job, so she has her own spending funds.

My mother has finally found an apratment with in her budget and one which will meet her needs. She still has paperwork to complete in the morning, but, it "appears" to be going in a positive direction and yes, I am holding my breath, per say.

My son, T-man, is still having issues in the "all boy" classroom. It's kinda hard for a kid, who being the smallest in his classroom, all the bigger, older, kids just have to bully. But, he's trying to hang in with it, even though he HATES it. But, we'll take it, one day at a time.

I am starting a new project soon, I have decided to re-furnish some old furniture I had in my storage shed. One piece is an old wardrobe cabinet made from cedar and I have been waiting along time to convert this to an entertainment center. So, I have decided that this weekend, I will make the 2 bottom drawers and place the insert for the center console area. I have been looking for some recessing hinges, and I finally found the type I wanted. I am going to recess the doors on the exterior so that the TV will be visible from around the room. Also, I will be placing some additional shelving so that it will accomodate a dvd player and satellite box. Once I have completed the redo, this will be taken to my mother's apartment for her use. This cabinet was originally her mother's wardrobe cabinet and over the years, my brother and sister in Florida had tried like ever to get it from her. They had moved her several times since my father's death and each time, I went to their home and retrieved her cabinet. Since the City decided to condemn her home, I asked her to let me redo this cabinet so she would have a nice piece of furniture for use in her new apartment. (I really 'love' doing this kinda thing anyway) I have also been shopping around the thrift stores lately looking for some old pieces to redo for her bedroom furniture and such. I have an old desk I had redone years ago and I have been looking for another one or two more. I really enjoy redoing older furniture. Sometimes it's absolutely amazing what you discover under layers of paint!

Well, I'm off for now. Another projects awaits at home.
Susan

OMG! She did it! She got a JOB! WOW!

K-girl has sought out employment! WOW!
When she left for school, all we wanted was for her to concentrate on school, studies, her grades. Now, she has decided to work and go to school. She has decided to work, because her grandmother's affairs are in crisis and it's fallen upon her Mom to bail grandmother out.
My parent's raised 6 kids of their own, and 19 children who found their way into our home, from the streets. My dad had grown up an orphan, back in a time when folks didn't take in orphan's, family did. His mother's family, well, what can one say. They lived in a time when there was no such thing as Dept of Human Services, Child Welfare, etc. He had it rough, and had the scars to prove it.

Now my mom is almost 80 yrs old, blind, and her health is steadily declining. Not to mention her home. I have an older sister who lives with my mom and is supposedly there to "take care of her and her home". Not happening. This daughter living with her doesn't clean house, cooks only what she wants, not what a diabetic should eat, and takes mom's money. This month I took off a day, against my boss' wish cause after all it is the time of year we balance the books and close out the yearly business. I took off to take my Mother to pay her bills, buy groceries, pick up medications and anything else she wanted or needed.

I ended up paying her bills for her because she was two (2) months behind on everything! WOW! I ended up in a bind myself for it, but, I did what I had to do. I've been looking for a place she could afford to rent on her monthly income of a thousand dollars and it's impossible! Rent for an apartment is almost that! WOW! I had not realized that rent had escalated to such an amount! It's been 20+ years since I last paid rent, and, I had no idea that people would or could charge so much for such a small place! My mom has this thing about Nursing Homes, Senior Centers, etc. She refuses to live in one, mainly because she doesn't want them to take her social security check. But, then she turns around and gives her money away to her "live" in daughter and granddaughter. Now, her live in granddaughter has a daughter of her own and she refuses to get a job! My uncle was living with them, now he's in a Rehabilitation Center, under doctor's care. Seems he had one to many "little" drinks and when the City attorney went by to talk to my mother, he was incoherent and couldn't walk or sit up so she called an ambulance and sent him to the hospital. He had mixed alcohol with heart and blood pressure meds, not a good combo. Now he's screaming to "get out of this place". I think it's because "this place" wont allow him to drink and they make him eat vegetables!, but mostly it's because he doesn't want to turn over his social security/retirement pension.

Right now, there just isn't enough CALGON to take away all the stress!

Where were you when the world stopped turning....(Alan Jackson)

Where were you when the world stopped turning?

I had just walked into the office that morning, Sep. 11, 2001. My boss, boarding a plane to Washington DC for a meeting at the Pentagon. I had opened my web browser that morning and there on the screen, a replay of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center. At first, total disbelief, then shock, then a knee-jerk reaction to go and retrieve my children from their schools! Then, watching the second plane strike the next tower, then the Pentagon, then PANIC! Running for the phone, calling my boss' cell phone, NO ANSWER! HOLY CRAP!
Re-dialing his number, carefully checking to make sure I didn't miss-dial, BUSY SIGNAL! Dialing his wife's office, talking to her secretary, trying to find out if his was en-route or still on the ground! News reports, whirling scenes of the planes hitting Tower One, then Tower Two, then the Pentagon, then the ground in Pennsylvania. Calling offices at the Pentagon, where my boss was to be that day, NO ANSWER. It was the next day that we learned their fate, several of those people, people I spoke with almost daily, people I worked with almost daily and had never met, those people... gone! My boss' plane had been delayed at the airport that morning, never found out why, but...HE was safe! Within an hour reports coming out of Washington, all flights canceled, air space locked down, what the hell is going on here! Terrorists! ON.AMERICAN.SOIL! Rough estimates surfacing, over 3 thousand dead! NO WAY! Replay of a voice from Flight 93, "Let's roll"... "LET's ROLL" became the New ARMY motto! I work for the ARMY, NAVY, AIR FORCE, MARINES, and COAST GUARD and I am damned proud of what I do! We provide Joint support in Test and Evaluation. I.love.my.job. It's a job I moved to after the attacks of 11 Sep 2001, my previous being an administrative assistant. I wanted to do more, to put more into supporting the troops being called to duty, sent to war...a war that they did not wager, a war that began on 11 Sep 2001.
So many people want to forget that. They want to blame the President. WHY? Our President did not manuveur 4 planes into attack format! Our President did not do that! That takes insanity, that takes someone full of HATE.VENGENCE.ARROGANCE.STUPIDITY! That takes someone who BELIEVES that HE and HE ALONE has the right to choose the fate of mankind.
I will never forget that day, seven years ago today, when the AMERICAN PEOPLE CRIED OUT, for vengence.

Now, they WHINE about the price being to heavy to pay!

Just a Quickie!

School started on Aug 4th for T-man. He was not happy to say the least. 6th grade, all boy classroom, with a teacher (math, science, social studies) who wants to teach at the 8th grade level (in which she received her degree) is needless to say, very trying on the nerves! But, we are managing, very slowly to set things into a fine tuned groove. He has a new teacher (to the school district) for language, spelling, vocabulary. She seems to be nice, just still working towards her teaching certificate. These two ladies, well, they seem to be in a pissing contest to see which one can assign the most homework on a daily basis. Poor guy, boards the bus at 7:00am and arrives at his grandparents at 4:15pm, then has enough homework to last until 9:00pm each night! I have tried to discuss this with the principal to no avail! So, I guess the next step will be to take it to the school board. When the school contact me about this all boy classroom, I told them I was not into this segregation by sex. Needless to say, they assured me that if I felt it was not working, then they would put him into a regular classroom. Well, it's not working and they now refuse to move him to a regular classroom.

K-girl left for school on Aug 13th (which is also my wedding anniversary). Took the day off from work to move her into the dorm. She and her roommate also attended high school together! K-girl set her class schedule so she only has a couple of classes each day, and has the evenings off! Her roommate has mostly evening classes! So, looks like she should have plenty of quite time to complete her assignments! (yea, riiiiight!)
So, it's finding the groove of things that I have been trying to accomplish over the past few weeks, and still, nothing has fallen into place.

My mom's house has been condemned, she has to relocate to another home, which she can't afford, living on a fixed income. And I am constantly being called (by the City's attorney) to complain that she isn't complying. Ok, she's almost 80 years old, almost completely blind, and you expect that she will move herself? Are you nuts? Do you people really think she is capable of packing her belongs, finding a new place to live which is within her budget, and move herself? No, wait, that's where I come in, right? I am suppose to DROP my entire life, job, kids, schooling, etc., to accommodate you, right? Well, here in the real world, I simply do not have the time! Hey, here's a thought, why not send over some of those big, strapping young bucks you pay a city salary (who I see driving around town burning fuel paid for by the taxpayer's, not to mention hanging out at every gas station in town) and let them actually work for their paycheck! By golly, sounds like a jolly good idea! I have spent the past three plus years trying like hell to get doctors' to sign papers to place her in a nursing home because she can no longer clean, cook, etc. She is diabetic and cannot see well enough to prepare a meal, much less clean her house and the person who lives with her and should be taking care of these things isn't! Then you call me, to whine about them not preparing to move after you condemn the house, and that you feel I should resolve this matter. Well, why don't you, talk to her doctor, after all, he thinks she is perfectly capable of taking care of herself, her finances, and her home. Good luck with that too! My mother is hostile towards me, because I am trying to get copies of birth certificates, social security info, etc. for she and her live in daughter/caretaker. They refuse to release the required paperwork, and then I have this pesky little woman from the City calling me 30 times a fricking day to whine because she wants them out NOW! Well, after a month of trying to deal with this crapola, all I can say is GOOD FRICKING LUCK, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN!

He's Home!

Well, my son has finally returned home! Two weeks of vacationing with his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin. He had a blast though, so it was worth letting him go that long.

He talked non-stop about his trip and how much he really enjoyed it. He said he had a choice between deep-sea fishing or going parasailing, he chose to fish! (Surprise, surprise). Sometimes, you'd think the boy was born with a fishing rod in his hand! But he had a great time and alot of fun and that's what matters!

Now, it's time to start getting ready for "back to school" events. School begins on August 4th! Still have alot to do to get ready for the stress! He has his dental appt next week, and vision exam, along with getting his uniforms ready. Already have the majority of school supplies, so all we have left is the book bag.

K-girl leaves on the 13th for college. So, have to get her stuff ready to go as well. She ended up getting into a really nice dorm, so she was excited about that! She'll be rooming with one of her buds from high school. She's getting more excited each day and ready to make that final move. We were hoping to take a few days for her and a few friends to take a short "mini vacation", but it doesn't look like that will be happening. Couldn't find a place that would rent to 19 year olds!

BBFN
Susan

Thank GOD it's FRIDAY!!!

Thank God this week is finally over.

I still have so much to do this weekend. It seems working on my "this old house" is a never ending thing.

Last night, I found myself setting at the breakfast table in the kitchen, looking at the Redhead catalog, or what my son refers to as "His Bible". About half-way through this book I found the section advertising their "pre cut cabins". All the stuff is pre-cut and ready for assembly, all you do is pay and it's delivered ready to build. (I wonder if they provide this service for replacing a husband?) (Could I pre-order one who likes to construct stuff, tinker on things, enjoy a lazy evening by a fire, cook, clean house, won't pick at things, doesn't talk loud, doesn't watch TV all evening, ) Holy crap!! I just realized, I was ordering a WOMAN! Anyhoo...

I was looking at these cabins, and I would really like some additional choices (is what I caught myself thinking). They had one that almost met my needs, but still not quite!

I would really love to build one down by the new lake because it is really beautfiul there,but, mainly because it's over a mile from the highway (which our current home over looks).

I swear, soon as I get a digital camera, I will post pics of my delimma.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. My project this weekend, to paint my husband's new "hunting"/bedroom in camouflauge!

BBFN
Susan

Oh No She Didn't!

Well, She did it! She really, really, did it! I can't believe it. After over $50k spent in sinus surgery after sinus surgery, she had some dumbass drill a hole through her nose!!!

Wow! How crazy ass stupid can this whole freakin' world get? Why would she let some dumbass drill a hole in her face? "Cause her friends do it." I swear, I could absolutely just go slap-ass crazy! Well, now I know she is trying to "find herself" and has totally lost her sense of self! And here I am thinking "Why follow when you can lead?" And then she wonders WHY I can't be "cool" about it!

HELLO, it's pacing hospitals floors waiting for her to come out of surgery, after surgery, after surgery, after surgery. Four total, four different times of not being able to sleep one wink the night before, or the night after, or the night after that! Four different times of being worried about what was being done, who was doing the surgery, what might happen, what could happen! HELLO! And not once, not once, did she ever think that I, or her dad, might have a problem with her defiling her face! Not once, did she consider why we fought Doctor's who decided she required having 100's of stitches and a mile long scar because they wanted to perform "exploratory" surgery! Not once did she consider, after the last surgery in December 2007, why they biopsied tissue and why she's still being seen by the surgeon for the next two years.

Well, I must know, because maybe I'm old-fashioned, maybe I'm out-dated, maybe I just don't give a damn what others think about my opinion(s), if her buddies decided to leap off a cliff, would she follow??? (Probably, I think she would.)

Back to the daily grind

Well, the holiday weekend is over and it's time to pick up the daily workload again.

I hope everyone enjoyed a great weekend! I sure did. One day, I'll get a digital camera and then I can start to include some picks for everyone to see.

This week will be busy, as we are having visitors in the office for budget meetings all week! UUUGH!

But I will try to update later...until then...

Tootles!

Preparing for the 4th of July....

Well, getting in the last day of work! Man, what a glorious feeling! An extra day off, can't wait!

The hubby and I have a lot of things to do this weekend, cause we have finally managed to get a few days off from work, at the same time.

See, about 3 months ago, everyone in my house decided to play "musical rooms"! My daughter moved from her room (upstairs) to the guest room (upstairs), my son moved from his room (downstairs) to his sister's abandoned room (upstairs), my husband moved from the master bedroom (upstairs) to the son's abandoned room (downstairs), and I have been the only one to manage staying PUT!

Now, when I say the hubby moved from the master bedroom, I mean, he sleeps in the room downstairs during the day, when he works nightshift. Why, you might ask, because the old house we live in will 'heat up' during the daytime hours, and the little room downstairs gets very little sunlight and stays relatively cold during the daytime hours. Also, the master bedroom over looks the highway and is very noisy during the day (from heavy traffic) and the 1st floor room is on the opposite side of the house and is quite during the day!

Plus, this room is also what I have termed "the hunting room". This room contains one wall of locking gun cabinets, which we will be installing this weekend. Along with all the other 'essentials' required for the sport (i.e., camo clothing, boots, lighting, etc). All these things are currently located upstairs in the 'sitting room' of the master suite. So, I finally get to move these things out of this area and back to a location where I can lock them away, out of site!!

And this long weekend affords me the time, and available muscles, to accomplish putting the final touches on reclaiming my house and putting things in order. Not to mention the 'spring' cleaning which is long overdue! So, along with the 4th of July celebration, comes the 'cleaning out' finally. I will be glad to accomplish this so that I can turn my attention to some very much needed repainting/window cleaning/window caulking/renovations.

So, I hope everyone has a great, joyous, holiday weekend. And please don't forget to THANK A SOLDIER when you see them out this weekend. After all, they lay their lives on the line so that we, as Americans, can enjoy the simple pleasures of our daily lives!

On the brighter side of life...or is it?

Someday's are filled with anticipation, most days are filled with dread.

Like, telling my 11 year old, cat-loving, son that in one single, rushed-filled morning, I managed to carry off, not one, but both of his beloved, flea-loving kittens! In my hast (or rather, in my defense), I forgot to check underneath my truck (yep, that's right, I drive a truck!) and apparently the flea-loving kittens had decided to catch a ride! Now what! How can I possibly tell him what I have done? Maybe, just maybe, I can convience him that they left of their on volution! (After all, didn't they?)

I know, just time to face the music, right? Oh God, I hate this part of motherhood!

My daughter has graduated high school (May 24th) and preparing for her freshman year in college, or junior college, that is...cause her daddy is not the least bit happy about letting his "little princess" leave! (Irony, sometimes it's just so, so wonderful!)

When Andy and I first began the "courtship" which eventually became our marriage, he decided that I really needed to "grow up and get away from being (what he 'thought') a daddy's girl".

I was 18, just a few weeks from graduating high school, and hadn't decided what I really wanted to do with my life. We met through my brother-in-law (they worked together) at a little watering hole across the Mississippi River just inside Louisiana. At the time, this little watering hole was also the "local" teenager/young crowd hang-out, known as PJ's Last Chance. PJ's was where everyone went on a Friday/Saturday night and was probably in the prime of it's life! The place consisted of what had one-time, long ago, been just a small package liquor store, then expanded to include a bar and a few pool tables. Then expanded again for additional pool tables, and yet again for additional pool tables, bar and stage/live band area. Anyhoo...

Kristen will be leaving home in a few weeks to being her "new" life, sans mom, dad, and "Bubba" as she so affectionately refers to her brother. She's always been a daddy's girl, her entire life, (and somehow I think all girls are to some point) and now she's all grown up and leaving home. This has really put her daddy into a 'state', to say the least. I find it somewhat, really very amusing!

Oh yea, without a doubt, I am very anxious, not to mention, maybe a little excited for her! At the same time, scared to death! Here in the real world (God she hates it when I use that term), life is very unpredictable. People are not always what they appear to be, and life can get the best of anyone. So, I'm trying to swallow all the fear, keep it all under the surface, and put on the happy face. As much as I fear for her safety, I really know it's time for her to take the next step to adulthood! That's where the excited part come in!!

Her first step, so far, has been coming home to 'announce' her decision to "pierce" her nose! This is a child who has endured 4 major sinus surgeries! Her first at age 2, second at age 5, third at age 11, and 4th at age 18 (just 5 days before Christmas!). Each one more intense than the one before, each one more painful. The last surgery, the doctor tells us that upon removing her tonsils he finds "tumorous" growths, nothing to really be alarmed about. Byopsy results were inconclusive for cancers, so not to worry. (Yea, right!:) Have you ever known a parent who wouldn't worry, just a little! Then he says: "Her sinus passages contained numerous polups and therfore, I have removed the lower tubador's and performed an aggresive burn-back of the sinus passages, almost down to the cartiledge". Now she returns on a six month rotation for him to check her progress.

Now, now she wants to 'pierce' her sinus'! Go figure...

Today's the day.....to start!!!!

Well, well, well. How does one begin...I've never been a person of self expression. My life was never "easy", as some may say. Growing up the fourth child of six, raised by two parents struggling to make ends meet, on one 'small' paycheck. My father bringing home every stray child he came upon.

As a young child being orphaned after the death of his mother during child birth, my father couldn't leave a child to fend for itself. So began a never ending cycle of child rearing. Still amazing to think that this man of little means would touch the lives of twenty five, that's right, twenty five kids!

We never missed the things we didn't know we 'needed'. The things that all the other kids had. Guess you could say, we never knew we were supposed to miss them. They never seemed to be of importance. The things of importance were always provided, Lord willing, by the blood, sweat, and tears (if required) of manual labor. Manual labor, child labor, call it what you will! With all those kids, it took each and every one putting in their own blood, sweat, and tears, just to keep food on the table! We all had our list of work details, each and everyday. Cows to milk, horses to feed, pigs to slop, chicken nests to raid, etc!

As much as it was work, we always managed to find 'fun' along the way! After all, we could be our own 'baseball team' during the over-crowded times, when my father brought home other kids needing food, clothes, etc. But, my parents always made sure the necessary things were taken care of and church, mind you was necessary! We went when the doors were open, everytime. Never missed a beat! Never missed a moment to make sure that we knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, who we were, where we came from, and where we were going!

My father never talked much of his life before adulthood, just that 'things happen that are beyond your control'. He never had much, if ever, to says about his family before he passed away at the young age of 71, 3 days shy of 72. We knew he had brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and during our young lives, we were 'briefly' introduced to them, here and there. He didn't finish school, attended until the 3rd grade, but left when his mother fell ill. "Gave up schoolin' to help my mother with 8 youngun's at home", was what he'd say when I asked him about it. Just barely could write his own name, much less read. But was very stringent with his children, education was a priority! Sometimes, I think he'd pull a fast one on us, saying he couldn't read. I think he could, just was he way of making sure that we were putting in the effort to learn ourselves! One hell of a man!

Like I said, I never had it 'easy'. Days were long, full of work, lots to do, which didn't include getting into trouble. Never had time for that, unless, we were lucky enough to 'sneak' it into the day's routine, which we did on occasion! I had 3 older sisters, a younger brother and sister, respectively. So, when we could manage the time for an 'occasional' brewhaha, we did! Like, on one of the traditional Easter egg boilings. I was around 8 or 9 years old. My job to 'boil' the eggs for the dying later that evening, a few days before the "Easter bunny's arrival". And as luck would have it, I was in one of my more 'jovial' moods and decided to "half-way boil" the eggs. They were boiled 'just enough' to keep them from 'breaking open' putting them into the cups for dying, but not enough that when you 'smacked' another kid upside the head with one, that the goo inside would 'ooze' down! Now that was fun!!! And as luck would have it, shortly after the hunting was complete came the brewhaha, and boy was my father ever mad! I think he gave me 'barn duty' for the fun of it! We all hated 'barn duty'. "Barn duty' was the equivilent of 'janitorial service' for livestock.

But, I regress....those days are long gone. The sweet childhood days of innocence, fresh air, lots of sunshine, hard work, and tons of...... childhood laughter.