Feel Like Complaining

I recently gave my blog address to a friend and looked at the year I began, 2008. Really? It's been 5 years already, to the day. So many bloggers give up, become disinterested, don't have the time anymore, or suffer losses too great to overcome. I'm thankful that I still enjoy it and have the time to do it. I feel so blessed for you all that follow me, even if you don't comment. My life feels richer for knowing you and it's nice to have that connection in a world that sometime feels out of control. So thank you all for hanging out with a middle aged crabby woman and listening to her rants. I hope I've got 5 more years of bitching in me.

This is a recent picture of my hometown, Odessa, Washington. About 3/4 of it is pictured. It really doesn't look much different than it did when I lived there. The highest population was probably about 1200, but now is under 1000. My graduation class had 42, this past year, maybe 10-15. If I could see the football field on the left I could be pretty certain where my house was, but I can only guess that it lies very close to the left border of the picture. It was a nice place to grow up although boring at times. One drive-in burger place, no movie house. A couple of taverns and gas stations, a park and swimming pool, no traffic light, one sit down restaurant. One motel and grocery store. There used to be a bowling alley but I'm not sure if it's still there. We could walk anywhere we needed to be and getting a ride from the parents was pretty much out of the question. If you wanted to go somewhere, you walked. The vantage point from where this shot is taken is a big sl...

Recently I got a Facebook friend request from someone; a name I didn't recognize. I didn't delete it though, going back a few times to the profile to study it. It's like detective work. I could tell it was a guy, a newcommer to FB with only 13 friends but none in common with me. The last name was a common Irish name and I did know someone with that name but the first name didn't fit. But I kept studying it and then looked at his Grandson's name, and he had the same name that I remembered and was from the same town. So I quickly accepted the request and then teasingly grilled him, asking who he was. When I was a waitress, way before my daughter was even born, a group of guys that worked for the railroad came in a few times a week. They were always so much fun and one in particular was especially nice. He met hubby and we all got together once in Coeur d'Alene because that's where his mom lived. He and I would occasionally go out for a drink and dinner whe...

  We all finally made it. We lived through the Culminating Project! This is Daughter's performance at church last week. Our Minister was sitting to the right across the aisle and I could tell she almost started laughing a few times because he was trying to keep her smiling. This is my first video attempt and it's a bit grainy but the only ones that need to see it is us and the teachers that will grade it.   Now all she has to do is write a paper and then present it in all in April in a PowerPoint presentation. And then we will never have to listen to this song again!!     

For months now my stress level has been on high alert. A lot of it is college related. Between financial aid forms, college tours, and the Sr. Culminating Project, I'm about ready to jump off a bridge. It's a miracle that Seniors in high school don't become orphans due to the stress load on their parents. Even though we have hired someone to fill out the financial aid forms for us, there are still corrections that need to be made. They highly stressed that by hiring them, the forms will be filled out right with no chance of hold-ups due to wrong entries. Ours were filed promptly on Jan. 2 which was awesome but then we get an email that hubby's name does match the SS number on file. Are you shitting me? They had used a different initial; like if your full name is Robert but they call you Bob, they used the B. The email directions from their office said you you can go in and make changes but if the PIN # doesn't work, please call the office so we can walk through ...

Not that kind of Pot! I have many fond past memories of that kind of pot but those days are far, far behind me. Recently I bought an entire set of new pots and pans. When the non-stick innards start sticking you know it's time to get new ones. I pulled all of old ones out of the oven drawer and then cleaned all the new ones. I kept a few of the old ones but put lids that weren't needed in a give-away box because the set consisted of those too. There is one pot that I refuse to give up though. I remember it as a kid and when I moved out to go to college, I took it with me. Can you all do the math? I figure this pot has got to be close to 40 years old. I have no idea what brand it is or what it's made of. It is the nastiest looking thing; all black and warped on the bottom from years of cooking. I've had to whack it with a hammer a few times to keep it from spinning on my stove top. It is my 'popcorn making' pot, the only one I've ever used. It's als...