it's been a weird week...

..I've have a little bit of the "blue-uglies"..

..had some headaches and yucky tummy-ies..

..and have had trouble putting the letters to words in the right order {what some people may refer to as bad typing and/or spelling}

however, on the other hand..I've discovered a new language..

my own..

some of the words from this week have been Fall-o-Ween and firfotten..

the first is pretty self-explanatory..the season that's between Labor Day and Thanksgiving..{which is also known in my language as Thanks-mas..but that's an old post}

but the firfotten is a hybrid {doncha love it when you can use the "word of the moment" }anyway it's part forgotten and firgot..yes, that's the way I do say it..as in "I firgot my car.." OK..I don't usually firget my whole car..maybe just the keys..

and the whole last letter-first letter thingie?  as in " just the" ..I type just he ..My granddaughter Emily, while in kindergarten, was known as "Emily Ke"

When her Mom asked her what was up with that, she told her she had already used the l-y..{her name is Emily Lyke}

We looked and sure enough, she did..E M I L Y K E ..

she's just as sound minded now that she's 11..bright kid.  Despite her grandmother..

ah well..just your average Tuesday..

-me

(and no, I did not use the spell check..it woud have imploded my whole system from this post...

If it's Sunday...

..it must be Zumba!  Yes, I know I know..if my Mother were here, she'd admonish me for not going to church..

But I'm not a church person.  That's not to say I'm not a spiritual person..just not an organized "church" person.

I do believe.  In Angels..and free choice...

And I don't want this blog post today to get all sorts of philosophical..just know that I do believe..and part of my belief is that I need to take care of myself.

And it's about time, right?  I mean, what does it take?  I've practically killed myself with the wrong choices..food...

.

( now vegetarian) ...bad driving. ( I drive really so much more carefully..didja know those side mirror thingies help if you know how to set them?? Who knew??) ...bad decisions..( money, eating, bad jobs) and I was given a wake-up call when I had cancer..

But I really didn't totally wake-up all the way.  Flash forward 15 years later and I am now..well.. in the past 3 years..deciding to take care of  my health.

Eating better, Zumba, resting and learning how to say "no"..

Boy, this is sounding really deep..

to lighten the mood..last week, I took Tank to Zumba.

He was, well, terrified would probably be too strong a word..hmmmm..maybe not.

Just look at that face!

..and that was just waiting to warm up!

OK..ready??

No..get out of my bag, silly..

Come on..breathe...

That's it..bend right...

Yes, tuff monsters DO wear pink..and jingle!

 Shake shake shake!

"put your hands in the air, put your hands in the air.."

Hey..there's a friend from Canada, too!

 Aww.. you earned your very own Zumba card!

Thank you, Tank and Karine'..

And thank you, Lord, for all you're have given..

 

 

 

-me

Has anyone seen......

..the Restoration Hardware catalog?

Can't miss it.....

612 pages

Oh yes I did say 612 pages..

..it weighs about 47 pounds.

OK. that's not entirely factual.  But it does. I'm certain.

And..it's ..blah...b..l..a..h.. gray. And beige.  And gray.  And dark.. neutral {no personality of the ..living}

Depressing.  And not just the prices ($2000 for a fake airplane-winged desk -wha??)

Didja ever see one of those futuristic movies of,  like the year 2015..and everything is gone..

dust..gray..dark..no color....??

Depressing?  Well, that just about sums it up.

612 pages of dark, neutral, brown, beige, gray and fake airplane-winged desks.

Kinda like of our economy currently, I guess....

Dark, depressing, no color.

So,  shouldn't we brighten it up a wee bit? I mean, throw some red and teal and sunny yellow pillows on that gray couch?

Add a colorful vase {vaaahaase} of flowers? 

Geesh people...what next..barbed wire around your homes??

Disclaimer: The opinions here are not from a trained interior decorator. But from one who has, for the most part, decorated her home with thrift store items and silly {albeit} colorful monsters named Tank..and friends.

-me

anyone wanna buy a .....

church??

Yep, a church.  A Catholic church.  In Chicago. 

Really...

While looking for some photos of our family's history, I asked my sister Kathy (well, I asked my sister Gerri first- but she said to ask Kathy...) if she remembered the name of the church we used to go to when in Chicago (I was about 5-ish so I don't remember much..but apparently more than some of us ..)

 

She told me "St. Lawrence, of course"..

Of course.  

Right..Yeah, that's it...

But sadly, when I found some photos of the old place {it was also school for my older siblings}I saw that the building had been closed in 1999 and was for sale.

And I was sad..sad for the history and the memories associated with that building as well as sad for the neighborhood ..to loose such a magnificent landmark.

The stained glass windows are boarded up and the weeds are prevalent..

A little piece of history..gone.  I think the photos of the playground are the most haunting..and sad.

This is  was  the rectory..

(that's not me..or my sister Kathy..or the ever-forgetful Gerri..just so you know..)

While looking for other sites near the church, like where we lived, we can see some of the places like a corner store that was there and still appears to be open - imagine that!  Great..

And I do remember stuff from then..I was about 5and we used to go to the market with Mother..and I remember sitting on the "stoop" and watching the fireflies..

I remember walking to the ""L" with her {the elevated trains to the city}  and I was never sure if I had really remembered it as it really was..but after seeing the Google shot of the neighborhood, I realized  I had.  I see the "L" tracks not far from our home.

We lived in a second story apartment with the owners of the house on the main level.  

They has a maid.

A maid!  Her name was Thelma and she had only a partial left arm - it was gone just below the elbow.  I never had the nerve to ask what happened, but I remember being amazed at how she held a plate in her left arm-stump-thingie  and towel dried it.  {I also remember she had a little wart or skin tag on the stump ..weird thing to remember, huh?}

She was a black woman and wore a uniform (much like in The Help) and I really really liked her.   The family who employed her were named McCarthy..and they had 2 daughters Pat & Mike (Patricia & Mickolene) McCarthy. (not sure of the spelling of Mike's name)

Anyway, thanks to Google Earth, we can all walk through the neighborhoods of our youth..and say good-bye to the scary old wonderful churches and schools we knew so well...

Have a wonderful fall Tuesday and think about the buildings that shaped.. ..you!

-me

One word images..

Ella and her Mommy & Daddy went to lower Manhattan Sunday....to thank the firefighters, the policemen and the military that were  the outside of the 9-11 Memorial celebrations.

When Brandi told me they were going into the "city"..I admit, I was a little off-put. " One never knows, so one should be careful.." I hear myself saying.

But none of us wish to make our homes our prisons..and as a family, they decided to go and pay their respects.

All went well and they are so glad they did go..and so am I {now that they're home safe & sound..}

Here are some images  of what was not shown in the news reports....but could have {should have?} been  reported with just one word....

Honor

 Display

 Serve

Remember

Learn

Rebuild

 Write

Heroes

 Remember..and rebuild.  Lives, buildings, trust...gratitude and .love.

-me