Just a Moment

Our young people who havc taken it upon themselves to serve in our military deserve our respect and prayers more than ever today. The shooting in Fort Hood yesterday hits hard because it seems to be such a senseless act of violence. Let us all take a moment today to really think about what these men and women and their families sacrifice every day and offer up our prayers and thoughts for all of them.

Just Say No

Four weeks ago I started a healthier eating plan. I didn't want to call it a diet because I am not restricting myself from any particular food with the exception of Big Red. I just want to get and stay healthier and I am giving myself a year to lose the excess weight I have put on over the past three years. So though I may have a small piece of chocolate (one Dove milk chocolate piece is only 44 calories) or a coffee with Baileys in the evening (not sure of the calories in that and don't really care to know) I feel much more in control of myself. Knowing that I can allow myself a small portion of anything has made this lifestyle change much easier. So today I was pleasantly surprised when I weighed in at the office on those dreadful doctor's scales that don't lie. I have lost nine pounds since starting this plan. I am hopeful that I will be able to make it through the holidays because I know I can allow myself small portions of those foods I love to eat at this time of year. I think this will make me less apt to binge eat. So I am saying No to diets and Yes to the basic food groups and Yes to a small bit of something savory to treat myself every day. I am hopeful that I will be fit enough to run the mini-marathon in April 2011.

Trash Talk

I made another basket with those plastic mini-blind strips. This one is a bit more pleasing. I think I will add a handle and embellish it with red so I can use it for tailgating at the IU game on Saturday. It's the perfect size for a couple of bottles of wine, some cheese and crackers, a tablecloth, and a few other items. It's plastic so it can be washed in the sink afterward. And since it was free to make with the scrap blinds it's a win-win. It's nicer than a plastic bag to carry my items and I get to practice my newly discovered enjoyment of the craft. Who knew?

From Trash to Treasure?

Last night I replaced my mini-blinds in the living room windows. They were the ultra-thin plastic type. After taking out the excess slats for each set of blinds I had a sizeable pile of plastic strips left. I almost threw them away but thought I would just play with them instead. Surely they could be useful for something. Maybe a basket? I had never made a basket before but had nothing to lose but my time for trying. It was good for a bit of entertainment to wrestle those plastic strips into place as I wove them in and out. If my husband had been awake he would have thought I wqs crazy. And maybe I am. Here is the result, my "garbage basket". Not a bad way to recycle I guess. I even added the leftover string for decoration around the top. I actually found that I enjoyed this process. Maybe I will take a basket-weaving class.

Writers Block

It's National Blog Posters Month
It's National Blog Posters Month
Can you write every day
Do you have something to say
For National Blog Posters Month?

Do you have a good tale you can share
Or simply a thought you can spare
Can you pen a quick rhyme
Do you have the time
For National Blog Posters Month?

Can you write something silly or sad
Will your faithful readers be glad
That they frequent your sight
Whether by day or by night
For National Blog Posters Month?

Can you hang up your phone for a bit
And show the world your true grit
Can you get it done
Will you try to have fun
For National Blog Posters Month?

Have you noticed that I'm a bit slow
Getting started on NaBloPoMo
Thanks Conversations
For your revelations
'Bout National Blog Posters Month.

It's National Blog Posters Month
It's National Blog Posters Month
Join us in writing
It's so exciting
It's National Blog Posters Month.

Crazy for You Baby

My husband and I are crazy for our grandchildren. We dearly love the weekly webcams we have with them. It is the next best thing to seeing them in person. We arm ourselves with assorted props: frog puppet, crazy viking hat, assorted items from the toybox. I love that our thirteen month old grandson is really beginning to get that those two crazy people in that computer box are really talking to him. He smiles and waves and claps his hands for us. He blows kisses and laughs at our crazy antics as we try to interact with him over the world wide web. On Saturday, after finishing his lunch as we watched and chatted, he lifted his empty plate, set it back down, spread out his little arms and announced "All gone". I loved it. To be able to see the progress he is making as he takes in the world around him. His time in front of the webcam is usually somewhat limited by his camera loving older sister. She commands us from across the ocean, as we read her books and play games with her. We take turns playing hide and seek, one of us hiding while she counts to ten, the other taking the computer on a search through the house so she can find us. We happily oblige when she asks us to take the computer outside so she can see the flowers on the porch, or when she asks us to cut out shapes and color for her. She sings songs and reads to us. She adjusts the camera so she is the main focus on the screen. I know one day she will get bored with it and our visits on webcam may get shorter, but for now I am enjoying every minute we can get. To be able to reach across the vast ocean and interact with them both is absolutely mind-boggling. We are totally and enthusiastically crazy for you Amelia and Evan!

A Moving Experience

Today I spent some time clearing some things out of our storage shed. I gave up on the notion of having a yard sale so I loaded my vehicle with items to be donated to a local charity. After several trips back and forth with the boxes of smaller items I was finally ready to load up some of the bigger items. I scooted a desk out to the SUV and then contemplated how I would lift the heavy, bulky item up into the back of the vehicle by myself. Determined not to have to move it back into the storage unit, I looked around for a possible solution. I did not want to take a chance of scratching the vehicle and I sure did not want to hurt myself lifting it. Then I spotted a couple of table leaves standing in the corner. I propped them against the bumper creating a makeshift ramp. Then I tilted the desk onto its back and slid it up the ramp and right into place in the back of the SUV. Problem solved.

My thoughts flashed back to a similar situation I ran into years ago when I held a yard sale. The extra long plaid sofa that my husband had helped me move out into the yard before he left for work had not sold by the time I needed to go to town to pick up my children from school. The skies were beginning to darken and threaten rain so I needed to move the sofa back inside the house. I had no nearby neighbors to help me. How could I move this monstrosity across the lawn and up the steps to the screened porch? After a few minutes of contemplation I came up with an idea that just might work. I slipped each sofa leg into my children's roller skates and tied them on tightly. I was able to roll the sofa across the lawn right up to the steps. Lifting one end over the steps I was then able to then lift the other end and roll it straight into the house. Then I rushed off to pick up my kids from school.

When I was growing up it was not uncommon for my mother to decide at a whim to repaint a room and rearrange the furniture in the middle of the night while no small children were afoot. Sheer determination to get a project finished before the light of dawn made for some ingenious methods of moving bulky heavy items. I credit her for passing on the problem-solving gene to me.

I also credit my grandfather for allowing us to experiment with all sorts of tools and devices in his basement workshop. Under his guidance we learned to build gocarts, skateboards, pulley systems, bike ramps. We learned how to motorize our bicycles. We learned about the function of ball-bearings. Without those experiences I may not have understood the laws of motion and gravity as well.

So I have also been known to rearrange the furniture in the middle of the night while everyone else was sleeping. I would use rugs or sheets of plastic to help slide big pieces across the floor. It took a while longer than if I had help but I was a night owl and I did my best decorating and arranging with everyone else out of the way. And I did not have to irritate my husband when I wanted to try multiple arrangements before I decided on what fit my mood at the time. My family never knew what they would wake up to.

Office chairs were great for moving televisions and other heavy electronic equipment and boxes. Planks of wood became ramps. Belts linked together became great hoisting straps. I have used a makeshift rope and pulley system to hoist bedroom furniture up and into a second floor bedroom window in my daughter's college apartment because the spiral staircase leading to the second floor was so narrow. A strip of plywood made a good surface for sliding heavy furniture down stairs.

So thank you Mom and PaPaw for allowing me the opportunity to learn these valuable skills. They have come in handy many times over.