Spitting Nickels

Okay, I'm back with thoughts of sewing rooms, saints, and religion

2011-06-30T03:49:00.000-05:00

St. Anne teaching her daughter, Mary, to sew

Hello to all my friends out there. I've been extremely busy - sorry I've neglected you!

My genealogy work has been so intense that I've sat at the computer for days in a daze, trying to find those elusive ancestors and throwing out those who seemed right at the time until I find yet another document that refutes the one prior. And keeping track of all those sources...well, some days call for naps just to clear my brain!

But finally, I've gotten the bug to be more active so I've started to clear out this messy house and make a real sewing/craft room. This will be hard, for the last one I had (before our house fire) was 40' x 25 ' with lots of light, and I thought that IT was small compared to my tailor shop which had been 1000 square feet in size. This sewing room is a mere 12'x 12' with a 6' wide closet and only one window.

My room really started about six months ago when I was dropped off at our local thrift store to look around while my husband and son went to Best Buy. I usually look at the books and craft supplies and the various kitchen items. The furniture department sometimes draws me over if I notice an old sewing machine (no, I do not need another machine!) and occassionally I will see some cute little chair or something to think about.

Well, that particular night I was drawn to a desk and matching six drawer dresser. Not my colors, Navy and a sort of faded yellow, but very well made and sturdy. The desk would be perfect for a sewing machine. So I sit down right there to think about the possibilities.

Nice drawers, deep and clean. Handles were tarnished brass which would clean up nicely. I could put them side by side against the wall. I could make an L shape with them, either in a corner or with one L leg protruding into the middle of the room. Then I realized that that shape might not work with my cutting tables; I have two of them that I put end to end so that they measure 5'wide by 12' long. Then it hits me that I wouldn't have room for two cutting tables in my new SMALL sewing room which made me very sad. But honestly, I do believe that my days of cutting six identical bridesmaid dresses, or living room slipcovers, or drapes are over. So I slowly relax about the loss of my cutting tables.

Glancing over at the desk and dresser again, I realized that if I put them back to back they would make a very nice, solid area to cut small projects on, a nice 5' x 5'. They have a formica top, so no worries about needing to protect the top. Okay, now I seeing their potential of having multiple uses.
They're getting closer to going home with me but first I have to think about their cost.

New, I'm figuring that these two pieces, new, were probably close to $300 apiece. So the store will probably price them at $40-$50 each - not bad, but I'm no longer working and like everyone one else these days I have to watch my pennies.

So with a small request of intercession to St. Anne (who is the patron saint of seamstresses for those of you who are not Catholic), I go in search of an employee.

"How much are the navy and yellow desk and dresser?" I ask.

Sales clerk answers: "$8.00"

Cartwheeling in my head, I say: "I'll take them."
And then I say mentally, "Thank you God!
St. Anne, thanks for your help!"

Let me say that I have been "away" from the Catholic church for some years looking for other avenues of religious expression. After fifteen years I haven't found anything that moves me spiritually as does the ritual of a High Mass, or a Novena, or talking to Jesus, His mother and the various saints. So I'm slowly returning to the church a little wiser, less gullible, and with a renewed sense of my oneness with the Divine.

Did you know that there are saints for everything? There are! Somehow it makes me feel a little more positive when I make a request of Jesus and then ask one of the saints for some backup. I figure with both of us asking God for something I need my petition might move up a notch. The Bible says that Christ is present whenever two or more are gathered in His name...

Before I start spouting my new, modified version of being Catholic, let me finish my story.

At the register I tell the cashier what I am purchasing and she rings them up and asks for $8.00.

I say, "You mean $16.00 - they are $8.00 each."

The cashier responds, "Yes, but today all furniture is half price."

THANK YOU, GOD!

St. Anne, we make a great team!

The story does not end there.

Yesterday was half off day at the same thrift store. I had seen a small gray desk there that would be PERFECT for my serger. Nice and sturdy, just needs a new leather top. I already have the leather, just need to buy some glue. So I ask my husband to stop by the store and, if it's still there, please buy it for me; it was originally $30, so I could purchase it for $15.

Then, jokingly, I mentally say to St. Anne, "I'm not even asking God for this because I don't NEED the desk. It would be nice to put in my little sewing room, but I don't NEED it so I'm NOT asking."

Now, when my husband leaves the house on a 30 minute errand you can expect him back in about an hour and a half, or two. I don't know where he goes, or what he does, but since he's not working and we spend nearly 24 hours a day together.... seven days a week....30 hours a month.... (oh, the room is spinning thinking of ALL that time we are TOGETHER).... I figure he deserves a little time away from ME.

So now he's back two hours later, with a chainsaw (did we need that?), some weed killer and a prescription. He seems to have had a good time, all is well. Then he said to me, "Oh, that desk was still at the store. I bought it and I'll pick it up tomorrow."

"Great!" I said.

Then he turrned around and said, "By the way, the desk wasn't $15."

Me: "It wasn't on sale?"

Mike: "Yeah, but it had been marked down, so at half off it was $9"

Why did I have a feeling that St. Anne was smiling?

RAOKS and RAOGKS

2010-07-17T13:17:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you have been the recipient of a RAOK (random act of kindness) at one time or another, and surely you have done them for other people (open the door for an elderly person, pick up a dropped item for a mom with toddlers, give a person a nickel or dime at the grocery store when they are searching for change) ...well, maybe that last one is actually a self-RAOK. You probably want that person to STOP searching in their bottomless handbag and just MOVE ALONG in the line, but you get my drift. Most of these take little time to do and, if you were to think about it, probably occur more often in your life than you realize. They bring a little bit of sunshine to our daily lives.

RAOGKS - random acts of GENALOGICAL kindnesses - are a bit different. They can be as simple as looking up a date for someone on a subscription website you belong to or in a book you own. They can entail some serious legwork, like tracking down a grave for someone and taking a picture of it, visiting a local government office to copy a document, or guiding a newbie on how to start their family tree. Most of these RAOGKS require little time; some require a bit of money (parking or document fees); and some can drive you nuts if you don't know where to find the information.

However, I enjoy RAOGKS and have been doing them for about the past three years since I'm no longer able to work. I've actually gained an education that has been quite unexpected. I didn't realize HOW much I had learned until I offered to help a friend with a project.

I met Silvana when I was managing a fabric outlet. Then I came upon her again when I discovered that she and I were members of a few Yahoo groups about historical needlework. You know how those groups go, you meet someone who belongs to a few groups you frequent and after a while you feel as though you've known them forever. This is how I became friends with Silvana.

Silvana needed some information on a few people from the Civil War era. She gave me a few names, I found the information and sent it to her (email is SO great!). She sent a few more names which proved a bit more challenging to find, but I finally succeeded and zipped them over to her. She started to get excited, I started to get excited, and after a few days of messaging back and forth her project was complete; she had met her deadline.

Imagine my delight a few months later when I received a copy of her "project" in the mail:

Missouri's War: The Civil War in Documents (Civil War in the Great Interior)

Silvana R. Siddali, editor

Inside on the Acknowledgments page (page xii) Silvana wrote:

Cathy Champion graciously donated her time in tracking down genealogical information.

Now I would like to add that Silvana DID offer me something in exchange for my time, but since she had already offered to let me paw through her collection of vintage sewing patterns I felt that that was payment enough! If you don't sew, you just won't understand!

Since Missouri's War I've also helped Silvana with a book she is compiling about another state and an investigative piece for a private group. I'm honored that she thinks my work is good enough to include in her books.

Now I'm working on a few ideas of my own. All involve real people who lived in the 1900s, and all have some sort of connection to St. Louis. So I'm sure that I'll be asking for ROAGKS from others in the near future!

So watch for YOUR chance to do a RAOK - or a RAOGK if you are a genealogist - for you never know where an act of kindness will lead. I've always loved these lyrics from the Annie Lenox song "Put A Little Love In Your Heart":

Think of your fellow man

Lend him a helping hand

Put a little love in your heart

GENEALOGY LINKS

2010-03-24T21:20:00.008-05:00

Lately I've met a lot of people online via Facebook, Yahoo and Google groups, mostly about crochet, embroidery and genealogy. A few people asked me for my list of genealogy sites, so I thought I'd post them here rather than try to put them on a group and go through all the gymnastics that THAT would require. So, here they are. Please excuse those few sites that are dead. Also, copy those sites you want to keep as I can't promise how long this list will be available.

10 Best Web Sites to See Dead People
American Battle Monuments Commission.url
AncientFaces.com - Free Family History Search and Genealogy Records - Family Photos, Family Stories, & Family Recipes.url
Cemetery Records Online.url
Find A Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records.url
Free genealogy family history photo search by surname - Dead Fred .com.url
Home Page Cemetery Surveys Inc.url
Mortality Schedules.url
Names In Stone Welcome.url
Nationwide Gravesite Locator.url
Web Site Unavailable.url
Ancestry
Links Directory.url
Michael’s Ancestry Quick Links.url
ALIC - State Archives.url
AncestralFindings.com - Free Genealogy Lookups.url
Ancestrally Challenged (Powered by Invision Power Board).url
Census Finder - Free Census Records Online.url
CinnamonToast Genealogy.url
Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet.url
Easy Google Genealogy Searcher by Ancestor Search. Learn the possibilities Google offers for a .url
Family History - Society Hall - Genealogical Society Directory.url
Family History 101.url
Family History Live Online.url
FamilySearch Record Search.url
FamilySearch.org - Family History and Genealogy Records.url
GenealogyBuff.com - free genealogy site, obituary searches, library of files.url
Geni - Everyone's Related.url
German Genealogy Group.url
http--www.funstuffforgenealogists.com-store-enter.html.url
http--www.usgennet.org-.url
Italian Genealogical Group.url
Lost Cousins Putting Relatives In Touch.url
Missouri Historical Society Library Catalog.url
My GenForum.url
NARA - AAD - Main Page.url
NARA 1930 Census Microfilm Locator Geographic Search Results Page.url
National Archives and Records Administration.url
NYC Death Index Results.url
One-Step Webpages by Stephen P. Morse.url
OurTimeLines.com - Home Page.url
Research Guidance v2.0.url
Searching the Social Security Death Index in One Step.url
Software Mailing Lists.url
St. Louis Public Library Premier Library Sources St. Louis Street Guide to 1930 Census Enumera.url
The Stalker's Home Page -- No More Privacy! -- As Seen on the LEEZA Show. Is Big Brother Watchi.url
treezy search results.url
USGenWeb Archives - census wills deeds genealogy.url
Accreditation
Historic buildings
St Louis County Parks and Recreation.url
about.com http--www.bcgcertification.org-.url
about.com http--www.icapgen.org-.url
Adoption
1930 St. Louis Census Volunteer Project.url
About WARM Washington Adoption Reunion Movement.url
adoptednetworkClassifieds.url
Adoption Mailing Lists.url
alt.adoption FAQ 1 Introduction & Search Links.url
Dawn's Birthmother-Adoption Resources.url
eLostParents.url
G'S Adoption Registry Home Page.url
ISRR Registration.url
Reg Niles Directory.url
Reg Niles.url
Tina's Kansas Adoption Information Page.url
Ancestrally Challenged
AC Portal page.url
Articles
Census Abbreviations used in the 1910 US Federal Census at Ancestor Search.url
Enumerator Instructions.url
Featured Articles.url
Genetic Genealogy - MSNBC.com.url
Black Sheep
IBSSG.org entry index.url
rootsweb Genealogy Mailing Lists BlackSheep.url
Books
ALS Rare Genealogy Books on CD-ROM.url
Ancestral Books -.url
Book Emporium - New and used books, out-of-print books, hard-to-find books, all at the best pri.url
Book Printing - Affordable High Quality Book Printers.url
Cash4Books.net - Sell Used and New Books.url
Genealogy Book Sale – Books to Meet Your Budget – Genealogical.com.url
Genealogy Resources.url
Welcome.url
Cemeteries
Birth Record & Death Record on coffin plate on Ancestors At Rest.url
Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of St. Louis - Interment Search - Cemetery Search - Buri.url
CEMETERIES Photographed in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Alaska, Colorado, Nebraska, North Dakot.url
CEMETERIES Photographed in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Alaska, Colorado, Nebraska, North Dakota, Virginia, Iowa and the World.url
Cemetery Junction Directory -- Locate Active and Retired Cemeteries Quickly and Easily.url
Cemetery Records Online.url
Find A Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records.url
Genealogy Request Guide - St. Louis County, Missouri-Cemeteries.url
Genealogy Today Family Tree History, Ancestry, Free Lookups.url
graveyards.com - Graveyards of Illinois - Graveyards of Chicago.url
graveyards.com Valhalla Cemetery, St. Louis Missouri.url
http--www.pere-lachaise.com-.url
Monument Typology, Triangular Monuments. Tent Graves. Genealogy, History, Family History, Ameri.url
The Association for Gravestone Studies - Home.url
The Italian Heritage and Genealogy Home Page - D'Addezio.com.url
Census
1940 Census 1940 U.S. Federal Census 1940 Free Census Resources.url
Childhood things
streetplay.com The Games.url
Churches
Archdiocese of St. Louis - Home.url
Archdiocese of St. Louis.url
Favorite Churches.url
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis.url
Cities
Boston
Boston Streets Mapping Directory Data City Directories.url
Brooklyn
1892 State Census Enumeration Districts.url
Bklyn Ward boundaries (approx 1891-1892).url
Brooklyn Public Library New York City.com Arts & Attractions Editorial Review.url
http--www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com-Surnames-index.html.url
Chicago
Chicago Historical Society's History Files.url
Kansas City
Vintage Kansas City.com ~ Home of the KC Time Travel Co..url
Yesterday's Journey's by Michael Spencer.url
New York
New York City Cemeteries.url
Upstate New York Genealogy Blog Fulton History (dot com) Owner Operator Interviewed.url
San Francisco
sfgenealogy.com Home.url
St. Louis
1878 Clifton Heights Area Map.url
22nd Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri - Court Information.url
Archdiocese of St. Louis.url
Association of St. Louis Area Archivists.url
Built St. Louis Home.url
City Directories.url
City of St. Louis Forest Park.url
City of St. Louis Missouri.url
Free Public Records Directory - City of St. Louis, Missouri.url
Free Public Records Directory - St. Louis County, Missouri.url
Gaslight Square.url
Genealogy in St. Louis.url
Genealogy St. Louis County.url
History of St. Louis Neighborhoods - Central West End.url
History of The Bevo Mill.url
History's Time Portal to Old St. Louis.url
Recorder of Deeds, City of Saint Louis, Archives Services.url
Research Guides UMSL.url
Resources.url
Rome of the West October 2005.url
St. Louis Genealogical Society.url
St. Louis Heritage.url
St. Louis Mercantile Library A Guide to Researching St. Louis History.url
St. Louis Public Library - Obituary search.url
St. Louis Public Library St. Louis Obituary Index.url
St. Louis Public Library.url
St. Louis Virtual City Project.url
St. Louis, Missouri Genealogy Resources & Records.url
USGenNet Query Board.url
Welcome to Carondelet!.url
City Directories
All Books.url
Civil War
ADAH Civil War Soldiers database, info page.url
Browse Cornell University Library Making of America Collection.url
Civil War Photos .Net.url
Civil War Resources - John's Barrel of Links.url
Civil War Soldiers and Sailor System.url
Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System.url
Home - American Civil War - CivilWar.com.url
Original Civil War photographs.url
Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Grave Registration.url
The Civil War Home Page.url
The Civil War.url
Crimes
Crime Library crime stories on serial killers, the mafia, terrorists, spies, assassins and gang.url
Notorious Crimes and Criminals in History.url
VINELink ver. 2.0.url
Customs and cultural
Death - the last taboo Mourning - Victorian Era.url
Death Photography, Then and Now Gallery Hopper.url
german name mapping.url
mental_floss Blog » Only the Creepiest Photos Ever Taken.url
DAR
DAR Library - Online Research.url
Death Indexes and Records
about.com http--genealogy.az.gov-.url
Antiquus Morbus Home.url
Death Records Online Searchable Death Indexes & Databases.url
Free Death Records for Ireland on Ancestors at Rest.url
FuneralNet - America's Most Trusted Online Obituary, Funeral, Cremation, Cemetery, and Funeral Website Design Resource..url
Georgia Archives.url
History of Middle Village and the Lutheran Cemetery.url
Louisiana Deaths.url
MHS Death Certificate Index Search Results.url
Obituaries Death Notices Newspaper Obituaries Online Obituaries Newspaper Death Notices Online Death Notices.url
Online Missouri Death Indexes, Records & Obituaries.url
Online Searchable Death Indexes, Records & Obituaries.url
Online St. Louis, Missouri Death Records, Indexes & Obituaries (City & County).url
Searching the Social Security Death Index in One Step.url
Social Security Death Index Interactive Search.url
Social Security Death Index.url
Where to Write for Vital Records - Homepage.url
Digital records
about.com http--www.archives.gov-research-arc-index.html.url
about.com http--www.digitalarchives.state.pa.us-.url
about.com http--www.nationalarchives.gov.uk-documentsonline-.url
about.com http--www.wvculture.org-vrr-.url
Calendar.url
Denver Public Library Western History Genealogy Research Tools - Genealogy.url
Index Search.url
Missouri State Archives - Death Records Certificates.url
Newberry Library Vital Record Databases.url
Slide - MySpace Slide Show Creator -- Photo Sharing For MySpace.url
University of Missouri Digital Library.url
Visual Basic Runtimes.url
Directories
directory intitledirectory - Google Books.url
EveNDon's Pittsburgh Directories +.url
Disease and epidemics
GenDisasters ... Genealogy in Tragedy, Disasters, Fires, Floods Events That Touched Our Ancestors' Lives.url
Documentation
Documentation and Publications Professional Genealogical Sources.url
Genealogy Citation Guide.url
How Do I Begin To Document and File Family History An Introduction.url
Organize your Paper Files - Legacy Lesson.url
Terry Mason's Principles of Documenting.url
USCIS - Genealogy.url
e books
Free History and Genealogy Books Online.url
History of Saint Louis City..., Vol. v.2 -- Digitized books from the University of Illinois at .url
Family Tree Maker 16
Family Tree Maker - Find Answers Family Tree Maker - (Page 1 of 25).url
File Organization
FamilyRoots Organizer.url
Organize your Paper Files - Legacy Lesson.url
Research Guidance v2.0.url
Save on Sheet Protectors Index Tab. Discount Office Supplies Sheet Protectors Index Tab.url
Sparco Top Loading Sheet Protectors with Index Tab SPR74160 - Low Prices on Office Supplies at .url
Foreign Countries
Canada
Automated Genealogy.url
Historical Vital Statistics Start Page.url
Introduction - Canadian Genealogy Centre - Library and Archives Canada.url
Germany
Ancestors Database.url
Baden-Wurttemburg Genealogy Links - Germany.url
German Genealogy Information & Resources German Roots.url
GermanOriginality.com.url
ITS-AROLSEN.ORG Homepage.url
Online German Genealogy Records & Databases - the German Roots Website.url
Ireland
Cyndi's List - Ireland & Northern Ireland - Cork.url
Family Research – English, Scottish and Irish Genealogy.url
Genealogy for Ireland - The IrelandGenWeb Project.url
genuki County Cork.url
Griffiths Valuation.url
http--ifhf.brsgenealogy.com-map.php&set=yes.url
Irish Ancestors- Research wizard.url
Irish Family History Foundation - Genealogy in Ireland.url
National Archives Census of Ireland 1911.url
Welcome to the PRONI website Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.url
UK
Family History.url
Family Tree • Genealogy • Ancestor • Ancestry • Family History.url
Quick Closure - Ancestry Aid Genealogy and Family History Forum.url
The National Archives of the United Kingdom.url
Tree Maker Launches - Ancestry Aid Genealogy and Family History Forum.url
Emslanders.url
genealogy.net - the german genealogy network.url
Genlias - Research your Dutch genealogy.url
Hannover Research.url
http--www.genealogics.org-index.php.url
forms
Using Mortality schedules
MortalitySchedules.com - free search through census mortality schedules.url
about.com http--censustools.com-.url
Accessible Forms.url
Ancestry.com - Ancestral Chart.url
Ancestry.com - UK Census Forms.url
Blank Pages Templates for US Census Records, Excel, Word, image.url
Canadian Census Forms - Ancestry.com.url
CensusTools - FREE Genealogy Spreadsheets for Census, Cemetery and Passenger Manifest Data!.url
Enumerator Instructions.url
Family Tree Templates.url
Free Genealogy Charts & Forms - Family Tree Charts, Research Logs, Family Group Sheets.url
Free Genealogy Forms and Charts.url
Free Genealogy Forms.com - Special State Censuses.url
Genealogy Charts and Forms.url
Research Guidance v2.0.url
The Willoughby Family.url
US Census Forms.url
US Census Records 1790 - 1930. Search the New 1930 Federal Census..url
Welcome to the Ancestors Web Site.url
Free Lookups
Surnames 's Page 0 - AncestralFindings.com.url
Yellow Pages on AnyWho.url
Funeral cards
Death Records & Death Indexes on Funeral & Mourning Cards.url
Finding Funeral Cards Online for your Genealogy.url
Funeral Cards - All Funeral Cards.url
Funeral homes
FuneralNet - America's Most Trusted Online Obituary, Funeral, Cremation, Cemetery, and Funeral Website Design Resource..url
http--www.us-funerals.com-funeral-homes-by-state-missouri-funeral-directors09.html.url
Gen Links
'' - Genealogy Records Sources on the Internet.url
abcgenealogy What's New.url
about.com http--www.godfrey.org-.url
All Genealogy Sites Directory - Link Directory of Quality Genealogy Sites on the Web.url
All Research Helps Sorted By Document Type.url
Behind the Name - the Etymology and History of First Names.url
BEST GENEALOGY SITES ON THE INTERNET.url
DataFerrett for TheDataWeb.url
Family Genealogy and History Internet Education Directory.url
FamilySearch Record Search.url
Federation of Genealogical Societies - About FGS.url
Firstmom's Genealogy Resources-General Sources.url
Free genealogy and family tree search tips, how to articles and on-line genealogy tutorials Tr.url
Free genealogy search - MyHeritage.url
Free Genealogy Search Engines Mormon, Ellis Island, census, cemetery geneology databases.url
Free Genealogy, Family History Videos on Roots Television.url
Genealogical Research Grants - Apply for a grant - Current Grants Awarded.url
Genealogists-Family Historians - Resources for Genealogists and Family Historians.url
Genealogy - Family Tree and Ancestry search tools and websites.url
Genealogy Buff - Library - Genealogy Data Files.url
Genealogy Directory.url
Genealogy Events that touched our Ancestors' Lives, How our Ancestors Lived and Died.url
Genealogy Exchange & Surname Registry.url
genealogy links.url
Genealogy Sleuth Search for your Ancestors on the Internet.url
Genealogy, Ancestry and Family Tree Search.url
Genealogy.com - Family Tree Maker Family History Software and Historical Records.url
Genealogy.url
GenealogyBuff.com - free genealogy searches, obituary searches, library.url
Geneology Web Sites.url
GENPALS » Favos.nl.url
genuki UK & Ireland Genealogy.url
Government Resources.url
HeirloomsLost.url
Howstuffworks Free Genealogy Charts.url
http--aad.archives.gov-aad-series-description.jsps=3360.url
ItalianAncestry.com.url
ItalianGenealogy.com » News.url
Linkpendium.url
Main Page - Genealogy.url
Mother Hubbards Cupboard - Genealogist Home Page.url
MyHeritage Research - Free genealogy search engine - New search.url
OneSource Comprehensive Site Index.url
Online!.url
Patron Chat [Ask A Librarian].url
Recorder of Deeds 1921-Present Land Deed Copy Services Requirements and Fees.url
Research Guidance v2.0.url
Research Your Family History - AncientFaces.com.url
RootsWeb.com Home Page.url
SAMPUBCO.url
Schools - Colleges - Universities Alumni and Genealogy Education.url
Section 5 - United States.url
Shirley Hornbeck's This and That Genealogy Tips.url
Steve’s Genealogy Blog.url
The Genealogy Tree.url
The National Genealogical Society, Arlington, Virginia, USA - Your Guide to Genealogy and Family History.url
The Original Genealogy Links - John's Barrel of Links.url
Topic Outline.url
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration - Archives.gov Home.url
WorldVitalRecords Content Listing.url
Genealogy resources
GENEALOGY RESOURCES.url
vPike.com - Take a trip on the Virtual Turnpike.url
Genealogy tools
Name thesaurus
Free Genealogy Tools What's In a Name More Than You Think!.url
GenWeb General sites
Census Project (USGenWeb) .url
Family Group Sheet Project.url
Health
Family Health History - Welcome.url
Ada Public Library Online Resources.url
Holocaust
USC SHOAH FOUNDATION INSTITUTE I University of Southern California.url
USHMM Registry of Survivors Research Request.url
Humor, stories
THE OUTHOUSE.url
Immigration and ships
Castle Garden.url
German Genealogy Information & Resources German Roots.url
Germans to America Books - A Family Heritage Resource.url
Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild.url
New Orleans, Louisiana Passenger Lists - How to Find Them.url
Types of Naturalization Records & How to Find Them.url
Vital records of the USA and world. ShipsLists, naturalization records, immigration and muster .url
LDS Family Search
FamilySearch.org - Research Helps.url
Libraries
Illinois
Edwardsville Public Library.url
Kentucky
TopSCHOLAR®.url
Missouri
Jefferson County
Welcome to Jefferson County Library, Missouri.url
St. Louis
Special Collections Department (Headquarters Branch).url
St. Louis County Library.url
St. Louis Family History Research Guide by Ann Carter Fleming.url
St. Louis Mercantile Library.url
ST. LOUIS PUBLIC LIBRARY.url
New York
About Ask Librarians Online.url
http--www.archive.org-details-newyorkcityguide00federich.url
New York Public Library ASK NYPL.url
New York State Library Home Page.url
NYPL, Digital Collections.url
NYPL, USSC Civil War Soldiers Inquiry Database.url
The New York Public Library.url
Newberry Library
Newberry Library Genealogy Bibliographies.url
Allen County Public LibraryGenealogy.url
Cornell University Library Gateway.url
Cyndi's List - U.S. - Civil War - War for Southern Independence.url
Electronic books (The John Rylands University Library - The University of Manchester).url
Family History Archive - LDS.url
LibraryThing Catalog your books online.url
Lowcountry Digital Library.url
Making of America.url
Resources - Adams Memorial Library.url
rsap.url
Search Results - World Digital Library.url
UWM Archives Department Home.url
WorldCat for genealogy [OCLC].url
Life stories
Story of My Life.com - Helps to write and preserve your life stories.url
Unclaimed Persons - locate the next of kin for unclaimed persons - every life is worth remembering.url
Links to be filed
4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download kit st nicolas.zip.url
American Women's Dime Novels, 1870-1920.url
current dates and times in u.s. states map.url
FamilySearch Labs.url
FamilyWeSearch.com connects families with old photos, books and yearbooks..url
Forensic Genealogy Book Homepage.url
http--www.printedpages.net-.url
Index Maker Clear Label Dividers with White Tabs - Dividers - Avery Product Catalog.url
Information Please 2006.url
NGS Genealogical Standards & Guidelines.url
OutlawWomen.com - Exclusive information on outlaw women, the wild west, horseback riding, and m.url
Preparing, Protecting, Preserving Family Treasures (Preservation, Library of Congress).url
St. Louis County, MO 1930 INDEX (T626-1174) Team Census Transcription.url
Top Search Engines and Directories Genealogy and Family History Internet Portals and Browsers.url
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American Memory from the Library of Congress - Home Page.url
Ancestry World Tree Project My Family Tree.url
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National Institute for Genealogical Studies.url
Preserving Memories Creating a Family Time Capsule (Preservation, Library of Congress).url
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Living person search
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Magazines online
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Singleton's of the United Kingdom.url
Maps
1895 Atlas Title Page.url
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Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (G&M Reading Room, Library of Congress).url
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Marriage records
Arkansas Marriage Records Online, Arkansas to Fulton County.url
Court View 2000 - Marriage License Index.url
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Michigan Family History Network - Genealogy Databases.url
Missouri Marriage Records, Adair to Dade County.url
Title film notes ('Marriage records of St. Louis and St2 ').url
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Military records
Burial & Memorials Home.url
Civil War Soldiers and Sailor System.url
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National WWII Memorial.url
Online Military Indexes, War Records & Databases of Soldiers.url
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Pritzker Military Library.url
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.url
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Misc
Ancestry.com - Social Security Enrollment Applications.url
Documenting the American South homepage.url
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VintagePapers.Net.url
Mortuaries
CA
sfgenealogy Halsted Mortuary Records (1923-1960) Search.url
Mourning art
Art Of Mourning Accessories.url
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Names
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ForenameThesaurus.url
Interactive Genealogy Surname - Family Name Searches - Genealogy, History, Travel Research.url
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NARA
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Nationalities
Italian Genealogy, Heritage, Culture & Databases on the WWW.url
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Price and Associates English Genealogy Resources.url
United States.url
Naturalization
A Guide to Finding US Naturalization Records.url
Ancestry.com - New York Petitions for Naturalization.url
Ancestry.com - Search Index to Declaration of Intent for Naturalization New York County, 1907-1.url
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Obituaries
09-01-2004 - Post-Dispatch Archives Advanced Obituary Search - STLtoday.com.url
Dead-a-base - Adams Memorial Library.url
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odd sites
Dictionary of Ancient Occupations and Trades, Ranks, Offices, and Titles.url
Morbid Anatomy.url
Shirley Hornbeck's This and That Genealogy Tips.url
Old Photos
Ancestry.com - Search Public Member Photos.url
Award Winning Photography and Quality Photo restoration services in Arizona, the Southwest, and everywhere..url
Dennis Waters, Fine Daguerreotypes.url
Family Old Photos... your ancestors in vintage photographs free photo archive database.url
National Portrait Gallery Tokens of Affection and Regard Daguerrean Jewelry.url
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order documents
Missouri Digital Heritage Naturalization Records, 1816 - 1955.url
Orphan Photos & Rescued Family Memorabilia
about.com http--ancestorarchive.com-.url
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Orphan train
Kansas
A History of the Orphan Trains.url
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Nebraska
Orphan Trains.url
Adoption History Charles Loring Brace, The Dangerous Classes of New York and Twenty Years' Work Among Them, 1872.url
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American Experience The Orphan Trains - Synopsis - MSN Movies.url
Boston’s Wayward Children Social Services for Homeless Children, 1830-1930.url
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The Orphan Trains The Children's Aid Society.url
Orphanages
St. Louis Orphanages.url
Paid subscriptions
Family History Records-Newspapers for Genealogy research- GenealogyBank.url
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Passenger records
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People search
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HistoGrafica - Old pictures from your town.url
Podcasts
podcastGenealogy.url
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Books
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Magazines
MOA_ADV.url
Newpapers
Illinois
Illinois Newspaper Project University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.url
Michigan
Michigan Online Historical Newspapers (Online Newspaper Site).url
Missouri
about.com http--newspapers.umsystem.edu-archive-Skins-Missouri-navigator.aspskin=Missouri&BP=OK.url
Globe-Democrat Collection - St. Louis Mercantile Library.url
Missouri Historical Newspapers Project.url
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New York
GenealogyBuff.com - Online Newspaper Directory - New York Newspapers.url
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Chronicling America - The Library of Congress.url
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Newspapers
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Chronicling America - The Library of Congress.url
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Northern New York Historical Newspapers by Northern New York Library Network (NNYLN).url
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1946 Manhattan NY Telephone Book.url
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Publishing a Genealogy website
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Railroads
Genealogy Research.url
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The Frisco A Look Back at the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway.url
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RAOGK
Free Genealogy Research -- Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness.url
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Hawaii
Hawaii State USGenWeb Genealogy and History.url
Illinois
Accessing Illinois Death Index in One Step.url
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Database of Illinois Department of Public Health Death Certificates.url
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Northwestern Illinois Obituary and Death Notices Collection - Message Index.url
Online Chicago & Cook County Death Indexes & Records (Illinois).url
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Staunton, Macoupin County Illinois Court Records 1930 ~ 1957.url
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Indiana
Indiana Genealogical Society--Members-Only.url
Indiana State Digital Archives - Digital Archives Home.url
INGenWeb - Indiana Genealogy Online.url
Iowa
Bremer County, Iowa GenWeb Project.url
IAGenWeb's Iowa State Census Project - Home Page.url
Iowa GenWeb Project Welcome Page.url
Kansas
Blue Skyways - a service of the Kansas State Library.url
City of Phillipsburg, KS Kansas Community Network History, Museums, Genealogy, Art www.kansas.url
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Kentucky
FamilySearch Labs.url
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Louisiana
The LAGenWeb Project.url
Maine
maine.gov Facts & History Genealogy Resources.url
Maryland
mdgenweb Maryland USGenWeb Genealogy Project.url
Massachusetts
Early Vital Records of Massachusetts to the end of 1849.url
Massachusetts Archives.url
Michigan
cemeteries.url
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FamilySearch Labs.url
HAL Digital Collections Advanced Search.url
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WMGS Index to Kent County Marriages 1845 - 1929 - Search Results.url
Minnesota
Family History & Genealogy Research MNHS.ORG.url
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Missouri
Built St. Louis Home.url
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Lawrence Co. Missouri, USGenWeb.url
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Missouri Cemeteries at Cemetery Junction.url
Missouri County Collectors Association.url
Missouri Digital Heritage Death Records Certificates.url
Missouri Digital Heritage Collections Roll-by-Roll Listing by County.url
Missouri Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Find your Confederate Ancestor.url
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Missouri Online Genealogy - MO Genealogy Finders.url
MISSOURI STATE GENEALOGICAL ASSOCIATION JOURNAL.url
Missouri State Genealogical Association.url
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Missouri.url
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The Missouri Civil War Museum, Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri.url
The MOGenWeb Project.url
USGenWeb Missouri Archives.url
voices German St. Vincent Orphan Home.url
Montana
Montana Genealogy Research - USGenWeb Project.url
Nebraska
Nebraska Obituary Abstracts Index.url
NEGenWeb Project.url
New Hampshire
The NHGenWeb Project.url
New York
Brooklyn Genealogy Information Page Index.url
Brooklyn Revealed.url
Genealogical Records New York, 1675-1920.url
Genealogy Buff - Library - New York Genealogy Data Files.url
Genealogy Links.url
Historic Newspaper Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online (1841-1902).url
http--www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com-Census-index.html.url
Italian Genealogical Group.url
Look to the Past.url
New York City Birth, Marriage and Death Records.url
New York City Buildings Research guide.url
New York Genealogy.url
New York State Archives Homepage.url
New York State Vital Records Extracted from Census Records.url
NewYorkAncestors.org.url
NYC Department of Records - Application for a Search and-or Certified Copy of a Death Record.url
NYC Department of Records - Visit Us.url
NYC Department of Records - Vital Records.url
NYC Department of Records.url
nygenweb Your Gateway to New York Genealogy and History.url
Online New York Death Indexes & Records - New York City & State.url
Oswego County, NY Genealogical and Historical Resources.url
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness -- New York.url
Records Search Services.url
Return to Raymond St. Jail.url
Soundex Converter by RootsWeb.url
The Pop vs. Soda Page.url
Upstate New York Genealogy - Researchers Data Sources & Links - Home.url
[Research Guidance New York - Research Outline] Research Guidance Version Of Data 8-9-2005.url
North Carolina
North Carolina Newspaper Digitization Project Home.url
North Carolina State Archives.url
Online North Carolina Death Indexes, Records & Obituaries.url
Ohio
http://sanduskyhistory.blogspot.com
FamilySearch Labs.url
OHGenWeb.url
Ohio Genealogy.url
Ohio Memory.url
State of Ohio.url
Oregon
ORGenWeb, part of the USGenWeb Project.url
Pennsylvania
FamilySearch Labs.url
South Carolina
South Carolina Genealogy and History - Welcome to The SCGenWeb Project!.url
South Dakota
South Dakota Department of Health - Birth Record Search Site.url
Tennessee
http--www.tngenweb.org-darkside-index.html.url
TNGenNet, Inc. TNGenWeb Project, Tennessee Genealogy at its best..url
Texas
Texas Marriages Search Engine 1966-2006.url
The TXGenWeb Project.url
Utah
http--archives.utah.gov-research-indexes-20842.htm.url
Index Search.url
Vital Records and Statistics' Death certificates, 1904-1956.url
Virginia
Historical Society of Washington County, VA.url
VAGenWeb.url
Washington DC
WASHINGTON DC GENWEB.url
Washington State
Washington State USGenWeb Project.url
West Virginia
West Virginia Genealogy - WVGenWeb Project.url
West Virginia Vital Research Records - Select Search Type.url
Wisconsin
Crochet Star Pattern.url
Berroco® Fashion Yarns for Knitting and Crochet.url
Board on Geographic Names (BGN).url
Free Genealogy and Family History Online - The USGenWeb Project.url
Genealogy Trails - Finding Ancestors wherever their trails led.url
Minnesota Genealogy Research.url
Special Collections.url
State and County QuickFacts.url
The Records Project Your Gateway to State and County Public Records.url
The USGenWeb Project.url
Tom Leatherwood, Shelby County Register of Deeds.url
USGenWeb Archives - census wills deeds genealogy.url
Welcome to Explore the Midwest Your Guide to Fun and Adventure.url
West Virginia Vital Research Records - Death Records Search.url
T I P S
Coudal Partners The Museum of Online Musems MoOM.url
Family Matters » » Genealogy Links 10-06-2007.url
Family Oral History Using Digital Tools Listen & Type A good transcription tool.url
Family Tree Searcher - find family trees at eight sites.url
Free genealogy search advice online - based on your ancestry.url
Genealogy Fast Track using Free Decision Charts.url
ISTG - Nautical Poems and Musings.url
Jott.com - Mobile Note Taking and Hands-Free Messaging.url
Monitor the Internet for Your Hard-to-Find Ancestors Using Software Agents.url
Network Sites.url
Surname Search.url
Zotero - The Next-Generation Research Tool.url
Various research findings
Genealogy Research Guides - Census, Military, Naturalization & Vital Records, Passenger Lists.url
Ohio History Central - Samuel Huntington (1).url
Vital records
Genealogy Roots Blog.url
Online Birth & Marriage Records Indexes for Genealogy Research.url

Time for a Life Review

2010-01-07T13:06:00.004-06:00

Another New Year. Another chance to start again (or again and again) to renew those parts of our lives that did not live up to our expectations in the past.

Why do we fail when we set out to change a part of our lives, usually something like eating healthier, dieting, spending less time on the computer/gaming system, smoking, wasting time? Shouldn't we be able to accomplish that which our wondrous minds perceive with such enthusiasm, usually on or around the first of January? After all, we have been told that we are the "masters of our own ships", and the "makers of our own destinies". Nike says "Just do it" - so why don't we?

Someone sent me a poem from "Anonymous". I would love to meet Anonymous someday, for he/she writes some very profound pieces, and could become very famous after a guest appearance on Oprah. Here's the piece:

I was shocked, confused, bewildered
As I entered Heaven’s door,

Not by the beauty of it all,

Nor the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven

Who made me sputter and gasp--

The thieves, the liars, the sinners,

The alcoholics and the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade

Who swiped my lunch money twice.

Next to him was my old neighbor

Who never said anything nice.

Herb, who I always thought

Was rotting away in hell,

Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,

Looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus, ‘What’s the deal?

I would love to hear Your take.

How’d all these sinners get up here?

God must have made a mistake.‘

And why’s everyone so quiet,

So somber - give me a clue.’‘

Hush, child,’ He said, ‘they’re all in shock.

No one thought they’d be seeing you.’

JUDGE NOT

Anonymous

Somewhere along the way someone else had added this line:

Remember....Just going to church doesn’t make you a Christian

any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.

Now, for those of you who are not Christian, or don't believe in God or Jesus, get over your offense at those words/concepts and just listen to the message. Quit worrying about everyone else and how they behave and just police your own self and actions.

I think that's the key to changing what we don't like about ourselves: police your own self.

Pay attention to what goes in your mouth, or what comes out of your mouth. Walk an extra half block by not parking right in front of your destination. Set the times when you are on the PlayStation, and when it goes off, TURN IT OFF and read a book, or play with your kids, or take the dog for a walk. Invest some time in others; make someone feel important. Call that distant relative that everyone forgets about in her home or nursing home, take the time to write a letter (which hardly anyone does anymore) to ask someone how that are and what they're up to, call an old boss or teacher or neighbor or even a parent or grown child and tell them how much you appreciate them. Take the extra moments in your life to invest in improving your character by caring about another person; you both end up with a little glow in your soul.

Remember that each day, hour, minute give you the opportunity to begin again, or to revise your plan. Nothing is set in stone except your birth and death date on your tombstone and, even then, only the dates of your physical body are permanent, for our Maker has made a plan that involves mercy, compassion and forgiveness for ALL who embrace Him with love and a desire to start anew.

Perhaps that's why our New Year Resolutions fail so often - we need practise in acknowledging our failures and beginning all over with a new resolve to succeed.

Mastectomy Law Change - IMPORTANT !

2009-08-15T18:13:00.010-05:00

" A woman is like a bag of tea.

You never know how strong she is until she's in hot water."

- Phyllis Diller.

Proposed Mastectomy Law Change

(written by a surgeon)

I'll never forget the look in my patients' eyes when I had to tell them they had to go home with

the drains, new exercises and no breast. I remember begging the doctors to keep these women

in the hospital longer, only to hear that they would, but their hands were tied by the insurance

companies. So there I sat with my patient giving them the instructions they needed to take care

of themselves, knowing full well they didn't grasp half of what I was saying, because the glazed,

hopeless , frightened look spoke louder than the quiet 'Thank you' they muttered.

A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast

cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of

discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an

outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days

after surgery.

This Mastectomy Bill is in Congress now. It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very

important. Please take the time and do it right now! The Breast Cancer Hospitalization Bill

is important legislation for all women. Please send this to everyone in your address book. If

there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those

times. Please take the 30 seconds to go to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know

who will do the same.

There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance

companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's

about eliminating the 'drive-through mastectomy' where women are forced to go home just a few

hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and

sometimes with drainage tubes still attached. Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web

page with a petition drive to showyour support.

Last year over half the House signed on. PLEASE! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site

below. You need not give more than your name and zip code number.

http://www.mylifetime.com/my-lifetime-commitment/breast-cancer/petition/breast-cancer-petition

This takes about 2 seconds.

PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your 20 friends.

2009-07-04T13:35:00.008-05:00

My Skull Afghan Directions

YARRN !

While my son is not a pirate nor apsires to be one, he does love skulls, so I made him an afghan with a HUGE glow in the dark skull in the center for Christmas.

He loved it. Girlfriend hated it. End of relationship (long story there).

Anyway, everyone's been asking about the pattern for the skull afghan, and a pictue. Of course you KNOW there's no picture, the afghan was finished two days before Christmas and rush shipped out of state! But all is not lost; read on.

The skull afghan is easy if you can crochet from a graph. The most awesome skull graph I found was on a knitting site, Domiknitrix:
http://www.domiknitrix.com/knittingpatterns/skullpattern.cfm

Now don't get scared, you CAN use knitting graphs for crochet!

Scroll down to the bottom where you’ll see a picture of a crochet afghan (click on it to make it larger and easier to see) made up from the pattern - it includes directions. It’s pretty self explanatory if you crochet and can follow a chart.

Here's my list of materials:
Bernat Glow In The Dark Yarn (in white, of course!) for the skull (about $4-5/skein in most stores) – I lucked out and got mine on clearance for $1/skein!...or use a white 4 ply acrylic to match the black
Red Heart 4 ply acrylic (in black) for the background and border
Crochet hook, size I
Clothesline rope - the skinny kind from the dollar store

Note: PRESHRINK the rope by soaking it in hot water and letting it air dry or shove it in a pantyhose leg, knot the end and pitch it in the dryer on hot.

I pretty much did the afghan following the directions/outline on Domiknitrix’s page, but I changed the border. You may have to change the hook size depending on how loose/tight you crochet. Sorry that I haven’t included yarn amounts. I started with 17 skeins of the white Bernat and used nearly all of it, and the black was a Red Heart Super Saver so I still have lots of that left. Please note that some of my Bernat yarn was dirty so I had to cut parts out and the kitties stole one skein and wrecked most of that.

Using a smaller hook and sc would produce a smaller and more dense afghan or wall hanging.

Here’s my border:

I did 5 rows of dc in black around the entire thing (remember to do extra sts in the corners – I did 5. Then I took the rope and started weaving it in and out of the middle of the border about every 4 sts (you can do it however you please, even making it uneven, what do pirates care?). Weave the first long side leaving at least 12” on either end, cut the rope and then do the other long side; do the short sides the same way. Then tie nautical knots at the four corners. I used the carrick bend but a square knot would look good too. For knot directions, go to: http://www.animatedknots.com/indexboating.phpLogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com .
You could also skip the corners when doing the border and tie the knots in the empty space – I think that would look cool!

There are lots of directions/tutorials on the web about how to follow a graph. Remember, Google is your friend!

This is a fun project for intermediate to expert crocheters. The possibilities for the border are endless! Next time I think I’m going to attempt doing a crossbones border!

For questions contact you can contact me (Cathy) at cacshantih@sbcglobal.net

PS: Here’s some info about Bernat Glow In The Dark Yarn
Care: Machine washable and dryable on low. Content: 70% Acrylic, 30% Polyester. Put-up: 1.40 oz. Length 72 yd.

Expose to light for 5 minutes, and it will glow for 5 minutes. Pretty cool, eh matey?

Top 10 Items You're Too Old to Wear

2009-06-28T11:47:00.008-05:00

In times past you could count on TV commercials to tell you about age appropriate products in a fun way, with jingles (do people use that word anymore?), catchy tunes, and an appropriately aged model or spokesperson who let you know just by looking at him/her whether this is something you need to pay attention to.

Remember Bucky Beaver and Ipana toothpaste? That little guy made kids WANT to brush their teeth, and adults knew that it probably contained enough sugar to rot half of his mouth but hey, it made them WANT to brush their teeth, and they would have a new teeth coming in later anyway, so parents happily went off to the grocery store for Ipana. Kids paid attention to Bucky Beaver. He wore that cool cap, remember?

A woman's "specials needs" were a little easier to cope with knowing that the attractive 20 something aged model could help us little ladies be "just like her" with the mere purchase of a bottle of Midol. Golly gee, we had our own "special" wonder pill that made those "special" headaches and abdominal aches magically go away and we could still stay sober. Personally I remember my mom giving me a bottle of those little gems as a teenager and I think the ONLY way they would have worked was with a martini or two which I was not of an age at that time to request. Of course, those little ladies also met her man at the door each night with that liquid concoction all stirred and appropriately iced, apron appropriately tied in a cute bow, so who knows if she spiked her portion with a Midol or two?

Who out there remembers Ben Gay ointment for arthritic pain (which, by the way actually did work and is still on the market) and Geritol. These products were steered to the "older crowd" who had gray hair, dentures, and a distressed look that miraculously disappeared the moment they properly rubbed/ingested their way to a bright, happy smile...at least until they were off camera. But we knew, just by LOOKING at the models, that those products should work because -hey - those dad-gum people looked just like us!

Those commercial models/spokespersons let us know by their appearance how to dress, wear our hair, and how to be properly seen in public. We didn't need articles to TELL us how to do these things, we had moving pictorials - the forerunner of today's online tutorials - to show us. But today, the age appropriate commercial actors seem to be younger, their clothes skimpier, and their over-the-counter "helps" have turned into medical procedures: tummy tucks, Botox injections, face lifts. Oh, and let's not forget the wonder drug Viagra which alludes that getting some "afternoon delight" is somehow more important than an afternoon nap.

Well, apparently we have reached the point where we have lost the commercial messages that subliminally taught us how to dress "your age". Rachel Fischer Spalding, a writer for the online Lifescript newsletter (Your Health. Your Life. Your Way.) has come up with this gem:

Top 10 Items You're Too Old to Wear

Now I'm sorry, but if you are intelligent enough to read, you should be intelligent enough to know when something is age appropriate to wear. - Oh, wait, I forgot: this is the generation where kids have to wear it all, have it all, do it all - all by the age of 13 - or they are losers and doomed to be living alone, working, or going to school when they are 18 or 20 or - OMG! - 25!

Perhaps the title of the article should be "Top 10 Items You're Too YOUNG to Wear". Of course, part of the content would be inappropriate for some thirteen-year-olds, like the part about cleavage.

Don't get me wrong, I admire Ms Spalding for putting pen to paper and writing down what most of us "40 and over" ladies think about our sisters who look like hookers while buying a gallon of milk. She makes many valid points, although I was relieved that while she did talk about "inappropriate" tee shirts (damn, I LOVE my Hello Kitty tee), and cheap high heeled shoes with jeans (she missed pointing out those ladies who "click-clack" their way down the mall wearing those little gems), she forgot to say anything about socks, so I guess I'm okay.

I LOVE CRAZY SOCKS!

Of course, my age appropriate boot fit jeans HIDE most of the sock, but I KNOW THEY ARE THERE and I LOVE THEM! There's nothing like coming home from shopping (or anywhere), kicking off your age appropriate shoes and have Hello Kitty smiling up at you! It makes my day!

And, as a purse designer (actually, I can design almost anything! Ask me to make something for you! My husband just lost his job and I have bills!) I do think that one of the fashion expert quoted, a Mr. DeMartino, missed the point on purses and bags. "Try a super-hot-for-fall clutch. Maybe you can’t fit as much in there, but the point of a handbag is to carry your necessities – not your life, he says." Ha, tell that to any woman who has a husband and kids. She ends up carrying the kids' junk as well as anything that won't fit in hubby's pocket (I just bought my husband his first pair of cargo pants. If he won't use a backpack, or carry a "man purse", now he has some jumbo pockets to shove his junk in. Fortunately, he wears a belt, unlike many of our "younger generation".

I'd love to see some cool dude trip over his fallen-down pants after he stored a full baby bottle, a couple of diapers and maybe a jar of baby food in those pockets and not have sense enough to put on a belt! I'd probably go into cardiac arrest from laughing so hard!

One last point about purses: they MUST have a shoulder strap. It can be an optional clip-on one, but it MUST be available. Kid in one hand, groceries in another, how do you carry a "clutch"? Older lady, using a walker without an attached storage tote (poor dear, she's new to this contraption and hasn't realized yet that a WOMAN wasn't the designer or these things would have been included in the design) - how the heck does she carry a clutch? Sheesh!

Take a look at Ms Spalding's article and see what you think. Maybe you'll see yourself in a whole new light.

I wonder if copies of the article with sections appropriately hi-lighted and thumb tacked to certain ladies' doors would constitute copyright infringement?

WHAT am I ???

2009-05-05T17:42:00.006-05:00

I have worn many hats in my fifty odd years of living, some cute, some useful, some actually rather boring. Many times I worn numerous hats all at once (Note: women are known for being able to multi-task). But now that I am retired, and have ALL THIS TIME to do WHATEVER I want...what hat do I want to wear?

I'm done with clothing alterations; did that for over 25 years. I'm very sorry that your new khakis, jeans and skirts all all "just a bit" too long/tight/big/short...take them to your local tailor as my shingle is no longer hanging over my door! Yes, I KNOW that it would only "take me a minute", and that it's SO expensive to have done (I acknowledge these facts as you also fill me in one the details of how long you had to stand in line to buy the latest ipod/computer/music CD gadget that cost you a day's pay. I SO understand how the world undermines the accomplishments of the small entrepreneur.

Knitting, crocheting, sewing? Anyone who knows me KNOWS that I have the world's largest stash of fabric (I've already won the award for accumulating the most before I die), and my yarn stash is quickly approaching it's tenth large Rubbermaid storage tub. I'm always on the hunt for new gadgets, old patterns (I love collecting true vintage patterns and booklets from the 30's thru the 50's; forget the 60's as I have tons of those patterns and lived thru that era of ugliness!

Lately I've also been collecting crochet hooks and knitting needles as well as whatever sewing and craft implements I can find at the thrift stores. I've even been lucky enough to have friends and former customers who call me with their castoffs - so far I've been gifted with a Bond knitting machine (new and still in the box) and an antique table loom. So you see, I have PLENTY of things to work with, I just haven't been able to figure out WHY I'm not doing anything with it!

Then, while searching the dictionary for a correct spelling, I found a list of newly added words. Remember when our teachers used to say "Ain't isn't a word...it's NOT in the dictionary!" Well, it is now (sorry, I don't know when it was added). Spam is there (not the kind you eat); road rage; do-rag, air quotes and, my favorite:

• prairie-dog •
Pronunciation: pre-ree-dawg
Part of Speech: Verb, intransitive
Meaning: To rubberneck over the wall of an office cubicle to see what a commotion is all about.

It almost makes me want to return to office work in order to participate!

But I digress. Lately I'm always digressing...getting off-topic...taking a tangent...

I found out what I really am. I found the word that, since leaving the work force two years ago, I have become:

a mouse potato

Doesn't it sound cute? Comfy? Incredibly intelligent?

Of course, the definition of a mouse potato (slang : a person who spends a great deal of time using a computer) leaves out the various breeds of the mouse potato, which are

1. the gamer (thankfully a six hour session of Luxor gave me a migraine which cured THAT tendency).

2. the forum chatter (no, that is NOT why my mom used to call me Chatty Cathy although I do have a Facebook account. No, I don't Twitter.)

3. the obsessive collector (in my case sewing patterns, crochet patterns, knitting patterns)

4. the information collector (guilty: genealogy is my vice)

... the list continues to mutate and breed.

Now, back to the question at hand. What am I/what do I want to be? Am I content being a mouse potato?

I'm a perpetual student, I love to learn new things, but I don't think I want to go back to school. My son, Joe, is graduating from Fontbonne College on Saturday; last week we went to the ceremony where he received his Honors cords and Kappa Kappa Gamma Pi cords (way to go, Joe!). Being on campus brought back memories of term papers, pop quizzes and mean teachers, upset stomachs, migraines and my tendency for perfectionism - not my scene anymore.

I think I'll aim to morph into a part-time mouse potato. I do enjoy my computer time, especially when I'm working on genealogy or collecting patterns online. But being a mouse potato and LOOKING like one are two entirely separate things! So...

I AM going to go to the gym every day, even if it's just to sit in the sauna.

I AM going to eliminate at least half...OK, for sure a third... of the Yahoo groups I subscribe to.

Except for the genealogy ones...

and the crochet groups...

sewing...

knitting.

I WILL DEFINITELY eliminate the scrap booking list I'm on.

Now, what will I do with all the extra time I'll have? Let's see, there's house cleaning to do, litter boxes to change, laundry, rooms that are screaming to be painted...

Hmmm------

Anyone out there have any patterns, crafting paraphernalia, yarn, fabric (NO, NO MORE FABRIC CATHY!) they want to send to a new home? After all, now that I have so much more time...

Cleaning for . . . 2010

2009-01-08T12:51:00.011-06:00

I asked the Lord to tell me
Why my house is such a mess.
He asked if I'd been 'computin'
And I had to answer 'yes.'

He told me to get off my fanny
And tidy up the house.
And so I started cleaning up...
The smudges off my mouse.

I wiped and shined the topside.
That really did the trick...
I was just admiring my work.
I didn't mean to 'click.'

But click, I did, and oops I found
A real absorbing site.
That I got SO way into.
was into it all night.

Nothing's changed except my mouse
It's very, very shiny.
I guess my house will stay a mess...
While I sit here on my hiney.

author unknown

My mother believed in a LOT of superstitions.

If a bird flew into your house, expect a death...soon. Birds that bounced off your windows counted.

A knife dropped to the floor signified company coming (or was it a fork?? I don't remember).

If you reversed a garment that you put on inside out you would have bad luck.

A house that was clean on January 1st would stay clean all year; a dirty one was doomed to be filthy all year.

This last one has plagued me for the past three years.

My house has been a complete disaster since my heart surgery. I can no longer pick heavy things up, I'm not allowed to mop floors or vacuum, and bending over to retrieve things from the floor puts me in the recliner after about 20 minutes.

When I was still working I tried employing a lady to come in once a month to do the heavy work like the mopping and vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom and general picking up. She used Murphy's oil soap on everything - I prefer Lysol or Pine Sol cleaning products. She left streaks on all the appliances, and anything that she picked up went in the middle of my bed! When food started disappearing from the frig, I let her go.

Then I hired a cleaning service. This worked okay for a month until I started finding my cats outside (they are indoor cats). I don't see why they couldn't handle the presence of my little helpers. When a phone call to the agency resulted in a new crew who left the cats indoors but locked in the garage all day (would it have been so hard to let them back into the house before they left???

When the last of my boys MOVED OUT (YEAH!) I decided to do the best I could by starting in October and doing one room a week. Doctors appointments, a sick kittie (who had to be put down, poor baby), and an injured knee (I fell down the basement steps) slowed me down. Then my youngest moved back in with three rooms of furniture; my middle son came home for Thanksgiving to pack his things and send them off to his home in NJ (he packed and shipped ONE BOX OF BOOKS the entire week). I got disgusted and DID NOTHING.

So of course January 1st came around (I missed it by going to bed at 7 p.m,) and astonishingly the cobwebs and dust were still present!

This year's finances won't allow me to hire some cleaning help. I should have remembered that my dad always put a new SILVER quarter on all the window sills to insure wealth for the New Year.

I forgot that I should have eaten either black eyed peas or navy beans on New Year's day (you're supposed to earn a new dollar for every bean you eat).

And I took my sweatshirt off and put it on right side out before we left to visit some friends; will I EVER learn?

It seems that Mom (and Dad) were right after all, and I have a poor, dirty house to prove it!!!

But there's always next year. I've already begun collecting silver quarters. I'm calling in all the loans given to my sons over the years by requiring floor cleaning as payback. A tacky trashcan has been placed by my husband's TV chair to collect his snack debris (mainly Coke cans and candy wrappers since he's stopped smoking).

I even plan to buy some Beano to take before our 2010 New Year's day dinner.

Now if I can just get my nerve up to start pitching my son(s) junk - one piece a day - until I've reclaimed (and managed to clean) my basement. I bet if I sent him a picture - one each day - he'd manage to make an emergency trip home to finally pack his stuff up.

Maybe I'll start with his guitar...

Time Flies When You're Having...Fun?

2008-07-11T18:38:00.002-05:00

Where did June go? I totally missed a month without blogging! Either my life is so exciting that I didn't have time (NOT!) or I slept through it (most likely).

Recovery from my back surgery is taking it's toll. I am faithfully doing my walking, but it wipes me out the next day - the doc says it's because of all the ligaments in my back that were calcified are now loose and stretching out. He said: "No pain, no gain." I AM finally losing weight; I'd do a happy dance but I'm afraid it would hurt!

I did finally figure out that I probably need new walking shoes - the ones I have now are from my pre-surgery days. One way of breaking my old way of walking (limping) would be with new shoes...and I HATE shoe shopping! But I must do it, so I guess Monday will be THE DAY.

The happy news since my surgery is that I am completely off my daily pain meds! Now I only take them after my workouts at the gym if I'm really achy. I've had numerous offers from people to "buy" them from me but I ain't going there! God has blessed me abundantly with improved health; I'm not about to break the law and spoil it all!

Speaking of God, I've been very much aware of His presence in my life and see signs of His goodness wherever I look. I don't guess that I'm really done with Catholicism, although I don't attend mass on Sunday. But I find so much inspiration and beauty from the lives of the saints and from Mother Mary that I can't give that up. I was walking at the antique mall yesterday and found a booth that was full of religious medals, prayer cards and miscellany. One card caught my eye:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MARY MY MODEL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mary was:
Pure in body and mind
Humble-hearted
Thoughtful in speech
Prudent in counsel
Industrious at her work
Reserved in her conversation
Fond of pious reading

There was nothing immodest:
In her walk
In her manner
In her words
In her conversation
In her looks
In her actions

She excelled:

By Faith

By Purity

By Piety

By Silence

She never:

Offended her parents

Despised the humble

Mocked the feeble

Ignored the poor

Her principles were:

To seek God alone

To love solitude

To hurt no-one

To do good to all

To honor the aged

As you know, I'm very into genealogy. You learn a lot about your ancestors when you do this kind of research and in doing so, a lot about yourself. I've been thinking about what my descendants will think about me when I'm gone. Does it matter? I'll be dead. But it matters to me now. I think I want to be a little bit more like Mary. I think I need to work a lot harder on myself spiritually as well as physically.

Watch out world - Cathy's back and feeling WONDERFUL!

2008-05-03T21:56:00.006-05:00

I can't believe that it's been over a month since I last posted! So much has happened that even though I've been pretty much home bound since my back surgery - YES, I went through with it! - that I feel like I've been in a time warp.

All I can say is that Armond Levy, neurosurgeon extraordinaire,

R O C K S !

To make a long story short, what my doc thought would be a two hour surgery turned into three because I had so many problems that were interlinked in my spine; he decided to fix everything he could instead of subjecting me to another surgery. Just correcting part at that time wouldn't give me any noticeable improvement because the compressed discs turned out to be herniated after all, and the slipped disc was wedged out of place with a lot of boney overgrowth which kept peeking out everywhere........so he fixed it all!

The first three hours postop were worst than childbirth, but as I got used to THINKING about the physical mechanics our bodies go through to do just the simple things that we take for granted, like leaning down to scratch your calf, or blowing your nose (ouch!), or COUGHING - and learning to think before I moved - it got more tolerable. Of course, the two Percocet I was taking every five hours didn't hurt!

If anyone out there has a bad back, GO TO A NEUROSURGEON! It is simply miraculous what they can do now. Everything is done microscopically through small incisions instead of slicing you open from neck to tailbone.

My surgery was on April 17; today I have a three inch scar on my back just under my waistline which is a small price to pay for practically PAIN FREE WALKING! I was able to drive after just one week, was off of all pain meds four days after that (and I've been living on Percocet for the past six months) and visited two of my favorite thrift shops IN A ROW before I was starting to "feel the burn" of the old back and leg pain. I've gone out each day and walked in our wonderful spring weather and was able to enjoy it!

I'm facing eight to twelve weeks of physical therapy to strengthen my back muscles and lengthen my leg muscles now that they aren't held captive in a web of bone. I've gone once already for an evaluation (that did me in for the day) but it's a small price to pay for what I consider a new lease on life!

Today I feel excited about life! I feel bouncy in my spirit and look forward to all the things I'll be able to DO without PAIN!

Maybe now I'll actually clean my house.

Or NOT.

I've got a lot of life to catch up with!

Needles from Hell

2008-02-27T11:50:00.008-06:00

As a former professional tailor who ran an alterations and dressmaking business plus a sewing school as well as managing two fabric stores, I have had my share of sewing needles, pins and the ouchies incurring by their use.

I had a permanent hole through the side of my finger from pushing a sewing needle without a thimble. I dropped a pair of sharp shears points down into my foot. Once I became under attack from flying straight pins when I was pinning a spandex dress for Miss Missouri and she sneezed!

My only concern when I or an employee of mine cut or pricked themselves was that we not get blood on the garment!

However, things have changed and my mind views needles differently now as they changed from being my daily companions in creating/changing fabric items to being objects or torture in a medical setting.

This month's delight consisted of a myleogram. I had an unknown doctor stick a 1 1/2" needle into my spine and inject some dye while he told me to "relax and stay calm". Now, staying calm would have been a challenge on the best of days, but for this test I had to be off of my meds that KEEP me calm (I have severe panic disorder).

I actually would have been ok if he had NOT told me the length of the needle, because I had some spinal injections two weeks prior and that doc lied to me and said he was using a tiny needle. Sometimes lying is good - VERY GOOD. Panic disorder makes you magnify everything, especially when you are in "panic mode". So of course I heard 12" long needle. As I'm lying there, waiting for the 20" needle to be jammed into my back, the clown tells me to stop shaking (by this time my whole body was trembling and jumping) so he wouldn't break the needle off in my back!

Visions of murder and torture blurred my vision. But, as I was not in the position to go looking for an impliment of torture for him, I resorted to "using my words" (isn't that what today's mommies say to their kids when they grunt and point to something instead of just doing what we did with our kids - hand them what they were pointing at and get back to our soaps?) and asked him "what part of panic attack do you not understand?" At that point he suggested that we "stop" until I could "pull myself together".

Audible deep breaths were the only sounds in the room - I swear this is the closest I have ever come to slapping someone who has a medical degree.

I sat up and suggested that he get his supervisor, which made him sputter and start speaking in some foreign language. Of course he walked out.
The xray tech looked like he was about to wet his pants.

Another doctor came in and said he was going to take over "if that was ok with me". We looked at each other. I took a deep breath. The tech backed up a couple of inches. I said that was ok, SINCE I HAD MANAGED TO PULL MYSELF TOGETHER. The tech made some sort of sound behind me; I'm not sure if he was coughing, choking or laughing.

Well, we proceeded and at least this doc did the lying routine about the size of the needle - too late, dude, I already KNOW it's huge and will leave a 4" hole - and he was quick and tried to repair the psychological damage his colleague had done to me (please acknowledge the single tear trailing down my cheek and my pale complexion as I relive this experience).

The rest of the test consisted of xray pics taken by the tech, who seemed to be a little nervous and moving exceptionally fast. The only mishap was when he dropped an xray plate that hit my right temple, leaving a bruise (my son thinks the first doc put him up to doing that). Then it was off to cat scan (I like that machine; I always envision tons of kitties running inside it making it turn) for more pictures and we were done.

The next day I was still nursing a big headache (from the dye, not the hit in the noggin) and trying to come to terms with the diagnosis - I saw my neurosurgeon about three hours after the test and he had the films. It seems that my back and leg pain aren't imaginary or due to my being FAT as my former boss from hell implied last year. I have a ruptured disc, two compressed discs, a slipped disc, and some calcified ligaments. He says that surgery is necessary - actually a series of microsurgeries, three or more.

Will I still have pain? Maybe - but I'm thinking positive...I'm positive that I have extreme back pain presently, so anything will be an improvement. Am I afraid? Yes and no; I'm a little afraid of the ouchie part and the fact that surgeons - even neurosurgeons - can make mistakes. But I'm positive that God has answered my prayers and sent me to this doctor.

HobbyPrincess - The Craft Manifesto

2008-02-22T12:02:00.006-06:00

I've been surfing the net a lot lately, muffled in my wool poncho over my hooded sweatshirt (I still can't get warm! Darn flu!).

Part of the surfing is getting myself ready for a myelogram (yikes! needles in my back again!) - I'm in "panic attack mode" and am trying to distract myself by arming my mind with FACTS, but it's not working. Part of the surfing is for a friend (more about that in a future post). And part of it is collecting crochet patterns (at this point I am just collecting, not crocheting - hmm, I think I see a trend here: I collect fabric but don't sew it, I collect recipes but don't cook, I am re starting my yarn collection to go with the patterns I am collecting...should I mention this to my therapist next week?).

A lot of the surfing is for my newest passion, GENEALOGY, which I am actively pursuing - I already have five 2" binders full of info, and one 6" binder (oops, another collection).

Anyway, HobbyPrincess wrote a piece called "The Craft Manifesto" that can be applied to so many things in our lives that I have outrageously stolen it to include here. I should outrageously steal her blog name too - HobbyPrincess reminds me of another obsession of mine:

This is Hello Kitty in cause you didn't know.

(If you didn't know, you either need to get out more, or surf the net more - keyword: "cuteness".)

Substitute your own passion for the word "craft" and you will see what I mean.

The Craft Manifesto

I’ve been trying to pin down what is driving the increasing popularity
of crafting for a while now. This is what I’ve got so far:
People get satisfaction for being able to create/craft things because they can see themselves in the objects they make. This is not possible in purchased products.

The things that people have made themselves have magic powers.
They have hidden meanings that other people can’t see.

The things people make they usually want to keep and update.
Crafting is not against consumption. It is against throwing things
away.

People seek recognition for the things they have made. Primarily
it comes from their friends and family. This manifests as an economy of gifts.

People who believe they are producing genuinely cool things seek
broader exposure for their products. This creates opportunities for alternative publishing channels.

Work inspires work. Seeing what other people have made generates new ideas and designs.

Essential for crafting are tools, which are accessible, portable, and easy to learn.

Materials become important. Knowledge of what they are made of
and where to get them becomes essential.

Recipes become important. The ability to create and distribute
interesting recipes becomes valuable.

Learning techniques brings people together. This creates online
and offline communities of practice.

Craft-oriented people seek opportunities to discover interesting
things and meet their makers. This creates marketplaces.

At the bottom, crafting is a form of play.

Stay warm. Go craft. cac

Hello, Dolly!

2008-01-26T21:05:00.005-06:00

So much of my time lately has been spent researching my mother's side of my family tree.

My grandfather, Otto J Penner, Jr, was born in Kansas City, KS 1906 and adopted in 1907, and while his adoptive parents never kept his birth mother a secret from him, he was ashamed that he was illegitimate and never discussed his adoption with anyone.

His wife and my grandmother, Catherine, was an orphan, and one of a set of triplets born about 1910 in MO. She lost track of her siblings when she went to live with a family in St. Louis.

This was basically all of what I knew about them when I started my research.

Through the wonders of the Internet, Northwest Jefferson County Library, and the St. Louis County Library I have been able to piece together a lot of information over the past year, but I still have lots of gaps to fill and questions to answer.

I've decided to put a lot of my research on this blog in the hopes of finding relatives and helping other people break through their "brickwalls" by sharing sources of information I find along the way.

So, if you have a family member in your tree who was born on 15 Nov 1910 in MO, was part of a set of triplets (two girls, one boy) who were put into an orphanage (probably Catholic) in St. Louis, and who knew someone named Catherine Penner/Dolly Mae Lewis/Catherine Van Rysel, please contact me - I would love to meet my grandmother's lost family!

Ten Reasons Why I'm Immortal

2007-12-30T10:25:00.000-06:00

I have just come to the realization that certain factors in my life have made me immortal.

This will make a lot of people really sad.

First, and foremost, are the "fabric stashers" who all boast that "the one with the most fabric wins" and "I can't die until I've used all my fabric!". Well, people, after being a tailor and dressmaker for over twenty five years and in store management for two different fabric stores, I HAVE THE MOST FABRIC! SO STOP TRYING TO BEAT ME! I WON! I will never be able to use all of the fabric I have in one lifetime, so that's one point for immortality.

Second, I just survived a horrible case of the flu, despite a flu shot and being pretty much home bound. Where did the little bugger sneak in? The doctor wanted me to go to the hospital, but I went home instead - I was too sick to die!

Third, in spite of already having five sergers, a smocking pleater, a blindstitch machine (industrial), two industrial straight stitch and one zigzag industrial (a Bernina, I would have you know, and I got it free!), three computerized machines and about four ho hum student machines, Santa brought me an embroidery machine! Now I have to buy more thread, more stabilizers, more gadgets...

Fourth, there is my genealogy work. Since my father-in-law's passing last month, I have taken on the task of scanning and copying to Cd's four huge boxes of family pictures. Plus what I have from my own family. And I'm still on the hunt for my grandmother's missing brother and sister (she was part of a set of triplets put in an orphanage at birth). And I do a bit of volunteer archiving for a genealogy site.

Fifth, there's my crochet. My mom's collection of books survived the fire, and added to mine gives me three 8x5 bookcases of books, leaflets and patterns! You know that I have to make at least one of something from each book!

Sixth is my granddaughter, Allison, who is seven and I have yet to meet.

Seventh is any future grandchildren who may come along (but time is running out fast for that to happen).

Eighth is something I'm stealing from my husband - "I can't die yet, I have WAY too many people to still irritate!"

Ninth - I still have seven cats (I had twenty-four). It's a rule - you can't die while you still have a cat in the house. It's an old wives' tale from my grandma's days.

And tenth - I can't die EVER because eternity is how long it will take me to return the love and support that my husband has shown me for almost thirty five years, especially since my heart surgery and diagnosis of fibromyalgia.

Of course, I am joking. I know that my days were numbered the minute I took my first breath. But now I find that I have so much to do that it would take eternity to finish it all! Especially since some days I can't get out of bed, I have so much pain.....

But it did scare the pants off the fabric stashers when I said that I won!

A message from our loved ones in Heaven...

2007-12-22T11:22:00.000-06:00

Christmas

Heaven
I see the countless

Christmas trees around

the world below with tiny lights like

heaven's stars reflecting on the snow.
The sight is so spectacular please wipe away that

tear for I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.
I hear the many Christmas songs that people hold so dear

but the sounds of music can't compare with the Christmas choir

up here. I have no words to tell you of the joy their voices bring for

it is beyond description to hear the angels sing.
I know how much you miss me, I see the pain inside your heart for

I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.
I can't tell you of the splendor or the peace here in this place

Can you just imagine Christmas with our Savior face to face?
I'll ask him to lift your spirit as I tell you of your love so then pray

for one another as you lift your eyes above.
Please let your hearts be joyful and let your spirit sing for I am spending

Christmas in heaven and

I'm walking

with

the

King.

Wanda Bencke

Hanging afghans on the wall

2007-12-12T23:17:00.001-06:00

I belong to a lot of Yahoo groups for various interests of mine. One of the best groups for crocheters is Crochet Partners. It's a no-nonsense group, completely devoted to the art and pursuit of crochet. There are no maniacal posts of Internet gibberish allowed, no spam, just questions about crochet, links about crochet, where to buy yarn for crochet, free patterns for crochet...well, I think you get the picture. It's one of two groups that I am on where you actually GET what the group says it's about instead of stories about the fight with the boyfriend or ANOTHER recipe for fruitcake (who eats that stuff anyway?). But, I digress...

One of the newest topics was the beautiful Cathedral Afghan pattern, where it's available, and how to hang it as a wall hanging. The list owner gave a good suggestion (you'll just have to go join the group to read what she says and where to buy the pattern!), and I thought I would add my method, but the document I created wouldn't transfer properly, so I'm posting it here. Let me know if you can't interpret my pitiful diagram!

HOW TO HANG A CROCHET OR KNIT AFGHAN ON THE WALL

What I've done in the past to hang large items on the wall is to buy 72" wide poly felt for the backing - it's pretty sturdy and won't stretch. Usually one length is enough. Buy a little extra length for the rod pockets.

Lay the felt down and center the afghan. Either hand baste it to the felt (from the center out to prevent shifting and bubbles) or use a quilt baster - you can order them in colors other than red.
When it's secure, carefully trim the sides of the felt so they can't be seen from the front. Turn the piece over and fold the top and bottom of the felt down and pin to form casings (you can cut the extra off). Carefully make your casing by hand with a running stitch (D is the measurement around the curtain rod).

Then use a curtain rod to hang the piece, and put one in the bottom casing for weight, or use a length of chain or a beaded weight.

Finis!

A new angel

2007-11-11T16:07:00.000-06:00

Here's an new angel for you. His name is Norman.

He has just joined Heaven's angel band and is learning "the ropes" from his best friend, Mary.

Together they are smiling at some people, and shaking their heads at others, but as in life, Norm and Mary do not judge anyone. They leave that "awakening" to God, and to each individual.

Mary is always pretty silent, but Norman talks up a storm. He appears when least expected, adding his two cents to the occasion (but politely, he is NOT pushy), to make you think.

Norm thinks it is pretty neat that he can be in St. Louis, MO and Oswego, NY at the same time, visiting his family and friends and "keeping an eye on them". Mary just rolls her eyes and is sitting back, waiting for him to settle down and do some REAL exploring with her!

Ah, maybe someday I'll be an angel - hey Dad, put in a good word for me, okay?

============================

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Norman M. Champion, aged 87, of St. Louis, Mo., passed away Friday, Nov. 2, 2007.

Born in Oswego, NY, he was a son of the late Marvin and Signe (Johanson) Champion. After graduating from high school, he worked at Ames Iron Works in Oswego.
He entered the U.S. Army in 1942 and served overseas in Okinawa as a surgical technician. Following the war he returned home to Oswego and applied to pharmacy school and was accepted to the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. He graduated in 1951 and worked as a pharmacist in the St. Louis area for the next 41 years, retiring in 1991.
He would return home to Oswego every summer and meet with his baseball buddies and his family.
Norm was predeceased by his wife of 52 years, Mary H. Champion; and three brothers, Charles, Francis and Nels all of Oswego.
He is survived by his sons, Michael (Cathy) Champion, Thomas (Joan) Champion, Timothy (Debbie) Champion, Patrick (Jeanne) Champion and two daughters, Kathleen Cervantes and Anne (Timothy) Simora, all of the St. Louis area; 15 great-grandchildren, one great-great-grandchild; four sisters, Betty Farrar of Baldwinsville, Philena Robarge of New Haven, Greta Noyes of Scriba, Jeannette France of Fulton; one brother, Neal Champion of Scriba; and many friends.
Funeral services were held Nov. 6, 2007 from Kutis Affton Chapel and St. Andrew's Catholic Church, where a Mass celebrated Norman's life.
Burial was in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, MO.
He will truly be missed by all.

Published: Thursday, November 8, 2007 4:29 AM CST

http://pall-times.com/articles/2007/11/08/obituaries/obit6.txt

Finally getting back into the swing of things!

2007-10-14T18:53:00.000-05:00

Free Clip Art Provided by Artclips.com.

Copyright 2007. All Rights Reserved.

I am cleaning house - not as in the past, like a bat out of hell - but very slowly and mindfully, thinking out WHAT I'm going to do with various objects before I touch them so that I touch each item once to put it where it belongs (trash, storage or in use). I'm learning to save steps and energy, and to not think that I can do the entire house in a day or two as in the past. It's working - my upstairs sewing/craft room has all debris that my kids left thrown away, and I'm moving items from other rooms there so I can sort it all into various drawers and containers. Eventually I'm going to move downstairs to my large basement bedroom for the extra space and light, but it has to be painted first and I'm not up to that challenge!

I've got projects galore swimming in my mind, but also I've been thinking about creating a very peaceful space. I used to listen to Eastern Indian music and chanting, and will probably do some of that, but it's been ages since I've listened to current music and I'm starting to listen to folk music and I'm liking what I hear.

I found the song "Waves" by a group named Grantura (www.myspace.com/grantura) and it's a definite winner. I found the song at Lisa's blog at

http://u-handbag.typepad.com/uhandblog/2007/10/sweet-sewing-so.html where I was greedily snagging her PDF of a handbag...okay, I'll admit it, I downloaded ALL of her PDFs; you can never have enough sewing and craft information. Check out the song and Lisa's site - both will put you in a happy mood.

I'll soon be listing items for sale as I sort through my stash...fabric, sewing and craft books and magazines, some sewing machines, trim and miscellaneous items. I need the cash to pay some bills, plus I'll NEVER in this lifetime use all the supplies I have.

All in all, this past week has shown me a new way of doing things - and it's not so bad. Of course, I'd rather be able to twitch my nose like Samantha from Bewitched and have it done quickly, but in spite of what SOME people may think, I'm NOT a witch!

Too Lazy for Words !

2007-09-23T14:09:00.000-05:00

Literally, I am too lazy to write. I started my "early retirement" with great enthusiasm in spite of the uneasiness of not having a second paycheck coming in...and I've sort of petered out.

Part of it I know is the heat...and the boredom of being alone all day (the cats don't count as great conversationalists)...and only "looking" instead of "shopping" if I go out (I never could understand the rationality of "window shopping"). Another part of it is the emotional beating I took at my last job - it's amazing what one jerk can do to your psyche.

I'm also in a slump because my genealogical search for my grandmother's birth family is going no where and will probably stay there until I take the magical brick from her brick wall, but I'm pretty much stymied as far as new places to look.

My house is also an issue. I need to do the spring cleaning that I missed doing the past two years. Motivation is the key. Motivation, motivation, motivation...my new mantra.

My dad would have said "just get off your a** and do it!" - he was a worker par excellence. Of course, his extreme type A personality, workaholism and bad genes put him in the hospital at age 45 with five heart attacks in five days, and then into a grave. I missed that last bullet nearly two years ago, and since then I have been determined to not copy what I can help of the rest of his life. It's hard to find that midpoint between

workaholic and

doing nothing at all - but

I'm working on it.

And, oh yes, the little violin has been playing a sad little tune the last month, just for me. And I have enjoyed it somewhat, but the tune is very boring and is becoming annoying, so I HAVE to snap out of this rut!

I've let a few people down this past few months...my hubby, Allison, my kids, friends, church...by not following through with plans and promises. None of them have complained or tried to lay a guilt trip on me...I am so blessed to have this circle around me.

But, since I am now annoying MYSELF, I realize that I have probably - no, HAVE - been annoying the stuffing out of them. Sorry, guys and gals, I PROMISE to do better!

I have accomplished some things. My frequent cursing is gone (funny what leaving a jerk job will do for you). We are eating healthier - very few burgers, fries and pizzas cross our threshold. NO potatoes, NO white bread or rice, NO red meat or pork, NO ice cream (do you know how hard that last one has been with NO air conditioning all summer???). Giving up pasta has been the hardest, but I have finally found a whole grain pasta that is VERY good and surprisingly filling in spite of the fact that I only fix half of a small box now instead of an entire large one. And I have lost 30 pounds.

So now it's time to start MOVING and CLEANING and SEWING and STAYING OFF OF THE COMPUTER! If I can do the last thing the other three will be a cinch.

Wish me luck.

Some things are too cute for words!

2007-08-30T22:46:00.000-05:00

I am SO into genealogy...

One of the lists I'm on had this link posted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAxrLJ5nw_g

Kinda cute, I think!

God's Handy Little Chart

2007-08-12T11:31:00.000-05:00

God has a positive answer.

You say: "It's impossible." God says: All things are possible (Luke 18:27)

You say: "I'm too tired." God says: I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: "Nobody really loves me." God says: I love you (John 3:1 6 & John 3:34 )

You say: "I can't go on." God says: My grace is sufficient (II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

You say: "I can't figure things out." God says: I will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5- 6)

You say: "I can't do it." God says: You can do all things (Philippians 4:13)

You say: "I'm not able." God says: I am able (II Corinthians 9:8) You say: "It's not worth it" God says: It will be worth it (Roman 8:28 )

You say: "I can't forgive myself." God says: I Forgive you (I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say: "I can't manage." God says: I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19)

You say: "I'm afraid." God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear (II Timothy 1:7)

You say: "I'm always worried and frustrated" God says: Cast all your cares on ME (I Peter 5:7)

You say: "I'm not smart enough." God says: I give you wisdom (I Corinthians 1:30)

You say: "I feel all alone." God says: I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)

God determines who walks into your life - it's up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go."

Father, God bless all my friends in whatever it is that you know they may need this day! May their lives be full of your peace, prosperity and power as they seek to have a closer relationship with you. Amen.

Oh, you doll !

2007-07-08T00:26:00.000-05:00

Look closely at the picture to the right . . . It's a fake.

My friend, and former co-worker Marcia, sent it to me and said that it's her daughter, Lily.

But she is lying. That is NOT Lily.

This is Lily:

and this:
No way is she big enough to walk. I remember (just yesterday, I swear) picking her up and rocking her to sleep at work when Marcia would bring her in. I remember her baby toys, and little booties, and seemingly endless bottles making our dreary workplace a place of wonder and excitement - at least for me, a woman whose husband thought he did me a favor by producing three sons. Now understand that I love my boys - I do - but I NEEDED a girl too. Ah well, as my dad used to say "and people in Hell want ice water."

I first met Marcia when I worked at Hancock Fabrics in Kirkwood, MO. She and her friend Jenn came in looking for some "special" fabric - and no one wanted to help them so I was called (I was the assistant manager and was always called for problem customers).

Do these girls look like trouble to you? (That's Marcia on the left):

They were looking for some special fabric for a six bridesmaids dresses they were designing.

Red fabric.

With crosses.

Black crosses.

Okay.

Actually, I knew exactly what they wanted, showed them a swatch, took their money for twenty-four yards of red satin fabric with black crosses on it; they went away happy, two more satisfied customers.

Advance two years. I'm managing another fabric store (whose name I won't mention because I DON"T want to give them ANY publicity) and in walks Marcia. I needed an employee; she needed a job. 'Nuff said.

Actually, now that I have strolled down Memory Lane, reality has snapped me back and I realize that yes, Lily SHOULD be old enough to be in ballet class. So I look at another picture that Mommy Marcia sent.

Hey Marcia, isn't this the position that Jenn had to get you in when Lily kept lying on your bladder invitro?

Well, all I can say is that Lily is a doll! But then again, so is her mom.

Bye for now.

It's not always about YOU

2007-07-06T12:42:00.001-05:00

I, like many people these days, spend WAY too much time on the computer. I love the instant gratification of learning new things while sitting in my jammies at 2 a.m. because the dog next door has decided to show the neighborhood that he sounds like a pit bull (he's a Taco Bell dog) and I can't sleep. So I read email and blogs and think...ohhh, that's cool, or "I could do THAT", or THANK GOD I use SPELLCHECK on MY blog so that I don't look THAT STUPID!

....You must know that one of my pet peeves is incorrect spelling and incorrect punctuation. I'm not talking about an occassional typo. I'm talking about college graduates who don't know the difference between to, too and two.

My husband used to work for Walgreens - you know that store, I'm sure. If not, just open your front door and look down the street, there is sure to be one on your corner. That's their goal, to be "seen" constantly building new stores; how else can they justify charging your insurance company $10 for a 30 cent pill?

Getting back to my pet peeve...I used to be terrible. I'm not terrible any longer, but I used to be OBNOXIOUS when I saw a sign at a Walgreens that was misspelled or had incorrect punctuation. Walgreens will only hire management trainees who have a college degree; it doesn't have to be a retail or business degree, anything will do so long as you have that paper. You don't even have to know how to spell - obviously.

But I digress...when I would see an incorrect sign I would find the manager and tell him that there was something wrong with it and time just how long it would take before he would admit that he didn't see his error. I told you I was terrible, but...

Come on, how can you even THINK this sign is correct?

I am NOT making this story up - it's true. I would send you over to the store and to verify my tale with that gentleman but he has been promoted to Regional Manager.

Another pet peeve of mine is how people dress for church. I'm from the old school where the boys wore dress pants, a dress shirt, dress shoes, and maybe even a tie. Girls, of course, wore dresses or skirts BELOW THE KNEE, dress shoes and a hat or veil. Now you're lucky if they wash their bare feet before they plop down in a pew (sometimes spelled phew). Yes, I have EXPERIENCED the delight of unwashed, bare feet at my church and let me tell you, even Jesus would think twice before he would touch 'em!

An online group that I belong to has been discussing a dress code for church workers they are revising. Most people "get it" about showing respect for God and those God-loving souls who climb out of their comfy beds at the crack of dawn in order to drag their husbands and kids, kicking and screaming, to church on time: "I had to do this when I was your age, and while you're living in MY house you'll show some respect for God, get dressed, put on a good attitude and get moving before He figures out what your're REALLY like!"

Amen.

Well, I try not to repond to this particular group due to the fact that NO ONE IN IT HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR. - so of course my witty repartees confuse the poor souls and World War III begins. But...just this once...I couldn't resist and here's part of my response:

Would you wear a bikini to the opera? Cutoffs to a funeral? PJ's to prom?

My OB used to wear golf clothes to his office on Saturdays because he worked a half day and of course he wanted to run out as soon as his last patient was seen. Although he was in a good mood on those days, he would rush through your appointment; those of us who worked during the week and had to see him on Saturdays felt as though we weren't given enough time to have our questions answered, etc.

He had a different attitude on those days - his agenda was not as patient directed on Saturdays, and it was due to his attire - he was "already" at the golf course before he saw one patient.

God doesn't care what we wear, that is true, for he can see into our hearts and knows what we are all about. A newcomer to our church may still feel strange about our church but will not think that we "are" strange if we look as though we take our job of serving spirit seriously.

Sometimes you just have to do the right thing...like wearing the flocked chenille bridesmaid dress that your sister picked out instead of showing up as her maid of honor dressed for comfort in capris and a tank top - or not showing up at all, because...

It's not always about YOU.

Should your Internet connection experience a bit of a slowdown, just stay calm and think of me, sitting in my jammies (remember, I'm not working and can stay in MY jammies all day if I like), reading the avalanche of emails telling me that God thinks that I am a smart a%% and not humorous at all...but that's ok, 'cause He's got His jammies on too.

Enthusiasm, anyone?

2007-06-24T14:34:00.000-05:00

http://www.inkcinct.com.au/

Remember your very first day of school, your first date, your first car, your first child? Remember how fresh and exciting life felt, how much enthusiasm you felt for each new day?

What happened?

I remember enthusiasm, I still feel it's tingle occasionally. Sometimes it even powers my day for an hour or so until the reality of 54 years of living in a body that has not been taken well care of for some years smacks me in the middle of my forehead.

Many of my days are crappy, full of migraines and fatigue (even after ten hours of sleep); some of my days have an aura of enthusiasm, like my last doctor's visit where I was told that I had lost another three pounds, for a total of ten in the last month WITHOUT DIETING; most of them I pass through with no recollection as to where the hours went.

I need some enthusiasm.

I know that enthusiasm must come from within, that I can't buy it or win it or have it given to me. I know that I cannot allow the lack of enthusiasm from the people in my world to influence me. I have to work harder. I need the flow of enthusiasm in my life.

I love Mark Twain and his ability to state things as they are with a little "bite" to it, a little "nudge" to not take ourselves so seriously. Take this quote of his, for instance: Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.

Would it?

The mechanics of the body would work more smoothly as time went on, and hopefully each day would bring more energy to us, but would the physical empowerment dampen our enthusiasm? Would we be so "into" our physical feelings that our mental processes would be less sharp, less enthusiastic?

I love the Internet, especially blogs. I'm able to "meet" so many personalities that I otherwise would not be exposed to because, let's face it, like attracts like so you know the type of people I hang with - nice, intelligent, friendly, but not a lot of excitement about life anymore. Just existing, and glad of it, for the alternative is not so appealing, but just existing. So I have been searching the Internet to see if I could "steal" the secret of enthusiasm.

I found that loving God, family and friends create enthusiasm. Good health definitely creates enthusiasm if you have had poor health. Money sufficient to meet your needs is good to have because nothing curbs enthusiasm like worry over where your next meal is coming from, or how you're going to pay the dentist. Success - even in little things - gives you the enthusiasm to tackle harder projects. But somehow all of this doesn't seem to help me with my current lack of enthusiasm. I need the enthusiasm to create an enthusiasm that will last longer than an hour. Or a minute. Before the fatigue and despair settle in again.

Then I found this quote on http://danaroc.com/ :

Success is a result of moving from failure to failure with no loss of
enthusiasm and without getting discouraged.

That's when it hit me - I'm not lacking enthusiasm, I'm just feeling discouraged due to what I perceive as my lack of success:

I'm too weak to stay on a healthy diet and exercise so that I can be healthier.
I'm not the mom I wanted to be.
I'm not the grandma I wanted to be.
I quit a job that I loved because I was too weak to stand up to the boss.
My house is not immaculate - and I don't care enough to make it

So what is the solution? Rethink what success is for me and how to achieve it

I can stay on a healthy diet if I kick the *** of the next person who brings ice cream or chips or real soda into this house. I can exercise if I make a point of putting my exercise gear on first thing and going directly to the gym before I find excuses.
I am a good mom - most moms are. It's the kids who brainwash us into believing that they know more at fourteen than we do at forty (I think there's a Mark Twain quote somewhere about just that subject...).
I can't help that my granddaughter lives hundreds of miles away, and that my step granddaughters don't like me (they're real grandma told them that I was trying to steal them from her). But I can be as supportive as I can and hope that the future will bring positive changes.
NEVER allow another person to intimidate and terrorize me again, especially a boss. Money is not MY God.
Dirty house? So what? Who wants to eat off of a floor anyway? Besides, I am NOT my mother and I am not less of a person because of it. Her rules didn't make her happy, so WHY do I think they will work for me?

And I DO have enthusiasm about some things:

I am enthusiastic about my new passion, genealogy (okay, I'll admit it, it's more OBSESSION than enthusiasm).
I have enthusiasm about seeing my husband at the end of each day - his coming home is the HIGH POINT of my day now that I'm not working. I WANT to hear about his day instead of thinking "shut up and let's get dinner over so I can go to sleep."
I LOVE my genealogy classes (OK, I guess that's really part of #1, sorry).
I LOVE the volunteer indexing work that I'm doing (oops, sorry, #1 again).
I enjoy having each day as my own, and in time I believe I will learn to be enthusiastic about JUST DOING NOTHING if that's what I feel like doing.

Okay, I feel better now. Almost like doing something...

Tomorrow.

Summer woes

2007-06-06T11:51:00.000-05:00

Summer is officially here. School is out.

Normally this would not be an especially worrisome time for me - my kids have been out of school for years. All I notice is that we have to be more careful of the neighborhood kiddos on their bikes in the streets (WHERE are their moms?) and less worried about the school bus that ALWAYS shows up when you are running late.

This summer, since I am not working, I am babysitting my step granddaughters. They are thirteen and in the throes of being teens - too old to be babysat, but not personally responsible enough to stay out of trouble. So thus I sit.

I never had daughters, and my one granddaughter is in Minnesota with her mother, so of course I am envisioning lots of fun - sewing, crafts, small excursions, right? Wrong. I am getting the silent treatment.

Because I am the babysitter, and they see themselves as too old for a babysitter, I am the enemy. Now, if they were my blood granddaughters, or even MY daughter's daughters, I would tell them a think or two about being grown up. But since I am the mother-in-law, I keep my mouth shut. I do not want to be labelled as interfering.

Oh, but if I could...

I would tell them how they are enforcing their own jail time.

I would tell them how much fun we could have going to the pool, to the park, to the mall.

I would teach them to sew, crochet or knit; we could make artsy-fartsy purses, pillows, clothes, or just do crafting, as all of those things are my forte.

But no, they sit in their rooms (with the doors closed), or sit in the basement in front of the TV, and leave me alone in the living room or kitchen to amuse myself.

But that's OK. Because today I am using the computer, which THEY are banned from (snicker, snicker).

So I'm working on my blog, I'll do some genealogy, work on my book, maybe play a game or two...

And April, if you read this, I have one Hello Kitty square done for Allison's poncho - and that may be ALL of the Hello Kitties she gets on it too! The pattern is all wrong - the first kitty looked like a pig! But the rest of it will be easily done as I made it before.

More later.

A Scratch is a Scratch

2007-06-01T03:23:00.000-05:00

Today I had a car accident on my way to the doctor. I wasn't hurt, and my car only got a couple of scratches on the bumper. I was stopped at a red light with a cab behind me who was also stopped. The Mercedes tooling along behind him didn't see the red light or the cab's red tail lights because she was talking on her Blackberry. So, she hit the cab, who hit me.

The gal gets out of her car (talking on the phone, of course) and asks the cab driver WHY he was stopped in the middle of the street. I guess the recreational drugs kept her from seeing all of the RED LIGHTS - her eyes were so glassy that they looked fake. She called Hubbypoo and got back in her Mercedes. He beat the police there - I guess it was his Land Rover that helped him make such good time.

Hubbypoo proceded to tell the cabby that no police need to be called because the cab company probably won't fix the minor damage, so they should just all "have a nice day" and get back to business (I think he had an appointment at Starbucks for a latte). The poor cabby was a foreigner and didn't know what to do, so I spoke up and told him to call his dispatcher to see what information they needed. Hubbypoo turned around and asked me "what MY involvement was." When I told him his wife caused the cab to hit me, he said I needed to work out that with the cabby. Now I starting to get just a little perturbed. Then he said the wrong thing: he said that MY car was old (it's a 1999), not very expensive (it's a Ford Contour), and that it WASN'T WORTH FIXING! Granted, my bumper did already have a few nicks on it, but they were MY nicks and not dead center!

Now I'm shaking - literally. The cabby asks me if I'm ok. The two freaks just stand there, looking at their Rolexes, impatient to get to those lattes. Then the cop shows up.

The cop procedes to tell the royal couple that neither of "us" will probably get the damage fixed and will probably settle for money rather than call the insurance company. Now I'm really mad. The cabby and I were standing there being completely ignored - where was our advise?

I walked up to the threesome and asked if cabby and I could be included in their conference; I LOVED the looks that got! Hubbypoo asked me if I planned to have my car fixed; I said I didn't know. He said he would give me $100 cash if I just forgot about it. I looked at the cop and said that I would rather not take the $100, that there was something else I would rather have. He asked what. I said I would rather put scratches on the Mercedes and then we would be "even steven". He kinda smirked but Hubbypoo got livid! Wifey just kept talking on the cell.

"A scratch is a scratch", I said. "If the scratches on my car are not worth fixing, why should you get upset if you have scratches on your car?"

The cop backtracked at that point and told us all to call our insurance companies. We left.

When I got home there were EIGHT messages from Wifey to "call her before I call my insurance company". I called HER insurance company - they asked me sweet as pie if I could get a repair estimate, that Hubbypoo wants to give me cash.

So I go get an estimate from a shop near my home. My "scratches" really were "no big deal" - only $500! And oh, the ones that were already on the bumper? They can be fixed for only $135. Somehow that makes me feel justified in taking the money.

Actually, had the gal apologized and acted nicer, I probably would have just told her to forget it and left - I've done that a couple of times in the past for other people. I would like to hope that this situation teaches them to be more respectful of people no matter what they look like or drive. Or where they live. But I doubt it.

Hmm, I wonder if I would have been offered more if I had said that my name was Bunny or Buffy?

I don't think so!

2007-05-16T15:47:00.000-05:00

Before I start telling you all about my hospital experience, I HAVE to tell you about this awesome t-shirt site I found: http://www.cafepress.com. This pic is one of their designs that I absolutely adore! If I could have purchased this shirt when my boys were small it would probably have been my uniform! Actually, had I seen the shirt last week I MIGHT have purchased it to wear to the hospital! But even without purchasing it I was able to make use of it's philosophy.

With little fanfare and much hyperventilating, I entered the hospital this past Monday for an angioplasty. Now, since I had just HAD an angiogram the prior Thursday, you would think "piece of cake", right??? Well, I thought that's how I would feel about it until I actually got there and put on the lovely designer backless gown they give everyone - then the fun began.

First I found out that they were running an hour behind. Normally, I wouldn't mind because I would rather the docs take their time doing their work than rush through it, but it was already 12:30 and I hadn't has anything to drink since midnight, and I'm an eight-glass-a-day-at-the-minimum water drinker. My tongue was sticking to the roof of my mouth. Lying on a stretcher with a metal bar running down the center of it didn't help much, either.

Then it was IV time.

Why is it that the girls at the walk in labs never have a problem drawing blood and the hospitals always do? Needles are for sewing, not for sticking into my delicate flesh, digging around for a vein. Thursday they had to call in "an expert" to find a vein; now we were having a repeat performance. Just as the nurse said that she was going to "try" to see what she could find, I thought of the t-shirt...I DON'T THINK SO! After I told her about the acute panic attack I was about to have another nurse appeared who used a tiny needle to numb the site before plunging the BIG needle in. What I want to know is how come I've never had this numbing stuff before, huh??? First hurdle over.

Next we finally went into surgery. By now I am shaking, and sweating. One of the techs turned tuned the radio to...can you believe...RAP! I hate rap, I can't understand what the "singer" is saying, and the "music" makes me nervous. My little cat friend appeared to me again - I DON'T THINK SO! I sweetly asked the tech to change the station 'cause I was about to get physical with someone. Actually he did say that he only tuned that station in to irritate the doc (oh great, just what I needed before he starts poking around my arteries!)...a running joke of sorts. ha ha

Now the doc asks me if I'm ready, and I guess you know what I was thinking...I DON'T THINK SO! Thankfully he remembered that I truly do have acute panic disorder and explained what he was doing as he went along - plus they gave me what they called "happy juice" in my IV, but let me tell you something: they lie. It does NOT make you happy, and you DO remember everything, or at least that's how it affected me.

Everything went PERFECTLY with the angioplasty. I was VERY happy to be taken to my room. I DON'T THINK SO only came up once more that day when a VERY young nurse told me that I couldn't have another pain pill, but I could have some morphine. (I asked her to explain why someone who is normally allowed to take up to six Vicodin a day can now only have two spaced six hours apart, but could have MORPHINE-a MUCH stronger drug-instead; I told her that maybe she should read my chart.) I got my pain pill.

Actually, now that it is over, I can almost laugh about it. It really wasn't so bad. And I didn't have a major panic attack, which to me was a bigger deal than escaping another bypass!

By the way, for those of you who don't understand panic disorder, think back to that dream where you were about to be hit by a car and couldn't run, or the one where you are falling and couldn't stop yourself, or the one where the monsters are coming out of your closet and you can't get out of bed to escape...multiply that by 1,000 and THAT'S a panic attack!

Thanks to everyone who sent prayers, reiki, and healing to me this past week. My internal radar felt all of your love - I hope you felt mine in return.

So what else is new?

2007-05-10T22:09:00.000-05:00

A lot has happened since my last post.

I started a poncho for Allison that she'll be able to wear when she rides her bike (pink, of course, to match her bike helmet!).
Priscilla died the day I took her to the vet. We think she had a heart defect. Her twin brother wandered the house for three days calling for her.
Last Wednesday - I flunked my stress test.
Today (Thursday) - I flunked my angiogram. Part of my triple bypass of 1 1/2 years ago has failed so I have to have a stent placed next week. Unless I flunk that too - then I'll have another bypass, oh goody.

I'm sure you've seen the little saying "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Well, let me tell you, I'm ready to open up a lemonade stand on our front lawn, except the grass is so high (broken lawnmower) that I'd probably get chiggers!

I don't know how atheists get through life. If I didn't have God and Mother Mary to cry, plead, and talk to I would go out of my mind. I think that's what it all boils down to - you and your relationship with the Almighty. I guess I am lucky in that the nuns who taught me in school never held sin and hell over my head. I was taught you had to talk your problems out with God sincerely and listen for His answer.

Thankfully I don't lay so many guilt trips on myself anymore when I mess up. And I'm learning not to let others lay them on me also. People always try to blame their failures on something other than their own lack of knowledge or their own selfishness. We allow little children to make mistakes and forgive them - we need to do the same for ourselves. I am positive that that is what God does.

Actually, I am thankful that I am having the heart procedure, whatever it happens to be, and however painful it is. It could be far worse - I could have been born fifty years ago when doctors were not able to perform the miracles they do in hospitals today.

My prayer now is for Bonnie - who I do not know personally - who is having back surgery next week; Marjorie, who lost her son in a car accident while he was on his way to the hospital to be with his eight year old son who had a seizure; and all of the other souls on this earth who are going through things that don't seem fair or are undeserved. I have to believe that all of our suffering, intense or minute, and all of our happiness serves a higher purpose than we can see.

Or maybe, like Dorothy, we will all wake up one day and realize that we have been in Kansas all along.

May the vet have mercy on our finances!

2007-04-30T08:01:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here with one of our youngest cats, Priscilla. She is a black Persian with very delicate features and black fur that would make any cat envious. And she is sick. So we are going to the vet.

This "little princess" taunts my husband with her charms - she will walk past him, swaying her fluffy tail, and then turns her head over her shoulder and look at him as if to say, "don't you WISH I would let you pet me?" Of course, Mike WILL pick her up, and then she cries as if her claws were being ripped out one-by-one. So Mike puts her down. He sits down. She jumps up in his lap, swishes her tail, lays down and will stay there ... as long as he doesn't try to hold or pet her. Love on her terms, it seems.

Hm, love on her/his terms. Doesn't it seems as though the world's population acts the same way? I'll love you WHEN you do this. I'll love you IF you do that. Kids particularly know how to work that angle, especially with Mom.

I guess that's why I love cats so much-you know up front that if they love you it WILL be one THEIR terms, so there's no hurt involved, no unmet expectations. No bribes. No guilt.

Cats are also good in place of heat. This past year our furnace went on strike. We should have suspected something was up when the air conditioner didn't work last summer, but we thought it was the dreaded compressor and you KNOW how much those cost! So we sucked it in, bought some extra fans, and made it through summer.

Winter was a bit harder. We have an all electric home, so cooking didn't seem to warm the kitchen up as much as the old gas stove that I remember in my childhood. We lived in a two room flat in the city with a small gas space heater in the living room/bedroom, and the gas stove in the kitchen. Some winter days it was so warm that we had to crack a window!

Back to my cat bedspread. I have a recliner that Mike bought for me to sit and sleep in right after my heart surgery - we call it the magic chair because it stays empty of cats until a human sits in it, and then "magically" they all appear and HAVE to sit there with you! Mike can't stand it, but this past winter it was marvelous 'cause when I would get so cold that I couldn't feel my toes I would sit in the recliner and the cats would warm me up! It worked so well that we even let them sleep with us a couple of times, but sharing a queen size bed with a husband who is a bed hog and ten cats is really over the edge - especially when a seventeen pound tabby thinks that your neck is where he should lay.

While we were observing Priscilla last night, wondering if we should let me do her own thing or keep her in the bedroom, her runty sister Bitsy got very jealous. Bitsy has ALWAYS had showers of attention because she is the runt - she had to have a blood transfusion when she was a kitten. Well, to get to the point, she got on the bed last night and butted Mike's hand (the one that was petting Priscilla) . When he GENTLY pushed her aside, she YELLED at him, jumped up on his hip - he was lying on his side - and - she peed on him! I thought she was going to loose all NINE of her lives!

Once Mike took a shower and changed clothes he had calmed down. Now, instead of being mad at Bitsy, he picked her up and told her that HE was sorry for ignoring her! Talk about behavior modification! I think she accepted his apology because she licked his hand and grunted (she doesn't meow, she grunts or yells).

Well, hopefully this vet bill won't be too high. In the last three months we have lost one cat after stomach surgery to remove a cancerous tumor ($525) and one to liver failure ($300). They were both about 14 years old, and had lived great lives, but as the oldest of the clan they have been sorely missed. Priscilla is listless and shaky on her feet, but she is taking fluids so hopefully she just has a virus.

Update soon.

Sewing !

2007-04-28T11:39:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note today - I'm hoping to get my sewing room cleaned out and refurbished in the next couple of weeks and I'm so excited about the prospect of having ALL of my sewing things in ONE room again that I thought I'd share a new video with you.

More later!

Cats

2007-04-22T18:39:00.000-05:00

"There are many intelligent species in the universe.

They are all owned by cats." ~ Unknown

Those people who do not like cats are well advised to stay away from the Champion household. Not only do we have live ones, we have ceramic cats, pictures of cats, cat candles, cat screen savers, cat muffins tins, even a Hello Kitty toaster! So of course finding cute kitty things on the daily Internet surf is a given.

I collect quotes about cats also, like the quote above by Unknown. Unknown is a very prolific writer with endless subject matter; you see his work everywhere! He has given me many a lovely phrase or odd bit of prose to quote when I am the chairman at church. He has such a gift.

Speaking of gifts, I was viewing the weekly newsletter from SkyBluePink and low and behold, my eyes were gifted with a simple yet elegant rendition of another one of my favorite cat quotes. Click their link above to see it, and check out the rest of their website, the "Land of Cool Collage Stuff."

Who knew that quitting a job could make you more intelligent overnight? Or maybe I feel more intelligent because my brain cells aren't being fried by the Evil One's stare of "How can you be so stupid" that was bored into the back of my head hour after hour, day after day. It was a look similar to the one you received as a child from an older brother or sister who felt that their siblings were maggots beneath their feet. Since my emancipation in mid January I've:

Finished five generations on my family tree (not easy to do when your maternal grandparents were both adopted).
Five generations on my husband's (his family is basically normal structurally- we won't get into personalities though for that's another subject ALTOGETHER!).
Completed the mock up of a purse pattern I've designed.
Learned how to say "NO!" convincingly to the energy vampires in my life.
Completed two of a series of five genealogy classes.
Written the outline of a book I'm planning about the orphan trains of the midwest, research half completed.
Started research for another book.
Managed to do practically NO spring cleaning!

Back to cats. My husband and I had the dream of opening a no-kill shelter for cats about ten years ago (didn't work out, long story) because we were accumulating strays at an alarming rate and could find no one to take them in. Ten years later we have sixteen fewer inmates but an assortment of little white boxes containing the cremains of the darlings who passed on to the great cat box in the sky. Now, here's the whole point of this discussion: what to do with the contents of the boxes?

None of my boys want them, and the threat to bake them into cookies has resulted delightfully
in no one eating at the Champion Inn during the holiday seasons. Of course this spiralled down into what were the boys going to do with MY cremains when that time comes. You KNOW I HAD to bring up the fact that it IS a tradition to serve refreshments after a wake...at which point my youngest said "no cookies!" Right on cue my husband and I replied "I know, let's have Shake and Bake."

Did I mention that my kids think that their parents are strange and evil?

Back to the cat cremains. I had the thought of making some jars out of Sculpty, sort of like the Egyptian canopic jars at http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/canopic.htm. I've never worked with Sculpty and my first and last attempt at making ceramics ended up exploding in the kiln in fourth grade art class, but since Sculpty doesn't need a kiln...

Well, I have plenty of time to mull this over - none of the cats, alive or dead, are going anywhere, and now I have brain cells to actually think with - and - perchance, to dream and create.

Happy Birthday, Allison!

2007-04-21T19:10:00.000-05:00

21 Apr 2007 Today I decided to celebrate my granddaughter Allison's birthday by creating this blog. She was six years old this past Wednesday! I remember being six - roller skating on the sidewalks in the summer, running down the block with my dime when I heard the snow cone man's bell, playing jacks on the floor with my mom (she always let me win!), and playing outside - double dutch, Irish jump rope and Chinese jump rope. That was also the year that I began to learn how to do hand embroidery, knit and crochet.

I love it that we are getting back to the needlework that our ancestors did on an everyday basis to keep themselves clothed and their homes looking nice. We are so blessed to live in a time where we can enjoy these arts in our free time instead of fitting them in between cooking, cleaning and gardening without modern appliances.

Allison's mom April sews and hand embroiders, so I hope she will encourage Allison to learn these skills. One Mother's Day April and my son Matt made made me a sweet hand stitched and hand embroidered cloth book which moved me to tears. I am keeping it for Allison in a small chest of things that I plan to give her when she is older as a remembrance of good times, good things, and good thoughts. A box of love, so to speak.

What will this blog contain? Pictures of Allison, of course...and my cats (I have eight). Crochet, knit and embroidery patterns and pictorial feats of skill from other crafty ladies who choose to share. Sewing (I used to be a tailor and had my own business for many years), odd crafts as I find them, and some original designs. And my new love, genealogy, is sure to pop up now and again.

So, Happy Birthday, Allison! Hugs and kisses from Grandma Cathy.......oh, okay, you can ALL have hugs and kisses too!