Do You Know The Difference Between A Turkey And A Guinea

We do not live on a farm, but our neighbor is a farmer and he raises guineas which are always in our yard. Guineas are good for eating the insects and tics in your yards so we don’t say too much when they wander over and they are always wandering over. Guineas also make a lot of noise when they see someone. I’ve heard some say they make better watch dogs than a watch dog. But how many of you know what a guinea looks like and could you tell the difference between a guinea and a turkey? Obviously I could, but my good friend was over the other day and I don’t think she even knew there was such a thing as a guinea. We were standing in my kitchen chatting when all of a sudden she runs to the window and exclaims “oh my gosh, look at all those turkeys in your yard”! I knew immediately it was the guineas so reaction was to burst out laughing. After I quit laughing I had to explain to her that they were not turkeys but guineas. Of course I didn’t let it drop there. That same evening I was out at Wal-Mart. While I was shopping I happened across the hunting section where they had inflatable turkey decoys. I couldn’t resist, I had to buy one. I enlisted the help of my husband and we snuck over to my friends house that evening and set it up in her yard. This was a Saturday evening. The next morning I get a telephone call around 10:00 a.m. I didn’t even get a hello; I got “you smart-ass” but she was laughing! She has promised me that I have not seen the end of the inflatable turkey, but I haven’t seen it yet.

Remember Those Movies You Grew Up?

Do you remember the movie Harry and the Henderson’s? It was probably released in the late 80’s or early 90’s. It was about a family that found a “Big Foot” and they brought him home. I remember watching it with my children. A few months back I wanted to purchase it for grandchildren; I thought that they would really enjoy it, but I couldn’t find it on DVD. However, recently it was released again on DVD so naturally I had to purchase it. I couldn’t wait to watch it with my grandsons. Now my two grandsons are 6 and 2 ½. The six year old was excited about the movie and couldn’t wait to watch it, but the 2 ½ wasn’t as excited about it. Even though Harry was smiling on the cover, Harry was a monster and he wanted no part of it. Friday night we finally had our opportunity to watch the movie. My son was home from college with his girlfriend, so we had everyone over for supper on Friday. After supper we were going to watch “Harry and the Henderson’s”. Before we could start the movie though I did have to get the 2 ½ year old settled in another room with the movie “Cars” which he was perfectly fine with him. So he is settled in and we are all ready to watch the movie. I had warned the 6 year old that he might get a little scared at first especially that scene when Harry wakes up on top of the car and looks in through the wind shield and bares his teeth. The 6 year old really enjoyed the movie and never did get scared. We all really enjoyed watching the movie again, even my grown kids. They definitely have a lot good movies out right now, but don’t forget about the movies you grew up. Your kids might enjoy them just as much as you did.

Furnishing A House

My son is getting ready to move into his first apartment. Of course that means he needs furniture. We had told him that he could bring his bedroom suit so he will have a bed. Since he will be moving in with his girlfriend, soon to be wife, they are getting a kitchen table and chairs from her parents. Now I have wanted new living room furniture for quite some time. We have a three piece group now, couch, love seat and recliner. The love seat reclines and it is broke, in fact we had to rearrange the furniture just so we could put it against the wall so we could still sit in it. I have offered to let them take our couch and chair which they gladly accepted and we are throwing the love seat away. I figured I would have to go a short time without any living room furniture, at least until I found what I wanted. So the plan was to purchasing new furniture and flooring for the living room. Plans sometimes have a way of changing, because now our TV goes out tonight; another expense. I have already committed the living room furniture to my son and girlfriend so I not going to tell them now “no you can’t have our living room furniture”. It looks like I just won’t have any living room furniture for awhile because we are buying a TV! It is really kind of ironic, my husband and I have been married for 30 years and my son and his girl friend are just moving in together, they are going to have their apartment fully furnished and we are going to have a bare living room except for a TV. It almost sounds like we are the ones just starting out not them.

Attitude is Everything

Do you remember what the weather was like last week? In case you don’t let me remind you, it was cold and rainy and we went camping in that! It never fails the weekends like this weekend, sunny and nice I’m home working and it’s the nasty weekends like last weekend when we have camping plans. The way camp grounds are these days you have to make your camping reservation in advance especially if there are several other campers you are going with. We camp with a group of 9 others so we always make plans 6 months in advance; we pick a weekend make the reservations and go. Don’t get me wrong, we still have a good time but it sure would have been more enjoyable if the weather would have been more like this weekend. Although I did get out to enjoy the sunshine some, it’s just not the same when you are home, you always have something to do; like clean the house, laundry or homework.

Saturday night we did get to take our grandsons to a play. They both really enjoyed it. The play was “The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf” and yes it was about the 3 little pigs. Today they both came over and went fishing and although they didn’t catch anything they still had a good time.

We may not have had good weather last weekend for our camping trip and I may have had plenty of work to do around the house this weekend, but I still had time to spend with my grandkids and last weekend wasn’t a total wash. I still had a good time camping. Whatever the circumstance you can make the most of it if you want to. It’s all about having the right attitude.

Life Just Gets Too Busy Sometimes

I’ve been too busy to have done anything fun or interesting so I’m afraid my blogs’ are really getting boring. Work, home and school work has definitely been keeping me busy. On top of all that I come from a large family and it was my turn to have Easter for everyone. Of course I enjoy getting together with everyone, but when it is my turn to host a family get together it means I have to clean house, even if I don’t have time. Not to say my house didn’t need a good cleaning, it did. Cleaning house is just one of many things that get neglected these days between everything else going on. Anyway the house got cleaned this week and homework got neglected; so of course now I am trying to get caught up on the homework and actually trying to get ahead. My husband and I have plans to go camping this weekend. I have several assignments due Friday and Saturday. I don’t think there will be an internet connection at the campground and I still not quite sure how I am going to get it all done! However once I have my homework assignments done, and everything packed, ready to go camping I do plan on kicking pack and just relaxing this weekend. I just need to keep working extra hard the first part of the week and keep in mind the desired outcome…. A whole weekend of relaxation, no house work or home work!

Biting Fish

Today was another beautiful day and my whole crew went fishing again. They caught a nice mess of fish; my husband even topped his catch from last week. Last week’s bass weighed in a 5 lb 2 oz (I think) and today’s catch of the day weighed in at 5 lbs 13 oz. We will be having a fish fry yet!

I had to laugh at my 6 year old grandson. He was in the bucket pulling out the fish and showing me his catch and everyone else’s. I asked his if he remembered when he wouldn’t touch a fish at all. He asked me what I was talking about. I told him the story of when he was about 3 years old. He hadn’t going fishing yet with his grandpa and Uncle T, but he was always right there when they came home from fishing. He would get close enough to see the fish, but not to close. On one occasion his grandpa wanted him to stand by him to get his picture taken with the fish and my grandson refused. He was not going to get close to the fish. When we asked him why, he said the fish would bite him. We then asked him why he thought the fish would bite him and his reply was “You always talk about how the fish are biting today”! After we all had a good laugh we explained to him how the fish did not bite us but would bite the hooks and that is how you caught the fish. After the explanation, he was fine with standing by the fish and having his picture taken with his grandpa. He still likes to have his picture taken with the fish and does not hesitate to hold the fish up to show the camera!

You do have to be careful though with what you say, because a 3 year old takes it literally! Now he is 6 and is quite the avid fisherman and holds his own. He did out fish his mom today!

The Biggest Catch of the Day

I have to admit I am finding it difficult to find something to write about this week. Nothing exciting happened just kind of the same oh same oh, but still a good week.
I have been at my new job for 5 weeks and I am really enjoying it. I’m still finding it a challenge to keep up with work, home and school but managing.
This weekend was beautiful, 80 degrees both Saturday and Sunday. I didn’t get outside at all on Saturday and it was 3:30 before I finally got outside on Sunday. My husband was across the road fishing so I decided I would walk over and see if he was catching anything; he had caught a 5 pound bass so he was going to continue fishing for awhile. I decided I was going to go back home and get my lawn chair and my marketing text book and do some reading by the lake. Well it wasn’t long and the neighbor kids ages 7 and 4, who were also fishing, came over and started up a conversation with me. They had seen my husband catch his big fish so they wanted to fish the same spot as he was he hopes of catching the big one! I was off to the side and out of the way of the hooks on the fishing line when the 4 year old decided he needed to move, right he front of me. Before I knew it he had thrown his rod back to cast and he hooked me right in the arm. I did scream (a little) and got his attention to quit tugging at his rod until I unhooked myself and he went about his fishing. Between my husband and the 2 neighbor kids, I don’t think any of them realized that the 4 year old did have the BIGGEST catch of the day.

Hustled By My 6-Year Old Grandson

The weather has been wonderful, it feels like Spring! Although it may not last I know I’m enjoying it while it’s here.

Over the weekend my 2 grandsons spent Saturday morning with me and of course they wanted to go outside and play and I did to. We started at the swing set, then went to climbing trees and ended up playing basketball. The 3 of us were having a good time shooting baskets when my 6 year old grandson challenged me to a game of basketball which I accepted. We decided we were going to play to “30”. I made the first 2 points, but my grandson made the next 10; making the score 10 – 2. Now I never had an intension of playing to win; besides I’m not sure I could if I tired. However I was surprised when he announced to me we were playing for money. I asked him just how much we were playing for. He replied that if he won I was to pay him $30. A little surprised I asked him what I got if I won. He replied I would get to keep my $30, I thought what a little “hustler” already! Being a good sport I told him I would just have to get serious about this game and “kick his butt” which he just laughed at because he knew he could kick my butt and he did. I did make a come back though, I think the final score was 30-24 but I still loss. And NO I did not give him $30.

Lost and Busted

I just finished my 2nd week at my new job. I’m getting the routine down, especially the lunch routine. There are several that order out everyday and then either I or the other girl in the office will go pick it up for everyone. Wednesday I told everyone in the office we had to eat at Panera Bread because I wanted there Potato Soup and it was on the soup menu for Wednesday. Everyone was agreeable and it was decided I would go pick it up.

I took the company vehicle and made my way to Panera Bread, no problem. As I was leaving I turned wrong and did not get back on the 4 lane and got on a 2 lane instead. No problem, so I thought. I knew I was heading in the right direction; surely I would come out to the 4 lane. The landscape was still looking familiar so I kept going. It wasn’t long and I was out by the Arena; I thought I knew where I was at, so I kept going. It wasn’t long and I didn’t know where I was at. Don’t panic I told myself just do some back tracking and I’ll be fine. Good plan except for one problem I wasn’t expecting – A FLAT TIRE!

I was in a company vehicle in the middle of no where with a flat tire. I was so busted. My original plan was to find my way back to the 4 lane go back to the office and not tell anyone about my driving adventure, but unfortunately that wasn’t meant to me. I had my cell phone; called the office and told them where I was; the response was “Your Where?” Oh Yeah I was so lost and so busted.

My boss did come to my rescue and got me back to the office safe with food in hand. As we were eating lunch (finally) and the teasing started, I in good humor laughed with everyone. At one point I was told “We’re not laughing at you, we are laughing with you.” I replied “If you can’t laugh at yourself than what can you laugh at!”

FYI – that company truck now as 4 new tires!

Family Stories

Saturday evening our 2 grandsons stayed with us. My daughter and son-in-law were going out for the evening and it was going to be late, so the boys were going to spend the night. We had a whole evening planned. We were going to go to church first, come back home eat pizza and then watch movies. We had borrowed the DVD Barnyard, plus we had a large assortment of movies of our own and I had their favorite snacks on hand. We were set for the evening.

We went to church as planned, since it would be later that my daughter and son-in-law were planning to leave our daughter went to church with us and then came back to the house to have pizza with us. As we were eating the pizza the conversation turned to fishing; the warm weather that we had this week bought on an onset of “fishing fever”. My husband as always been an enthusiastic fisherman and he has passed his love of fishing on to both our children and our grandchildren. Last year our oldest grandson who was then 5 caught his first big bass. He caught it the week before Easter and it weighed in at 4lb. He hooked and reeled the bass in all by himself. This was the first fish story of the evening. The attention then switched over to our daughter, our grandson’s mother, who as a little girl was trying to help her dad bring in a 4 lb bass with the dip net. However this story’s ending was the typical fisherman’s story of how the big ones always get away. Anyway I don’t think our daughter enjoyed that story as much as our 6 year old grandson did, but she still laughed with the rest of us.

As we were setting there telling stories, the 6 year old grandson didn’t want it to end, he kept asking for more. We all were laughing and just enjoying spending time together. I also realized how important these stories were and how I need to take the time and write these stories down. I’m sure there are many stories I have already forgotten about our children growing up. Last night, myself as well as my husband and daughter were there to tell the stories. 50 years from now we probably won’t be. We have pictures of our grandson’s first big catch. You can see from his picture that if he was any prouder he would be busting the buttons off his shirt. 50 years from now, along with that picture, I want my grandson’s kids and grandkids to know how proud he was when he caught that first big bass, how he fought to reel it in, where he was at, and who was with him.

It is important to preserve these family memories

Home

I can’t say I have anything too exciting to write about this week. It was a good week at home. Work, however, I made some pretty big changes. Wednesday was my last day with the company I had worked at for the last 16 years. Monday I’m starting a new job. I’m definitely stepping out of my comfort zone, but looking forward to a new challenge. By previous employer has been in business for 23 years. So I had been with the company the majority of the time it has been in business. I really got to learn the business from the ground up. I’m starting over with a new company and even though I will be taking my past experience with me, I will still have that learning curve that comes with any new job.

I will miss a lot of my co-workers from by previous job. Many of these individuals I would never have gotten the opportunity to meet if it had not been through work. Some I will probably never see again unless by chance meeting while others I consider good friends and will keep in touch my email, occasionally getting together for a meal out. I will take with me all the memories both good and bad and welcome this new opportunity to make new friends.

Now as I close this chapter and begin a new chapter in my life, I realize it doesn’t really matter where I work. What matters is family, good friends and home. I know I can always count on my family and friends. Home will always be there for me, with open arms giving me a place to land and to feel loved.

The Power of Dessert Burgers

In case you are wondering what dessert burgers are they are homemade Suzie-Q’s. They are delicious and yes I did make the dessert burgers and sent them to my son. However I included another note with this package that read:

Son
I expect to see a diploma that reads
Son’s name, Ph.D
Love Mom

When the package arrived last Tuesday, he knew immediately what was in the package. And in the good humor that it was intended to be, he was laughing when he called me. He informed me that the dessert burgers were delicious (and yes he was sharing with his room mates) but he was also contemplating on what he was going to ask for next. Basically if I was supplying, he was buying (or taking advantage of)! I never guaranteed how long I would continue but I did hint at that if the persuasion was working I would continue influencing any way I could.

A few days later my son decided that yes he would continue his education and pursue his Ph.D. I thought YES, this was too easy but it worked, problem solved or so I thought. As a parent never forget about sibling rivalry. What you do for one child you have to do for the other. I provided goodies for one child and forgot to do so for the other. Once my daughter found out (after talking with her brother) that he had been furnished with dessert burgers and she had not, I was informed that was not fair and where was her dessert burgers. I explained how I was using the dessert burgers as bribery. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that she too could be bribed! Her dessert burgers were made this morning and delivered this afternoon. My son’s Ph.D. takes 2 years, what she promised me takes 9 months……… well see in 9 months!

We'll See Who Gets The Last Word (or Cookie)

Last week I sent my son who is at college, cookies, his favorite Oatmeal Chocolate Chip. Now I did have an ulterior motive…. Bribery!
He has been a student at Rolla University for the past 6 years, first he received his Bachelors in Electrical Engineering and he is currently working on his Masters. Recently he was approached by his professor who was encouraging him to continue his education and work toward his Doctorate. His Masters was funded through a Fellowship Grant and his Doctorate would also be funded through a Fellowship Grant. So this is quite an opportunity for him, one that I THINK he really needs to strongly consider. But I also understand after 6 years of college you might be a little burned out, and ready to get a job, which I do understand, but like I said this is quite an opportunity for him. So I started presenting arguments to him as to why he needs to do this. I thought I was giving thoughtful, logical argument as to why he should pursue his Doctorate until he told me I sounded just like his professor. It was then that I decided I needed another approach, COOKIES!
I made a batch of cookies, his favorite Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, boxed them up and mailed them to him. However, I also included one extra thing, a typed document that stated “This is a legal binding contract. No signatures required, however, taking one bite of these cookies obligates you to pursue your education and receive your PHD” and signed it Love Mom. He gets the cookies the next day, right at lunch time. Perfect timing right, wrong, he won’t eat them! I’m on line so he chats me and asks if I counted the cookies before I sent them to him. I guess he was going to try and sneak one and send the rest back. I replied no, I did not count them, but I knew how tightly I had packed them. If you try and sneak one and send the rest back I will know. I couldn’t believe that he was resisting this temptation, but he decided he wouldn’t eat the cookies.
Finally I call him and say “look I really want you to get your PHD, but the cookies were suppose to be lighthearted gesture, EAT THE COOKIES”, which he did.
So today I get a package in the mail, it’s the same size box that I originally sent the cookies in and it is from my son, but it’s awfully light weight. I thought surely he did not send me back the empty container. Wrong he did, still had the cookie crumbs in it, but it also contained a note which read:

Mom….
Maybe DESSERT BURGERS will help me make up my mind on whether or not to stay and get my doctorate
Love Me

This story will be continued!

What's in a Name

I am a non-traditional student taking an English class whose first assignment is to become a blogger. My first thought is what am I suppose to blog about. I’m married, have 2 grown kids, 2 grandsons, work full time, go to school and run a part-time quilting business from my basement, all in all pretty normal, not much exciting to write about (unless you get me going on my grandkids)! But then I realize this is not the worse of my problems; I don’t have a blogging address! I have spent a week procrastinating on this assignment because I don’t have a blogging address and as I write this I still don’t have one. I am actually writing this in word and I will copy and paste once I come up with my blogging address.

Now I have been looking at blogger sites and addresses and I think how unique or cute everyone else’s blogging address is, why can’t I come up something cute and unique? I spent a whole afternoon brainstorming. Even my co-workers were brainstorming with me. We came up with a whole page of potential blogging names, but none of them seemed quite right or appropriate. I went home and called by son who is a college student, I thought surely he can help me come up with something cute and unique, he along with my husband both suggested play it safe, use your quilting business name, “The Creek Bottom Quilter” and as my son pointed out, if I have nothing else to blog about, I can always blog about my quilts!

So here it is, the night before the assignment is due, do I still try to come up with something cute and unique or do I play it safe and become “The Creek Bottom Blogger”? I’m all set to play it safe and my daughter calls, we talk I tell her about my assignment. She starts throwing blogging addresses at me; she thinks we need to incorporate patches in the name, something like “Scrappy Patches”. Then she throws a little sarcasm in there and says “you are always quilting, how about Quilting My Time Away”. I think, “Quilting My Time Away”, I kind of like that. So here it is my official blogging address, quiltingmytimeaway.blogspot.
My Motto: When life gives you scraps, make Quilts!