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I was so lovingly tagged by Colleen.

Here's the "rules" of this meme: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

Seven random facts about me:

1. My nickname as a child was "carrot-top." But maybe it should have been "carrot-bottom."
   
2. I was 15 when I decided what I wanted to be when I grew up.
3. I once ran for student body president, and lost.
4. I gave birth in a third-world hospital, payment for which was 3 sweet potatoes.
5. I once built a picnic table.
6. My kids still like me. (I think they do, anyway.)
   
7. My husband and I wiped up on a round of the Not-so-Newlywed game by both answering the question "What is your favorite flower?" with "whole wheat."

Well, I got this far. I don't know if I have 7 friends who would be willing to do this... Have to think about that!

Thank You for Paying Your Taxes

Gary found out yesterday that he and a couple of his friends are being given a quarter million from the US government.

Of course, only teeny, tiny bit of that will actually go to him personally, but still, it sounds impressive, doesn't it?

In Sunshine and Rain

Don't you love it when it rains while the sun is shining?

Advice from a Billionaire: How to Spend your Millions

Richard DeVos was the speaker at the graduation I recently attended. I found it amusing to hear him tell how he sat Shaq down and told him how to spend his money. I guess Mr. DeVos thought he could do that since he was the one giving him that money.

Ancestors

These four graves are direct ancestors of mine. A fifth generation (MMMMF)* was also buried in the same cemetery, but we couldn't locate the stone at the time I had the camera in my hand. After leaving the cemetery, Gary said, "Do you think there's room for us here?"


*=my Mother's Mother's Mother's Mother's Father

I Need to Decompress

We have safely arrived home from a few days in Michigan to see my nephew graduate from college. I get "home" very seldom, so when I do go to the place of my birth my mind struggles to take it all in and sort it all out. Sometimes the memories are almost overwhelming and I feel like I'm the only person who ever left that small town.

Memories

Today I saw:

the hospital I was born in
the creek I used to play in
the house I used to live in
the lake I used to swim in
the neighbors I used to play with
the grave of the woman who drove my school bus
the high school I graduated from

my aunt, my uncle, my cousins
my brother, my sister, my mother

the grave of my father
the graves of my grandparents
the graves of my great grandparents
the graves of my great-great grandparents
and the grave stone waiting for my mother

the church I was married in

I feel like I'm in a time warp.

Human Behavior

I'm forever analyzing how people act.

In a predetermined group activity, presumably, everyone would be active, right? Yet, I see the following behaviors:

• some jump in without a word and participate
• some wait for others to participate, then copy them
• some wait and do nothing until they are asked or told to do something
• some wait and then ask what to do
  
• some just wait

What causes some people to not participate? Fear? Laziness? Insecurity? Incompetence? A desire to see others fail and then make fun of them?

The Weekend is Over

We had a nice change of pace with a camping trip this past weekend. But now, it is time to think about getting back into gear for the upcoming week.

ARADD

That is, Age-Related Attention Deficit Disorder

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden.

As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide
my car needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch
table that I brought up from the mailbox earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage
can under the table, and notice the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage
first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out
the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only one check
left.

My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to
my desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside
so that I don't accidentally knock it over.

I realize the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the
refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the
counter catches my eye--they need to be watered.

I set the Coke down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses
that I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to
water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water
and suddenly I spot the TV remote.

Someone left it on the kitchen table and I realize that tonight when we
go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that
it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where
it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the
floor.

So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up
the spill.

Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

The driveway is flooded

The car isn't washed,

The bills aren't paid,

There is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter,

There is still only one check in my check book,

I can't find the remote,

I can't find my glasses,

And I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really
baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for
it, but first I'll check my e-mail.

(Stolen from the internet, of all places.)

No New Posts

In looking at my index, I've noticed three draft, unfinished or censored posts in the last week. Hmmm...

A Frog and Toad Story

"Come help me! One of my ex-boyfriends is on my doorstep trying to get in," she exclaimed.

"No, no," I replied, "that's a harmless toad, not a frog."

"Oh, good," she replied, "I was worried there for a minute."

As you can see, the toad went away very disappointed, nearly in tears, that she wouldn't let him in.


"I'm holding out for the frog, aka Prince Charming, you know," she told him, and with a swish of the broom, sent him off to hide under the car.

The End.

The Cat's In the Bag and Other Accomplishments

Today was the day that the nice vet, Dr. MacDonald, comes to the Center and offers free shots to all our pets. Free, but we all give a donation. Rachel and I don't have cat carriers, but we do have some extra pillowcases which work pretty well. Odd thing, the vet bent the needle while giving the shot with both cats! They didn't seem to notice, however.

In other news, Rachel completed 7 interviews in the last three days, for 7 out of the 9 elementary schools in our district. The one on Thursday was at the school itself; the other six were at the job fair this morning. She seemed to feel OK about how they went, but we just don't know how likely it will be that a job offer will be forthcoming. We continue to pray that just the right full-time position will open up for her.

Rose

I don't have anything much to say today, but I did want to show off this beautiful rose.

A Walk

Yesterday the weather was gorgeous, so I went for a walk on the nearby trails. These trails are more or less maintained, but I did find a lot of poison ivy close to the trails anyway.

These trails have cute names like The Trail Down Under and MK Trace, but the one I went on was called Coon Crossing. I saw no coons, but I nearly step on this cool beetle:

This is the best time of year to look for wildflowers, and I found a few new ones to add to my collection. Here is a collage of the four new ones I found, but I was only able to identify 3 of the 4. If you want to see the names, check out my web album of flowers, wild.

Overall Apron

My project of a few weeks ago to make an apron out of one leg of a pair of old jeans was a moderate success. But really, only if the wearer was extra skinny. Then when Rachel handed me a couple old pairs of overalls to take to the boutique, I realized overalls would make an excellent apron, complete with built-in bib. So here ya go, shown on my headless model:

Maybe I'll start a new fad?

Update

I guess it has been a few days since I've posted. My week stunk, as you will already know if you read my other blog. The weather hasn't been all that warm and spring-like either, but I did manage to buy a couple new cheap lawn chairs so we have something to sit on out on the deck. Nor is the wildflower garden much to brag about this year-maybe it will improve when the weather gets a bit warmer. But Rachel's three miniature rose bushes are all blooming quite nicely.

Other accomplishments for the week: balancing my checkbook, helping Rachel get her taxes in the mail, and taking my vacuum cleaner in for a checkup which meant vacuuming the whole house before I took it in. My boss has been out of town this week, so things have been slow at the office too. Oh, and I published my very first book review on Amazon.com, using a nom de plume.

In Sweet Memory Of

Yesterday the front of our church was full of Easter lilies. (In fact, the fragrance was a bit overwhelming for me, so I sat in the very back row.) Each of these lilies was given either in honor of, or in memory of, a family member or friend.

I thought it was sweet to read in the bulletin these two particular listings (not real names, but you'll see what I'm getting at):

In memory of:
Sally Smith, my beloved first wife, by Joe Smith

and

In memory of:
John Doe, my beloved first husband, by Sue Smith

15,000 and Counting

I just happened to notice this nice round number on my counter. I know that really isn't very many hits for a blog, but on the other hand, based on the comments I get, I assume I only have a total of 5-6 different readers anyway!

I have just recently had to completely re-do my Empty Nest Website (not my blog) since our ISP Comcast changed to Roadrunner and ate up my website in the process. I've reworked it, made it simpler, and changed all my photo albums to be Google Web Albums, organzed via Picasa. Much, much simpler than the way I did it before. The new site uses Google Pages, also much simpler, but I've augmented the standard templates with a few hacks of my own HTML programming--very few because I know very little. Anyway, here is the new Empty Nest Website
http://linda.simons.googlepages.com/home if you need something to look at. My intention is to augment it from time to time with new photo albums.

In other news, we had a nice Easter day, if a chilly one. It was nice to see David and his gf, if only for a couple hours. And I will say, I've eaten WAY too much chocolate today. Got to love those Cadbury mini eggs.

Living and Dying

It seems like today's topic should be about life and death. Primarily, Christ's death, which is on our minds this Holy Saturday. My emails this week brought the news of several deaths--a woman from my high school class, a father and a brother of friends. I sympathize with the sorrow and sadness that my friends feel at their personal loss, even as I'm also reminded of my own grandmother who passed away on Good Friday three years ago, while I was at the theater seeing The Passion of the Christ.

I suppose most blogs don't talk about death because most blogs are written by people too young to be very acquainted with death. Their time will come, if they live that long.

Death makes a good backdrop to talk about life. Today's email also brought news of a birth and the joy this new life was bringing. I have purposely cut off the head of this smiling man as he proudly holds his new child in one arm and his new grandchild in the other. His child is the older one, obviously. ;-)

Lastly today, if you need some good music to start tomorrow, try my favorite Easter Song It sounds best when your speakers are maxed out. :-) (Actually, I have the recording--I don't really know how that Rhapsody download thing works, but you could try it if you don't have the song yourself.)