Bill and I went to lunch with our daughter and our good friend.  We went to a Mexican restaurant.  We ate too much and talked up a storm.  It was so much fun!

To top it off, Bill and I came home and took a nap!  Now, you can't beat that.

P.S.  It was a wonderful day when our daughter introduced us to her co-worker and friend.  She has become a friend to us all.  We are blessed to know her. 

The second one I did for my son.  He likes skulls, and he was kind enough to say he liked this one.  It was hard to get a good photo, but the second turned out kind of unusual, and in a way I like it.

But what do I write about one of the people who raised me and was in my life for 63 years?  How do I honor such an important person?  I think I honor that person, my dad, by telling you something about him.  He passed away on August 21 at the age of 91.  He lived a full life for over 81 years, until a stroke got the best of him.  I try not to remember him in a bed unable to fully say what he wanted, unable to walk, and unable to lead the active life he once led.  Despite his problems, I can't forget the smile on his face when he looked at me.  His smile made me smile back at him; I just couldn't help it.  He wasn't a complainer.  He took what life (meaning God) gave him and went with it.  Of course, like everyone else, he had his down times.  Who wouldn't?

I honor him by remembering him being a faithful husband to a wonderful wife who loved him with all her heart.  My mom misses him more than she can say.  They were married over 64 years!  I honor him by remembering the crazy, fun-loving man who raised me and my two sisters.  I honor him by remembering that he taught me a lot of good things, most of which I can't tell you about specifically.  I know he taught me to do my best whenever I did something.  That has helped me in my life--at work and with my family, friends, and the people I've met along the way.  He taught me not to take life too seriously; to enjoy a good time, but don't go overboard.  He was raised during the Depression and didn't have much or go much.  He felt quilty about going too much and, I think, about spending too much.  Because he was in the Air Force when I was growing up, he helped me to accept change and make the most of where I was.  That helped me later when I married an Army guy.  I honor him by acknowledging that his values have rubbed off on me and made me a better person.

I've added a few links to posts that I wrote about him in the past.  Read them if you want to get a glimpse of what he was like.  It isn't complete, but that's okay.  The first ones show his funny side.

Things my father would say.

The time between his death and his funeral was a sad time, but I felt the support of my mother, sisters, husband, children, and rest of the family and friends.  In the scheme of things, not much time has passed since he left us.  I still have a whole lot of tears to shed and many memories to laugh about.

My dad was buried with full military honors.  One of my brothers-in-law sang "What a Friend We Have in Jesus."  The minister talked about my dad's joy and faithfulness.  My mom was given an American flag.  His body now lies on a pretty slope in a national cemetery.  I believe I'll see him again in heaven.  For now, we all still cry for the loss of a great man.

Daddy, I salute you!

An electric fireplace insert and surround sound for the living room are the only things left on our list because a couple of weeks ago we were able to take two more things off that list.  They are a recliner for my husband and two end tables for the living room.

Here are photos:

One of my sisters-in-law saved the day.  She said put a dab of toothpaste under your crown and stick it back on your stub of a tooth until you can get to the dentist.  It worked!  It came off once, but I applied the toothpaste again and it held until I saw my dentist this morning.  My dentist said I did a good job by using the toothpaste. 

So now that the pain of having a crown off is over, there is the pain of paying the dentist.  Our insurance didn't cover any of it.

Anyway, thanks, Sharon!

This truck makes ridiculously wide turns.

I'll be posting some more of my creations later.  I just finished a cute chicken pitcher, and a week from Saturday there is a class for a blue delft windmill square plate.  Let the creative juices flow!

In December 1944, my aunt Odean went to help our her oldest sister (my aunt Mable) who just had her second child, Linda.  Linda's older sister Aleene was about 5 years old.  Odean and Aleene decided that they would decorate the Christmas tree.  It was common practice back then to take Ivory Soap Flakes and whip them up with water to make "snow."  The snow was then spread on the branches of the tree.  Odean wanted pink snow, but there was no red food coloring.  Iodine was substituted, and they ended up with orange snow!  They didn't like it and decided to start over.  Odean took the tree out to the front yard and washed the snow off!  They settled for white snow.

Too bad Ivory Soap Flakes were discontinued in 1978, or I'd give it a try.

The end!

Sometimes on the Crayola website, people tell colorful stories about a color.  Here is what three people wrote: 

So many blues, so little time!  I love all of the aqua/turquoise/blue-green colors, but cerulean just has a pizazz about it that captured me.

While at the hearing aid place, I picked up the doctor's business card.  It has the following quote from Helen Keller printed on one side:

Blindness isolates us from things, but deafness isolates us from people.

I agree with the quote, especially after forgetting to put in my hearing aids before going to help out a friend!

It was in England that I discovered the joy of reading.  I still love to read.  I read novels, true stories, mysteries, detective stories, romances, educational-type books, religious and inspirational books, and all kinds of other books.  My mother, two sisters, and I would go to the library on a regular basis.  To keep track of the books that I had read, I took an idea from my mother and expanded it.  I started with a little 6-ring, 5- by 3-inch, looseleaf memo book.  On top of each piece of paper, I wrote the name of the author.  Below that I wrote the title of the book and the date that I finished reading it.  Sometimes I wrote the names of the main characters or a little about the book.  If I read a book a second (or third or fourth) time, I wrote that date down too.

It is weird because I still do it.  I have nine of those little memo books.  I have recorded every book that I've read since 1960.   The number is now 1,631.  Okay, you think I'm crazy, but it is great idea because it has kept me from buying or reading books that I've read before.

 

I've had to buy another little memo book, making a total of 10.  Last night I finished my 1,800th book!  Of those books, I read 66 of them more than once, some several times.  I guess some things never change--I'm still weird.

Below is a photo of the four posters.  One the left is a poster from Egypt's Dazzling Sun: Amenhotep III and His World.  I went to that exhibit in 1992 at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.  The top poster in the middle is from another exhibit that I went to at the Kimbell in 1999 called Gifts of the Nile ~ Ancient Egyptian Faience.  The bottom middle is my oldest poster.  I bought it at the Tutanchamun exhibit in Cologne, West Germany, in 1980!  The one on the right is the poster that I bought last week.

So I've been to two King Tut exhibits, 29 years apart.  I liked both.

By the way, the rest of the day was great.  We found a parking space (under the shade of a tree) just two blocks from the museum, there was no line at the will-call window to pick up our tickets, it wasn't crowded in the exhibit until the very last when a group of school kids came in, we picked up my daughter for lunch at a Greek restaurant, and we made it home before the rush-hour traffic.  Who could ask for anything more?!

Lately I haven't posted very much about my memories of the past.  I've been busy writing about my thoughts about the present.  Just before I retired at the end of March 2006, I wrote about my hopes for the future.  I haven't so much lately.  Again, it is probably because I've been writing about the present.  I hope you have enjoyed it all.  I especially hope that my children and husband and the rest of my family have liked what I've had to say and maybe even learned a little bit more about me.

Happy blogiversary to me!

Note:  Adrian Monk is the main character in the TV show "Monk" on USA.  He is a detective.  I'm very sad that this summer will be the final season.  Maybe we will find out who killed Trudy (his wife).

Growing up, my parents liked to listen to Marty Robbins.  One of his songs was called "A White Sports Coat and A Pink Carnation"---A white sports coat and a pink carnation.  I'm all dressed up for the dance.  A white sports coat and a pink carnation.  I'm all alone in romance.  Boy, does that bring back memories.

Of course, pink used to be my older granddaughter's favorite color.  Recently she said that it wasn't anymore.  I can't remember what her favorite color is now.

I'm sure that many women like pink carnations, but I prefer red roses.  Well, I guess I have to admit that I probably like just around any kind of flower, even wild ones.

Caribbean green is the second of the green hue colors that I've talked about.  I like this green better than asparagus.  Even though it doesn't have a food-type name, foods of the Caribbean or tropics are very good.  My husband and I have been on two Caribbean cruises and enjoyed both of them.  Everything was beautiful, especially the water, sky, and plants.

Here's what I found on the Internet about how you pronounce Caribbean:  Although many tourists and foreigners favor say "ka-rib-e-an," this is a corruption of "ker-e-be-an," the accurate pronunciation truest to how the Caribs ("ker-ibs") pronounce their own name.

Either way, it's a pretty place and a pretty color.

On Saturday, I had planned to have what I call a "Girls' Day In," but thought that it wouldn't happen because the granddaughters were invited to a birthday party in the afternoon.  We were able to get together anyway.  Besides the girls that were invited (daughter, two granddaughters, and adopted daughter), my son-in-law and son were here, along with my husband.  My son joined us in doing arts and crafts, so we named him an honorary girl!  We did projects using Perler beads; painted suncatchers; and made origami cranes, frogs, butterflies, penguins, and boxes. 

We stopped for a lunch of sandwiches and a good gooey dessert.  I don't know about the rest of the girls, but I had a great time!  I want to do it again soon.

The day didn't end with that.  After my daughter and family left, my adopted daughter and son hung around.  We just took it easy--talking and watching TV.  I want to do that again soon, too!