Tag: Family

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Camping fun!

As I’m am still up at the lake cabin, I have been thinking a great deal of having my nephews come stay with me here for a few days or even a week.  “My boys” are ages 8, 10 and 11. I know they share my love of fishing, hiking and nature. They, unlike me also love to rough it outside. Of course, when ever we have “camped” they have done the camping and I have provided the “must haves” (that they no doubt could do without, but groove with since they are goodies and really cool items that I know they love). This place has two bedrooms, kitchenette and living room with a large fireplace, and yes of course indoor plumbing, but boys are boys and I know they would want to stay in a tent in the yard.

I called my sisters to find out what the boys may like or need for this adventure, and the hands down, the answer was Sleeping Bags!!  Apparently young boys go through sleeping bags quickly. At least my rough tough ones do, so their moms say. I personally love buying the boys things that they want and need, and also spending the money on items that are well worth the price when it comes to durability.

I’m really looking forward to having the boys with me up here at the lake. It will be a riot and I’ll even have some fishing companions! I’m starting a list tonight on the “goodies” I’m going to shop for and have to go through the shed to see what kind of shape the life jackets and such are in. It’s been a while since the kids have been up here, and I know I’m going to have some restocking to do.

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RIP My Dear Friend, Lisa.

My best friend Lisa passed on three years ago today. I thought it might get easier to handle as time went on, but it really hasn’t. She was the Thelma to my Louise and vice versa, (or what ever the work or term actually is) depending on the day. We had so many great times together and some not so great, but through thick and thin we were the best of friends. She still is missed and thought of a great deal. So with that said… I love you Lisa and you are in deed missed by me and your children, but you would be so proud of them.

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A unique gift!

My youngest sister bought a new home after living in her previous home for about four years. I wanted to get her a gift, but not something that she already had or one of those run of the mill gifts that everyone seems to give for lack of imagination. I visited her new house and saw that she had a lot of stainless steel items that were really shiny, clean looking and modern, in the house. I personally think the things would be rather hard to keep finger proofed, but she assured me that it wasn’t hard at all and even showed me this cleaning that she had, so it set my mind to working. Once home I got on the internet and let my fingers start shopping, or at least “look shopping”, and I came across some great items, including a very shiny stainless steel letter box, but nixed that idea, as I had noticed that she had a mail box in the shape of a little barn that I new she loved.

The home does have a really awesome fireplace, so I checked out the Blomus four piece stainless steel fireplace accessories. Now these, I thought were really cool looking, as I could imagine when a fire was going in the fireplace, they would sparkle and shine and well…look pretty awesome. I of course bookmarked that page to go back to later, in case I didn’t find anything else I wanted to get her. It totally amazed me how many really awesome items came in stainless steel and it was hard for me to decide exactly what I wanted to get her, that I knew she wouldn’t have or get from others.

Finally I settled on the stainless steel garden torch bowl. No one ever said I bought ordinary gifts, and I would absolutely love one of these for myself. They are a bit pricey, but my sister is worth it, and from what I have read, they are durable and also very pretty. My sister loves outdoor torches and table lights, so I am hoping that she will love this as much as I do. Maybe with my next pay check, I might splurge and get a couple for myself. I could call it a early birthday present!! 🙂

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The Aunts.

I have two Aunts that I am called to visit occasionally. It’s more like a summons than an invitation though. Don’t get me wrong, I love them both dearly and have some really great childhood memories with them, but sometimes these summons are rather scary. I never know what I’m walking into when I get there. This time it was about my financial future. Mainly in stocks. Well, not mainly but I also discovered The Aunts had really been busy learning the computer when they started talking about online trading.

I must tell you that I know absolutely nothing about any of these fancy words they were using to take care of my financial future, but it was kind of interesting to hear these little elderly ladies sounding like CEO’s of major corporations. Stock trading I found really interesting, since one of the Aunts had invested in a cereal company’s stock years ago and I must admit, it has done very well. So that subject I indeed listened to.

One can only drink so much tea while listening to The Aunts and also looking at financial reports, and also worrying about in one or the other were sick and “preparing me” for the news. I grabbed a beer out of the fridge, (They knew I was coming and prepare of course…lol!) and sat back down at the table to hear more about IRA accounts, since they both were on a roll! 🙂

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Little girl games

My niece has been staying with me for a few days, because we had some major storms and a tornado pass through. I have power now, but it was out for sometime. My sister doesn’t have power yet, as a tree landed across the power lines by their home. It’s kind of strange having a young one around the house again, and to be honest, I didn’t really know how to entertain her. We exhausted the dressing up in my clothes game, so I gave her my laptop to use. Heck, she can use the computer better than I can…which isn’t really saying much since I’m not that great at it. LOL! She showed me this site link that I guess all the girls her age are using.

I guess girl games are what she and her friends are into now. It’s pretty cool for younger girls. Lots to do on the site and of course I had to participate in what she was doing on the laptop.

I can’t say that I was thrilled about the kissing games on the site though. Seems to me that young people are growing up too fast and 8 year old’s don’t need to learn kissing at that age, but then of course, it seems harmless enough as long as she doesn’t get all boy crazy while she is here. I’ll have to make a mental note to ask my sister to keep an eye on my niece. She’s already a little knock out, but doesn’t need to grow up quite so fast.

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Sooo much happening.

This is the time of year that I dread, but also it’s bittersweet. With a lot of my nieces and nephews graduating, plus my friends getting married. I keep telling myself to just send money and get out of Dodge. Wonder if that would work?

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A friend coming to visit!

A dear friend who I’ve known for nearly 25 years is coming for a visit. His daughter is graduating this month and though they live so very far away from one another, he wouldn’t miss this for the world. He loves his daughter so much. He will be flying into Chicago, as that is where his brother lives and will then drive to Michigan. Problem is, no transportation and renting a car is another problem, since for his daughter’s graduation present, he wants to buy her a good used car. That way, he will have transportation during his stay, and then give her the car before he leaves. I thought it was a great idea, as there are a lot of people he would like to visit, and places to go. His brother told him about looking at used cars in Chicago. He could buy one there, drive here and not have to rent a car to look for a car. Makes perfect sense to me!

Breanne my friend’s daughter,  is the outdoorsy type of young lady. And she is always on the go. She loves to travel and in her old car, I can remember her coming to visit me last year and it looked like she had packed that little car as though she were going on a year long vacation around the United States, instead of on a two hour drive to stay here for week. I had to laugh when she even pulled out a waffle maker, because she wanted to make me “her famous Breanne waffles.” I suggested to her father that he look at something like a Cheverolet Avalance because it’s roomy, looks great and in the QT I called his kid to find out what she really wanted. I’m sneaky like that! 😉

Bless my friend’s heart. Though he loves his daughter so much, he has no clue how girls that age are, and certainly believes his “little girl” is still that…a little girl. Boy do I have news for him. He will soon learn that she indeed is her own person and has unique ideas. She and my youngest daughter are the same age and are great friends also. They both will have their new to them used cars, and I’m excited for this visit.

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Time flys…

Today is my little sister’s 33rd birthday. I’m quite a bit older than she is, but it feels like just yesterday I was gingerly holding her for the first time. We’ll have cake and ice cream at my Mom’s house later this evening and I’ll of course secretly cry because I miss my “baby sister.” She’s grown into a beautiful young woman and a wonderful mother. (And I feel old).

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Jr. Prom!

My niece has asked me to help her get ready for her Jr. Prom. I checked with my sister and my sister is thankful. It’s tomorrow. Because my sister has lots on her plate right now, she can’t afford to really go all out like she wants to, and I’m totally happy to help. I love her and this kid is the bomb, (using a young person’s slang) as she is such a beautiful and happy young adult. Tomorrow we go to get her hair done, and even though it’s last minute, we’ll get shoes, nylons, and pretties that will all sync together. I think I’m looking forward to this more than my niece, LOL! Times have changes so much. She’s going with a bunch of her girlfriends, instead of a date with a guy. I personally think this is really cool. My sister of course will be here at my house for the photos. I’m excited!

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Weekend plans.

I know I have to work a bit over the weekend and I also want to go check out some plants and seeds for my gardens. My blogging friends are all a buzz about plans for theirs and we are comparing ideas, sharing thoughts and as well as my friends, all interested in the straw bale gardening idea my dear friend told me about that I’m going to try. It all should be quite interesting. Like most my friends, who are fortunate enough to still have our Moms alive, we will go to visit them. Lately I’ve been entertaining the thought of what it would be like to be a mom. It comes and goes though. I want to be absolutely sure and ready if ever I decide to settle down and have a child. Still, it’s not like I don’t want kids. I do. But in this world of such disasters, and chaos, and also such hard times, should I bring a little one into the world? I don’t know. So…my weekend is going to be full. I also have to get around to cleaning this house, both inside and out. I’m such a procrastinator sometimes. Happy weekend, to All!