Photo Opp for Propaganda

I wonder how often things like I just saw are used to make a point when the situation is not at all what it seems to be?

There were two little boys at a dumpster, one was up on top, the littler was standing in front of the dumpster, EATING. Such a sad sight, right?

But the truth is this: the dumpster is across the parking lot from the kids' house, the dad had told the older boy to put the lid back down on the dumpster, little brother tagged along, snack in hand.

Safe Baths, Pretty Baths

Aha! I'm living in a rental now, but when the littles come over, I always remember that when the boys were still small, not yet daddies to their own kids, we always had the kind of shower head that could be pulled down off the wall to wash them with. The faucets had to be the right kind too so they couldn't accidentally get burned or suddenly turn on the shower. I'm looking for some of these features now that I can use even in a rental, I know there has to be something. Even if not, I'll probably try to buy a home soon and will need to be prepared to make it my own - decorated from the largest things to the smallest.

So many years I spent with a very practical home, five boys, a husband who rough-housed with them, decorating was not just low priority, it wasn't on the list. That will soon change! I can shop with the words "pretty" and "gorgeous" in mind.

My New Saying

Over on the site Platinum Pearls , there's a an ad with a quote in it that I'm going to use from now on - You're Not Getting Gray, You're Going Platinum. I like it!

Maybe it's not new, maybe it's from some old commercial, whatever, it's MINE.

No one likes to see my hair gray, I figure I'm a grandma now, I can be gray if I want to. I did dye my hair though when my youngest was still little because of what he said. He kept coming in to lie down with me and pulling out strands of hair, I didn't know why, I would yell at him, make him leave, pull one of his out, nothing worked. He finally cried and admitted he was trying to keep me from dying of old age! Poor baby!

Now that he's old enough to understand that I'm nowhere near old enough to die of old age and couldn't care less about my looks- everyone else minds! But now I have my new line to quote!

Platinum Pearl guy also talked about woodworking which I enjoy. It reminded me of when I carved a little bunny for my oldest when he was a baby. I want to do it again but all my tools are long gone.

New Lines!

Obviously our illustrious city leaders have been avidly following my every blogged word. They chose to take my sagacious advice to heart and immediately dispatched road workers; there are now freshly painted, clear lane lines in downtown Ogden!

To what worthy cause should my impressive powers of persuasion be turned next?

Not Allowed When I Was A Kid

When I was in junior high, I saw all these kids coming out of shop class with projects they had made - I loved working with wood but when they worked with some sort of plastic I was surprised. I signed up. Expectantly waited for the next semester to take shop. The first day I walked in and was met by the teacher at the door who informed me GIRLS WERE NOT ALLOWED! My name was slightly unusual but it seems obviously for a girl but they didn't realize it in time I guess. It did not ever occur to me that I wouldn't be allowed to take the best class because of my sex! GRRRR!

Enough whining. Kettering University - I've been seeing this ad everywhere and have looked into it twice already - now it's MY turn to write about it. They offer studies in polymers and plastics engineering for one. Am I too old? I haven't yet dared to click on "continuing education"...

Something else I see is they do apprenticeships! That's so perfectly, exactly what I believe in! My boys have heard me suggest this for years; this would be the perfect learning style and type of school for my youngest. Their engineering co-op programs starts in their freshman year and has them rotate study for three months, then work for three months. Excellent! It's hands on right from the beginning!

US News and World Report has ranked Kettering University as "the #1 University in the nation for Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering" in its annual "America's Best Colleges Guide for 2008. I've shown my youngest a little about this school but right now he's just interested in avoiding schoolwork, I'll give him another couple of years to get serious. He's young. But since he spends all his time making science experiments and researching (just don't use that word!) this sort of thing, this is where he needs to go. Industrial engineering is a field he should look into.

Tip For Parents Of New Drivers

This is a tip I personally found was an excellent and necessary thing to do when my kids learned to drive. It should save you and them frustration, gas, and hopefully avoid a logistical nightmare.

DON'T LET THEM GET OUT OF THE CAR WITHOUT THE KEYS IN THEIR HAND.

You know how you let them drive to school, they get out and leave the car running, you just slide over and drive home? Or wherever you're going next? Don't do it. Make them park if you have to, but don't let them out without the keys. It's not a habit they have yet, they aren't used to making sure the keys are in their hand. Make it a nuisance for you and for them. It's got to be trained into them, made into an automatic habit. Otherwise, you know you'll get that call from them late at night sometime, "Mom, I locked the keys in the car. Can you come get me?" Even having a spare in their purse or wallet may not work, some people don't always carry those. They need at least a month of ALWAYS having the keys in their hand when they get out of the car, they can hand them back to you through the window but don't let them get out of the car without them!

The Old Homestead

Right now, I'm renting a townhouse, not living in my own home. All my boys want me to find a way to buy back our old home up in the mountains, it's where they grew up and would like their children to either grow up there or be able to visit.

The last house I owned was a cheap little temporary place, I had no insurance on it, bought it outright, wasn't too worried about it. But when I choose where I plan to "live out my days", and especially if I manage to regain ownership of the "old homestead", I want mortgage life insurance on it. I just want to make sure the boys can keep it if I die. It's a really nice place, or was, near a river where the grandchildren can swing on rope swings and drop into the water, plant a large enough garden and/or keep animals to supply food for them all, go across the road up to hike and camp in the mountains.

Why am I worrying about the grandkids, I want to go back myself!

Really, this is something I think about a lot, my parents are STILL helping me and my siblings if we ever have any needs. Because of their example, I want my own angels to be able to count on me the same way. It's harder for me to care about money and material things, I just don't really. As long as I remember to focus on having money for my boys and their small precious ones, it's different. Besides, aren't we to help the poor and needy, the widows and orphans? I can't do that if I neglect everything financial. Also I DO NOT want to be a financial burden on anyone. Ever. Old or not.

Outdoor Days Are Here

So far, the most we've done about being outside enjoying nature is let the littles play in the front yard. Pathetic, isn't it? Yesterday, I mentioned to Big A that I would like to take everyone up to the mountains for a hike and a mini-campout. We'd bring the tent just because I like tents. I planned on building a fire to cook over but I'm not sure that's really allowed, it depends on where we go.

All my neighbors have grills out on their back porches or in the back yard. Then tonight, I was at my friend's house and her husband was making shishkabobs on the grill. Makes me want to eat something cooked outdoors - notice that I didn't say I want to cook outdoors. I think all these people should quit tempting neighbors by using a grill cover so I don't have to feel guilty for not making an honest effort at special meals. It seems like such a pain but smells and tastes SO GOOD to have a meal grilled outdoors. But mostly from childhood, what I remember is that it takes so long! We kids were always inside looking for something to eat until it was finally ready.

Gotta go close my windows, someone's out there grilling - I can smell it!!!

Luxury!

When I first moved in with my son, I found he had an old down comforter to sleep under but it was completely falling apart. When I shopped, I always had an eye out for a better blanket for him but didn't buy one because I knew I had blankets in storage. Yes, I found a couple, he uses one but what he really wants is a down comforter again.

This site looks great! They offer mattress toppers and whatever else you might need here - and there are definitely a few things I "need"! Not only do they have the comforters, they have pillows and everything else. Little A sleeps with me at night and keeps snatching my pillow instead of using her little one. If she insists (in her sleep) on a big pillow, she can have mine and I'll get me a nice, new, fluffy one!

Getting Results

That last post about the bad roads is really my reminder to find out what it takes to get results. Can I really call someone and get information about what is being or will be done about the problem? Or light a fire under someone to get the problem taken care of?
Part of me doubts it, because "they" have to already know, don't they? Where are all the workers and construction flags? I used to think it was Utah's state flag! I admit, it would be very difficult to find a good time to work on busy roads in a downtown area but it really needs to be done. You just can't have two lane lines for the same lane! And potholes that small cars can get lost in are totally unacceptable.

Ogden Area Roads

AVOID Riverdale Road.
AVOID Washington Blvd. through downtown Ogden.

Riverdale Road is full of potholes, deep potholes, very bad for your car.
Washington Blvd., the stretch through downtown Ogden has two sets of lines for the lanes. No one can be sure where they should be driving and it can get quite dangerous.

Time to write to the cities about these, it's totally unsafe in both places.

Baby Wears Daddy's Clothes

If you can handle the name of this site, you can find some funny t-shirts here. There are a few people in probably everyone's life that would laugh at these. Besides, warmer weather is coming, it's on its way, it's here! T-shirts are a necessary item. You can cover them with a light jacket if you plan to be outside when it gets colder later in the day. If you start early in the day, it's the perfect layer to strip down to. Seems like most people have something written on their shirts, it might as well be funny!

I enjoyed pulling out some of Big A's shirts from when he was little and putting them on HIS SON. That's so cute to see! Memories. Big A is 25 so these are from a l-o-o-n-g time ago. This past weekend, I dressed little D in a long Smurf thermal shirt that his daddy wore as a little one!

Hey!

I just read back over a couple of my posts and remembered that when I do these posts with links in them from advertisers, it works every time! I admit, my friend is the one who did them for me first, she knows what she's doing. She's not even 30 yet, she probably learned it right in school! Anyway, why is it so easy for the ads? That just takes a copy and paste, they tell you exactly where to do that and it works (almost) every time. Even when it takes a couple of tries, it works in the end. Their links always look more complicated than the ones I try to copy from the search bar though.

ENOUGH ABOUT THE COMPUTER. It's making my brain tired.

Tiny Phones and Renting Air

C.R. Morris from Cheaper By The Half Dozen left me a comment but I don't know what to do so I wrote a post about it. I managed to reply in the comment section of my OWN blog but how does that help her?
See, I would link her post but her title is totally different from what comes up in the search bar! I'm going to try it anyway, here goes:
Cheaper By The Half Dozen
My friend showed me how to make a link but it doesn't work in every situation. I don't know why. It's something about "alligator mouths" (that I call less than and greater than signs) and letter a's and parentheses and such.

Jocelyn left a message that said to link up with another site, that would be wonderful but I KNOW I don't know how to do that!

What C.R. told me is that she has a laptop, loves it and can take it everywhere! I still think I need something smaller, I had a laptop before. But maybe it's like cell phones - they used to be the size of a regular handheld, now you have to be careful not to drop it in your ear and lose it! A little laptop will be great.
She also said she has a wireless router. I have a router but it's not wireless, there are at least three wires hooked into it and it's hooked to another thing that has three wires in it. But they're different wires. Hmmm, at least I'm pretty sure one of them is the router.

How can I have a wireless provider anyway? What do you do, rent the airwaves around your laptop?! What happens if you walk around, do you rent a certain square footage? And how would anyone know which airwave signals my laptop is catching anyway?
Okay, I know that's not really how it works. You believe me, right?
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CLAIMER (as opposed to a disclaimer): Some of you may be dismayed at the number of computer illiterates clogging up cyberspace, but - here's the claim - it may just be me. I have several blogs and don't quite know how to run them. Maybe you just keep running into me.

Blogging is a lot of fun, reading them and writing them. I will eventually learn how to remember which name to use for comments (user name? sign in name? blog name? And which blog am I writing from this time anyway?) so I can comment on all the blogs I love to go to. At least I hope I'll soon learn, I have Notepad full of notes waiting for me to figure it out.
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My Baby Is Bigger Than Me!

The last one! The baby, the little one, my precious and beautiful small angel is no longer small - at all! Two weeks ago, he was still a bit shorter than me but last night...last night.
We were standing face to face, laughing about something and I realized it, that not only was I not looking just slightly down but not even eye to eye! He's taller by the width of a finger.

It caught him by surprise too, he was pretty excited to join all his brothers in dwarfing Mom. We had to run over to our measuring place on the wall and see it in writing. This is truly the end of an era for me. There are others coming because this baby is my LAST baby. Everything he does will be the last time one of my babies does it.

That sounds like it could be sad but I'm actually quite excited about it. It's just so COOL!!

Where Do I Put My Other Computer?

When we first moved in here a few months ago, I had an 8-foot long white heavy duty fold-up table. My parents had it in their house for a while with two or three computers on it (theirs, ours, and my nieces'); the children played there, worked there, it was great. My mother wasn't thrilled about the looks of it but it fit perfectly along the dining room wall under the window, it was also out of sight of visitors coming in the front door.
Eventually I got the table, then by a fluke brought it with me (it was the perfect size to act as a support for my household goods when packed in a moving pod), and set it up right in my living room. Here we had my two computers, various game components and consoles, printers, wires, books, papers, baby toys started accumulating...are you getting the picture?
The table is now in my son's storage and the computers, etc. are on shelves and entertainment centers I finally got out of MY storage after about 5 or 6 years. The problem with this is my computer is tucked into a little sideways slot on a huge display shelf setup, I can't even describe it. It actually works pretty well, my rocking chair is my computer chair! :-)

However. My OTHER computer has nowhere to go. It's not that big of a loss I guess because it shuts off after 30 minutes max due to overheating. But sometimes I still want to play (work?) online while D needs the computer for schoolwork. I've considered a laptop but am not quite sure if I can connect it upstairs in my room. If it has to stay downstairs, I may as well try to fix my other one. But I just found a site about laptop rental . I had never considered that. Forget buying one and finding out I can't use it after spending lots of money on it. This is a possibility. I can even try different brands and styles to find out what I really like first. This is sounding better and better, when you spend a lot of time on the computer, the setup needs to fit you well!

The Things They Remember

This weekend, my little granddaughter (little A) went with her mother and some of that family to the Disney Princess Ice Capades! I'm sure this will be a thrill for her and I'm happy she gets to go. When I discussed it with my oldest son (Big A), he said he remembers when I took him and his brothers to Disney On Ice; he still remembers that and it was about 20 years ago! So I'm very happy for my little A to have this chance, her mom watches out for ways to pet, pamper, and spoil her which is the proper thing to do! :-)
The funny thing about my son remembering is his main memory is of the cups we bought our snow cones in, he can still describe them. And so I reached up into a cabinet and pulled down...THE CUPS! I had just found them in storage and run them through the dishwasher that morning. He just smiled.

Everyone's Getting "Decked Out"

Everyone's talking about jewelry lately; that may have something to do with a jewelry party someone's sister-in-law just gave. I rarely wear jewelry myself but I love it anyway! Back in SC, I signed my niece and I up for a jewelry making class - well, I considered it. It would have been wonderful, I don't even remember why I didn't ever take her. I think it's because I panicked at the thought of trying to be creative. They had a lot of options, it was for making REAL jewelry, your own creation. Oh, yeah, that's exactly why we didn't go, all my fault, I couldn't even design what I wanted to make at home before the class and the people weren't really instructors - they just made sure you had what you needed. I needed far more than oversight, I needed close instruction, better yet, someone to make it FOR me! :-) It was a fascinating idea, I probably should have done it.

If you want designer jewelry made by someone who already knows what she's doing, you may want to check the site I just linked. There's no chance that at the end, you'll have a piece that is oohed and aahed over when someone thinks your five year old made it in kindergarten!

But still, trying to make my own would have been fun. I think.

I'm On To Her!

My friend S thinks she's fooling me but I'm on to her - she invites me over all the time, ostensibly to visit BUT...I always end up leaving with an armful of stuff! She thinks I haven't caught on, I know she feels there is too much stuff and junk in her house so DUH. She's using me to haul it away! And it doesn't feel so bad to get rid of stuff if your own friend can make good use of it. What she doesn't realize is that I fill her house when I get there and she's in another room - last night I sneaked in a rug...

We have a symbiotic relationship...

I Like Dilbert Comics

My friend told me she hates Dilbert comics but I usually love them. Like this one where Dogbert and Dilbert are sitting outside having a 'philosophical' discussion:
Dogbert - Isn't it stupid that the world economy is based on gold?
Dilbert - Yeah...no matter how advanced civilization gets, we still use rocks for money.
Dogbert - The dumb part is using a rock that's so hard to find.

That one's from Shave The Whales (by Scott Adams of course).

Same book, same characters, same setting, different day:
Dogbert - I have a stupid question.
Dilbert - There are no stupid questions.
Dogbert - That's ridiculous...if there are no stupid questions then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions?

Since I just got so much stuff out of storage, this is one of my treasures - boxes full of books, comics, school books, scripture studies, dollhouse catalogs, this is great!

Where Was This When I Needed It?

Now this is something I wish I'd found a few years ago when I was traveling the country in my RV with the boys! I always had to find an RV park or campsite or a library to go online. It was often okay but I could have used this so many times and ways! I could have been working online instead of always stopping for a few months somewhere to get a job, build up savings and then take off again. It would have helped greatly with homeschooling the boys while we traveled too. It's a mobile router and it allows you to be online in a moving vehicle (even a boat!). It's for other things as well, but this is the first thing that came to my mind, I really, REALLY could have used it. I just don't think it was available 'back then'. I would have had to try hooking my laptop to my little cell phone and that didn't seem feasible. Of course, it WAS but it felt odd.
Next time I go on an extended RV trip, I WILL have one of these!

Utah Idaho Supply store

This is not a safe place for me to be - they have books, they have school supplies, they have educational toys for little angels. I spent so much money the other day, now I have to go be embarrassed and return some of it. I really didn't need all that! It's just so hard not to buy all these things that will be 'just perfect' for whatever crosses my mind at the time.

I bought felt dolls and outfits for little A; she always loves to do the dress up games on the computer but I'm not comfortable with that. Anyway, I just wanted a simple set but ended up spending $20 because I had to buy one large set just to get a doll, then I had no choice but to buy the special princess dresses set - that was the whole point after all.
Then I bought an overly expensive toy food set - little K can make sandwiches to feed the big stuffed alligator. I like that better than him feeding toy men to it!
And THEN...yes, even more. I bought history workbooks, the whole reason I was shopping was to get a time line, I found it almost right away, then decided this whole set of books would be better because they included a pull out time line in each book. Now I have to spread all the history paraphernalia on the table and choose what I'm really going to use and return the rest. I think I wish I had gotten the time line. But the...see what I mean? My deadline is tonight to decide. Unfortunately, I'm the one who made the deadline and nothing will happen if I don't meet it! Maybe I'll ground myself - yeah, that would work! No bookstores for two weeks if I don't get this done tonight.
I bought a few other things as well, what can I say? I LOVE this place!

I Won! I Won!

On Ebay, I got what i wanted! That really doesn't count as winning since I had to pay, but I SO wanted to be sure I got this book series I bid on. It cost way too much but still less than any other way I could have gotten these books so it feels like a win to me! It's a kids' historical fiction series I plan to use for ds's history. History is the big problem here, he totally hates it but reading historical fiction seems to be helping a bit. I like it too, it gives atmosphere to the period and helps me follow the story of history so I can help him do the same.

There are entire curricula based on learning other subjects through literature: Sonlight, Beautiful Feet, Learning Language Arts Through Literature, others. Ds hates to read and hates history so I didn't consider these before. And now I'm just making my own, we'll see how well that goes. Kind of like reinventing the wheel I guess, but I never expected this to be the way that would work. Part of being a mother, isn't it, having to change your mind and methods all the time as the kids change?

On The Way To Cali

California, that is. My newest grandbaby, a boy, was due Leap Year Day! He still isn't here though, he's holding on so he can have a birthday more than once every four years! I'll be going out there soon i hope. It's about a 12-14 hour drive i believe so I'll probably want to stop for the night. Where am I considering? Some little roadside motel in the desert? NOT! This will be a celebration trip and what better place than LAS VEGAS?! I don't gamble but that is so unimportant, there is so much going on there. Day or night, doesn't matter a bit. So far, every time i've gone through Vegas, I and whoever I was traveling with would wander around and explore the sights and shows, find a good restaurant, and then...go sleep in the camper in the parking lot!

Well, not this time. Las Vegas has some incredible places to stay and they don't always charge exorbitantly for staying - they know they'll get your money from gambling or shows! I'm looking into hotels in Las Vegas and prefer to book with a place that specializes in Las Vegas. I can't check the dates yet because the baby hasn't made his grand entrance (exit!?) quite yet. As a matter of fact, I think I'll go call my son right now!

Don't Have To Be In Utah For This...

My friend talked me into something today, she didn't have to try very hard. It doesn't matter where you live, doesn't matter how many littles you have at home, married or not, this is something we should all do:

***GET A MASSAGE ***

It was wonderful, marvelous, so relaxing, so indulgent! This was my first "professional" massage. I've had plenty of massages before; my mother, my friend, my husband (at that time), my boys have all done my back and I've done theirs in return. The boys really didn't often massage my back, i taught them to walk on my neck and back. Now the last one is too heavy but I'm working on training the grandbabies! They have to learn to balance, where to step, that they may NOT jump, drop onto their little knees...now is the time to teach them because when they jump or just drop suddenly, right now it doesn't matter, they don't weigh much. That also means they don't weigh enough to really feel them up there on my back but that was my excuse for such decadent indulgence today!!

The Treehouse

What can i say but The Treehouse is a wonderful place! Kids stay entertained there for hours and hours! I can take a book if i want and read while my granddaughter is happily and educationally entertained. Mostly i follow her around but on occasion it's good to lead her to something and discuss it with her. She enjoys finding out things. She loves the doll section and the dollhouse but was happy to listen to me for a few minutes discussing the different types of dolls and who they represent. Since she's four, she's enthralled with princesses and is therefore ready and willing to hear the history stories available upstairs with the throne, costumes and all that.

Now I have to get my son there so my 2 year old grandson can go too. I can't imagine taking them both at once with just me! They'll immediately head off in five different directions at once - and there are only two of them!