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Please, No Socks or Underwear For Me
Our family has participated in a “Secret Santa” gift exchange for the last several years. (This year, I believe there are 17 family members involved.) Each person gets one name and buys a gift (spending up to $25) for that person.
What makes it so fun and special is that no one is going to give, or get, something that is…necessary. All gifts will be tokens of thoughtfulness. I think there are 4 main rules that we follow to amplify enjoyment.
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Food Coma
Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. Our family takes turns in sharing the different holidays. Our daughter, Lisa, is always the hostess for Thanksgiving. This started when my son-in-law, Craig, shared that he loved to make the turkey. So, he got the job of hostessing Thanksgiving and dragged his wife, Lisa, along for the ride whether she was in agreement or not. -
Thankful for Tradition
Our family has divided holidays between Mom, Lisa, Judy, and myself. We celebrate Christmas at Mom’s house, Judy and I alternate Easter at our homes and Lisa gets Thanksgiving. Because of this, when someone asks me how I’m celebrating the holiday – I gratefully get to say “I don’t have to host or cook – I just get to enjoy the day!” -
Dad’s Benediction
There is so much to be thankful for…that is what this holiday is all about. It is also a time to remember and honor memories.
My dad has a favorite blessing that he recites at family gatherings. (I have googled it and found no references.)
Let us bow our heads in prayer.
Lord God, gracious and merciful,
We acknoledge thy bountiful goodness towards us and give you thanks for our daily bread…
so richly provided by thee.
And we ask you to continue to bless us
with the benedictions of thy fatherly hands.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
Amen
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Tables of Thanks
Thanksgiving is a very nostalgic holiday for me. I cherish the warm and special moments spent with family for as long as I can remember. The first Thanksgiving table was at Mom and Dad’s home on MacArthur Drive. The next large table I remember was in Michael’s and my home on Scott St. More recently, the big table on Rose Circle has been the setting for our holiday memories. Lisa and Craig have created a special Thanksgiving for all of us for the past twenty years. -
Evolution of Breakfast
“Eat breakfast like a king,lunch like a prince,
dinner like a pauper.”
This was the saying many years ago when I was struggling with my weight. I would eat a big breakfast and feel sluggish and drowsy for much of the morning. Was it the quality of the food? Was it the content of carbs versus protein? Was it the sugar, fat, salt…?
I’m not sure. Probably yes, yes, and…yes…
When I taught, I often skipped breakfast and had a snack around 9:30 with the students in my class. Although I sent home a letter with a dozen suggestions for “healthy” treats, the most common items were brownies, rice crispy treats, granola bars, cheese cheese-flavored crackers…it makes me tired just writing this.
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Slippery Frosting
On September 22, 2004, Grandma Is passed away and our family was forever changed. She was the one to make the holiday cookies and candy. She was the one that made the special bean and ham soup. She was the one that made Mom’s birthday schaum tortes. She was the one that made Lisa’s birthday cake and slippery frosting. -
Passing the Baton
Cooking and I have been through several evolutions. I left home at 18 as a young, married woman. I could cook (sort of) thanks to my brief Home Economics class in High School. Cookbooks were my friends because, at the time, a long-distance phone call cost money. That meant I couldn’t afford the luxury of calling mom for instructions. -
A Cake Made with Love
In our family, we try to make birthdays somewhat special. Usually, a cake or a favorite dessert is made for the birthday person. The first year that I was married my husband, Art, made me a birthday cake. Now, he is not a cook or a baker so this was a very special effort on his part.
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No White Walls
In college, my rooms were boxes with white walls enhanced with my personal belongings.When Tom and I married, we lived in several apartments…all decorated with the same Hunter Green and tan items. The walls were always white from Eau Claire, WI to Memphis, TN, to Oak Park, IL.
We bought our first home in Sun Prairie, WI. Besides my garden outside, the first thing I did inside was PAINT. I painted mottled soft tan stripes in the master bedroom and deep raspberry walls sponge-painted with ivory in the guest room. I was just getting started. When we moved to my first house in Beaver Dam, I was ready. The home had sat unsold for several months before the previous owners decided to install new ivory carpeting on the main floor and paint every room with a fresh coat of clean white paint. When I moved in, my fingers itched to make it mine.
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Trading Spaces
Having moved from a tri-level home to a larger two-story house was a bit of a challenge to get used to. You learn to live one way and then have to refigure a new environment. We had our family room on the lower level and grew to love that idea. -
The Office
When the Realtor showed my sister and me through our house, there were several things that caught my eye. I loved the black kitchen cabinets, the laundry room on the main floor, and the cozy dining area with great views of the backyard. -
Pick a Color
I was 23 years old and it was time to decorate my first apartment and then my own house. I had no idea where to start, what to do, or even what color to use. Then I remembered an idea Lisa had shared with me (after all – if Lisa thought it was a good idea – it probably was) -
Alexa – Let There Be Light!
Picture this: I’m living in Waukesha and it’s time to get ready for work. I take my shower and put myself together for a day of training. I wake up the baby, feed him, and get him cleaned up. We go to the parking garage, get in the car, and drive to the garage door. As it opens up, I see that the sun hasn’t even started to rise. It’s standard time and I’m feeling like I’m ahead of the game for the day because I’m up and ready even before the sun has risen. -
The Day Feels Longer
There is a lot of controversy regarding whether to keep daylight savings time in effect.I love the time change in the spring giving us more daylight hours. I would love to see it kept that way all the time. I am not a morning person, so when it is light for a longer time I love it. I am notoriously late and one time when daylight savings time started in the spring I was going to church. I was going to be on time. Got to the parking lot and no one else was there. A friend of mine drove next to my car and just laughed. Daylight savings time had started the night before and I was one hour early. So this shows that I am not always late.
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Rising Before Dawn
I always walk the dogs early in the morning. My favorite time is right at sunrise–whatever time that is.
Right now, it’s the beginning of November and I’m usually walking in the dark.
When Daylight Savings Time (DST) ends this weekend, I will get a little bit more of that beautiful morning light again for a while. You see, in 2023, DST was from March 12-November 5. It’s lighter, later. Now we go to Standard Time…lighter, earlier.
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I Remember When
I have never been a morning person. I look forward to Spring, even though I lose an hour with Daylight Saving Time. I do enjoy the extra daylight hours in the evening. When we hit the “fall back” time, I enjoy the extra hour of sleep. Although, once daylight saving time ends, it gets dark so early that I feel like I’m living in Alaska. -
Excessive Daytime Sleepiness
For as long as I can remember, I love sleeping. Taking a nap while snuggled in a cozy blanket, next to a crackling fire – mmmmm – there is nothing like it. But when you have no control over your sleeping – that is an entirely different story. -
Oops, I Did It Again
It was the summer before Kindergarten. I was swimming in the kiddie pool at my neighbor Donna’s house. We were running around her backyard, and as I neared the wet grass by the pool, I slipped and fell.
I can still feel the burning pain. Her mom picked me up and dunked me in the cool water repeatedly. Then she carried me home on the path that cut across the field that connected our houses on opposite sides of the block.
I begged Mom and Dad not to take me to the hospital. The next morning, I remember Mom coming into my room to know what I wanted to wear. Since this wasn’t the way things went in the summer, I asked what was up and was informed that we were going to the hospital. You see, I couldn’t move out of bed, much less walk.
I wasn’t given crutches for weeks. I think I finally got them just in time to start school.
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Medflight to Madison
I have always taken antibiotics for granted. I felt that an antibiotic was prescribed for different kinds of Illnesses, but didn’t really pay attention feeling that one would probably work for any kind of illness.Well, I was wrong.
I have had many UTIs in my life and took any antibiotic that I could get my hands on when I couldn’t see a doctor.
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Diving Disaster
One of our last outings before starting my Senior year at BDHS was a trip to the Fall River Pool. I had heard so many things about how nice it was. It was a busman’s holiday from the YMCA pool where my boyfriend and I worked. My sister Sandy and her husband, Art drove us to the pool. My boyfriend, Spencer was a great diver. He had been promising to teach me to do a one-and-a-half somersault off of the three-meter board. I loved doing regular dives and was excited about adding a new dive to my accomplishments.
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AWCTDIQ
Several years ago, before Michael and I were married, I hung out with a group of people who were full of fun. The group consisted of 4 couples. We all had professional careers and we loved to go out together and be silly.When we were together and things got too boisterous, the manager or owner would always come up to ME and say something like “YOU look responsible. Could you please ask your group to quiet down?”. I never understood why I was selected to be the disciplinarian.
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Poop Happens
Not everyone is able to handle baby poop, but for a mom – it’s not such a big deal. I did a lot of babysitting as a young teenager and was very accustomed to dealing with a baby’s needs. As a new mom – I never thought that not everyone has the same mentality about babies that I did. -
You Go First
Growing up, our house was across the street from the Grand View Motel. We lived on the street behind and our home faced the 10 or so windows of the long, low building. Once a week, the owner would mow the grass and sometimes have his young son, Johnny, with him in the cab of the riding lawn tractor.
Mom asked me if I wanted to take Johnny to the “Welcome to Kindergarten” day. ( It was held on a day late in the spring semester when neighborhood Kinders would “sponsor” a child who would be entering kindergarten the following year.) “No way,” was the only explanation I gave when she asked me if I was interested in taking Johnny. But there was a reason that I didn’t want to be his special friend…
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Orange Fuzz Isn’t Flattering
A funny story to some isn’t always so funny to the person involved. My husband was away on a fishing retreat. It was a Friday, I was bored and had decided I needed a change.
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Changing Lanes
I’m not sure why my son Kadon got his first car soon after he got his driver’s license…but he did. It was an almost 20-year-old, hand-me-down, 2002 Supercharge Pontiac Bonneville from his cousin Jessica. She got it from her brother Brad and his mom Michelle bought it from some mechanic for $3000 (a good deal I guess). It was named Jemall–it means “handsome” in Arabic (in case you were wondering, which I’m pretty sure you weren’t).
But anyway, to operate Jemall, you needed a screwdriver to stop the windshield cleaning system from spraying and wiping your windows if you dared to brush the button. When it rained, water puddled on the floor of the backseat. Pins held up the headliner. Ice and fog regularly formed on the inside of the windows. You had to manually lock all the doors because the automatic locks clicked, but nothing happened. And only the driver’s window went up and down. Whew, I think that’s it. -
Keeping Things Equal
In my lifetime I have owned quite a few cars: mostly older models and a couple of really nice vehicles.When it came time to share the driving experience with the two daughters we had it was decided, as did everything else, to be on an equal basis.
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Matt’s Puma Mobile
My mom got her first driver’s license when she was 55 years old. My dad had passed away and she often found herself stranded with errands to do and places to go. She bought her first new car in 1984. It was a celery green Chevy Celebrity. She literally was the little old lady who drove to the grocery store and to church on Sunday. -
Inheriting the Red Hornet
Picture this – faded fluorescent orange with yellow front quarter panels In our family, the general consensus is that teenagers don’t need a brand-new car for their first car. Mom and Dad held to this philosophy and therefore, I did too when my kids were of the right age. My dad must have been obsessed with the year 1972 because Lisa’s first car was a ‘72, my first car was a ‘72 and my second car was also a ‘72.
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Teenage Romance
I was planning on staying home, but my best friend Janice insisted I had to come with her to Mary’s party. Mary’s family was having a party for their exchange student and all the girls were going to be there. I didn’t feel like going but resigned myself to an evening of socializing. The last thing I was looking for was romance. -
Blind Date Success
I met my husband, Art, on a blind date. As it was told to me a friend that I had gone with had this friend named Art. He always spoke highly about him and said what a nice guy he was. Well, he wanted to go to the outdoor, needed a date for Art, and called one of my girlfriends to see if she could go. She couldn’t go, so guess what? He called me. Well, my Dad knew this friend, liked him, and thought he was the one asking me to go out to the outdoor. So, he said I could go. Now, I was only fifteen so this was a huge thing for me. I couldn’t believe he would let me go to the outdoor, in a car with boys, at such an early age.
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Friends Forever
My first real job after High School was selling driving lessons at a driving school in Madison. Every day it was my job to take the bank deposit to the bank in the Hilldale Shopping Center. It was a highlight of my day because the staff was friendly and fun. -
Avoiding Bedtime
It has been rumored that I stay up very late at night. It seems I will do anything to avoid getting ready for bed. I read, watch TV, start picking up at all hours, look at Facebook and spend the next day feeling tired.Why do I do this? I don’t like getting ready for bed. It takes too long and yet if I miss a step, I suffer from good old-fashioned guilt. Makes no sense since I am the one that suffers the next day.
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Night Night
I’ve prided myself in consciously becoming a morning person. I’ve developed and practiced a routine to help me be successful at getting up early and starting my day positively.
My Bed: Evie at the foot, Aubrey on the left, me hogging the duvet in the middle, and the 9 1/2 inches on the right is left for Craig. One strategy to set yourself up for success is to begin the night before.
We all know a good parent needs to put predictable patterns into their child’s evening routine. There is dinner, bath, tooth brushing, stories, maybe a night-night song, and lights off.
Well, it’s the same with us grown-ups. Why do so many people fall asleep on the couch watching TV or lay in bed watching TikTok on their phone? I would be a mess if I did either of these activities!
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Time for Bed
As I’ve mentioned before – I LOVE sleeping. So, it naturally follows that bedtime is my favorite time of the day. But, before I indulge in this most joyous event, there are a few things that need to happen in order for me to feel ready to jump in.My bedtime routine used to be very simple. Hop into bed and you are done with the routine. I know you are supposed to brush your teeth and wash your face before hopping in, but as a kid and a young adult – that just seemed like too much work.
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Making Time
In a real perfect world, this is what I should do as a nighttime routine: First make sure the kitchen is clean, the dishwasher either full or emptied, the cupboards clear of stuff, and the dogs let out one last time for a potty break, lights turned off, doors locked, teeth brushed, nighttime pills are taken, help my husband with his drugs, CPAP machine, prayers, lights off. -
Pay Attention
When you think of teachers and their importance in your life, you want to think of them in a good way. After all, you spend a significant part of your childhood in classrooms with these people. The teachers in my life have made both positive and negative impacts on me. -
Great People Make Great Teachers
I was taught at an early age that teachers were meant to be respected. All through grade school, I had teachers that I felt positive about. I loved school and identified with each of them. In elementary school, I looked up to our music teacher. She was very positive and taught us to be proud of ourselves and our voices. -
Needed to be Heard
Teachers have a great impact on your life. Unfortunately, I can remember only some negative incidents with teachers in my past. I feel this was unfortunate. I was shy for the most when I was younger especially while in a group. If a problem came up I never seemed to be able to stand up for myself.
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Make It Interesting
As a teacher myself, you would think perhaps that I wanted to be a teacher because I was inspired by all the wonderful teachers I had growing up–not so much.
Well, maybe I was inspired by one very special teacher–nope.
As a matter of fact, I went to the counseling center in college to figure out what to major in. I scored the highest in my affinity to careers in education or as a YWCA/YMCA director. I was maybe not inspired, but at least open to education because of shows like Electric Company, ZOOM, and Hodgepodge Lodge. Learning could be fun…
When I explored the education options more specifically, I thought of teaching elementary education standing at a big chalkboard and kids sitting at desks in rows. Arghhh.
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Lessons Learned
Time has taught me to not take life for granted, and to make the most of each and every day. This is not an easy task, but I do try this exercise on a daily basis. -
Learn From Yesterday
Have you ever had the question in your head, “What has this taught me?” That’s how I tend to look at my younger self. As Walt Disney once said – “The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it.” -
Time Heals?
“Time heals all wounds”…I’ve given some thought to this famous quote and decided that it is a harmful “old wives” tale.My perspective is based on personal experience. Having lived more than a half-century. I have a wealth of experiences under my belt that have harmed, hurt, or negatively influenced me in one way or another.
What I can say for time, with regard to healing emotional pain is that it serves two purposes. but falls short in one major way…
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It All Counts
With the passing of time, I realize that time is not infinite. I have often thought that if I wasted a day, it was no big deal. I now realize that it all counts. I need to value my time and make sure that I accomplish items of progress each day. -
I Feel Good
I can choose to be happy.
It all started when I was a child. Every Saturday, Michelle and I would do our housekeeping chores. But we would have additional cleaning responsibilities if we were having guests or before holidays. During those times, mom would be present and I remember these times well.
She would explain the importance and urgency of the chores. I think my sister and I were low on the continuum of “buy-in”. Then to encourage us, before turning us loose, Mom would always, always say, “Alright girls, let’s get this house cleaned up…and let’s have fun!”I don’t think this actually worked in my child’s mind, but it has affected me deeply in adulthood.
You see, I know I get to choose my happiness–or not. It all depends on the thoughts I purposefully think.
Let me explain.
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Don’t Worry, Be Happy
I feel that in my life there appear to be so many unhappy people. There are so many bad things going on in the world around us and I am sure that contributes to a lot of concern and unhappiness for a lot of people. Now, on the other hand, I feel you can choose how you are going to handle your life. You can choose to be happy or sad. Having a positive or happy attitude can get you through just about anything. -
Happy State of Mind
For most of my life, I’ve heard people talk about their goals, and many of them say “I just want to be happy”. My opinion of this goal is that many people are not happy because they don’t choose to be happy. When you live your life with an attitude of happiness, you can weather difficult times and still remain in balance. -
Making Happy Mornings
I hate mornings and when I get up, my first thought is “I can’t wait to go back to bed.” When I wake up, I’m not a smiling, happy person. There are some in my family that are and I’ve asked them how they do that. Their response was “I just decide before I get out of bed that it’s going to be an amazing day.” Wow – can it really be that simple? -
Tenacious Taurus
If you look to see what personality traits are associated with a Taurus, you can find a variety of different answers. The websites I found state that a Taurus is possessed/obsessed, fussy, stubborn, chilled/zoned out, and sensuous/greedy. Some things that a Taurus is into would be money, food, chilling, flirting, and shopping. For the most part, I’m in complete agreement with what I’ve read. -
Authentic Aries
The Aries woman is honest, driven, competitive, and energetic. At least many of the Aries women have these traits. I find myself exhibiting the shadow side of many of the Aries qualities. For example, I carry a secret insecurity that creates intense stress and pressure for me. On the surface, I appear confident, competitive, and driven. In truth, appearances can be deceiving. Inside, I am often feeling anxious and inadequate. This surprises the people I know well because they say they don’t understand why.
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Creative Cancer
I really don’t pay much attention to my sign, but doing this exercise found it to be interesting. There are a couple of traits that I can identify with. One trait of the cancer is being nosey. I don’t consider this trait as being nosey at all, but am interested. I find people fascinating. I love to know their story, their interests, occupations, and the list goes on and on. This is how I get to know them and find other people primarily fun and interesting. -
Spiritual Sagittarius
My birthday is in mid-December, which makes me a Sagittarius.Although I was a child in the 70s, I was really too young to be into the zodiac. As a child, I would occasionally read my horoscope in the paper, but the predictions always seemed vague and random. For example, my horoscope for today says this:
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Swimming With the Cool Kids
When I was a kid swimming was not of great importance to my family. I did get sent to swimming lessons which were held at the beach on the outskirts of Beaver Dam. We didn’t have a wonderful pool available to us, so this is where we went. I remember there being a lot of rain dates and cold weather. Consequently, I did not learn to swim for whatever reason. This would probably be the first item to accomplish on my bucket list at an early age. -
Could Not, Would Not
I don’t remember not being able to swim. This doesn’t mean that I could swim in deep water. It only means that I didn’t drown in a kiddy pool. My Aunt Judy claims that this is because she (a swim instructor) taught me to swim before I could even walk. Judy says this was called “drown proofing”. But, of course, this doesn’t mean I can remember that–but it might explain my natural confidence in the water.
As far as remembering the learning process, I do remember taking lessons at the local YMCA. I started in level 1-Polliwogs. I thought it was silly that some kids had to practice putting their faces in the water and blowing bubbles. Jumping up and down in the shallow water was fun. We called this “doing bobs” And I was seriously motivated to make it all the way through the levels… Polliwogs, Guppies, Minnows, Fish, Flying Fish, Sharks.The only glitch in the process was diving. We all know that diving is NOT swimming. I believe that I got stuck somewhere in the level progression because I could not, would not do a back dive.
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Another Family Requirement
In our family, it was a requirement to take swimming lessons as a kid. This involved weekly trips to the local YMCA and moving through the different levels of skill. I don’t remember all of the levels, but you progressed from tadpoles to guppies to minnows, etc. I don’t remember what level I finally got to, but I think I finished right before the lifeguarding level. -
A Secret From Dad
I always wanted to learn to swim. For some reason, my dad repeatedly intervened and said no. It was very frustrating. Finally, I went to Mom and asked what was up with Dad. She told me the secret. Dad was afraid of water. -
Dusty Dreams and Ukulele Strings
My ex-husband, Tom, played the guitar. He began playing after High School–taught himself. He was a natural musician as was his father. Going into college, he was a music major. Vocal jazz was his passion. But the thing that is important here is that he began taking finger-picking lessons when he was in his late 20s. This whole idea was absolutely foreign to me. He was a grown-ass adult, an accountant who just loved to play guitar. He didn’t even play in the band at church anymore. But he wanted the routine, the commitment, and the accountability that taking lessons from a guitar teacher gave him.
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Let Me Google That
I’m trying to think of something that I’ve always wanted to learn how to do and I’m not coming up with anything. Throughout my life, if there was something that interested me enough, I managed to figure out how to do it. I was never the type to just leave the topic alone if it was important enough.
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Building Confidence
The topic of “What is something you always wanted to learn how to do?” brings up a whole boatload of ideas. T thought I wanted to write about my desire to be someone who could build things or even go so far as becoming a contractor. For example today, I was looking at the four tiers of spices sitting on my cupboard. -
You Can’t March With a Piano
I have always wanted to learn to play the piano. From the time I was little, I thought this would be fun and something I would enjoy all my life. At my grandma’s house in Black Earth, she had a piano player. My dad would sit at it and play “The Wild Irish Rose” and The Old Rugged Cross”. I don’t remember having the opportunity to play this piano as we were kids and it was thought that we might break something or whatever. Probably our plunking would just annoy everyone. -
Starting the Dream at 36
I had major speed bumps and difficult times in my childhood and early adulthood. When I turned 30, things started to improve and gel. When I reached 36, things got downright amazing. -
Seventy Ain’t So Bad
Have you ever reflected if you could be any age what would you pick? After pondering this thought I have not been able to totally make a decision on this subject. -
Always Moving Forward
If you could be any age, what would you pick?
Isn’t this such a “writer’s group” question? Well yeah. We sat down to get into it and discovered that you could look at the topic from a dozen different angles. Here are three alternatives that immediately popped into my head:
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Today’s Brain, Yesterday’s Body
Picture if you could pick an age you wanted to be for the rest of your life. What would you pick? How would you determine what was the best age to be? I think there would be a few questions I would need answered before I made that decision. -
Easier Said Than Done
Simplifying my life now would take some heavy-duty work. I have no concerns about wanting to eliminate people from my life. There is not one person in my family or among my friends that I would want to live without. -
Simple As It Gets
When asked how I would simplify my life, I first need to think about the things that make it more complicated. After identifying those items, I need to decide what the benefit is to changing that aspect. -
Simplifying is Boring and Overrated
How would I simplify my life?I always feel that it would be a benefit to my sanity to simplify my life. But, in reality, I don’t think I could handle or enjoy my chaotic life any other way.
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A Blue Door in France
Traveling abroad was never on my bucket list. There are so many places in the U.S. that I have not seen. Then several years later I was asked to go to France with my oldest daughter’s mother-in-law. The timing was right, and it felt good to have something exciting to plan and look forward to. We took a Viking River Cruise in France.
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The Joy in the Journey
Some of my favorite trip memories all begin with the car ride there. When I was little, we didn’t have car seats or required seat belts or anything like that. -
Road Trip to Graceland
It was the spring of 1996. Tom and I took a creativity class together based on Julia Cameron’s book, “The Artist’s Way”. Not only did we develop a writing habit, but we also made our first dream boards, learned a basic sun salutation practice, and played around with dying fabric.Not only did we expand our repertoire of self-discovery tools, but we also met some creative and adventurous people. Dave and Paul were two young men in our class. They had wanderlust and brought up the idea of a road trip to Graceland.
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The Search for Goodson Mountain
One of my favorite trips with my husband Michael was our trip to Galax, Virginia for his brother Rodger’s funeral. I had heard so many stories about Galax, Virginia, Michael and Rodger’s dad Price Goodson and about the land they call Goodson’s Mountain. I always thought it was an exaggeration, but it turned out to be as true as the stories. -
The Magic of Jewelry Making
I’ve had hobbies come and go. When I was a child, I would get craft kits as gifts. I created holiday ornaments that I painted and glued together. In Jr. High, I took lessons to play the guitar. I practiced for about 2 years but my progress was not impressive. I took up Caligraphy at one point and got special nib-tipped pens and bottles of ink. However, I only completed a single page of practice in my lesson book.
One hobby that had a longer life than most was jewelry making. I made necklaces, bracelets, and earrings…lots of earrings.I enjoyed all the parts of the process.
Walking into a bead shop is a lot like being a child walking into an old-time confectionary. You just stand there and drool. Where do you begin? Every tool, doodad, charm, bead, and book held so much…potential.
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Have to Have it All
Each box is dedicated to a different type of craft I can’t say that I have a favorite activity or hobby. I tend to start them, but never carry them to completion. Over the years, I’ve tried crocheting, watercolor painting, acrylic painting, sewing, making earrings, bead making, scrapbooking, card making, and more.
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What Kind of Dog is That??
Thirty-four years ago, we wanted to buy a dog. We had said we would wait until our new son; Matt was a year old and walking so the time had come. We had taken Matt to the “Nut Tree” which was a restaurant, gift shop, and a mini amusement park. While we were there, we fell in love with a dog we saw. We asked the owners “What kind of dog is that?” They responded that it was a Bouvier des Flandres. Our love of Bouviers started that day. -
From Decorating to Grandkids
For years I considered decorating my hobby. I love to plan and create beautiful rooms. I enjoy refinishing furniture. Antiquing can be regarded as a hobby. Nothing gets the old blood going better than entering an unexplored antique store. -
Hiding in the Car Wash
Every summer, our whole family gets together for two weeks at the family cottage in Door County. When Michael, Matt, and I lived in Colorado, this trip home was a hike.We had spent a very enjoyable time with my sister, her husband, and our two nieces and their families.
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An Almost Near-Death Experience
Most everyone loves summer activities. One that was always on my bucket- list was river rafting. I had done this activity several times before, one being down the Colorado River. It was a glorious sunny, warm day. The falls were doable and we had a great time. As it turned out our guide was a girl we knew from Beaver Dam. It is a small world. -
Climbing to Kjeragbolten
It was the end of our Norway excursion. The one place my sister-in-law wanted to see was Kjeragbolten –but we were tired. Did I really want to go or should we pass?According to VisitNorway.com “The hike to Kjerag is around 11 kilometers (almost 7 miles) long and the round trip takes 6 to 10 hours. You need to be in good physical shape before heading out on this mountain hike which has an elevation gain of 800 meters. In some places, you have to pull yourself up and slide down with the help of wires, so it is a demanding hike even for experienced hikers.”
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Irish Driving Drama
I don’t tend to do many dangerous things, but when prompted to write about a dangerous situation that I survived, what came to mind was driving in Ireland. -
OCD – Obsessive Collecting Disorder
I am obsessed with collecting items, especially when they are part of a set. I’m not sure where this obsession came from, but as an adult, it has definitely taken hold. -
The Occasional Collector
I am not a huge fan of collections. If I think hard, I can come up with three groups of items I have collected.
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Butterflies and Blue Santas
Does everybody have a favorite collection? As I was growing creating a collection seemed to be a way of getting a child to have something constructive to do. Today, of course, we know that most of our children don’t even think about collecting anything as they are too busy with their phones or video games. -
Obligated to Collect
Down in my basement storage are three plastic grocery bags filled with matchbooks. I have enough matchbooks to last…forever.The collection began very innocently.
In third grade, we were supposed to bring in a collection to show the class. I brought Mom’s lack shadow box with seashells that were Mm’s from her childhood. You see, I didn’t really have any collections. But during this time, I saw my friend Stacy’s matchbook collection and thought it was pretty cool. I happened to mention it to my Grandma Is and the wheels began to turn. Grandma was actually excited that I was going to be a collector. And…she could help! She and Grandpa Ron would go on regular trips around the US. As smokers, they regularly picked up matches from restraints, gas stations, and hotels along the way.
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Life is Best on the Water
I have always loved water activities. Once I learned to swim, anything to do with the water had my attention. At Girl Scout Camp, we learned to canoe. We were taught skills to navigate solo or with a second person. My third year of camp, we took a thirty-mile canoe trip down the Wolfe River. We slept on the river bank in two-person Alpine tents and cooked our meals over open campfires. We gained so much knowledge and had a great time.
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Outdoor Aversion
I’m trying to think of my favorite outdoor activity and I’m struggling. I’m not one that chooses to do the outdoor things. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll do things outside if someone asks me to, but it’s not something that I’ll automatically choose if left to my own devices. -
Girl Scout Adventure
Summer of 1978 at William’s Woods When I was in elementary school, I learned that the local Girl Sout troup went camping in the summer.
Sign me up!
I belonged to our local troop which met at a building near where I lived. It was called “The Girl Scout House”. The building consisted of one large open room upstairs and another twin room downstairs. Our group me upstairs. There was a big fireplace along one wall that was never used. Several long garage sale tables and metal folding chairs were the only furnishings.
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I’d Rather Be Camping
Through the years I have discovered that my absolute favorite outdoor activity is camping. I especially love tent camping unless, of course, it is raining. This can make it a little uncomfortable unless you are savvy about how to set your tent up to avoid leaking. -
Teenage Fashion Dilemma
We, as a culture, seem to be attracted to black and white opinions. We see things as good or bad, flower or weed, Republican or Democrat, yum or yuck, right or wrong.As a parent it’s easy to be labeled as either the “go-to” parent or the “hard-ass”. Between Craig and I (generally speaking) I am the one who is more inclined to say “yes”.
But it really isn’t as simple as that…
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Dad’s Favorite Word – NO
During my childhood, I don’t think the word Yes was even invented. My dad was a salesman during all of my growing-up years. He was the head of the household even though he was not home most of the time. This required any decision-making events to be put on hold upon his return from work. Now, you couldn’t just say “Hi Dad” and pop the question which would require a simple yes or no answer. No, you had to work with due diligence and with a lot of savvy on how to handle a man that didn’t know the word yes. -
No Cookies at my House
It seems like it’s always easier for a parent or a babysitter to say NO to any request from a child. I’ve often wondered why.When I was little, my neighborhood friends and I would play outside and occasionally would go to someone’s house and say we were hungry. We asked to come in and have a snack. The moms always said NO. Sometimes they would hand us a cookie each and send us outside to enjoy it.
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The Downside of Yes
For a long time, as a parent, my first reaction when one of the kids asked me if they could do something was to say “No”. I usually had that reaction because I was concerned about them making a mess that I’d have the clean up or I was worried about them doing something to make someone else angry or other such nonsense. -
Finding Baby Sister
Craig swears that mom and I began planning for our baby girl when the airplane tires hit the tarmac when we returned home from adopting our boys from Russia.He was right.
I can’t remember a time that I didn’t think about “baby sister”. Our family just didn’t feel quite complete. Our boys were perfect, but there was still someone missing.
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Romance at the Hotel Rogers
When I was little, I loved to hear the story about how Mom and Dad met. I thought it was so romantic.My Grandpa, Mom’s dad, had lost his life in a fall from the convent building in Campbellsport, WI. Grandma Cecilia had six children and had to figure out how to support them. The only work she could find was as a dishwasher at the Hotel Rogers.
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Sleeping with the Bridesmaids
This story is on a hearsay basis. In other words, I wasn’t there, but have had this story told to me several times and I think it is pretty funny and is one of my favorites for this family. -
Caught Naked
Have you ever seen a family member naked that you shouldn’t be seeing or didn’t want to be seeing? Well, our family has a habit of seeing the wrong people naked and at inopportune times. Over the years, there have been multiple instances of this. -
Black is Back
My childhood room was nothing too dynamic in my opinion; One problem was that it was never just “my” room. I always had to share with a sibling. It started out with me sharing my room with my older sister. That was interesting as she never wanted me to touch any of her things, much less her clothes (I did do a lot of sneaking her sweaters though!) I’m sure that was one reason I spent a lot of time in Judy’s, my younger sibling’s room. We had a lot of fun in her room playing and goofing around. This was something that I was never allowed to do in “my” room. Because it seemed that I was in Judy’s room so much my mom (I really think my older sister, Kathy, requested this), changed our bedrooms. So I now shared with Judy and Kathy had her own room. (still didn’t stop me from sharing her sweaters!!!) We actually physically changed rooms. Judy and I shared the larger room and Kathy had the smaller room which had been Judy’s to start with. -
Bedroom of My Dreams?
As the firstborn daughter in the mid-’60s, I came home to a nursery decorated in soft pink. Mom tells the story of going with Dad, Judy, and Judy’s boyfriend, Spence, on a Saturday to buy a round, fuzzy, pink rug in Madison. Mom had exactly $13 in her purse for the purchase. Unfortunately, they were stopped for speeding. The ticket was $13. Judy and Spence bought their downhill skis, but mom decided to wait and save the money…again.It was purchased after I was born.
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From Dad, With Love
I tend to be a creature of habit. If something was done one way for me as a child, I feel the need to inflict that same thing on my kids. The Christmas cookie decorating ritual would be one example. Another example would be first bedrooms. -
In My Room
When I was a little girl, I had my own room. I don’t remember much about it except that my sister Sandy used to visit me and play. My roll-a-way had a handle that we pretended was the steering wheel on our pirate ship. Because we frequently got together to play in my room, our parents decided that we must want to share a room. -
Through My Mentor’s Eyes
Growing up, my mom was private about girl stuff and things I should be aware of. My older sister Sandy and I shared a room and she was the one I went to with questions about life and guys and relationships. I was shy growing up and Sandy’s advice helped me to handle a variety of situations. I knew she always had my back although she did tease me a bit first.