Itchy!

Way back when... a long time ago... i was a wee girl. Yep.
We would spend a lot of days at the beach, or up the river, playing in the water. My mom had gone to J.C Penny's and bought me a new swimsuit. It was soft and colorful, and the bottom was shaped like a purse. When i would get in the water that purse shaped bottom would fill up with water and i would look like a balloon with legs. I hated that swimsuit.  I am convinced my mom bought it to keep me out of the water. She knew i would hate being water-logged and so wouldn't go in the water. She was a worry wart and was sure that if i stood in water over my ankles i would drown.
Well, i whined and cried and threw a fit or two until she went and bought me another swimsuit. I don't know how long it took her to find it, or how many places she had to go to before she did, but i'm sure she had a plan. To find the ugliest, most un-comfortable suit she could. Payback.
She brought home this Pepto-bismo pink creation that was made totally of WOOL. Wool. Itchy pink wool. It even had a black ships wheel embroidered on it! Wool wool wool.
I spent so much time scratching that i never could get in the water.

I hated that swimsuit.

This will be posted over at Mylestones for

More family.

To continue on with my family....
This is Leslie, she is daughter #2 at 40 years old this year.
She is my pistol. She is smart and gorgeous. A wonderful sense of humor, quick temper and soft heart. She will give you her last dollar if you are in need.
The other photo is her son and his family, and the other is her daughter.

It's Tuesday!

I am posting this over at  
 come on over and read more wonderful stories.

I forgot all about it being Tuesday.  I've been wrapped up in my own boo-hoo stuff, i forgot "Tuesday's Un-wrapped"....holy cow.
Nothing happen today except a lot of rain, so i had to look back to find something to un-wrap. Which, as usual, when i open my eyes, turned out to be a miraculous wonderful happening. I have to remember, they are always there if we look with open heart.
This is Tauni. She is my oldest daughter, Lisa's, best friend. She is also a part of our family now. Lisa took her in when she was at her lowest, at her rock bottom, nowhere else to go but up kind of lowest.
She has never had a baby. She never will.
She has never been this close to a tiny baby, she had never held a baby before this instant when this photo was taken. She cried.
That's just part of the miracle. The real miracle is my youngest daughter, Blue. Blue is baby Eddie's mother. He is her third child, she has two girls.
Blue, having done a lot of not so good things in her past, has a tendancy to look at other's mistakes without forgiveness. She can be quite judgmental and un-friendly to someone like Tauni. But, i had told her Tauni is now part of my clan, and would be at our Sunday breakfast dates from now on.
Blue had to make a choice.
She surprised us all by handing her baby boy to this woman and walking away to help me cook.
It must have been one of the hardest things she had ever done. When Tauni handed her the baby back, there were tears on her cheeks. She thanked Blue, and i think at that moment, Blue felt that glorious warmth and lightness that comes over a person when we let go of a weight and give something good to someone else. I think Blue felt that sweetness.

I know the look on Tauni's face gave me great pleasure that day. 

Mosaic of Eddie

Eddie. My new heartthrob. His scent is honey and light. His texture is silk to the nth degree. His sound is smooth and sweet.

He has climbed into my heart. He fits there very well.

This is linked to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House....go on over, enjoy the wonderful posts.

http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/2010/04/mosaic-monday-pasture-hijinks.html

Eddie

I am un-wrapping Eddie. My new grandson. I met him for the first time yesterday. I was overwhelmed with love and gratitude. I felt wobbly and warm and full. My mind had no words, only sensation. The sweet smell of a new life, those wonderful little squeeky mouse sounds, big stretches and the amazing softness of his cheek. I breathed him in. I closed my eyes and let him take over my heart. Edward Franklin Martin Dane. My last grandchild. I am in love again.

I have posted this with tuesdays un-wrapped at chatting at the sky. 

Come see all the wonderful posts.

The Chicken Story

About 28 years ago i lived in an old farmhouse just a few miles out of Charelston, Oregon. It sat about a quarter mile back off the road, was nice and private and quiet. Well, quiet most of the time. There were those "party days".... shhhhhh, don't tell anyone, i used to be a fun kinda gal.
Anyway, i was working at Hallmark Fisheries at the time, a not so great job that paid super good. They processed fish, shrimp, crab, and whatever else. I would buy a 5 lb. can of 100 count shrimp, it was the cheapest as the shrimp were small, very small, 100 to a pound. I would try to buy it and hide it so no one would know, but someone always saw me carry the can out to my car, so the party would be on. My tempura shrimp clumps were well known and i couldn't fix it without half the town coming to enjoy it.
Of course, with shrimp goes a lot of other things. People would bring salads and sweets, brownies, pies, and all manner of good things to eat....and drink. It's the drink part that is to blame for most of the funny stories i have to tell about living there.
This time, after much shrimp munching, and salad crunching, and drink slurping, a crazy fisherman decided i should fry a chicken for an after meal snack. We only had one chicken, and he was a rooster. A mean hateful "chase ya peck ya if ya come close" kind of rooster. He had had his fun with a good number of my friends, and left a scar or two for memories sake, so needless to say, when the crazy fisherman made his suggestion he got overwhelming approval. Everybody really hated that rooster.
The rooster, being smarter than a crowd of drunk fishermen, decided it was time to get outta Dodge and proceeded to make a run for it instead attacking. He ran those guys around and around that house, first one way than the other. Once in a while he would throw a loop and run around and among the parked cars. I think he really enjoyed the "clunk thunks" he could hear when a fisherman didn't cut the corner close enough and ran into a fender or something. And i know he really loved the cursing and swearing, the "OWE!"  and the "DAMN THAT HURT" he was hearing. Did i tell you, he was one mean rooster? And smart?
The rooster won. He got away and was never seen in my yard again. But, you had to keep an eye out if you were walking past a certain alley in town. He had moved in.
As for the fishermen. They got their exercise that day. They also got cuts, bumps, bruises, headaches and even one loose tooth.
Did they learn a lesson? Have you ever seen a fisherman learn a lesson?
Oh, do i have some stories.

My sister

In 1982 i moved to Homer, Alaska. A long way from my home ground on the Oregon coast. I stayed for 14 years.
For 13 years i didn't see any of my family. My mother had died just before i left Oregon, and i was lost. I was almost 40, but losing her was a horrible blow. While i was in Alaska my father died, one sister and my grandmother, aunts, uncles, all died. My family was moving on without me saying goodbye.
In 1994 i had saved up enough money to make a visit home. My sister, Judy, was to meet me at the airport in Portland. She drove from her home in Sutherlin to pick me up. It had been 13 years since i had seen her.
When i stepped off the plane i looked around, looking for that familiar face, and there, behind a group of waiting people, was this woman. She had her hands waving in the air, she was jiggling up and down, crying, laughing, hopping from one foot to the other. She rushed me, grabbed me up and hugged hugged hugged.
My fear of not being accepted again was out the window. This was acceptance. This was love.
I stayed with her for a month before i was off again, back to Alaska. That month was wonderful. I saw places i had loved, people i had loved, and found a new place in the family.
In 1996 i moved back home, and have been here since. It is where i want to be now. The coast is 80 miles away, a short drive to breathe the sea air. Home.

This photo is my sister hug hug hugging me. She did that alot.

This post is for Tuesday's Unwrapped over at chatting at the sky.
For some reason i am un-able to get her blinkie . Sorry. Go to...
http://www.chattingatthesky.com/2010/04/12/pink-on-a-tuesday/

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