A Rant

I am sorry to continue to Rant and Rave but I can't get beyond *that "man's"*  assault on women, calling a woman who's fighting for contraceptives to fall within the range of her health insurance coverage a slut. Not to mention those contraceptives are also widely used for other medical reasons than birth control. (The Hoya).

*He* says he doesn't want to pay for this "slut" to have sex. 

Guess what.  I don't want to pay for that neanderthal to overeat, smoke, and sit around on his fat ass all day.  He's been hospitalized for chest pains in the past.  Is there any doubt he's on blood pressure medication, and a plethora of other meds?  Who paid for his hospital stay?  Who pays for his medications?  If it's the same insurance program that should be paying for contraception, then I say I don't want to pay for that neanderthal to overeat, smoke & sit around on his fat ass all day. Take away his meds!

*He* doesn't need the medications, he's can just adjust his eating habits, give up his stinky cigars and get some exercise.  I don't want to pay for his anti-health whorey lifestyle. 

The best reason of all for "Obama-care" (and I say that like it's a good thing!)

We've Reached that Age Where....

Recently I was told of the death of a past friend of mine.  She was 56.  According to the obituary it was a sudden and unexpected death, probably a heart attack. 

Wow.

How can that be?  I remember a straight laced, clean cut girl who made most of her own clothes. A heart attack at age 56?  I'm in shock. 

But once I get beyond that (I haven't really) I start thinking about the girl I knew.  We were friends in grade school and into high school.  She lived in a very nice house on a lake with a dock and a ski boat as her back yard & toys.  Her family vacationed on Lake Chelan for a week or more each summer and one year I was invited to come along. 

You know that sunburn you are always being warned about?  The one of your youth that will come back as cancer later in your life?  Mine came from that week in Chelan.  I remember sleeping on the grass under the stars and waking up damp with dew.  I recall a week of wearing a long white T covering my blistering back.  I remember the frigid water that comes off a glacier to make that lake. 

I remember hanging out with this girl and having fun.  But then something changed.  She became the girl we ganged up on. 

She was the one we stopped asking to hang out with us.  We avoided her in school and after school.  We started dating and going to parties and didn't include her.  It was our Riding in Cars with Boys time of life and she wasn't invited.  We whispered about her and never looked back. 

And now she's dead at a very young age. A husband and daughter survive her.  My memories survive of her. And more than that...

Guilt. 

She obviously moved on and lived her life despite the angst I feel I caused in her teen years.  Perhaps I give myself too much credit.  But whether my actions actually impacted her or not, I've never forgotten.  It's been more than 35 years since I've seen her and I still remember. 

How does one go about redemption for our sins of the past?  Who knew that a kinder, gentler me in my youth would have made such a difference to me now?  I wish I could change the past.  I can't.  I can only pledge more kindness in my present and future.  I pledge it in her honor and her memory.

Pet Peeve #18

This is a carry-over from my old MySpace blog where long ago I started blogging about my Pet Peeves.  I was tempted to just make this a FB status, but then I realized that having started the Pet Peeve posts I felt an obligation to continue them in the same format.

Pet Peeve #18 is people who do not respond to emails.  Of course I am not speaking of the simple every day sort of email, but the emails that ask for and require a response.  The emails that the sender initiates because he/she needs a response. 

Case in point.  One of my daughters has worked a seasonal job for the past two years.  She contacted the employer by email inquiring whether or not they could use her this year.  She even asked me to review the email before she sent it and I specifically suggested she add a line at the end in the form of a question that would require a response.  This she did.

This potential employer never responded to her.  She later heard through friends that the job was gearing up but still heard nothing.  Not even, "Sorry, we have a full crew already.".

I find this appalling!  Even if one must send out the less desirable response, at least respond!

The second example I have involves the same daughter asking a friend for assistance with a project.  Instead of responding with something like, "sorry, but I can't fit it into my schedule," the emailed request gets ignored. Fortunately, my daughter is bright enough to move forward with things even while waiting for responses that are not forthcoming.  She knows better than to depend on the undependable.

Is it just me or is this kind of passivity just rude?

Okay, that's out of my system. On to happier things!

The Archives

I'm spending some time in Colorado Springs with family in anticipation of assisting my niece in her drive back to Ohio at the end of the week.  One night I was feeling restless and stayed up way past a normal sleep time wandering around in the archives of my past.  Using the computer for assistance I think I found out more than I was expecting.

Is this strange or not...

I decided that someone I knew a few dozen years (lifetimes) ago was dead.  I know, odd thing to make an assumption about, but I had my reasons.  So I decided I would start checking obituaries.  I didn't find the person I originally set out to find through the obituaries, but I did find that my cousin had died about 3 years ago and I believe her mother, my aunt, is also deceased.  It should make me sad about my aunt, but she was my mother's sister and actually I am sort of happy that they are together again.  I find comfort in that.  As for her daughter, my cousin, she had MS and lived 25 years longer than she was "supposed" to, so I don't find her death shocking or untimely either.  Perhaps the most unsettling of any of it is that my brothers and I are truly the "older generation" now as our ancestors have now all gone before us.

As for the others I was looking for in my mental archives, I found some of those people through other methods, apparently alive and happy which is a good thing.  The road was a bit circuitous, but I've always been good at chasing clues.  The last question I have is about a child of one of these friends.  One child seems to be absent from the present information and I have one of those gut feelings that he may have been a war casualty.  So sad if true.

So I think I'll close the door to the archives for now having peeked into the lives of people I knew so long ago and carry on as usual.  I wonder, am I the only one so fascinated with my own past and the eventual destinations of those I once knew and cared about? Or do others open their archives and examine their histories and wonder...?

Treasure Trunk

While going through the garage determining what items were yard sale items and which were not, I opened a trunk that had been my mother's. I was surprised at what I found inside, mostly because I really thought all her things were packed away in our basement storage. So glad I decided to peek!

I am not positive about the history of this doll, but I will tell you what I believe to be true. I remember seeing it at my Great Aunt Marjorie's house when I was a child. I think she made the doll (she was very artistic) and gave it to my mother when she was a child. It's obviously a very old doll.
These are handkerchief boxes. I researched Best's Apparel and found it to be an old Seattle store that merged with Nordstrom back in the day. I don't have the date they merged but they went by the name Nordstrom-Best's so it was definitely before my time.

Apparently handkerchiefs were a popular gift and there were a couple of calling cards tucked in with the hankies. It seems like such a civilized thing to do, have calling cards. I know we wouldn't hand them to the help to be delivered on a silver platter to the person we are calling on, but wouldn't it be nice to have your pertinent info at hand when ever you want to share it with someone? There is a lot to be said for the "old days" in my opinion.

All the handkerchiefs were folded carefully to fit the box perfectly. I love this one on the bottom folded to frame the bottom of the box in lace. Elegant touch.

I also found our Church directory from 1966. This was the directory for the United Methodist Church in Lynden, Washington. I would have been 9 or 10. I think Mom looks really great in this photo, and yet I don't remember her ever being thin when I was a child. I was wrong.

This box is from Frederick & Nelson. They went out of business in 1992. They had the best Santa to visit at Christmas and I was devastated to lose him! They are also the one and only true maker of Frango Mints. In any case, I am not sure what as in this box originally, but it now holds many little cards and mementos. I can't wait to go through them.

This was on top inside the box when I opened it. I really had to laugh at "United States Army Meal Ticket" because my first thought was that back in those days, a husband was a meal ticket, not the army! My mother really was a pioneer in a lot of ways. Joining the Army was only one of them.
Another box in the trunk was full of letters. I simply cannot wait to get to these. There are so many questions I have about my mother's life and I am hoping some of these letters will have some answers.

My mother's degree from the State College of Washington which is now Washington State University, of course. I notice she has a bachelor of science degree but was surprised it didn't say veterinary science anywhere. I think she does have another certificate somewhere that indicates that.

Her grades were tucked inside with the diploma. I thought she was a better student, but she did finish college in only 3 years with a vet degree, so I suppose she had a lot on her plate.

I miss her. I wish I could ask her about these things that she kept for her entire life.

On My Way to Michigan!

I've made my decision of where I am walking to. I'm going to visit a friend in Michigan toward the end of July so I thought I'd see if I could walk there, first!

This week between the recumbent bike, the elliptical and the treadmill I traveled 45.2 miles inside the gym. So I've mapped it out and as you can see, I have gone just a few miles over the line into Indiana.

I think my stop is a little bit "middle-of-nowhere-ish" but that's okay. If I'd been a little more active I may have made it to Batesville, where I know a great little restaurant, thanks to my friend MJ, and also the home of a casket making factory or plant. I don't know who all they've made caskets for but MJ tells me they made Michael Jackson's casket. Cool!

So, next week I'll check back in and let you know how much closer I get to Michigan. I'd like to get just as far, but I am leaning toward the treadmill & elliptical for my workouts and I just don't get that good mileage on them that I get on the bike. We'll see....

I've Joined a Gym

Was that my out-loud voice? I guess the cat is out of the bag, now.

Yes I have joined a gym. Inspired by my kids, I made the commitment to 'get fit.' I've committed to three days a week, and I use that word (committed) in a variety of ways. For instance, I should be committed - or at the very least have my head examined!!

I've been going for a month now and the good news is, it gets easier. I don't know if there is bad news. Maybe the bad news is that it always takes a mental kick in the pants to get there. But the other good news is that when I get there I feel really good about it. Almost like a sigh of relief, I am here, I am doin' it!!

I don't know anyone else who goes to this gym so I am on my own and only accountable to myself. I like that part of it too, because I am not looking over my shoulder wondering who is checking up on me. I do what I want to do and how I want to do it and I sweat and groan and then it's over. A nice cooling shower and I'm on my way, refreshed and energized.

Alyssa and I are going to Disneyland in July and I am so excited. I know I will enjoy that trip so much more knowing that I have the energy and stamina to go go go!

Part of my routine each time I go is a minimum of 30 minutes of cardio. With the heart issues in my family I am finding this a necessity and it really is the part that energizes me. I decided the other day to start keeping track of the miles I walk, pedal or ellip. And with that mileage, I am going to start mapping out where I have traveled under my own power.

Next I have to decide which direction I want to go. Suggestions?