Saturday, March 28, 2009

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

More specific take me out to the T Ball Game

My granddaughter is now on a T Ball team at one of the local county parks. Her team is all girls from 4 to 6 years old. There are many teams--all have sponsorship from area businesses for their team shirts and hats. Thank you all businesses that sponsor youth sports, and the parents that religiously bring their kids out to participate in team sports, assist the coaches, and assist with refreshments.

They are small, and girls who like to dance around, giggle, and play with the clay on the fields. Girls that do not want to drop their bats, take the whole team to chase a ball and refuse to relinquish the ball. Other teams have the same age boys....several of them find any ball around and try to tag every one on the other team...several kids have figured out to run around the taggers past a base and back.

Watching them is better than television..every minute is a surprise as they all try their best to hit a ball sitting on top of a T stand. Often the bat slides out of their hands, the T stand takes a constant whacking as they aim at the ball....and their astonishment when they have connected with the ball and the coach says RUN! Over the past weeks they have gotten much better at batting, catching, and running bases.

No score keeping on these games- introduction to a team based activity and sportsmanship for all players
PLAY BALL!

Friday, September 26, 2008

Opps

How do I cook thee my fresh, skinless, boneless chicken? Fried, baked...oh yea how about by fire!

No not on grill In the microwave!
And when it caught on fire I yanked the food out with tongs which promptly heated up and I dropped the flaming food on a rug which....well then it caught on fire too.
The rug melted.
The microwave smells of burnt plate and food.
Luckily it's birthday time and I wished for a new microwave (do they have any with a remote?)

This is not a solo problem.
My children knew dinner was ready when the smoke alarm went off.
In junior high (or middle school as it is called now) I set a gas oven on fire along with the cookies
I worked at Zayres for a while but was relegated to the popcorn counter after flipping hamburgers off the grill on to the floor.

Also, there was a sewing class. It isn't pretty when your fingers get sewn to the shirt you're trying to make. The blood doesn't wash out.
I found a nice dress pattern and great material for the dress...but I gave up on the third sleeve

I have an electric personality....almost anything I touch creates static and I get shocked. Vacuum, water fountain, grocery carts, door knobs, even people. My watch won't run when I wear it but runs fine on the table. As I was inserting my trunk key about 4 inches from the lock an arc of light flashed between the lock and the key. Don't even think about a toaster.

If you need a brick wall or an access database call me. I'll be at Applebees, or Olive Garden, or Taco Bell etc....

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda

How many people spend time remembering something or someone in their past?

Was it a once in a chance opportunity to go on a vacation to another country? A Beatles or other concert in the 60's? A possible boyfriend or girlfriend? A fantastic job offer?

What stopped you? Fear? Not the right time? Would probably not work out?

Ok I was just too young to go to Miami or New York for a Beatles concert...
I am afraid of flying..so I'll never get to Paris (I took 5 years of French)
Engaged-I knew it wouldn't work out when he started setting names for our future children and he was seven years older than I (still in high school) was.

There was just one boy in high school-A musician..with red hair..and looked beyond my glasses
He asked me out.....I really liked him....all it would have taken was a YES..but I was dumb struck when he asked.

The saddest of all, are memories of loved ones suddenly passing away....and we did not have the opportunity to say goodbye

Remember there are 525,600 minutes in a year
Use them with care Peace & Love

Monday, June 9, 2008

Noise & Other Distractions of Dining Out

There once was a time when you were seated in a well lit restaurant with soft backround music. You were able to make conversation with friends and family and speak with the server. The menus were easy to read, and not full of words that were in other languages the servers can not pronounce or describe in English.

Now....you can hear the loud music before entering a restaurant. The hostess shouts over the music asking how many in the party and leads you to a table near the bar area where numerous patrons are well into 'happy hour', yelling and using profanities while they watch sports on enormous wall mounted televisions blasting statistics along with the music. You request a different location, the hostess sneers, grabs up the utencil rolls and menus, and stomps back to the hostess podium to find another table or booth in the half filled restaurant.

HELLO No one can hear each other! Lower the volume please! Put a cone of silence over the bar area and material to absorb noise. It is ridiculous trying to have a conversation and enjoy a meal and have to shout and repeat repeat repeat.
At the end of a meal I need aspirin.

Dear restaurants Create a plan - evaluate the patrons - if there are small children-there will be spillage, jumping, screeching, and running (2 crayons only have a 5 minute time frame). Will an elderly couple be comfortable seated next to them?
How about patrons that get into a loud heated argument? I once had to duck several times as two women threw numerous plates and bowls. Did any employees call for the manager or police? No, they ignored the women as china smashed into the walls and floor sending shards everywhere. My party quickly left our table, went to the hostess podium and asked to pay our bill there instead of the 'mysterious extended disappearance 'of the bill and my credit card with the server that seems to be the usual practice in most restaurants.

The ordering of food>your entree comes with 2 sides picked from the nine sides that the server has rattled off from the other end of the table. "Will you please repeat the sides?" you ask as the server turns to the next person. What you request is often not what you receive.

Servers are seeking a decent tip at the end of the meal and have grumbled about the low amount of tips. Friends and family dine out expecting a nice atmosphere and the correct food they ordered. Servers have argued that what was delivered is what was ordered. Servers have also forgotten parts of the meal and will not remove the charges.
Watch your receipts - restaurants are automatically adding 15 to 20 % to the bill for service and also presenting a bill that indicates a place to add a tip
Check your credit card charges against your receipts

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Meow

FYI I am an Ailurophile--no it's not bad.

It's just that I have always loved cats. I must be related to the Egyptians. There has always been at least one cat in the house from day one. Between my mother and I we have taken in at least 18 beautiful felines, all colors, all sizes over the years. While she was a one cat person(and he was enormous), I have had up to six at a time.

I have many neighbors that feed our strays, along with me, every day. As a thank you they often leave me a freshly killed rodent. I have not seen a live rodent for years.
Many years ago someone abandoned a large gray Hemingway cat. He was beautiful and gave me many kittens with multiple toes and claws over his lifetime.
I have had dogs, fish, and birds and they were ok.
But it's the purring that touched my heart. Cats Rule!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Meaning of Home

I inherited my home from my parents.
While it was under construction nearly 50 years ago..we referred to it as 'the house'..but it became so much more
Over the years the colors inside and out changed, furniture was replaced..but it was home My father grew tons of strawberries in the backyard, built shelves and a work bench in the garage with a neighbor and worked with neighbors on other projects He let me mow the lawn and taught me to drive.....and told me I could do anything
Many people passed through our home over the years, some to visit, some stayed for a while....
my friends for sleep overs, spending many hours playing guitars and drums, and recording awful songs (...my father shut the porch doors ) grand parents and aunts and uncles, cousins, long time family friends from New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey were welcomed into our home

I did live away here and there..college dorms, shared apartments, mobile homes and even a house. But sooner or later I came home, here. My children have lived here for many of their young years, and my granddaughter visits often.

Neighbors never stopped at the property line when mowing their lawns......If it started raining neighbors would roll up your car windows, neighbors watched out for all the neighborhood children, collected mail and newspapers, watered plants, and watched over your home when on vacation

5 decades of home...friends, relatives, parents, grandparents, grandchildren and now a great grandchild > to my parents Celebrations of graduations, birthdays, weddings, and births throughout the years

In every year there are 525,600 minutes, use them wisely, time lost is never regained

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Spring Cleaning

I am starting early..where did all this stuff come from? Are my genes set to shop?
Was I in a trance powered by the store's sixties music and the grinding of the one irritating wheel that refused to roll while strolling down aisles and tossing items in the cart.
I find the best way to clear out is to follow Clean Sweep - piles for Keep, Sell and Donate
Donate is the biggest pile....the local resale shop accepts items without comment
If I have eliminated so much stuff-how come what's left will not fit back in where everything was? I need to check on the laws of physics.


Once I tried on a dress that looked so ridiculous on me that I laughed so hard I cried and staggered laughing out of the dressing room, handed the dress to the attendant with a brief comment about it being too big.

My granddaughter stayed with me last weekend. I put on the Christmas Lights and we played with Play dough for 3 hours making people and shapes with all the colours. Time worth spent.
Art Linkletter was right-kids say the darndist things.