Encyclopedia of Me based on Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krause Rosenthall. My version.
Volume C:
Camera: I have loved taking pictures since I was 10 and had my first camera. My last camera was a digital that I was satisfied with, until I realized what kind of pictures I could get with a better camera. Then I began to covet the cameras I saw with others.
Several years ago, as a Mother's Day gift, Mark surprised me with a treasure hunt. Each clue led to a lens or battery or strap. The last clue led to my Cannon Rebel T3i -- the camera I had researched and really wanted, but knew we could not afford. His response was, "I wanted you to have it, while you still had something to take pictures of."
This camera has let me take pictures of whole family Christmases, Mother's Days, and random moments of my kids at play. Because of this camera I got our son's graduation and will get our other son's graduation in June. I got the look of surprise on my in- laws faces when we surprised them for their 50th wedding anniversary. And this camera took the last photo of my parents together and coherent. It truly is a gift.
Cats: I am more of a cat person. They aren't as needy as dogs. They can be left alone. They are more self sufficient.
And we never owned a cat growing up. We had dogs, and my dad hated them and were mean to them. So, I have to say cats are the animal for me.
Change: I used to be a Child Care and Camp Director. I know how to make plans. I also know plans get screwed up. Weather moves activities indoors. Someone else schedules an activity in one of your rooms. An employee doesn't show up. Change happens. But, just because I can handle change, doesn't mean I like it.
Coffee: My parents drank coffee all the time. Mom had hers black, Dad took his with sugar and cream. We were told we couldn't have coffee until we were twelve. "It will stunt your growth." So, of course we'd sneak drinks -- from Dad's (black coffee is nasty.)
When I actually turned 12, I wanted nothing to do with coffee. All of it actually tastes nasty.
At camp, during college, coffee got me through. I am not a fan of institutional breakfasts, no matter the skill of the cook. So, instead of pancakes or waffles that had been kept warm in the warmer, I had coffee -- just like Dad used to drink. It was a "camp only" survival tactic.
I have "coffee" every morning now. But, the coffee I have is International Foods Suisse Mocha. It is more hot chocolate with a hint of coffee. I've tried Mocha Lattes from coffee places and they are too coffee-y. Real coffee drinkers may disagree, but for me Suisse Mocha is the coffee I drink.
Cold: I used to think I was allergic to cold. La Porte is in Northwestern Indiana and gets a lot of snow. I would play outside and break out in hives.
When I would get cold, I would break out in hives.
Mom decided I was allergic to cold and would put me in a tub of hot water and the spots would go away, which only further proved her theory.
The surprise turned out to be I almost never broke out in hives when we lived in Alaska. This started me thinking.
I got hives when we lived at the apartments on the river in Lafayette when we were at Purdue. Why not Alaska?
Then we lived in Delaware, the hives came back. Delaware has a low water table.
Long story short, I decided my allergy is to mold. The house I grew up in had a dirt floor basement and no door leading down to it. I think all that time my "allergy to cold" was just a reaction to potential mold in the basement. Considering I use my asthma inhaler when mold counts are high now, and I haven't had hives in forever, seems to indicate I am right.
Good thing too, since Northeastern Indiana is still Indiana.
Colored Hair: I tried Sun In once as a teenager. It turned my brown hair a weird orangish color.
Living in Joliet, cutting my hair was too expensive, let alone coloring it.
But when we moved here, I decided I needed it. Mentally needed the change. Here it was actually affordable. I started adding blond highlights. It changed my opinion of my self and my outlook. I started doing it every couple of months.
I've since gotten braver. Now I am playing with color. I'm not ready to go with mermaid colors or anything, but in the end, it's only hair. I can always change it back.
Showing posts with label small moments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label small moments. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Monday, April 2, 2018
Family Vacation
Vacations as a kid were a trip to Arkansas once a year, for a week...in August... to visit my dad's family. I always wished we could go somewhere else.
When Mark and I moved to Alaska for two years, we drove there and back again. Seeing so much of the country made me want to see more.
Once we had the boys, I was excited. Showing the boys all the things I wished I had seen, would not only give them what I never had, but give ME what I never had.
We followed Mark to Boston when he had a conference. We visited an aunt and uncle in New York and saw Niagra Falls and Fort Niagra. We followed the trail in Boston. We visited family in Pennsylvania. We stopped at the site where the plane went down in Shanksville. The boys were 7 and 9. They remember very little.
The next year we visited family in Pennsylvania again for Mark's grandmother's 80'th birthday. We stopped at the sight of the Johnstown flood in Johnstown, Pensylvannia. We stopped at the air and space museum in Ohio. The boys remember very little.
Then, we discovered the new camp director at Pinewood was someone we knew from our days there. His wife used to be a kindergarten teacher. They had two boys the same age as our boys. It was love at first meet. We got invited to come up all the time. What better place for boys to go? The 4 of them would run around and have the time of their lives.
Travelling the country became a distant thought. Especially since we paid for each of them to attend camp for two weeks. We couldn't afford to travel as well.
We are on Spring Break. Youngest leaves for college in the Fall. Oldest will have chosen his next college by this summer. Both will be counselors at Pinewood this summer. We decided to have one last mini vacation before life takes over. We went to Turkey Run today since, even though we live in Indiana, we have never taken the boys...because of camp.
It snowed about 2 inches last night. Would it still be a good plan?
We decided to go ahead and try it. It was wonderful!
There was snow on the ground when we got there, so not many people were on the trails. It was gorgeous!
We walked, and climbed boulders, and picked our way through creek beds. And laughed.
We had lunch at the lodge and went back out to try some other trails. This time the sun was shining and the the sky was vivid blue. Snow from the trees plopped to the ground as the sun melted it from branches. We followed one path that had fast running shallows. At one point oldest and I took off our shoes and socks, because it was just easier.
But dang, if it wasn't freezing.
Literally. There was ice in places.
But we figured freezing for a while, was better than wet feet all day.
We all climbed on slippery rock, and trooped through woods and climbed up and down, and up, and up, stairs. And we laughed.
I hope it isn't our last family vacation. But as stand alone time together that isn't a trip to the mall in Fort Wayne, it was a trip we will all remember.
When Mark and I moved to Alaska for two years, we drove there and back again. Seeing so much of the country made me want to see more.
Once we had the boys, I was excited. Showing the boys all the things I wished I had seen, would not only give them what I never had, but give ME what I never had.
We followed Mark to Boston when he had a conference. We visited an aunt and uncle in New York and saw Niagra Falls and Fort Niagra. We followed the trail in Boston. We visited family in Pennsylvania. We stopped at the site where the plane went down in Shanksville. The boys were 7 and 9. They remember very little.
The next year we visited family in Pennsylvania again for Mark's grandmother's 80'th birthday. We stopped at the sight of the Johnstown flood in Johnstown, Pensylvannia. We stopped at the air and space museum in Ohio. The boys remember very little.
Then, we discovered the new camp director at Pinewood was someone we knew from our days there. His wife used to be a kindergarten teacher. They had two boys the same age as our boys. It was love at first meet. We got invited to come up all the time. What better place for boys to go? The 4 of them would run around and have the time of their lives.
Travelling the country became a distant thought. Especially since we paid for each of them to attend camp for two weeks. We couldn't afford to travel as well.
We are on Spring Break. Youngest leaves for college in the Fall. Oldest will have chosen his next college by this summer. Both will be counselors at Pinewood this summer. We decided to have one last mini vacation before life takes over. We went to Turkey Run today since, even though we live in Indiana, we have never taken the boys...because of camp.
It snowed about 2 inches last night. Would it still be a good plan?
We decided to go ahead and try it. It was wonderful!
There was snow on the ground when we got there, so not many people were on the trails. It was gorgeous!
We walked, and climbed boulders, and picked our way through creek beds. And laughed.
We had lunch at the lodge and went back out to try some other trails. This time the sun was shining and the the sky was vivid blue. Snow from the trees plopped to the ground as the sun melted it from branches. We followed one path that had fast running shallows. At one point oldest and I took off our shoes and socks, because it was just easier.
But dang, if it wasn't freezing.
Literally. There was ice in places.
But we figured freezing for a while, was better than wet feet all day.
We all climbed on slippery rock, and trooped through woods and climbed up and down, and up, and up, stairs. And we laughed.
I hope it isn't our last family vacation. But as stand alone time together that isn't a trip to the mall in Fort Wayne, it was a trip we will all remember.
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Home
We will be putting our house up for sale after Youngest graduates in June.
This week makes 13 years in this house.
When we chose this house, I was a bit cautious. We are in the country with well and septic. I didn't know that was an option because I was an in town girl.
Our old condo in Illinois was less than 1000 square feet. This house is around 1600 sq. ft. It seemed like a palace, which made it feel like the kids were so far away when we put them to bed.
Our yard was huge. At the condo, I had a small purple plastic pool and a wheel barrow full of sand for playing in the yard, because it was shared space.
It was all so overwhelming.
13 years later, we are still "not from here", because that is the kind of town we live in, but this house is home. It is where the Easter Bunny visited, leaving footprints behind. It is where Santa ate Maple Creams instead of cookies. It is where we learned pipes freeze when it gets to be 25 below zero windchill for several days in a row. And we learned you can prevent that, by leaving cabinets open and a trickle of water flowing from the faucet.
The garden tub was a zone of relaxation for me, and, when they were little, a swimming pool for the boys.
The laundry room door has the marks of height from every first day of school.
I can still see in my mind, the epic Rescue Hero/ Transformer battles the boys set up -- like armies advancing-- stuffed cats set up as announcers. And I can see the cardboard ships they created from old boxes and duct tape.
The really cool sand box hubby built in the back yard, combined with the swing set when they got older, to become a sort of treeless tree house with turrets.
Husband has built tons of bookshelves to house our families addiction to books.
Oldest learned to make cookies and youngest has perfected homemade spaghetti sauce in our kitchen. Breakfast conversations have occurred at the kitchen counter.
All of these memories now need to be packed up.
Now we need to find a new place to call home.
First on my criteria list ...
is a house in the country.
This week makes 13 years in this house.
When we chose this house, I was a bit cautious. We are in the country with well and septic. I didn't know that was an option because I was an in town girl.
Our old condo in Illinois was less than 1000 square feet. This house is around 1600 sq. ft. It seemed like a palace, which made it feel like the kids were so far away when we put them to bed.
Our yard was huge. At the condo, I had a small purple plastic pool and a wheel barrow full of sand for playing in the yard, because it was shared space.
It was all so overwhelming.
13 years later, we are still "not from here", because that is the kind of town we live in, but this house is home. It is where the Easter Bunny visited, leaving footprints behind. It is where Santa ate Maple Creams instead of cookies. It is where we learned pipes freeze when it gets to be 25 below zero windchill for several days in a row. And we learned you can prevent that, by leaving cabinets open and a trickle of water flowing from the faucet.
The garden tub was a zone of relaxation for me, and, when they were little, a swimming pool for the boys.
The laundry room door has the marks of height from every first day of school.
I can still see in my mind, the epic Rescue Hero/ Transformer battles the boys set up -- like armies advancing-- stuffed cats set up as announcers. And I can see the cardboard ships they created from old boxes and duct tape.
The really cool sand box hubby built in the back yard, combined with the swing set when they got older, to become a sort of treeless tree house with turrets.
Husband has built tons of bookshelves to house our families addiction to books.
Oldest learned to make cookies and youngest has perfected homemade spaghetti sauce in our kitchen. Breakfast conversations have occurred at the kitchen counter.
All of these memories now need to be packed up.
Now we need to find a new place to call home.
First on my criteria list ...
is a house in the country.
Friday, March 9, 2018
Faith and a License
"He will probably never drive a car. He may need braille. He may need a seeing eye dog." The doctor listed off the "cover your butt" list of possibilities for her diagnosis of albinism.
As we drove away, the tears slid down my cheeks. I was envisioning the life our 5 month old, first born, son would lead.
My husband, driving, reached for my hand and reminded me the doctor had to give the worst case scenario to avoid the possibility of law suits if they didn't prepare their patients. "Besides," he added, " at least we know he'll get scholarships for college."
At two our guy pointed out a double rainbow to us. At that point, we decided we would never tell him he couldn't do something because of his vision.
The more we learned about albinism from the albinism community we found on line, and watched our child grow, the more we realized the only thing we would need to keep an eye on was making sure he wore sunscreen.
He is a voracious reader but he reads normal print books. He just holds them closer to his face. He sat in the front row in school and had permission to get up if he needed to, to see the board. The district's vision teacher helped him learn to use a telescope to see distance if needed and advocated for him when the Project Lead the Way teacher for his engineering class tried to shrink 4 pages to fit on one two sided paper. Our guy graduated 9th in his class of about 280. He got scholarships based on academics, not because he is visually impaired. He was on the High School archery team and scored high enough that his score helped his team earn their way to state all 4 years.
However, driving was always the elephant in the room. We found out around 16 that his vision was good enough to learn to drive with bi-optics. Because of the time involved, he didn't start with the training until this January. He has been working with an instructor trained in teaching bi-optic driving for the past 3 months.
A couple weeks ago, his instructor came for an evening session to see if night driving would be a possibility. He came back about a half hour after leaving.
"Not going to happen," he said. "The lights are too bright coming at me."
I could hear the disappointment in his voice, but he tried not to be bothered by it. He also informed me he would be taking the driving test for day driving at the DMV soon.
Well, "soon" turned out to be today.
At 1, when I knew his test should be starting, I sent out one more prayer that he pass.
I had told him to let me know because I couldn't wait until I got home. At 2:15 I sent him a text that read, "???"
While waiting for kids at bus duty I quickly checked my phone and read his text, "I passed! Just took a while for the paperwork."
Relief, joy, euphoria...not sure how to describe the gift from God this is. He is a 20 year old young man who has been given, not only a license to drive a car, but a license to live a life that is as independent as he wants it to be.
When we found out all those years ago, I prayed not that it not be true, but that God grant me the acceptance of what it is and to help our son live his best life possible.
I've felt every day that God is good. Today his Grace fills my soul.
Thank you God for this most wonderful gift.
As we drove away, the tears slid down my cheeks. I was envisioning the life our 5 month old, first born, son would lead.
My husband, driving, reached for my hand and reminded me the doctor had to give the worst case scenario to avoid the possibility of law suits if they didn't prepare their patients. "Besides," he added, " at least we know he'll get scholarships for college."
At two our guy pointed out a double rainbow to us. At that point, we decided we would never tell him he couldn't do something because of his vision.
The more we learned about albinism from the albinism community we found on line, and watched our child grow, the more we realized the only thing we would need to keep an eye on was making sure he wore sunscreen.
He is a voracious reader but he reads normal print books. He just holds them closer to his face. He sat in the front row in school and had permission to get up if he needed to, to see the board. The district's vision teacher helped him learn to use a telescope to see distance if needed and advocated for him when the Project Lead the Way teacher for his engineering class tried to shrink 4 pages to fit on one two sided paper. Our guy graduated 9th in his class of about 280. He got scholarships based on academics, not because he is visually impaired. He was on the High School archery team and scored high enough that his score helped his team earn their way to state all 4 years.
However, driving was always the elephant in the room. We found out around 16 that his vision was good enough to learn to drive with bi-optics. Because of the time involved, he didn't start with the training until this January. He has been working with an instructor trained in teaching bi-optic driving for the past 3 months.
A couple weeks ago, his instructor came for an evening session to see if night driving would be a possibility. He came back about a half hour after leaving.
"Not going to happen," he said. "The lights are too bright coming at me."
I could hear the disappointment in his voice, but he tried not to be bothered by it. He also informed me he would be taking the driving test for day driving at the DMV soon.
Well, "soon" turned out to be today.
At 1, when I knew his test should be starting, I sent out one more prayer that he pass.
I had told him to let me know because I couldn't wait until I got home. At 2:15 I sent him a text that read, "???"
While waiting for kids at bus duty I quickly checked my phone and read his text, "I passed! Just took a while for the paperwork."
Relief, joy, euphoria...not sure how to describe the gift from God this is. He is a 20 year old young man who has been given, not only a license to drive a car, but a license to live a life that is as independent as he wants it to be.
When we found out all those years ago, I prayed not that it not be true, but that God grant me the acceptance of what it is and to help our son live his best life possible.
I've felt every day that God is good. Today his Grace fills my soul.
Thank you God for this most wonderful gift.
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Shopping- A "short" moment in time
I forgot she was the cashier I want to avoid.
She is the one better suited to "Greeter".
She takes forever to scan.
She talks forever to the people she knows.
She picks and chooses which items she wants to scan, even though I arrange them in categories. Because of this, the belt does not advance and I have to wait to put more items on the belt.
Today
I forgot I didn't like her lane until I had things on the belt.
The conversation with the person in front of me was about selling your house "as is" because you can't get back the money you put into it. And how their kids are doing. And the great grandkids.
When it was finally my turn, she slowly scanned the items. Didn't advance the belt. And she wasn't able to to lift the water bottles, case of Coke, or kitty litter at the end, so she walked around the counter. I usually lift these items to be scanned, but thought this would be faster.
Not so much.
Finally, it was time to pay.
Or I tried as I always have --when swiping was allowed...
I tried while she was scanning.
You see, a new bank card was sent to me because apparently the chip is better.
I have activated it and used it other places.
I inserted it. Error. And the second time I got an Error. Swiping didn't work either. I tried my regular credit card with the same result. She came around and tried. Then she said I had to wait until she finished scanning before using it. She continued to pick
and choose
and scan.
Finally she was done and I tried again. Same result. Another cashier who was setting up at the next register came and tried with the same no result.
And again.
She asked my cashier if she had my total up. My lady said she didn't know where she was in the process. She hit a couple of buttons and the total appeared again. The Second cashier tried chip again. And again. And swiped
and Ta Dah!
It worked.
I got my receipt and I left to the torrential downpour that had been falling all morning, and that would continue to fall all day, thinking "if I won the lottery we don't play...
I would so hire a personal shopper!"
She is the one better suited to "Greeter".
She takes forever to scan.
She talks forever to the people she knows.
She picks and chooses which items she wants to scan, even though I arrange them in categories. Because of this, the belt does not advance and I have to wait to put more items on the belt.
Today
I forgot I didn't like her lane until I had things on the belt.
The conversation with the person in front of me was about selling your house "as is" because you can't get back the money you put into it. And how their kids are doing. And the great grandkids.
When it was finally my turn, she slowly scanned the items. Didn't advance the belt. And she wasn't able to to lift the water bottles, case of Coke, or kitty litter at the end, so she walked around the counter. I usually lift these items to be scanned, but thought this would be faster.
Not so much.
Finally, it was time to pay.
Or I tried as I always have --when swiping was allowed...
I tried while she was scanning.
You see, a new bank card was sent to me because apparently the chip is better.
I have activated it and used it other places.
I inserted it. Error. And the second time I got an Error. Swiping didn't work either. I tried my regular credit card with the same result. She came around and tried. Then she said I had to wait until she finished scanning before using it. She continued to pick
and choose
and scan.
Finally she was done and I tried again. Same result. Another cashier who was setting up at the next register came and tried with the same no result.
And again.
She asked my cashier if she had my total up. My lady said she didn't know where she was in the process. She hit a couple of buttons and the total appeared again. The Second cashier tried chip again. And again. And swiped
and Ta Dah!
It worked.
I got my receipt and I left to the torrential downpour that had been falling all morning, and that would continue to fall all day, thinking "if I won the lottery we don't play...
I would so hire a personal shopper!"
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