Saturday, October 07, 2006

We only had to leave the house ONCE today and that was to go to Hunters Glen to flush toilets and run water in the sinks. Tomorrow ReMax is having an open house. Perhaps that will be fruitful. We are now settled in to Tallgrass and REALLY don't need two houses. It will become expensive after a bit too. (Already is.)

I spent a bit of time this afternoon clearing the path between our backyard and Lion's Park. Tomorrow, I will be leaving for Mass at 8:00AM but perhaps on Monday Chelsea and I can go through the park and come in through the back. That would be fun.

I also cut the two old pairs of jeans into 6 1/2 " squares for a future quilt. Now I only need 9 more pairs of jeans and I will have enough squares to do it.

Tomorrow I can assemble the quilt top with the doggies and kitties appliqued on it. Maybe I can get it done for the raffle at Blessed Trinity. If I can get it done by Monday, I could call Dianne and let her know. Maybe I am pushing myself again, but I seem to be needing to be very busy and very tired in order to sleep, other wise I just worry.

One night I dreamt that Bobbie brought Oscar and Roxie over to live with us again. The funny thing was that she had them both dressed up in frilly dresses much like the dresses made out of pillowcases for bed dolls. Boy did Oscar look goofy. Then Bobbie's "daughter" was explaining how I should hide them. How is that for a really wild night.

Tomorrow, we are going to hang pictures in the living room.

Please pray for my Bart. AND BARB. They are really under the gun right now.

All my love

Mary

Friday, October 06, 2006

It was a breakfast day again. As we had to go shopping again too. We picked up a shelf unit for the office closet and a little shelf cabinet for the downstairs bedroom.

When we got home, I put the unit together in the office and then unpacked another box and stacked paper and supplies on the unit.

Then I went to lunch with Ceil, Joyce, Dawn, Mary and Barb at the Dairy Queen and went to Wal Mart for some batting for a quilt that is ready to assemble.

Tonight I shot. I did OK all 30 shots on the target. I was using Randy Walter's advice and relaxing my elbow instead of holding my arm all stiff. He said to rely on my eye not my stiff arm. In time it will work. I was not unhappy with the results.

Then I watched Ghost Whisperer and cut apart two pair of jeans that will become a quilt eventually. I just need to cut the trimmed pieces into 6 1/2 inch squares.

Breakfast out has always been special to us. To Dick and I because we just like it. It gets us going in the morning when we have errands out of the house and when I was working was a good way to spend fun time together when he took me to work.

I used to take Bart to school most of the time after we moved here until he got his own car. Breakfast was a special time for us too. I treasured those times because it was just US and we could share what was happening to him and to me too. We made a good pair, I always thought. We were always so proud that we traveled all the way from California to Minnesota to Wisconsin, just Bart, Zero and Me. It was scary but we learned that we could do anything and I thought the times were good. We even bought a house. Just us. I feel sad now. I wish we could go back. But I don't think I would do anything differently anyway. All I could do was be there and love.

Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda. We just do the best we can with what we have.



Be good to yourself

Mary

Some Guiness was spilled on the barroom floor
When the pub wash shut for the night.
When out of the dark came a wee brown mouse
And he stood in the bright moonlight.

He lapped up the frothy brew from the floor
Then back on his haunches he sat
And all night long you could hear him roar
"Bring on the goddamned cat!"

Thursday, October 05, 2006

We stayed home all day and all evening. Yesterday, we left at 5:00PM to go to dinner and see Annie and had three phone calls. Tonight - NOTHING. We so seldom go out together of an evening but that is the night people call.

I called Barbara today and found out that Bart has a reaction to sleeping pills ( which he should not have been taking. ) They have been acting like a stimulant with his other drugs and that explains why he is so hyper. Such a worry. I wish I was rich and could just spin down there for a few days to help out. Or just to BE there.

I emptied three more boxes today and put all my bears on the cabinet in the den downstairs. I had no idea how many bears I have. They are all special memories too. Sometime we can share. I put more dolls in the guest room too.

Jim and Michelle are going to Michigan for the weekend. She had some loose ends to tie up.


Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County Register:

Dear Editor:

So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.

Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr.Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.

They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture.

Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor la ws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity. Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France and Japan. None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United States of America as one people. When we liberated France, no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here . These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.

And here we are in 2006 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.

And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty, it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't st a r t talking about dismantling the United States just yet.
(signed) Rosemary LaBonte



Mary

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

We went to see Annie with Mother tonight. First we had dinner at Nino's. I was hungry for steak and ordered the first t-bone that I have had in years. That used to be my Dad's favorite steak. He and my Uncle George would go to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve every year and then fix t-bones for breakfast in the wee hours of the morning. Following their sumptious breakfast they would gather up the Christmas presents for all of us from both the Grandpa Deeley and the Grandpa Bowser houses and get them all distributed around the living room.

I remember that for many years Mother and Dad would decorate the tree on Christmas Eve after we were in bed. We would wake up to a fairyland and piles of gifts scattered all over the living room. Did I tell you that we "lost" the tree at least once a year for several years and finally Dad put an eye hook on the wall and would anchor it with a rope. With nine kids and lord knows how many animals it was just easier to keep it upright.

Annie was a delight. The voices were wonderful and the dancing exuberant and nice. The kids were cute, of course. One of the orphans is the granddaughter of my friend Mary Schroeder so that was fun. I had not seen her for perhaps 7 years and she has grown to be a lovely young lady. One forgets some of the great music in some of the musicals. We hear Tomorrow and Hard Knock Live so often, but what about Easy Street and Somebody's Baby. Both just great and done so well tonight. The stage design was fun and inventive.

Altogether a lovely evening.

Now it is time for bed. Tomorrow we get to stay home ALL day again. I intend to finish another side of the garage. Wish me luck and stamina.

Pray for Bart, Jim and Dick tonight.

Love

Mary

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

I slept like the dead last night. Good thing. as I was totally exhausted from the previous night.

We went grocery shopping and did a bit of shopping at KMart. We found some shoes for me, some PJs for Dick and another footstool for MY desk. I actually had one but we found that it is good for Dick as he is sleeping in his chair until the back is better. He should be elevating his feet and the stool was just right.

I finished unpacking and arranging one side of the garage today. Whew. Am I ever tired again. Then this evening I spent a couple of hours in the basement starting arranging my sewing area. I should be able to start sewing again now as I have located the current projects.

Tomorrow, Mother, Dick and I will go to Nino's for dinner and then on to Horace Mann School to see Annie by the Sheboygan Theatre Co. Should be a nice evening.



> NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF INDEPENDENCE
>
> To the citizens of the United States of America,
>
> In the light of your failure to elect a President of the USA and thus to
> govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your
> independence, effective today.
>
> Her Sovereign and Britannic Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume
> monarchical duties over
> all states, commonwealths and other territories. Except Utah, which she
> does not fancy. Your new prime minister (The Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, MP
> for
> the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world
> outside your borders) will appoint a minister for America without the
> need
> for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A
> questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of
> you
> noticed.
>
> To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following
> rules
> are introduced with immediate effect:
>
> 1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary.
> Then
> look up "aluminium". Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed
> at
> just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. Generally, you should
> raise
> your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up "vocabulary". Using the
> same
> twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and
> "you
> know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. Look up
> "interspersed".
>
> 2. There is no such thing as "US English". We will let Microsoft know
> on
> your behalf.
>
> 3. You should learn to distinguish the English and Australian accents.
> It
> really isn't that hard.
>
> 4. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as the
> good guys.
>
> 5. You should relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The
> Queen",
> but only after fully carrying out task 1. We would not want you to get
> confused and give up half way through.
>
> 6. You should stop playing American "football". There is only one kind
> of
> football. What you refer to as American "football" is not a very good
> game.
> The 2.15% of you who are aware that there is a world outside your
> borders
> may have noticed that no one else plays "American" football. You will
> no
> longer be allowed to play it, and should instead play proper football.
> Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. It is a
> difficult
> game. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby
> (which is similar to American "football", but does not involve stopping
> for
> a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full Kevlar body armour like
> nancies). We are hoping to get together at least a US rugby sevens side
> by
> 2005.
>
> 7. You should declare war on Quebec and France, using nuclear weapons if
> they give you any merde. The 98.85% of you who were not aware that
> there is
> a world outside your borders should count yourselves lucky. The
> Russians
> have never been the bad guys. "Merde" is French for "shit".
>
> 8. July 4th is no longer a public holiday. November 8th will be a new
> national holiday, but only in England. It will be called "Indecisive
> Day".
>
> 9. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and it is for
> your
> own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we
> mean.
>
> 10. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.
>
> Thank you for your cooperation.



Hope you enjoyed the ab ove. My brother George sent it to me a few years ago.

Mary



Monday, October 02, 2006

Took this during a storm this year. It was especially lovely and the storm tonight reminded me that I had it. ENJOY Posted by Picasa
What an awful storm that we had last night. It got really bad sometime after midnight with horrendous thunder, lightening, torrential rain and even some hail. Chelsea was terrified and ran and paced and panted for hours. I got back to sleep several times only to be woken up by either the noise OR LEG CRAMPS! Then my stomach started hurting on top of everything. Needless to say, I woke up more tired than when I hit the pillow.

Had Bible Study this morning and turned over the information on what I have been doing for Celtic Faire to Lynn, the church business manager, to bring to the Celtic Faire wrap up meeting which was tonight at 6:30.

I couldn't go to that, because I also had the Rhine Plymouth meeting tonight and really needed to be there. We were discussing the proposed revised constitution and nominations for officers. Bobbie has generously offered to be secretary next year for the one year term that will be a fill in to getting the officers and board on alternating two year terms. The meeting went quite well and quite quickly. A storm was again raging on the way out there. I really had trouble seeing the road and was almost sorry that I had started out at all. It had passed by the time the meeting was over.

Tomorrow will be a bit quieter. We want to hang the clock in the living room.

Love. Mary

Sunday, October 01, 2006

I went to Mass in Sheboygan Falls today. The countdown will be starting soon. I have decided to stay there through October so that I can get the one even t for the Senior Saints scheduled and done before I leave. After Mass, I talked to Helen and Judy Markgarf (actually that is their maiden name) and found out that their sister Janice, who had knee surgery is not doing as well as they hoped. The healing is slow and she has some really bad days. Must keep her in our prayers. Helen is in the bible study and says that she is DEFINATELY coming tomorrow. She has been unable to come several times lately, partly because she has been helping Janice.

Anyway, then I visited with Mother for a bit and stayed long enough to walk her over to the Mass at 10:30. My brother George called while I was ther and we had a bit of a visit.

Home again. Dick and I had our usual Sunday Brunch. Chelsea is relieved to know that that part of our life hasn't changed. She does enjoy Sunday Brunches.

We spent the rest of the day just puttering. I finished storing the herbs that I harvested. I am trying something new, freezing, from some information that I got on the net. I am sure of the thyme but not the lavender leaves. I had two kinds of thyme too so we will have to take advantage of that. Dick got three boxes emptied and put away.

Dick called from Madison this afternoon. Concerned because Jim "resigned" from the library. A long story that is not good. Jim has been putting feelers out and has several leads. We will be seeing Dick and Brenda at the wedding in three weeks. They are also fine though missing their Darwin kitty. They have "adopted" a couple of cats at the Humane Society. Paying a fee for a chosen cat to pay for its care until it finds a home. They are not ready for another cat in the house quite yet.

Bart called just for a phone number but I am always glad to hear from him. And Jacquie called. She and George are in good health but things don't get any easier as Dick and I are finding out. (The main reason we moved was to make things easier.) George is 84 going on 85 and I believe that Jacquie is close to Dick's age. We had a really nice visit. I miss that lady. She is really a special person.

Dick took me out for supper tonight. We went to the Wilderness over on 57. Dick had spaghetti and I got garlic shrimp. Both very good. When we got home, we called Jim and Michelle to see if they wanted to play some cards- and they DID. We played one game of hearts and then rummy until it was time for Michelle to go home and get to bed. 5:15 AM comes mighty early and she has to get up then to get to work on time tomorrow.

A dyslexic man walks into a bra.

An invisible man marries an invisible woman. The kids were nothing t o look at either.

What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.

Hope the above start your week off with a laugh.

Mary

Saturday was pleasant and I forgot to blog last night because I was watching the Green Mile and just got late and distracted.

We went to the house on Hunters Glen twice. Once, we picked the tomatoes and flushed all the toilets and noticed that the one in the basement had a ring (hard water). Then we came home and put down the mats for the desk.

Bart returned my call from earlier in the day. He sounds better but is still struggling. They are trying a new med regimine. He was much calmer and less down which is a good thing.

Then Dick and I went to Bobbie's for "visitation" with Roxie and Oscar. Roxie seemed reasonably happy to see us, as much as cats ever are, and I cuddled her a bit. Oscar crawled under the couch and when finally coaxed out was not pleased. I cuddled him anyway but he did not purr. I miss that big house shaking purr.

On the way home we stopped and cleaned that toilet and I cut the herbs as long as we were at it.

A quiet evening.

Today, church and another quiet day. Dick had a pain free night in his chair.

Love

Mary