Hot Dogs and P-Nut Butter

HOLD YOUR TONGUE

2006-07-23T20:59:00.000-04:00

My 60th birthday is slowly but surely crawling up my spine!!! I don't feel sixty and I've been assured by my family and friends that I don't look sixty. Yet I can remember the first time someone called me "ma'am". Until that moment I had convinced myself that I was going to creep past this birthday as if I was never going to be! Wrong!!!! Until that moment I had always been regferred to as "girl," "hon," "sweetie," maybe even an occasional "Hey, you!" but now I was being called ma'am. Ma'am. There's no way to put a youthful spin on ma'am.

"Lady" is about as bad. The first time I heard "lady" in reference to me was just as jarring to my ego. "Hey, lady, do you know that's dog poop you just stepped in?"

I looked around. Surely he can't be talking to me, then I looked down at my feet!!!! ECH!!! I had just stepped into the mushiest, smelliest pile of poop. Which just that alone was bad, but in front of the supermarket!!!! I was travelling at hyper speed to get in and get out of the market and get back home before the afternoon traffic. When I think about it I have to laugh....not that I stepped in poop but that I live around the corner from the market and it literally takes me fifteen minutes just to get out of my subdivision, sit at the longest traffic light in history, (3 minutes) wait for a hundred cars coming from the other direction and get in the parking lot of the market. Try finding a close parking spot, not on this day. Anyway, when the young man called me lady, I looked around and I didn't know he was talking to me. But since he was looking straight at me, and since I did indeed step in the poop, I figured the title must have been intended for me.

Men don't have this problem. Addressing a teenage boy as "sir" is usually considered a compliment. You can be a sir at six as easily as at sixty. We women, however, aren't in that much of a hurry to get to the "ma'am stage," so don't rush us. I suppose it all evens out when we get into our senior years. People go back to callin us "sweetie," "hon," and "Hey, you!" again.

We might even get a few "Hey, babes" tossed in our direction. I wouldn't mind that. It would remind me that I've still got it. Now, if only I could remember what "it" is and where I put it!

Blessings,

Panic Attack Of The Aged

2006-06-04T18:57:00.000-04:00

OK, so I'm moving closer to the big 60! It's time for me to stop, slow down, chill out, and veg out. But instead I am cutting my cake into thin slices. I'm tired and worn out but I'm hanging in there. My father is not in good health and I now have the duty of taking over our fast food restaurant. This by itself wouldn't be bad but mix it with all my other duties, I find I have no time for me. Yes, I admit I have been verily spoiled for many years but now? Now is not the time as I creep into my old age! While visiting my husband in Oregon last week we received a notice to vacate from the condo where he temporarily resides while in transition on the selling of his business. It seems that the units were sold and the new owners want to convert for sale instead of rental. Like I dont' have enough on my plate!!! Now I juggle my duties of finances for two states and reconcile 5 different bank accounts as well as doing the books for my business but now I have to help Jerry seek residence by the end of this month! Believe me I don't mean to come across as complaining. I just don't know how to spread myself to cover all my duties. Oh well this is and will continue to be a test by God and I will not lay down!!!!! Thanks for listening.
Blessings,

Knit One Pearl Two, Part Deux

2006-05-05T07:58:00.000-04:00

OK, so I took all the rows out to start over. The casting on, of course, was a piece of cake! However!!!!!! the needles are so large that if I bring the yarn to the end of the needle to pearl then I can't get the yarn onto the other needle because the loop is too small to get back over the large needle. If I keep the yarn down the fat part of the needle then it slips off the other side. I have started and restarted and now I am back to "casting on only". But I'm not giving up. It's too bad I don't own a cat!!!! Then I would have an excuse that the cat got the yarn and destroyed it.

Here's knitting to you!!!

Blessings,

Knit One, Pearl Two

2006-04-25T09:01:00.000-04:00

Ok, so now my two precious visitors are back in California but not before leaving me with a challenge! Joleen thought it would be a good idea to teach me and Aimee to knit. Aimee appeared to catch on pretty fast and I was impressed with what she had accomplished before returning to California. But as for me, knitting may be the challenge of a lifetime. My knitting as a beginner is more like Knit one Drop Two! However, I promised Joleen that I would finish this scarf and I will, but oh my gosh, what have you got me into? I started out "casting on" a total of 25 stitches but by the time I got to the third row I realized I had dropped about 5 stitches. How does that happen? I was sure I picked up every one of the stitches I started with. Now I am going to take out all but the first row of "pearling" and start from there. Thanks Joleen for your confidence and I will not let you down!

Blessings,

{got ya}

2006-04-21T17:54:00.000-04:00

happy spring! enjoy the new look!
xo,
joleen

Tears of Sorrow......Tears of Gladness

2006-04-21T15:35:00.000-04:00

I know you all have had one of "those days" when as soon as you wake up you know your day is going to be living hell and Satan is partying at your expense! I have been in a blue funk with no initiative to even get out of my pajamas. Well today I made up my mind that Satan wasn't going to win this battle. First thing I did was come upstairs and boot up my computer and download the 60 plus pictures I took during my granddaughter's "Spring Break" visit. I wanted to download them so I can pick and choose which ones I wanted to send them so they would have kind of a memory book! So I put my memory stick in the computer and clicked on "download"
into My Documents, sub-folder, My Pictures. This is a very friendly computer so it started to download a very large file and when it was done I was quite pleased with myself, afterall, this is going to be a good day for me. When the pictures were finished downloading I proceeded to open up "My Pictures" to view and choose the pictures and lo and behold!!!!!Only 11 pictures of the 60+ pictures showed up in the window!!!!OMG! I started crying and it was downhill from there. You see I told this friendly computer, who always does what I say, to delete the pictures off my memory stick after the download!!!! Now I don't have any pictorial memories of their visit. So I got on the phone and called "Computer Geek" and when I finished with them I phoned Jerry, my husband and asked him to explain this to his I.T. department to see if there was anything else I could do. You see I went into every file in every window searching for these precious memories and they were no where to be found. Tears of Sorrow...........

To attempt to perk myself up I treated myself to a mani and a pedi but all the time my mind is on those lost memories. After I was done at the salon I went to the supermarket to buy something for dinner.....never go to the market hungry! When I got home there was a package on my doorstep. When I saw who sent the package my eyes opened wide because I don't remember receiving any packages, ever for this person. I brought it inside and I tore into this package like a kid opening gifts at Christmas, my groceries still in the car, I finally opened it and I started crying immediately! My precious granddaugters, Joleen and Aimee had sent me a photo album with pictures of their visit. I was totally speechless, my heart was so happy at this surprise package. I sat down a looked through the whole album and read all the words. God is always with me and I firmly believe that. What a "coincidence" that this package should show up on my doorstep the very day I lost my pictures.

Tears Of Gladness

Alone - Good Feeling........Or Bad?

2006-04-19T07:51:00.000-04:00

Well here I sit typing on my computer to a world who doesn't know I exist. It is almost 8:00a.m. My husband who came to Georgia for Easter just left to fly back to Oregon. After 7 wonderful day's with my two granddaughter's, they are now back home in California with their husbands. Aimee will start her next quarter in college and Joleen will get back to her Nanny position. I know in my heart that their husbands missed them and were happy to have them back at home. My husband will be back at work and he will be very busy. Now I sit here alone and my mind ponders on the wonders of marriage and the greatness of being a grandmother. I give praise to my Lord for the many blessings He has bestowed upon my life, my husband, my children and my grandchildren. I stopped feeling guilty many years ago for having these blessings because I believe and know that these are gifts from a God that loves me very much.

Thank you Father for Your many Blessings but I especially thank you for Your abundant, unconditional Love for this lowly servant of yours. Thank you for your Grace and Mercy in my life, because without You, I would truly, truly be "alone"!

God Bless my husband, my children and my grandchildren!

Blessings to all who read this,

Oximoron

2006-04-06T14:00:00.000-04:00

Have you ever really listened to the english language? I mean no wonder it is so hard for non-english speaking people to learn this most difficult language. I mean almost daily Webster is being filled with new, updated, 21st century words! But before I get into that I want to talk about Oximoron's! An oxymoron is a rhetorical figure in which contradictory terms are combined to create new meaning. For example:

Icy/hot, Jumbo Shrimp, a little pregnant, a fine mess, True lies, act natural, alone together, awfully good, pretty ugly, living dead, original copy or plastic glasses; modern history, bitter sweet, random order. I could go on and on. This would confuse most foreign people.

But it is our slang and idioms that is the most difficult to understand, such as:

running off at the mouth, mickey mouse, brainwashed, airhead, Rad, loser; the bomb! Well I think you get the picture. So I'm asking your input on Oximoron's and slang words and idioms.

Lets hear from you brain children.

Blessings,

You Know You're Getting Old When.....

2006-03-07T19:11:00.000-05:00

your grandhchild asks you to close your eyes so she can give you a surprise, and you don't wake up until the following afternoon!

Being alone much of my days and nights I think, dream, remember and wish about my past, my present and my family. If I close my eyes I can see my eldest daughter at age 1 dressed in leopard pj's, sitting on the potty chair with an Oreo cookie all over her mouth, Gosh she was beautiful. When I close my eyes I see my youngest daughter showing me her huge and happy smile. I linger on her smiles often. I see my two oldest granddaughter's falling into my husband's arms from our kitchen counter as they play "fireman save my baby". When I close my eyes I see my grandmother sitting at the table snickering with her index finger over her mouth as she holds a pat hand in poker, which was her favorite hobby. When I close my eyes I imagine my home being filled with the laughter of my family at the holiday times. When I close my eyes I can see the birth of my two daughters and I can even hear their first cry! When I close my eyes, as hard as I try, I can not see the vision of my mother's face but I can remember our times together. When I close my eyes I can see my father's face for the first time 13 years ago. I remember my wedding day as if it were today and it was 27 years ago! When I close my eyes I can see me receiving Jesus as my Lord and Savior. When I close my eyes I can see me being dipped and baptized for the first time.

I love life and God has blessed me many times over with wonderful visions of my past, present and future..........when I close my eyes........You are all there.

It's All In The Attitude

2006-02-21T12:52:00.000-05:00

Getting older is beyond our control. No matter how much we'd like to, we can't stop time from marching on. However, growing old is something we can control. That's where attitude enters in.

When we look in the mirror, we can either see a life that's half over or a life that's half begun. We can spend all our time dwelling on the mistakes of our past or we can spend it focused on the hope of the future. We can count our wrinkles or count our blessings. The choice is ours.

It's been said that we live the first half of our life for success and the second half for significance. I agree. In our twenties and thirties, most of us were consumed with our careers, attaining financial stability, and perhaps raising a family.

By the time we reach the second half of our life, our priorities change--or at least they should. Many of us have had to watch our parents' health decline or fail. At this juncture, we are forced to face the cruel reality that our time on this earth is limited. When we fully realize this, the reports and meetings that seemed so important and pressing suddenly lose their urgency. We spend less time thinking about the mortgage on our home and more about the people in it.

The second half of life is a chance to get our priorities straight. It's a time to realize that having the last word isn't as important as having a conversation. It's time to quit trying so hard to get ahead of the Joneses and to try a little harder to walk beside them and be their friends. It's time to realize that it's not going to matter how much money you leave your family when you die. What is important is how much of yourself you leave with them.

By the time you're eighty years old, you've learned everything. You only have to remember it!
--------George Burns

2006-02-08T21:37:00.000-05:00

THE BLESSING OF COURAGE

Right now I'm feeling scared. I have been fighting this feeling for days and today I finally exploded. But I exploded to the only one who I can truly rely on. Some of you know that I am going to have surgery next week and I have prayed daily for strength to get through this and the faith to sustain whatever will happen. On one hand I feel foolish for feeling the lack of faith my mouth is expressing and on the other hand I am grateful that this feeling is happening to me because it only brings me closer to the one that I know will never forsake me. I feel weary and overwhelmed by these emotions and as a woman of faith I must remember Jesus' words: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked" (Luke 12:48).

Many blessings have been given to me. I know God didn't bless me with these gifts so I could sit back in the recliner and keep them all to myself. I think about my granddaughter Aimee and how empty she feels sometimes and yet she doesn't know why or my daughter Lisa who is in a constant struggle with decisions in her life. Sometimes life becomes so complicated we feel as if we've gone as far as we can down this stressful highway. We imagine ourselves smashed up against a brick wall, unable to answer one more call, hear one more complaint, and take one more breath. When that's the image that fills your mind, change the brick wall to God. Imagine yourself pressed tightly against His heart, wrapped in His everlasting arms, soothed by His life-giving breath. Picture yourself encircled in God's love, soaked in His strength. Then step out onto the highway once more. If I can just keep this in mind I know I will get through this surgery a stronger woman. Praise God!

Brokeback Mountain - The Movie

2006-02-02T14:14:00.000-05:00

I must admit after listening to all of the award shows and controversy surrounding this movie I decided not to go see it. First I would be too embarassed to purchase a ticket and second I wouldn't want anyone to think I was "abnormal".

OK, I went to see Brokeback Mountain. Although I didn't start out to see this movie nor did I even buy a ticket. I purchased a ticket to see The New World, about John Smith and Pocahontas. As I rounded the corner of the theater with fresh buttered popcorn and a tall freeze coke in my hand I noticed that right across from my movie was Brokeback and coincidently it started at the same time. I had to convince myself that I wasn't stealing but I thought, "I didn't have to embarrass myself by purchasing a ticket and I am curious as to why this has been nominated for an Academy Award, and I did buy a ticket. I mean after all this was a workweek and in the middle of the day and there probably would not be too many people in the theater so I quietly slithered into the movie. When I got inside I noticed the sparsely filled theater and there were only "women" in the theater and most of them were alone! I felt better. I sat through the long 15 minutes of previews and the movie finally starts. I sit back, eat my popcorn and settle into what I think is going to be an embarrassing time. The movie started slow with beautiful scenery setting the mood. It's about two men, one a rancher and the other rides the rodeo circuit. Every season they herd sheep up into the mountains. Well after a couple of months up there I guess they had to experiment. The scene allowed the viewer to be set up for a very passionate "male" type sex scene. Oh my gosh, after that scene I didn't think I was going to be able to watch the rest of this movie. Anyway, no one was walking out of the movie at this point and I didn't want to make a scene and get up, so I stayed put. I got very involved in this movie and came around to understanding the emotions that flowed between two originally heterosexual men. I won't go into anymore detail on the movie just in case you venture out to see it, but I found this a very moving and emotional movie. These two men eventually married women and had children. Their relationship though spaced out sometimes years at a time ranged over a 20 year period. This is not a date movie, but I liked it and more than likely it will get an Academy Award. I rate this movie a B+.

See you at the movies,

I Survived

2006-01-09T18:53:00.000-05:00

The Christmas season! Thank goodness it's over. I think I wrapped the last present Christmas Eve at about 6:00p.m. I was so happy to have been able to share the season with my family in California. Lisa was a gracious hostess and I loved sharing with her family. We had a wonderful family gathering and I was able to see most of my family. My sister and her family and children and grandchildren were there, my brother and sister-in-law and I saw four of my grandchildren. The food was great and Lisa outdid herself with a great spread.

Back in Georgia I had one week with Jerry to shop for Christmas. In fact I didn't decorate the tree until one week before Christmas! This is so unlike me. Then I decided to buy a puppy!!!! It has been 9 months since my precious Gidget passed and I was feeling a little lonely and after leaving Lisa's house where she has two pets I really believed I was ready for another one! I bought a Toy Fox Terrier, pictures to come and he is so cute. However, I think I bit off more than I can chew with this little firecracker. I'll write more about him later. Jerry and I was off to my dad's home where he and mom hosted their annual Christmas Eve gala.

Food! Oh my goodness, the amount of food and the variety would be the devil's temptor to a dieter. We also played "White Elephant". This is the game my family calls "take away". The difference with this game is that people bring something from their house that they no longer have need for or want. I was left with a beautiful bowl and Jerry received a butter warmer. After the game each family or persons in a family did a skit. Jerry did his proverberal card tricks for the children and I just watched. Leo, my brother and his two sons played the bongo's and lebanese drums with narrative. It was quite funny. Mom and Dad did a skit that put me in stitches. Mom had on a wig and rolled her pants up and had on dads shoes. She was suppose to be a hillbilly and the skit was very cute. I must admit that these two get along very actively for 80 years young! After all was over, the families got there "to go" orders of food and we all left for our homes to spend the rest of the holiday with our family's.

Jerry and I always go crazy at Christmas and this season was no different. We start our power shopping the day after Thanksgiving. We go absolutely crazy! But this year we had a span of time where Jerry was in Oregon and he wouldn't be back to Geogia until the week of Christmas. But when he got here we shopped right up until the Eve. The night before Christmas Jerry puts out 2 garbage bags at each end of the sofa in the living room. We each put out the stockings and our Christmas cards to each other. Jerry makes my coffee the night before so all I have to do is push the button . We usually arise about 7:00 a.m. on Christmas and Jerry pushes the button on the coffee maker and I get his OJ. He lights the fireplace and we proceed to stragically open first our cards then our stockings. As you in my family know, Harriet usually gets the attention early with her 6 foot stocking! Jerry says Christmas morning is not the same unless Harriet has her stocking. He gets such joy in watching. I open some gifts and Jerry opens some gifts then we have breakfast. I receive phone calls from my family and then we open more gifts and then we go to a movie as we do every year on Christmas day. Then on the day after Christmas we power "return". I take advantage of the sales and start Christmas shopping for the next year. I am tired but I just love the season. Thank you Lord for your gifts!!!!!

Blessings,

Hot Dogs and P-Nut Butter

2005-12-01T08:51:00.000-05:00

Breaking Free

I have just finished 11 weeks of bible study by Beth Moore. This has been, I believe, the most difficult of studies. It opened my eyes and my soul to the oppression of my past life before I knew God. The study allowed me to "break free" from the bondage of pain, trauma and trials of my childhood and well into adulthood. I was asked to see things I thought I had let go and forgiven. I guess life just isn't like that. It truly takes a higher power and a real in depth down to the soul want to to enable us to let go of the things we carry inside. Now I'm talking about trauma that has kept me in bondage for over 35 years! I can tell you that we never find freedom from bondage in "independence". We find it by taking the same handcuffs that once bound us to sin and binding ourselves to the wrist of Christ. When you're imprisoned in the will of God, your cell becomes the Holy of Holies. Never forget, there is only one Stronghold that frees when it binds! Anyway, at the end of this series Beth Moore summed up this journey with the following:

A HEALING CAPTIVE

O, God, Who frees the captive
Do not liberate this carnal slave for freedom's sake
For I will surely wing my flight to another thorny land.
Break, instead, each evil bond
And rub my swollen wrists,
Then take me prisoner to Your will
Enslaved in Your safekeeping.
O, God, Who ushers light into the darkness,
Do not release me to the light
To only see myself.
Cast the light of my liberation upon Your face
And be Thou my vision.
Do not hand me over
To the quest of greater knowledge.
Make Your word a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path
And lead me to Your dwelling.

O, God, Who lifts the grieving head,
Blow away the ashes
But let Your gentle hand upon my brow
Be my only crown of beauty.
Comfort me so deeply,
My Healer,
That I seek no other comfort.

O, God, Who loves the human soul
Too much to let it go,
So thoroughly impose Yourself
Into the heaps and depths of my life
That nothing remains undisturbed.
Plow this life, Lord,
Until everything You overturn
Becomes a fertile soil,
Then plant me, O God
In the vast plain of Your love.
Grow me, strengthen me,
And do not lift Your pressing hand
Until it can boastfully unveil
A display of Your splendor.

Blessings

M.K.R.O.

2005-11-18T09:49:00.000-05:00

Well after 1 1/2 years of waiting, my restaurant is opening TODAY!!!
I am so petrified that I won't even go to the restaurant until after it has been open for hours. God truly opened my eyes and heart to His Will. I thank Him for all the adversities, problems and anger. Only then do I realize how much I need Him. Anyway, in case you are wondering what kind of food we sell I'll give you a short list.
Hot dogs, hamburgers, char chicken sands, vegie burger, Polish sausage, Italian Sausage, Italian beef. Every kind of Hot dog topping, but we are know for M. K.R. O., mustard, ketchup, relish and onion. We have toppings like chili, slaw, kraut. We serve french frys and onion rings. In fact, I'm changin my license plate to MKRO! Till next time.

Blessings,

A Diamond In The Rough

2005-11-09T21:03:00.000-05:00

A Diamond In The Rough

Do you ever wonder where you failed as a mother when it comes to the wayward life of your child? Well, I've pondered this perplexing question for some 35 years. I have two wonderful grown daughters. I wasn't there for them when they were growing up. I guess I was too involved with myself to be a mother to them. Well I'm paying the price today. Oh I have an existing relationship with them and I have asked them both to forgive me for my absent mindness of being a mother to them. You see, I was married at the young age of 16. I had my first child at 17 and my second child at 19 and I was divorced by age 21. I was free, free at last to be me and do whatever I wanted. By the time I grew up at age 31 and met the true love of my life, my husband of 26 years, I felt like it might be too late for me to make ammends to my girls. Some of you know what I'm talking about and please if you have empathy for me, jump right in! I wasn't there for them when they were growing and learning. I wasn't there for them when they were involved in school, the music lessons, the recital's, the parades. I wasn't there for them when they grew into young ladies and got their menstrual cycle. I wasn't there for them to teach them about boys and their first love. So many years I wasn't there for them. When they grew into women and married and had children of their own, then and only then did I start to understand what I had missed in all the years before. I never took the time to talk with them, laugh with them and cry with them. They were blessed, I believe with a step mother who though she was stern and perhaps had some unorthodox ways of disciplining them taught them everything I didn't know. In a way, I was jealous and in a way I was grateful. Nevertheless, these women grew up knowing so much more than I could have taught them. Anyway, I'm getting off the subject. It took some 18 years or more for me and my eldest daughter to even speak kind to each other. But we both worked at the relationship and I believe today, 41 years later that I have a wonderful daughter/friendship with her. Oh we have our up's and down's, but our up's are more frequent than our downs. We don't let too much time go before we make up. We try to stay in touch, perhaps not as often as we wish, but at least we communicate. I don't doubt that she has a deep love for me and that she has forgiven me for my absence in the past. But I have a younger daughter who even at 39 is still having trouble adjusting to life. We struggle, we don't speak for long period's of time and when we do speak it is strained. I know in my heart she loves me. But I believe she is suffering deep down in her heart from the past and bring it upon herself to forgive me. She feels very alienated and unloved. Yet she buck's the system of what we might call a normal lifestyle. My life with her is like the bibical story of the Prodical Son. I try very hard to let her know she is loved. I pray that someday she will understand how it feels to love and be loved. But for now, she is a "Diamond In The Rough".

Blessings

Too Much For This Ole Lady

2005-11-08T22:29:00.000-05:00

I spend hours on end on the computer because this is what I am comfortable doing. I spend a lot of time "surfing the net". I learn as I go. In order for me to stay up with the Jones or in this case, my grandchildren, I must pretend like I am into the current craze. OK, I don't pretend to be talented and God know's I have tried many things. So all I ask is that you be patient with me until I get with the program, ok? My eldest granddaughter Joleen started this "blog" stuff sometime ago. She is very gifted and her talents are endless. So she gets into the blogging craze and we all fell in love with her "secret life". Then she convinced her younger sister, my next eldest granddaughter, Aimee that she should "blog". You have to understand, Aimee is a second year college student studying to be a pediatric nurse. God know's she barely has time to have a marriage, take care of a cute 4 legged "kid", cook dinner and spend time with her new husband, Vince and get a few hours of sleep and study. Yet she walks around with a camera in her hand and takes pictures of everything. I picture Aimee with a stethiscope in one hand and a camera in the other. Now I find out that Joleen made a blog cover for my eldest daughter, Lisa, who is mom to the above girls. Now, Lisa is blogging and I can't let them get away with that so me, mom, and grandma has to jump on the bandwagon. I am thrilled to share this new phenomena as three generations go "blogging". Signing off now until I can figure out what I'm doing.

Blessings,