Christmas Surprise

I wrote a while ago about my "Tool of the Month" club that I had for myself. When I bought my last tools, I happened to see a nice toolbox that I thought might be a good way to take care of my tools and keep them nice and neat. So I jokingly told Nicki and Cory that I would like a tool box for Christmas.

Today the kids were home and Cory walks in with a nice big box and I thought "oh goody, I'm getting my toolbox" and sure enough, I got it. We finished opening all the gifts and I walked out into the kitchen to start working on supper when Cory walked up to me and said "come on out to the garage to open the rest of your gifts". I couldn't imagine what he was talking about until I walked out and saw too more bigger boxes sitting on the garage floor. He had bought me the complete set! Turns out if you bought the top and bottom, they would throw in the middle section for free.

Boy am I ever going to have fun now with the "tool of the month" club!

(Also Note I already have a blue hard hat)

Merry Christmas

Things are just a bit hectic this week and I don't know if I'll find the time or the energy to write before Christmas arrives so here is my Christmas Greeting to all who happen to visit this blog.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years

Peace On Earth the Angels Sang

Some people say that Christmas is about memories. I'm happy to have many wonderful memories of Christmas Past. One of my favorite memories is of the angel that always topped our family tree when I was a child. One of my fondest memories was the year my Dad put a little speaker in our tree and hooked it up to his reel to reel tape player. From another room we were able to speak into a microphone and talk through the tree as if we were the angel on the top of the tree. I still remember watching my little cousin looking up at the angel and thinking the angel was truly speaking to her. It's a silly little memory but I still remember the look of wonder in that little girl's eyes (sorry, but I can't remember if it was Sharon or Patty, I'm sure Sue was too big to fall for it) as she listened to the angel call her by name.

Years later when I married, my husband and I picked out a top for our first Christmas tree we picked an angel. He had grown up in a house that used a star on the top of their tree, but I really wanted to have an angel so we found a pretty little angel which topped our tree for over 30 years. When my parents stopped putting up a tree, I wanted to put up the old angel but my husband insisted that our tree be topped with the angel we had picked out. I was touched that it meant so much to him. A few years later I found out that the angel meant more to him then I did and we divorced. My first Christmas alone (well, he was still living in the house at the time) I put up the tree and after a trip over to my Mom's to get the old family angel, she moved to the top of my tree. Now each year that I place that lovely old angel on the tree, my heart melts just a little with memories of my childhood.

This year I was having a hard time with putting up any decorations. I do believe it was because I've been so busy with my two jobs and limited time to really prepare for the fast approaching holidays. The thought of putting up that big tree was rather overwhelming. Then I had a bright idea of seeing if I could put up half of the tree! Well, thinking and doing are usually pretty different for me and I wondered if I would actually do it. Today was an early dismissal from school for the younger grades, so I took the day off from Aspire to do all my runs at school. I had some time this afternoon and down to the cellar I went to see if I could indeed use just half the tree and sure enough, it looked like it would work! I put up the tree and then headed back to work for one more run. I returned home a short time later and started decorating my little tree. How nice not to have to climb on a stool to reach the top of the tree to "throw" the lights around it. Maybe now I can really start feeling the holiday spirit!

My Thanksgiving Weekend

I tried to publish this yesterday but alas, it wouldn't post. So I will try to remember what I wanted to say yesterday. I'm pretty forgetful you know!

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I had planned to leave on Wednesday to stay at a friends in PA that night which is about halfway to Nicki's home. At about 1pm on Wednesday, I got a call from Dana, my daughter-in-law (she will always be my daughter-in-law really, even though she and Cory are divorced) asking me if I still wanted to take Mason with me to Nicki's as Dana was very sick and decided she wasn't going out of town. So I said, Sure. I finished up work, kept Mason on the bus with me, we packed up the car and away we went. We spent the night at my friend's home then traveled on to Nicki's Thursday morning after waiting out some freezing rain.

We had a nice and relaxing Thanksgiving dinner and the rest of the weekend was a delight. On Friday Mason stayed with Uncle Rick and Sean while Nicki and I went out to lunch with friends Steven and Brian and Steven's parents, Gene and Beulah who are from Eden, NY. We had met last year so it was nice to see them again. On Saturday, Nicki, Mason and I went to "Blockheads Burrittos" for lunch, a new Mexican style restaurant in New Platz with the theme of Sock Monkeys. I admit I don't get the connection, but still fondly possess my own sock monkey from many years so. We had a great meal and then did a little grocery shopping. When we returned home, Mason went shopping with Uncle Rick so they could buy another "Monster Truck" for them to destroy as they did the day before.

Saturday night, Nicki and I went to the Bradstan in White Lake, NY to enjoy an evening of Cabaret in the Nancy LaMott Room. Playing the piano that night was Nicki's friend Steven, who also sang along with his partner, Brian, Scott who is the owner of the Bradstan, and one of the servers, Beth. The music was wonderful and we enjoyed some yummy desserts and drinks. This was my second time to enjoy music at the Bradstan and I certainly hope to enjoy many more evenings there in the future.

http://www.bradstancountryhotel.com/

Sunday morning Mason and I packed up the car and headed for home. After talking to Dana again on the cell phone, we agreed that Mason should spend Sunday night at my house because Dana was still in the contagious stages of the strep. On our way home, we meet up with my friend Bob and his friend Everett. It was such a wonderful day, they were out riding. It was the first time I got to see Bob back on his bike after his accident last fall.

After saying good bye to Bob, once again Mason were on our way towards home, getting there before 4PM. We unpacked the car, made supper, then waited for Cory and Krista to arrive home from their week long trip to AZ to visit with Cory's father. Mason was so happy to see his Daddy and vice versa. We had a nice dinner, then they got to play for a while.

Mason was a real trooper about getting up so early to get ready to go to work with me and of course it was a blast to have Mason ride on my bus for three out of four of my bus runs. But I could also tell how happy he was to see his Mom after be away from her for almost a week. Ah, another grand adventure for Mason and Me. Now I am looking forward to spending Christmas with everyone at my house! I sure hope the weather allows us to be together!

Tool Of The Month Club

When I first learned that I was going to be living on my own, I decided I needed to get some tools so that I would be able to at least attempt some minor repairs myself around the house once all "his" tools had moved away. The first thing I got was a cordless screwgun/drill. The first project was putting barrel slide locks on the two garage doors that didn't lock closed. My next tool was more simple, a nice 25' ruler. Then came the rachet set. Pieces always seemed to disappear from that, but I usually found them later mixed in with Cory's tools. I believe the shop vac came next then the tools buying ended for a while. Cory was living here more and his tools moved in with him. Now Cory is living with his girlfriend and I'm assuming the tools will move again. So I have decided to start up the Tool of the Month Club once again. So last week I went out and got my first set of screwdrivers. Because it had been so long since I bought anything, I splurged and got some stuff for the air compressor also. I have picked out a tool box and then perhaps a work light on a drop cord. Then I have looked at a powerwasher at times also. And to think they say that only men enjoy looking at tools!

Did you vote?

Never in my life have I felt so unsure about voting. Seemed like almost everyone running in the local elections were a bunch of liars and scoundrels. I even thought about not voting at all.

I was able to vote for the first time when I was 19, recently married and pregnant with Nicki. The voting age had just been dropped from 21 to 18 and I couldn't wait to get into the voting booth. I never missed voting after that, until last year. I had slipped into a funk and just didn't bother to vote.

Today I worked both of my jobs then rushed to the drug store to pick up some cold medicine (sniffle, sniffle) then decided to go pick up a few groceries. As I drove up to town, instead of making the left turn to head to the grocery store in Alden, I turned right and went to the polling location. We have six districts in my little town and of course I can never remember which district I am in. I walked into the room with districts one and two figuring two sounded good to me. I walked into the room, had several people smile and wave and I just said nice and loud, "I'm not sure where I should be". Within seconds I was directed to district four in the next room.

As I walked to the doorway for my district, I notice an old friend from town studying the election selections. I stopped to say "Hi" and Donna proceeded to tell me that she had been talking about me the night before to someone that knew and worked with my Dad years ago. She couldn't remember her name but when I asked her if it was someone who worked with Dad at Lusterprint, she said yes, that was it. After comparing a couple more notes, we confirmed that it was someone name Nicki that was a secretary in the late 60's.

Now here is the story. I fell in love with the name Nicole years before I was pregnant, but kept wondering what nickname would you use for that name. Then one day Dad came home from work and told us about a new secretary whose name was Mary. If I remember correctly, there already was a lady working there name Mary, so they took the 2nd Mary and called her Nicki because her last name, which I can't spell, started with Nicki. Then one day I went to work and met Nicki. She was so beautiful. Long dark hair, tall and slim. I knew right away that I would someday have a daughter called Nicki.

Flash ahead a couple years. I have my daughter, Nicki (Nicole) on March 2, 1972. The next day Dad goes to work and says to Nicki, "something nice happened to you yesterday" thinking how surprised she will be to know that I had named my daughter Nicki after her. Before he got to tell her, Nicki replied, "yes, I know, it was my birthday". Imagine our surprise to think that my daughter Nicki was born on Nicki's birthday!

So when I try to tell Donna this story at the polling place, she had already heard it the night before from Nicki! Just another small world story I guess.

While standing there talking to Donna, another lady walked in that I hadn't seen in a couple years. We quickly caught up on each other's lives.

Now it was time to get into the voting booth. When I walked up to district four's table, everyone seemed to know me, especially after Sally W, (a neighbor) mentioned how they had seen my mother earlier in the day and that she had made them all laugh. Then I was told my number was #200 and next thing I hear is that Mom was #100. Geez, what are the chances. So after we all have a bit of a chuckle, I went into the booth to vote.

I looked at all the names, remembered the ads I had heard and seen in recent weeks and started pushing the levers after making the best possible decisions I could on the information I had. I'm registered as an independent and when I was done, I noticed that I didn't follow any party lines which pleased me to know that I don't just pick a person by what party endorses them.

Out of the voting booth with another stop to talk to a gentleman I have known much of my life. We exchanged pleasantries and then it was out the door and to my car to finally head to the grocery store.

I couldn't stop smiling. I had voted in another election, hopefully picking the best people for the jobs and had seen some people that I hadn't seen in a while to catch up on the latest news. Wow, voting can be fun! Now I just have to wait until the morning to see who won their elections. I already feel like I won! I voted and visited.

A Woman Should Have......

Written by Pamela Redmond Satren and published in Glamour in May of 1997

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
one old love she can imagine going back to...
and one who reminds her how far she has come...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own
even if she never wants to or needs to…
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
something perfect to wear if the employer or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour…
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a youth she's content to leave behind.…
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age....
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ......
a set of screwdrivers,
A cordless drill, and
A black lace bra…
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
one friend who always makes her laugh...
and one who lets her cry…
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family…
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
eight matching plates,
wine glasses with stems,
and a recipe for a meal that will make her guests feel honored..
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
a feeling of control over her destiny…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to fall in love without losing herself...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
How to quit a job,
Break up with a lover,
And confront a friend without ruining the friendship…..
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
when to try harder… and when to walk away…..
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves,
The width of her hips,
or the nature of her parents…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that her childhood may not have been perfect...but its over…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do for love or more…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to live alone...
Even if she doesn't like it…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table...
or a charming inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she can and can't accomplish in a day… a month...and a year...

Veggie Tales

Have you ever heard of Veggie Tales? It's a wonderful series of movies and programming for children with a religious/spiritual angle. Stars of the show are Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber (I am not a pickle) along with others, such as Pa Grape, Jr Asparagus, Madame Blueberry, the French Peas and Mr Lund, just to name a few. Each show has a theme which is told through a funny story with a silly song performed as an intermission. I have gotten a number of these videos, dvd and cd's for my grandsons, Sean and Mason. I find it funny that they both seem to like the same silly songs with "Where's my Hairbrush" and "I Love My Lips" being amoung their very favorites.

Here is one of my favorite songs from one of the CDs. It's makes me a little teary whenever I hear it, because it touches my heart so much.

Think of me Everyday

Hold tight to what I say

And I'll be close to you

Even From far away

Know that where ever you are

It is never to far

If you think of me, i'll be with you

Going to keep warm this winter

I'm a person who likes it on the cool side. Heat really bothers me. During the winter I never wear gloves and usually just layer on the sweaters and don't bother with jackets to often. I use firewood to heat my house for the most part having a fireplace insert which blows nice warm air into the livingroom. I keep the bedroom and bathroom doors closed during the day to keep the warmer air in the livingroom and hallway to keep the thermostats from kicking on the heat. When I go into my bedroom at night, sometimes it's only in the upper 40's. A couple years ago I happened to have a little heater fan move into my bedroom which I kept on a timer so my room would be heated up a bit before I went in to bed, then it would turn off a little while after I fell asleep. It worked out really well, then one night it start acting up so I turned it off and planned to replace it in the fall. When I finally got around to unplugging the little heater from the timer, I found that the timer had actaully melted! I don't know if the timer was faulty or if the heater had caused the problem. Regardless, it was rather scary. I had no idea how old this heater fan was as I got it used.

Yesterday I got out shopping and stopped at Lowes to look for a new and improved fan and came across this one. It has two speeds plus an automatic thermostat setting, it oscillates, has a timer for 1 hour up to 8 hours and even has a remote control! When I got it home and set it up I couldn't believe the heat that came from it. I did put it on for a little while last night when I went to bed, but it wasn't really that cold in the bedroom so with the remote control, I turned it off. I guess it's just a new fun tool for me to use in my home!

I DID IT!!!!!!!!!

After two and half years of classes, study and training, training, training, my friend Jody and I became Certified 19-A Examiners in the state of New York. For those of you who don't know what that means, we can now do certain tests on bus drivers that are required annually or biennually by New York State. I won't be using these skills so much at Iroquois but it was one of the conditions of getting the job at Aspire that I would be successful in getting certified.

It was a very long day with the DMV examiner showing up about 9:45AM and not leaving us until about 2:20PM. We started by taking a 100 question test which I wasn't as prepared for as I thought I should be. We had been lead to believe that the test would be more heavy on CDL (Commerical Driver's License) questions but turned out about 1/3 of the test were 19-A related. Of course I had concentrated on the CDL part and did very well on that part. I ended up getting an 83, (80 was passing). Jody, who was sure she would blow it got an 89, Way to go Jody!

Next we each had to have a vision test then we had to drive to show our skills behind the wheel, then it was sitting in the examiner's seat and testing a fellow driver's skills. (Thanks Laura for taking all day to help us out!). We then spent time discussing our strengths and weaknesses. It really was very informative.

I'M JUST GLAD IT'S OVER!!!!!!!!

So now I can really say that I'm certifiable!

A little of this, A little of that

One of my hobbies is knitting but I don't seem to have much time to get much done. During the "October Surprise Storm" I had the time and the yarn do I made myself a pair of slippers. Mason liked them so I made him a pair also. His feet are so little compared to mine, it took no time at all to finish his pair.

I like having interesting looking rocks in my garden so Cory brought me neat turtle rock that he found on one of his job sites. You can't tell from the picture, but this rock is about two feet wide and looks like it's "conjoined". I'm hoping to someday have a quiet, peaceful, tranquility garden that this rock will reside in someday.

I finally took a walk back beyond the barn to the "lower 40" the other day with Nicki and Mason. Cory had been concerned about any damage done to some of our favorite trees including two large old tulip trees and a stand of maples. When we got back there it was a relief to see they survived with no damage. It was also good to see that a buttonwood tree had also escaped the storm with no damage. This is the area that Cory has his bonfires and so when I saw this burned tree trunk and roots with the new growth of weeds it made me smile to think that even after the destruction of the storm or in this case the bonfire, there is always new growth and restored beauty.
I have a theme party every year. "David" was given to me at the first party in 2004 and he has attended each party since. After a few drinks, he usually gets dressed. Some people might think it's a waste of good vegetables but we all thought it was pretty funny. I wonder how we will abuse him next year?

A New Song I Like

Ok so I'm writing twice in one day, it isn't against the law is it?????

I got around to listening to the rest of the new to me Four Bitchin' Babes CD this afternoon. As always, there seems to be words to one song that stand out to me. Here is this CD's song.

The Choice by Megon McDonough

When you gettin' married girl, when you comin' home

When you gonna wake up and get out on your own

Oh the whole world seems to push you every way but up

And tells you choices are like diamonds and only one's enough

Margie's got decisions now that she's gotta make

She really wants it all she says, but what's it gonna take

Her mother always told her it's husband or career

And then handed her a briefcase and a lace brassiere

Some women give the world babies

Some women give the world songs

All women give the world beauty

That's what rights so many wrongs

So you drive yourself to happiness then back for heaven's sake

Wearing Wonder Woman's bracelets, your initials on her cape

You're takin' on America before goin' overseas

When askin' for your place my dear just say pretty please

Some women give the world sugar

Some women give the world spice

All women give the world courage

It's what come from asking twice

Look there's someone in the picture He's wonderful He's great

He tell you not to worry He's patient he can wait

His mother send you recipes And patterns for a quilt

You mother sends you phone bills of encouragement and guilt

Oh some women give the world laughter

Some women give the world tears

All women give the world feelings

It gives meaning to the years

Oh, some women give the world babies

Some women give the world songs

All women give the world beauty

It's what rights so many wrongs

Let's talk about music

I recently picked up a 30gig iPod. Of course shortly after I got my iPod, the price dropped! The biggest problem I see with the iPod is all the really neat gadgets and gizmos that go along with it. Some of them are worth the money and some aren't. One thing I just got this week is definitely worth the money, especially when I got it on sale! Below is pictured the ifunsion speaker docking system. I'm very impressed with the sound quality. Yesterday I set it up on the front porch and turned it up nice and loud for us to listen too while working in the front yard cleaning up. I bought this originally to have for traveling so I could have my tunes with me in a motel room without having to be hooked up to the iPod by earphones. Of course now that my travel season is drawing to a close, I'm sure I'll find many more uses for this great iPod accessory! I have over 2000 tunes loaded on the iPod, anything from oldies to jazz, heavy metal to folk. And of course for Mason and Sean, Veggie Tales.

Nicki was home this weekend so we were able to do one of our favorite activities - shopping at a media store. Nicki picked up a book and one CD and I walked out with 2 DVDs (The Phantom of the Opera and Hamlet) and six CDs. Since getting the iPod, I find that I am listening to a lot more music so I just couldn't resist picking up some CDs that I had wanted to add to my collection.
From left to right, starting in back, Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet featuring Take Five. I can remember trying to learn to play Take Five many years ago for an piano lesson. I never really knew much about jazz having been raised on Classical and Country music. As I "aged", I have always tried to expand my knowledge of different types of music and jazz was one that I have grown to enjoy over the years. Back when Nicki was still in college but home for the summer, we were able to see Dave Brubeck in concert and all I can say is WOW! This particular album was recorded in 1959, it's been remastered and contains his most requested music. Nicki picked up a copy for her collection also.

In the center is Four Bitchin' Babes with it's original members in a recording from 1993. This is the first time I've ever bought a CD from the Used CD portion of a store. To be honest, I haven't had the time to listen to this whole CD but I'm sure that I'll enjoy it when I do.

On the right is another jazz artist, Lee Ritenour's album Overtime. I became a Lee Ritenour fan when hearing his music played at a Media Play store. I heard the music, recognizing the classical music "Pavane". I walked out of the store with the CD and was hooked in no time at all.

The bottom CDs from left to right are The Ultimate Peter & Gordon collection, Peter, Paul & Mary Platinum Collection and The Very Best of Chad & Jeremy. It seems the older I get, the more I enjoy listening to the music I grew up with. I was a huge fan of the British groups and the harmonies of Peter & Gordan and Chad & Jeremy hold good memories for me. I was and still am a fan of folk music and what collection would be complete without Peter, Paul & Mary? I had some of their later works but wanted to get the earlier stuff.

I have updated my Wish List at Amazon.com as five of these six CDs were listed on it. I wonder how long it will take me to get the rest?

Many things to be thankful for

While surviving the five days with no power and listening to talk radio with the majority of people calling and complaining, I decided I needed to write down the things I was thankful for during the recovery from the "October Surprise Storm"

1. Having Elma water - never had to boil it
2. Having natural gas so I could cook
3. Mason coming over and staying for a couple days
4. Having my new camera cell phone to use when the batteries were low in my digital camera
5. Being able to charge my cell phone in my car
6. Getting my hair cut short on Monday so it dried faster without a hairdryer
7. Having just enough batteries to keep the walkman going
8. Enough snow to use to keep food cold
9. Family was all safe
10. Extension on school tax payment
11. No damage to house or contends
12. Sunshine to warm the house
13. My son, Cory, works for a tree service
14. As bad as trees are, they could have been damaged worse
15. Glad I cancelled my motorcycle trip to WV I was suppose to take that weekend
16. Warm enough to ride motorcycle that Monday
17. Hearing from my sister in AZ
18. Phone calls from PABob
19. Snowday pay from school
20. Personal time pay from Aspire
21. WBEN-AM radio for keeping updated
22. Plenty of candles to light the house at night
23. Enough yarn to knit some projects, warm cozy slippers for Mason and me
24. Caught up on magazine reading (Flash and Skin & Ink - Tattoo magazines)
25. Being able to text message Nicki or Cory whenever I wanted to send updates
26. Name for next year's theme party - October Surprise Storm Commemorative Bonfire
27. Making S'mores in the fireplace for Mason and me
28. Plenty of food that wouldn't spoil
29. Thankful I prefer cooler temperatures
30. Seeing the first NYSEG Truck pull up in front of the house on day 5
31. Seeing violets and dandelions blooming in the yard when snow melted
32. Having a neighbor girl taking pics of my trees for a school project
33. Finally knowing the freezer will be cleaned out
34. Finally getting mail service again
35. Getting a package that contained a new electronic gizmo and arriving fully charged so I could play with it before power came on

I'm sure if I took more time I would come up with many more things that I was thankful for but I thought this was a pretty good list. Now that the worst is over and life has begun to return to normal, I just hope that no matter what happens in the future, I remember to always look for the positive things in life.

It has been forever since I lost posted to this blog as life has been crazy. Then this past week was our "October Surprise Storm" in Western New York as the media calls it. I was without power from Thrusday evening at 11:30PM until 4:00PM on Tuesday. Lost lost almost all the food in both my freezer downstairs and the freezer upstairs in my fridge. I probably won't bother with an insurance claim as I'm sure the amount lost will be less then my deductiable anyway. This seems so minor after hearing of the deaths that are related to the storm.

I'm really too tired to write to much tonight but will share some pics including a pic taken from my bus Thursday afternoon as I drove to pick up students in Hamburg, NY. That is not the sun in the clouds but a reflection of my the light/flash in my cell phone camera.

My Heros! Of this crew, only one guy was local. They were taking a coffee break in front of my house so I took them a banana bread as a very small token of my appreciation for all their hard work and long hours. They joked that I didn't have to bribe them with food, that they planned on turning my power on anyways. They said it would take just a few minutes and they were right! I'm also thankful to the Time Warner guys working in other places that got our cable up and running just before the electric came on.

Weekend Visitors

I had some visitors this weekend. Mason was here Friday night and Saturday with his Dad. We just hung out around the house Friday night. Saturday morning Mason went to work with his Daddy then came home to play for a while before he and I went to a pumpkin patch party at the home of our friends, Dave, Laura and Clate Williams. After enjoying sitting around the campfire and having hamburgers and hotdogs it was time for everyone to enter the huge pumpkin patch to claim your favorite pumpkin. You just stood by your pumpkin until Dave came to cut the vines away.

On Sunday while watching TV I notice there was something in the doublehung window behind the TV. Right away I recognized it as a bat so naturally I took pictures. There is a small opening where he was able to get in. He moved around quite a bit during the day then sometime around 7PM he flew out to get his evening fill of bugs. I tried to close up the storm window better but wasn't successful. It will be interesting to see if he returns in the morning or if he will head back to the barn or behind the basketball backboard where I know there are a number of bats. I also believe they are living above the garage ceiling as there sometimes are droppings in the middle of the garage floor which I now know are bat droppings.

Let's Discuss Books

I have a little down time in between bus routes and so I'm getting some reading done. I'm ashamed to say it took me about six months to read a very entertaining book by Isabelle Allende called "Zorro". It was very good but I just didn't seem to sit and read much, and basically not at all during the summer. When I went in for jury duty a couple of weeks ago, I had just finished "Zorro" so took along the book "The Falls" by Joyce Carol Oates. WOW! what a great book. JCO is from the western New York area so many of her books take place in this area, with liberal use of artistic licenses moving towns to areas that suit her story a bit better. I just find it fun being able to picture the locations in her novels.

"The Falls" begins in the early 1950's and ends in the late 1970's. Her characters are always so complex, some lovable, some not so nice but even when you think some characters are completely nuts, you still care about them. This book includes the story of "Love Canal" and the ramifications of it, even if they didn't live there. The main thing I have learned is that JCO's writing isn't always happy. She will take twists and turns that make me sad and then I worry if it will be resolved in the end. Of course my favorite part of reading her is that Nicki reads her also and then we can discuss the book later. I'll be borrowing Nicki's copy of "Blonde" when I'm visiting next week. It's the story of Marilyn Monroe.

My favorite author is John Irving. I have read all his books, some of them three times. My favorites are "Hotel New Hampshire", "The World According to Garp" and "A Prayer for Owen Meany". Here are copies of them. I especially like the small hardback version of Garp because of the picture of JI on the cover.

I could go on for hours talking about Irving books. Let me just say that his characters are incredible. I fall in love with all of them, caring about them and sometimes having my heart broken when their lives fall apart. The main thing about JI is that no matter how tough things get in his stories, you can always see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how bad things get, they will get better. This is something I have had to accept in my life and I'm sure that what I have read in these books has taught me to look forward not backward.

Nicki says that sometimes she doesn't like to borrow my copies of JI's books because of all the highlighting I've done in them. She tries not to think about why a phrase moved me. I will admit, some of them are pretty painful. Heck, sometimes I reread a book and wonder myself where I was in my head when I highlighted something!

This is my shelf with most of my JI books. I started out with paperback and have added hardback books when I had the money.

Here is my "library" and part of my skunk collection. I love to own my books. I cannot bring myself to borrow books from the Library. I want to own them so I can take as much time or a little time reading as time allows. I also like to write in my books. When taking world literature from Dan Scanlon in high school, he taught me how to fill the margins with comments and to highlight phrases that struck me as important. When you read my JI books, you can tell how many times I have read them as I use a different color highlighter every time I read them. Each time I read them I get something different out of them because of where I am in my life.

JI's last book was called "Until I Find You" which has a main character of a church organist how has a full body suit of tattoos. I had always wanted to honor my love of JI with a tattoo based on his books. For years I struggled with what to get. When this book came out, I took one look at the cover and there it was! As with anything JI, I took this to mean that I'm still looking for myself as well as that special someone that I can have in my life that will love and understand me, accepting me for who I am and not trying to mold me into who they think I should be to suit their needs. When you come right down to it, that was something I had to work out for myself, accepting myself for who I am and loving myself. I think that I can honestly say that I'm finally getting to that point in my life. As I've said before "What a long strange journey it has been" phrased another way "WOW! What a ride it's been!"

I have nothing to say

Oh you! Stop laughing. I know you all think I always have something to say, but I'm just tired and want to have some supper! Hey, I told you to stop laughing.

Jury Duty

I've been called for Jury Duty every so many years ever since the early 1970's. At first I was able to get out of it because "I am a woman" and a new mother so didn't have to serve. Then the kids got older and being a woman wasn't an excuse any longer and I thought maybe serving on a jury would be interesting. Everytime I was called, I never had to appear as my number was too high so I was never needed. There was the one time I had to appear in Marilla Town Court for a criminal matter, but with only a 6 person jury needed, I didn't make the cut. I was called once for supreme court which I think would have been really interesting, but ended up never having to show up then either. So the other day I pick up my mail and there is another notice to appear and this time my number is pretty low. Monday I drove into downtown Buffalo, parked in a parking ramp and walked over to the court which wasn't open yet. It really didn't take me long to get into the city at all. I guess that also speaks to how few people head into Buffalo these days. First they called people for civil court and I wasn't selected. Then they called for a criminal trial and I wasn't called. Another criminal trial was called for Judge Penny Wolfgang and I thought, now there's a trial I would like to see as I have seen Judge Wolfgang on TV a number of times, but I wasn't called. Then another couple of groups were called and they were dismissed. We should have been the next group, but we were told to go to lunch and be back by 1:45PM. I stayed there reading my book and listening to music. Everyone came back and then suddenly they called another group. I figured my time was over, it was time to head for home. 36 of us gathered in one room and we were told we were to report the next day at 9AM as Judge Wolfgang needed more jurors. I can't say I was disappointed, maybe I would finally get to serve and in a court that should be interesting. The next day our group of 36 showed up again along with some of the jurors chosen the day before. About 10AM they made the announcement that we could go home as the defendent has taken a plea deal so they no longer needed us. I called Bev and we went to lunch and a few minutes of shopping then I went back to work at school. That night I had the news on and heard a report about a criminal taking a plea deal early that morning and realized it was the case I would have been going too. Turned out to be a 1st degree murder case of a man who broke into an older lady's home and killed her with a screwdriver and hammer. WOW, what a case that could have been! Here is the link to an article in the Buffalo News about the case http://buffalonews.com/editorial/20060920/9038646.asp

So now I don't have to serve for another 8 years. At least I came close this time.

Getting Ready for Winter

I hate to think about it but winter will be here before you know it. The Farmer's Almanac is predicting a harsh and below normal cold winter. Do we believe them? I guess we will just deal with whatever comes our way. I am starting to get ready though because Cory and Krista split some firewood today. I called the young man that usually stacks for me but this year he doesn't have time to help me out. So tonight I went out and moved a little bit of it. Between my back arthritis and sore legs, I figure it should take me about 6 months to move all the wood. Hmm, that's all fall and winter! Looks like I'll be moving all this wood twice, once into semi-neat piles and then into the house! This is five trailer loads in the backyard.

This is my pathetic start at stacking the wood. As you can see, Isabeau is NO help at all. Little did I know she was going to take a supervisory position.

Have I changed?

Today I drove 31 kids, boys and girls to a cross country invitational meet. I knew it was going to be a fairly long day so I had my lunch, a book to finish reading plus a new book to start, my iPod and my knitting.

I knew both the male coaches, one being a neighbor and the other had been my son's special ed teacher back when Cory was in 8th grade. Over the years I had taken this coach and his team to out of town/overnight track meets so I've known Tom for a quite a while. Today after everyone else got off the bus, Tom says to me, "you know, you just never change". I laughed and said, "oh yes, I've changed a lot". With that Tom was off the bus and on to his coaching duties.

Now of course, you know me, I got thinking about Tom's comment and how I think I've changed. And I have come to this conclusion. I'm a much happier person then what I use to be. This is sort of an odd thing to say really, but in many ways I find I'm a much more serious person and I feel like I don't laugh as much as I use to and yet I truly do believe I'm a happier person and more content with my life.

The other night I was sitting on the couch watching TV and I started thinking how I was sort of lonely. Then I thought back on my past and remembered all the nights I was lonely. I suddenly realized that yes, I'm lonely some nights but what I find now is that at least I'm not miserable! I also say there is a big difference between being alone and being lonely. Most nights I'm just alone, it's just an occasional night that I'm lonely and I know that emotion is just a normal thing and nothing to worry about.

So have I changed? Maybe not to most people, but I know myself that I have changed and I like the change. More serious? More responsible? Better suited to face life's challenges? More determined? More tired? Much more Happy? Yep, I'm that and much more. I'm well on my way to becoming the person I never had the chance to be. I even think that I've earned the tattoo I've been planning for the last couple years, I think I'm finally ready!!

(someday, maybe I'll explain why the mermaid is such an important image to me)

Four Bitchin' Babes

I'm just playing with the new beta version of Blogger and finally I'm able to load the picture from the Four Bitchin' Babes CD that I wrote about a while ago. I can't wait to get more of their CDs. I love how they use the cover art so much like one of the Beatles' albums. Another of the CDs is called Gabby Road and looks like the cover from Abby Road. I still highly recommend their music!

Pictures loaded at Last!

I did go on the ride Sunday to Kinusa Dam in PA. I met up with the WOW group and told them if I just disappeared, not to worry, I was just heading out on my own. I didn't care for the route they had picked and then the leader didn't seem to know where they were going, so when they pulled off the road, I passed them, went up to a scenic overlook I knew about just a few hundred yards up the road and let them turn around and leave. I ended up meeting a sweetest old couple sitting in their car eating breakfast. Turns out she had been a widow for 27 yrs when they started dating. This scenic overlook was where she liked to pray, so he started going there with her. He proposed to her there and they were married there and now eat breakfast there 3 or 4 times a week.

After leaving them, I headed to my more scenic route to Kinsua Dam. What a beautiful ride. The leaves haven't changed yet so traffic was very light. I reached the first dam overlook, stopped to take pictures, called Nicki to talk for a while, watched the WOW group ride by, then finally got back on the bike and headed down to the next overlook right next to the dam. Didn't find the WOW group there but did talk to a couple guys on bikes from OH. Next it was down to the parking area below the dam, no WOW group there either. I guess their idea of riding someplace is to ride by it and look without stopping. Oh well, their lose.

You can't get close to the bottom of the dam any longer, I assume because of security since 911. I decided to head back the same way I traveled down to Kinsua so I could take the pic below which is along RT 59, the route the dam is on. I took about 3 dozen pics during this stop. This one I'm going to put in my Venturer's calender contest.
These other pics were ones I wanted to post with an earlier post. Below is Cory and Mason on the bulldozer
The pool all winterized. I heard today that the farmers almanac is saying it's going to be a harsh and cold winter.
This is my new iPod player thingie in my car. I'll be trying it out in my bus also.
Cory's bonfire. The pic doesn't really show the scope of this fire, it's probably 20 feet across

Life is Amazing

I am constantly amazed with life. When I have thought that life was at it's darkest, suddenly the sun breaks through and I can see the light. Of course the darkest days were when I was adjusting to the thought of being divorced. Since I got over those fears, most of my dark clouds seemed to be about money and yet like the old saying, when a door closes, someone opens a window. Whether you think it's God or just the fates, I have been so blessed in the last couple of years.

A couple of years ago when I really didn't know how I was going to make it, a job jumped right into my lap and I became the secretary at the church where I play the organ during the winter. Besides the added money, it was just good for me to be busy with a new job. I had a lot to learn but I also had a lot to offer the job.

Things went pretty good for a while then once again my finances became a little scary. I didn't know what I was going to do about some bills when suddenly I get a phone call from a guy I know telling me about a job opening that I might want to look into. Sure enough, about a month later I got my job at Aspire of WNY. This job was really a step up for me as far a money but also was a management position.

Soon the job at church was beginning to suffer so in fairness to the church and to myself, I gave that job up. Then the job of head bus driver was coming up. I applied for the job and with my added skills that I had gained at Aspire, I thought I had a pretty good shot at it. I had a good interview then it was going to be a few weeks before a choice was announced. I start crunching numbers and looking at my lifestyle and I realized that I didn't want to be head bus driver. I would be giving up too much that I had worked for in my life, believe if or not. The day before the decision was going to be made, I sent a letter saying without a better rate of pay, I was no longer interested in the position. I had a couple phone calls after that and it became pretty clear that more money would not be offered. These phone calls also made it fairly clear that I was going to be offered the job. It was almost a relief to not have to think about learning a new job.

Then another phone call came from my boss from my Aspire job. He was resigning his position at Aspire to move into a position with a school district. Suddenly I wondered if I was still needed at Aspire. A few days later I happened to stop over to the office (I had been off there all week because of school opening). I was standing outside talking to Marge, the office manager, when Percy, the head of our building stuck his head out the door asking me to step into his office for a talk. Within a few minutes I was seated at the table in Percy's office and we were talking about my future with Aspire. I guess everyone was wondering if I knew that Jim was going to resign, which of course I didn't know, but also wasn't surprised. After talking to Percy for a while, we agreed to meet on Monday to discuss my future at Aspire. On Monday when we finally sat down and talked, I was offered to expand my hours to 20 per week spread out over 5 days. So far this is temporary until a new fleet safety manager is hired but it also could become permanent. So this means I won't be able to do any mid day runs at school, but Aspire pays me well enough to make up for that. At school I was offered and accepted a temporary late run while it's regular driver recovers from surgery, probably after November. It happens to be a very long run, many times taking over 2 hours to complete so this makes up for me losing extra runs. So at the present, I'm working about 50 hours per week and I'm still planning on doing my organist gig this winter.

So once again my finances are looking a bit brighter. I'm putting extra money into my motorcycle payments with plans of paying off the bike at least four months early. Then it's time to increase my payments on my home equity and start saving up for a new roof. I'm still conflicted about whether to take advantage of the tax incentive for the new windows this year or just save up to have more of a cushion in my bank account. I have also started a 403(B) account at Aspire which I think shows my committment to continue working there.

It's rather difficult for me to think back a couple of years when I didn't know if I was going to make it to finding out I can get by without out of a lot of things that I thought were important and to learn what is truly important and of course the most important things in life have no cost.

Yes indeed, life is truly amazing.

Weekend

The more I work, the more I want to just veg on weekends. But the more I work, the more I need to get things done around the house on weekends!

With the late run I'm doing at school this year for the next three months at least, I'm now working from 6:30AM until about 6:30PM and if I get more hours at Aspire, that will be 12 hour days, five days a week. At my age, I wonder how long I can keep it up! It sure does feel good to be back to work at school and driving. I have great routes this year again including my new afternoon primary run which has a very special student on it, namely my grandson Mason!

So you can see I've got a pretty wild schedule. Friday afternoon I was able to spend some time with my friend Bev as we went shopping at BJ's and then out to lunch for Chinese buffet, yummy. I did find a pretty neat gadget for my Ipod that I just hook up to my cigarette lighter, then I can simply place the iPod in it, tune the FM station in that I've selected on my iPod and we have tunes. This gizmo also charges the iPod so will be great for long trips and short trips as well.

Mason came over Friday as usual to spend the night with his Dad and me. We had pizza and wings for dinner. I had been mowing the lawn, a 3-4 hour project if I do part of my Mom's lawn and also I keep adding more lawn now that I have a repaired and fully functional riding mower. Mason fell asleep while waiting for the pizza/wings to be delivered. Friday was his first full day of school so he was pretty tuckered out.

Saturday morning, Cory had to go to work for a couple hours. Mason decided he just wanted Fruit Loops for breakfast so I didn't have to do the blueberry pancake thing as usual. I was trying to get some laundry done and cutting up a pineapple and make a banana bread to use up some old over-ripe bananas. Mason decided he would like to help, adding ingredients and peeling the bananas. Only a half of a banana ended up on the floor, but now that my house is remodeled, the floor is much safer to eat off, so we just washed the banana off. Mason thought that was pretty funny, I just thought it was practical. Cory called and asked if I would bring Mason over to his jobsite so they could spend more time together. After a quick drive, Mason was up in a bulldozer riding around with Dad and I went home to get more mowing done.

Saturday night was Cory's big annual bonfire. After some sprinkles and light showers the evening cleared but was fairly cold and damp. This was the first time I've been home for one of Cory's big fires and I even walked back to take some pics. I was in bed by midnight with plans of riding today with the local Women On Wheels (r) chapter. I'm still debating if I want to do that or just spend more time at home mowing and getting a few more things done around the house. It's a cloudy morning and rather cool so I'm not really in the mood for a big ride. Another thought is to just meet up with the group at their first stop and just riding to Springville with them to meet up with other members of the group. Then I could head home and get more done. This would be a two hour ride at least. Of course the big decision is always should I take the FJR or the Venture. I spent a number of hours loading another 600 tunes on my iPod yesterday so I know I have more good music to listen to no matter what I decide.

The pool is closed now so it's really beginning to feel and look like fall. The nights are getting darker so much quicker now. Cory is starting to cut up the firewood and will be splitting it soon.

Once again I'm not able to upload the pics. I'll try to post them later. Drats!

I'm Tired

I'm just a little too tired to update the blog. Hopefully this weekend I'll have time. I'm back to work with school starting on Wednesday with a very hectic schedule and also doing a late run which turns out to pay great but it really does go late. Also some very interesting things happening at Aspire after talking to my boss today when I stopped in for a few minutes. We are meeting on Monday to talk about my future at Aspire. It looks like maybe I'll be getting busier. Watch this space for more rambling.

Don't feel like Writing, HoHum

Between the weather and my aching back, I haven't felt like writing much lately. But at least this morning my back if finally feeling like it's really mending and the sky is a bit brighter today. I haven't had so many days to just veg in such a long time. I'm beginning to think that veggie isn't very good for me. I finished up my last knitting project, the lawn is all mowed, the house is semi-clean and don't have that much laundry to do, TV is mostly repeats and made all my phone calls. What is a girl to do?

Tuesday life should return to a more normal pace with school starting this week. Tuesday will be safety meetings at school and driving to get familiar with new routes. This past week I did a couple of nights work with Kindergarten orientation at two of our three primary schools. This year was lots of fun thanks to my grandson Mason attending school this year. I'm even going to be his afternoon bus driver! I can't wait to be able to see him just about every day. Here is a picture of Mason with his Mom and Dad at orientation. Cory and Mason's Mom are divorced but get along pretty well so they can share in these special times together as a family. I also was able to give Mason his first ride on a school bus. I made them sit in the front seat, more or less as a joke as Cory spent so much time in the front seat of his bus, being the trouble maker that he was.

Next week I will return to my other job at Aspire of WNY. This past Wednesday I learned that my boss had quit his job to move on to a new job at Williamsville Central School. So now I'm wondering what will happen for me at Aspire. Now that Jim is gone, will they decide I'm not needed or will they decide I can get more hours now, would they even consider me for the job as Safety Manager? Once again my options seem to be staring me straight in the face and asking me, "Ok, how are you going to handle what life is throwing at you now?" Should I reconsider taking the head bus driver job at school instead? What I have decided for now it just to take a wait and see attitude and let what happens, happen. Some people might even say that I'm learning patience with this attitude. Nah, I'm just as anxious as ever to see what life is going to hand me next!

Sean's Theraputic Horseback Riding Lessons

Sean all ready for his horseback riding lesson

Sean going to get his horse Lilly for his riding lesson

Today I was suppose to head down to Nicki's and her family for a few days but after taking a SCIP-R (Strategies for Crisis Intervention and Prevention-Revised) for four days and pulling some muscles in my lower back, I thought maybe I shouldn't get on one of the bikes or even the car to maybe put even more strain on my injury. It was a horrible decision to make to stay home as I really wanted to get to Nicki's in time to go with them to watch Sean's theraputic horse back riding lesson. I guess it was a good decision as this afternoon I'm very stiff, but not so sore. Then Nicki sent me some pictures of Sean taking his lessons and in many ways it made me even sadder not to be there to actually share in the experience but also made me happy that I could see Sean in action with his horse "Lilly". Hopefully I'll be able to upload pictures today so you can share in the joy that I felt when looking at them.

This picture has nothing to do with his riding class, but this was Sean's graduation day in June of 2006