Chronicles of Nana

I have always been proud to say that I have had two Dads in my life…one who was taken from me in my infancy and the other who entered my life when I was a toddler.

TWO DADS…

These men were not the least alike. My father was the son of immigrant parents from Croatia. He was raised in the mine regions of Minnesota. His siblings stayed close to that region with his folks. He, however, took his many talents including speaking seven languages and receiving Morse Code similtaniously to NYC to become an Associated Press reporter when WWII broke out. He was shipped overseas with the military so those talents could be used best in a secret service unit. He never came home….

My (step) Dad met my Mom on the west coast where she was stranded with a little baby (me). He was fresh out of the Navy and went into civil service work for the government. He was the son of poor southern parents. He joined the Navy to help support them. We started a new life together…

REALITY STRIKES….

I learned my Dad wasn’t my natural father in the second grade when a teacher took issue with my last name. It was a traumatic event in my life…to find out my Dad wasn’t and another man with a different name is my father. My youth was confusing and putting the pieces together was difficult for me.

THE NOBLE NATURE OF …

However, since that stark reality hit me in the face I have had a greater appreciation and genuine love toward both my Dads. I have come to appreciate the nature of fatherhood and the nobility that exists within all men. Not all men have the opportunity to bring forth this nobility but, never the less, it does exists and many modern day Dads have proven its existence.

FAMILIES….

Families nowadays come in many configurations. Step Dads and Moms are now very common. So common, in fact, that I am not sure if the men and women who take on the role of parent to someone elses children realize what a noble act that is. It only proves how accomodating the human spirit can become…how accepting the human heart is…and how children can be the ties that bind.

HEAVENLY BROTHERS AND SISTERS….

I like the idea that we all are Heavenly Father’s children, that in reality we are eternal brothers and sisters… it gives purpose to the noble acts being performed and the heroic actions of the human mind and spirit.

Life is not easy…the yours, mine and our concept of family is difficult at best. For those who commit and make it work..good for you!

I salute your accomplishments and I give thanks for the children you raise in love and acceptance…

Be kind to yourselves…

and thanks!

QVC just completed a 24 hour Crafts Fair on their shopping network. In July they had a 24 hour Christmas in July shopping day…I hate it when they do that because I am a sucker for spending money!

AT HOME SHOPPING…

Since I have been pretty much confined to my home due to various circumstances, I usually tune into this shopping network  while I am at my computer working on dead stuff with genealogy. Having something talking in the room keeps me company.

SPECIALTY DAYS…

Occasionally QVC will have a specialty shopping day such as crafts, holidays, gold jewelry and the like. I enjoy these days because they become quite entertaining as well as informative. It is fun seeing the skinny on fashions, trends and frankly I like to price compare…

Now, I would be okay if I just looked but the buying part gets me in trouble…all the time! At my defense, when craft day happens QVC usually has deals and kits you cannot find anywhere else and their prices are far better than what can be found at the local stores. Besides, when I look for scrapbooking supplies at a local store it becomes just too big for me to eat! Too much to choose from with too little knowledge with what I am doing which can get me into even bigger trouble!

UPS AND AWAY…

Let’s just say I can tell when the UPS trucks barrel down my street. And I really like the convenience of shopping from home and I know I am not the only one who does that, especially during the holidays!

The holidays present a good reason to shop online. The weather usually sucks… the malls are crowded and the selections poor. Even the box stores are unpredictable with stock and outages. I usually like to bake and social commitments become bloated.

However, along with all the baking I totally fry my credit cards! Such is life today…who would have ever thunk…?

Quality..Value..Convenience!

We have had a few weeks with the new puppy…Mookie! The picture via the internet of this pup was one of a timid, buff  runt of the litter type of dog….

ALL SWEETNESS..?

She looked so sweet, shy and mild mannered. She even looked a bit forlorn…our first night with her was one of trauma for all of us. We had the doggie play pen, the soft cuddly toys, the squeeky rubber chew toys, the rawhide stuff, and the fluffy pillow bed. We had her dry food she was weaned to eat and plenty of water at room temperature.

CRITICAL MASS…

After the first few weeks she has been sleeping most of the night and looks very nourished and happy. We have been delighted.  But, by putting Mookie with my five year old grandaughter and we have arrived at critical mass.

I naturally sag and droop but after an afternoon with these two I am dragging along the floor. And I am discovering that Mookie’s personality is nothing like I supposed. She is fiesty and always looking for new territory to explore….usually behind my back!

DAMAGE CONTROL…

We have stuffed blankets along the bottom of our bed so she can not get to the wires and cords that rest there…she just weazles her way through! Like clock work we take her outside for potty breaks and have been quite successful. However, she seems to save just alittle extra ‘water’ to spread about the house. We have taken to following her with the Bissell Spot Cleaner!

Oh..we have bought the potty pads to lay by the door but she seems to think they are for running about the house and shreding them!

MISERY LOVES COMPANY…

We invited our daughter’s dog over to visit. Hoping our other dog, Mandy would finally join in with the fun and exercise. But alas, Mandy sat by my side with a disgusted look on her face. However, Mookie did get alot of run around time with her cousin dog so for the first time she slept until morning!

TRICKS TO POTTY TRAINING?

I really am hoping we can teach a new dog…a new trick, like being house trained! Mookie just doesn’t seem to mind taking a dumb whenever the urge occurs….I know I am smarter than her but…

If you have any great advise I am open to it!

When does puppyhood end…?

Help!!  This Nana is going bananas!!!

Many years ago we went on a business trip to Germany. One of the stand out expressions that we heard frequently was…’Oh…you Americans are so naive, so young, you know little about life and history. We here in Germany have learned after many centuries of living how to survive and live among these old ancient castle!’ Americans are sooo naive, right they were and thank goodness for us…

MOLDING A COUNTRY…

Perhaps our naivity has made it possible for us to mold a virgin country into the land of the free…guided by what I believe to be inspired and divinely chosen leaders. We may be a young nation but we have come along ways baby…much to the chagrine of many foreign countries I fear…

WORLD POWER…

Regardless of what anyone says, within and without, our country America has developed into a supreme world power. With that power comes grave responsibilities that have placed our security at risk and our way of life in jepardy. Our innocence has been compromised, especially since 9/11.

SECURITY ISSUES…

The United States currently has alot on its plate. Much of which is focused within our own borders. Besides keeping our security in tact, all sorts of others domestic concerns have bubbled to the surface and exploded…

For instance…immigration. Do we dare go there…? This country is divided as to how to solve this problem. But as a citizen 30 years ago even I realized the southern borders of the United States were wide open to illegal border crossings. It was happening then freely with little publicity and silent sanctions by all involved. It was let to grow and grow. To the point now we are faced with all sorts of complicated agendas, processes and points of law. Not to mentioned the divided populations of illegals and the concerns of the American citizens. This is a big issue that has ballooned beyond control and functionable solutions…

POWERFUL IMPACT…

In the meantime this big immigration issue is impacting all sorts of other areas in the American way of life…education, employment, health care, social security and more that all seem to trickle down to impact the lives of every American citizen today.

BLOATED CONTROLS…

Bureaucracies are everywhere and seem to be paddling in neutral…going no where fast! In the meantime we have government bloated, exposed and at best not fully functioning to solve or correct the current out of control problems that exist…

We have politicians boldly pontificating…what? We have political candidates decrying reform and impeachment…why? It would be nice to have public servants who serve, produce and solve the current issues…not to just point fingers and babble aimlessly!

THE AMERICAN DREAM..?

I sincerely hope the American public looks hard at politics 2008…it is time the silent majority stand up and be heard..loud and clear!

How long are we going to be hit in the pocketbook before we call Congress and our elected officials to be accountable not only for what they do …but for what they don’t do??

I surely am accountable for paying my taxes…it’s about time government start accounting to the American public..if not, vote the stinkers out!!

Naive perhaps, but stupid I don’t think so!

Wise up…..

Well, my grandaughter’s big five year old birthday party has come and gone with a hefty bounce. Saturday night at dust several adults and even more munchkins gathered to the back yard and did everything mermaid and pirates!

FESTIVE PREPARATIONS…

It actually started several months ago when Mama Mermaid surfed the internet for bargains for the party theme…mermaids and pirates. Mama Mermaid spent hours tranversing the local stores to find the necessary stuff to put on quite a beach party.

As one entered the backyard there were balloon arches and tables where the little guests could make eye patches and swords, crowns with jewels etc. Going though the garden gate one was greeted with a sea of bubbles. Under the canopy were tables ladened with all kinds of treasures, a treasure box filled with pirates bounty, a blue punch in a gigantic clam shell and all kinds of sweet under the sea goodies.

A BALMY EVENING…

The weather cooperated, warm and balmy- a beautiful summer’s night. The lights were twinkling and the lit up palm tree was swaying. Pirates of the Carribean music was playing in the background.

The one race was the balloon between the legs, run to a disignated spot, and burst it with the butt, then run back to home base. It was a crack up watching the balloons make their escape and children everywhere attempting to smash the balloon with their tiny behinds!!This ole Nana laughed so hard I nearly left a wet spot….

MAGNIFICENT CREATION…

The cake was a three hour creation. Mama Mermaid and sister spent all morning decorating this masterpiece…a feast made for King Neptune himself! It had vanilla wafer sand, blue crystal sugar water, a pirate ship in the bay, and the Little Mermaid, Flounder and Sebastian at the shoreline. Palm trees of bread sticks with frosting wafer branches and cocopuff coconuts! It was a feast for the eyes and captured the attention of all. It got the uh-ah prize!

BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS…

However, the hit of the party was the bounce house. The large inflated under the sea castle where this ole Nana could never begin to get inside! I had a blast watching the kids totally exhaust themselves in ups and downs and screams…Tiggar, himself, would have been proud! A few Moms and Dads went for it also and it was delightful to see something other than Disneyland bring parents and children together…

I have been a mom long enough to know the importance of birthdays…especially to children. On Thursday night we will gather as a family to have dinner with the birthday girl. It will be a much more intimate, more healthy sort of affair.

A MEMORY…

I remember a birthday party I was given as a child. It also was a boy-girl party and I must have been around eight. I was given a gift from a boy of a coloring book with a pair of panties in it. I was mortified!

I would imagine the munchkins went home with sugared smily faces and totally wasted…Mom and Dad must have got a good rest that night!

It was good to see some of my grandchildren and to witness a happy time in a little five year old’s face… although dirty and sweaty!

Birthdays are fun…even for an ole Nana.

As long as it’s not mine!!

On our anniversary this year Grandad gave me a bouquet of red roses and inside the bouquet was one white rose that holds significant meaning for me…

A FRAGRANT TRADITION….

Since I was a little child my mother would give me one red rose for each birthday I celebrated. These flowers were sent from a local florist shop which was a big deal in those days. Inside the floral box was alway a white gardenia, fragrant and lovely. This tradition continued until the year she passed away…when I received 24 long stemmed red roses on my 24th birthday.

IT CONTINUES STILL…

Grandad has always been a sucker for tradition and so he has continued the giving of roses to me for nearly fifty years now. Always inside the red rose boutquets is one white rose representing my mother’s love and remembrance of me…

DEEP FEELINGS…

This years flowers meant more to me somehow. My mother has been on my mind more lately. Perhaps I am missing her warm response and encouraging words, perhaps I am missing her daily morning phone calls just to check in or maybe I have become keenly aware of a mother’s sacrifice and unconditional love.

MOM….

My mother was a four foot ten inch bundle of energy and contradiction. Her life was filled with sadness. She lost her mother at the age of two during the great influenza epedemic and her father at the age of eleven. At his passing she was separated from her only sibling. Her youth was spent working as a domestic for a wealthy family. She met and married my father when he was working as a reporter for Associated Press in NYC. He entered the miltiary during WWII and never made it back home. Mom was stranded on the west coast with a baby. She met and married a returned war Navy veteran and we started life over again as a post war family.

I SHOULD KNOW BETTER…

Here I am, a senior citizen, and I am still in need of Mom. Geez…it is hard to believe she has been gone forty years now. Memories are so keenly implanted in the mind…moments in rewind.

I had her with me too short a time…life happens that way sometimes. There was so much I wanted to know, little did I realize our time together would be so short…

CELL PHONES TO HEAVEN..?

I could use a long distant phone call from her right now…we could have so much been there- done thats to talk about.

Hey, Mom…I miss you!

You are one of my heroes…and I smell those fragrant flowers still…

I guess you can never be too old for mom…

You know, I thought with all the free for all candidates available for the 2008 elections we would start to see some interesting stuff. Apparently this current time period is focusing on getting plenty, and I mean plenty, of big bucks into the political coffers…Can you believe the mega dollars being donated, begged for and legally and illegally being extorted from the gullible public at large, businesses and very special interest groups inside and perhaps outside the U.S….?

WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO…?

Can you imagine what those kinds of dollars can do for any worthy cause..? Why so costly to run a campaign?  Is it all those roadside signs that clutter up the neighborhoods…is it the private jets and RVs that chug about the states to gather votes?…think of the gas and that’s not just coming from the candidates!! Maybe the expense comes from all the “Meet the candidates” gatherings or the imfamous debates…

Maybe the costs explode with all the room service, TV ads that swipe at the opponents or bash the current administration, maybe it’s because of all the SUV rentals to make up candidate’s caravans across the nation…

SHOW ME THE MONEY…

Let’s face it, a poor, good man hasn’t a chance to make it to the White House nowadays unless he’s a tourist or cleans carpets! So, it is assumed that candidates nowadays have known the really good life for quite some time and campaign monies are augmented by personal fortunes.

Give that a thought… show me the money..where did it come from? Those personal fortunes made it to the bank somehow..occasionally we get a glance at a candidates financial portfolio ( public not likely private). I would be interested in knowing what it took for a candidate to “get there.” Daddy had deep pockets…investments were at the right time and place…the wife’s loaded…maybe private support from some well healed secret citizens who enjoy the silent power surge….could be!

WHAT DOES IT TAKE..?

It just seems politics, in general, promotes strange bedfellows…there seems to be alot of public display and grand standing but I would be interested in the back stage and hotel discussions and decisions being made…wouldn’t you?

It is a sad thing that I have become so cynical these days but history tends to repeat itself…those ’smoke filled rooms’ might be smoke free nowadays but the tactics, schemes and manipulations still exist….just more devious and high tech!

Controversy seems to be the in-word today…the media sees to that very well.

Ah…the media- that’s another story…

I am sure someone will have something to say about that!!

My eldest daughter is going through some life passages…you know, those stages that can cause headaches and ulcers! A few months ago she felt pretty secure with her current employment, though not in the field she was educated to specialize in…

BUSINESS TAKEOVERS…

However, she has been caught in the global congromerate scene of takeovers that so frequently happens nowadays. So, the mother office is consolidating, reorganizing and restructuring that eventually can cause panic and chaos in the business world and marketplace….

CAREER PATHS….

She joined a local startup wireless company four years ago as the operations manager. She did well and the business flourished. Her skills increased considerably and she showed steady and dramatic increases every month. She assembled a small team and operated what would be termed a ‘well oiled machine.”

MODERN OURCOME…

As the dust of takeover settles…the owner being quite content, she realized that some changes could cause considerable pain. The major cut hurt the worst….warehousing and distribution would be moved to mid- America and she would have to follow or consider new employment.

The bittersweet ending has been her having to teach a manufacturing based company how to incorporate a supply and distribution business into workable systems to mesh product lines, vendors, customers and distributors. An impossible task at which she has had two weeks to instruct those who are totally foreign to her type of  business or style. 

This is her last week…she feels in limbo. Little did she suspect that life would turn on a dime and it would be she who would be put out on the streets. With her will be her small warehouse team who she cares about. Luckily, for all those in need of new employment, there are jobs to be had and the prospects encouraging…

RELATIONSHIP MATTER…

Still, it closes a door and stresses work relationships. Truly, things will never be the same and a business that once was, is no more!

CONTINUED PASSAGES…

My daughter contemplates some more changes this coming year. Beside starting new employment with health benefits, she will also see her only child turn eighteen and graduate from high school…the drama of life continues.

She is a woman of determination and grit. Some of that comes from her gene pool but at an earlier age she faced pregnancy, divorce and childbirth in a matter of months from each other. She and her sister went to college together and both graduated with honors. She completed her Masters and once again life has turned to the point she will be able to use the education and skills she acquired in healthcare once again…

Life passages continue even at times when they go full circle…

A new beginning…a new row to hoe…enduring to the end.

You go girl!!!

So…another page turns…

The world is aware of the tragic events concerning the coal mining industry. We have watched the news with great attention to the rescue efforts being made. It has been heart wretching and has stirred the soul as to how tentitive life can became…

INVOLVEMENT…

We have watched grand standing, hands-on government involvement and listened to the opinions of all the experts. We have watched families in great stress, torn apart by grief and the various stages of denial, anger and the silent restraint of acceptance…

GRIEF AND WHAT IT BRINGS…

As it stands families of three rescue miners are burying their dead…a final tribute to fallen heroes. But there is no finality for those entombed within the crushed mine shafts that lie silent as ‘experts’ consider the options…

Truth is, there may be no options to consider….anymore. I can’t reason a solution..perhaps we must accept what is…

CORRECTIVE CHANGE…

I would hope from tragedies like this, something defining and corrective can be established to lessen such tragic events in the future. Why is it that painful situations finally get us to think for solutions…? To correct broken measures, to consider ultimate safety procedures…to re-evaluate risks being made?

Be sure that there will be plenty of investigation work surrounding these mining events…thousand of pages will be written, perhaps even laws and procedures will be enacted and defined. Perhaps this will be all the good that will come from this.

In the meantime, families are hurting and lives have been changed forever…

Who will pick up the pieces?

The loss is too great…

May Heavenly Father be with them all!

For some life goes on….

I have a friend who has fast become my hero. She is younger than I, but never the less, she teaches me everyday lessons everytime I am privileged to meet with her…

THE DREAM OF DANCE…

She at one time was considered a fledgling prima ballerina and dancing consumed her life until life turned and struck her dream down big time. Moments of awkwardness turned into MS…

She now has a husband and grown children and fondly plays with her grandchildren. She is also totally confined in a wheelchair and quite often in need of a caregiver. Her current caregiver is a wonderful lady and she has daughters who fill in competently.

TRIALS IN LIFE…

At one dark period in her physical trial she was confined to bed for nine months. During this dreadful time there was no sign of discomfort or disatisfaction from her. When I would visit there would be the same laughing eyes and sweet smile I have always seen upon her face! I asked her once how she endures, her reply was that you do what you have to do! Oh..well…

UNFAIRNESS OF LIFE…

Bad thing do happen to wonderful people…life is indeed unfair. To my knowledge I have never seen this stoic wonderful lady say one cross word or berate her lot in life at any time. She has survived bouts in the hospital, medication reactions and bed sores and she has rolled with it all bravely and with true grit. She has weathered confinement in the worst way…physically, mentally and home bound. To their credit, her family has rallied about and put normalcy into her life. She is beloved…

I NEED HER…

I can’t begin to say how much she boosts me up and lifts my sagging spirit…those laughing eyes and that warm smile is embedded into my heart..she is one of my heroes!

I reason that she has lost so much of her natural freedom and movement…I see how she maintains an attitude of humilty and grace…I watch as she makes the best of an awful situation…I am humbled by my own selfishness and complaints…and I am so much in need of her spiritual connection of purpose!

One day we will meet again in a better place and time…

I so want to see her dance!