Happy Birthday, Grandpa Clint !

December 21 - today is Grandpa Clint's birthday. (Bob's Dad-my Father-in-Law) He would have been 90 yrs old today....
Yes, his birthday was close to Christmas and I learned VERY EARLY after meeting the family, it HAD to be separate from any resemblance of Christmas.
He was such a fun person, pretending to be crusty but really a softie inside. He was a great bowler and had many trophies to prove it.
He was in WWII but never talked about his time overseas. When he was returning his troop ship was anchored in the Columbia River right off of the Longview - Kelso area and was quarantined because of an outbreak of something on the ship. It was Christmas time, his wife and two small sons were living in Kelso but they had no idea he was on the ship sitting in the river....I'm not sure how long it was before the troops got to leave but I can't even imagine how he felt, coming home from the war and having his family right beside him but couldn't even contact them.
He LOVED his grandkids. Always had pictures with him to show anyone who would look at them!
He and Grandma often came down to watch even the Jr High football games and then any other games the kids would be playing including coming to watch Cathy cheerleading at the games.
He always gave the grandkids the little cardboard box of assorted flavors of Lifesavers at Christmas..... When he was caretaker for the Aberdeen Water Shed our kids would go out and spend time with him and Grandma and they loved it. He would take them fishing (where fishing was prohibited, of course, because it was in the water shed) But if you just went around the bend above the dam, no one could see you and there he would take them out in his boat and fish in the lake.
He was just as proud of his great grandchildren. As you can see here in this picture you can see him rationing out jelly beans to Kyler. He was always teasing them with pieces of candy. Grandma would get mad at him for teasing them but he loved every minute of it and so did they.
After he left the job at the dam, they lived in a small trailer in South Aberdeen where he gardened and grew the most beautiful dahlias and other things in his greenhouse. He loved to raze people with anything he could think of... He was a great guy and a lot of fun!
I could not have asked for a neater Father-in-law. He was always supportative and loving.
He has now been gone since Feb 20, 2002 but he will never be gone from thoughts and our hearts
Anybody have a favorite memory of Grandpa Clint they would like to share ??

News Headlines

Recently Seen Newspaper Headlines !

Final Stock Session Sluggish

Berserk Man Kills Self, Stabs 5 in Shopping Area

Nation Reeling from storm

20 year Old Venice CA man Walks Out Friday After Being Lost on Mountain

Don't Start the New Year Dead Drunk, Call Care Cab for a Ride Home

Reagan adds Grenada to Caribbean Aid List

Police Looking for Green River Clues to Compare Recent Killing With Previous Women's Deaths

As This Year Begins Soon, Our Hopes Are Raised Aloft That Peace May Bless the World
(Whiteside Memorial Chapel)
Sale Going On !
Blowout Recliner Sale - Deluxe Chair - $297 Standard - $247

Apartment Listings!
Ranging from $235 to $425 per month - Don't miss out on these low rates !!

SOUND FAMILIAR !
Most things don't change a lot thru the years. Well, sort of, huh. At least until you get to the prices.

I got all of these headlines in an Aberdeen Daily World newspaper from December 3, 1983 that lives in the bottom of the box where we keep Grandma Young's ceramic Christmas tree throughout the year. It was packing to keep the tree secure. I have saved that paper each year even though it is really beat up and I look thru it every time we get the box down at Christmas. It was a Saturday am edition and it cost 25 cents.
It just makes me happy to realize Mom and Dad (Grandma and Grandpa) read that paper !

"Pay Ahead" Fun !

Ever had a "pay ahead" experience.....How Fun!
This am when I left Curves I dropped by the Starbucks Drive thru for a latte, had to wait for several cars and when I got to the window handed my card out the window and the gal said
"Actually the car ahead of you paid for your order !" So I said Wow, put the car behind me on my card then...... That was so fun. I had heard of that happening but had never had it happen to me.

WELL - Jackie and I were heading out for a "play day" across the river later this morning and she wanted a latte so she drove up and it was the same lady that I had in the morning so I asked her how long the line on "pay ahead" cars had gone after I left. She said it went 15 cars after me and I had been number 6 so 21 cars "Paid Ahead" for the person behind them.
Then she said some lady drove up and when she was told someone had paid for her drink she said "How Nice" and drove off... finally breaking the chain.

I had heard of this recently in some big city (can't remember where it was) and the line had gone 106 cars before the chain was broken. There are a "lot" of really cool people in this world and little fun things like this just sort makes ones day! I hope the person that started it somehow found out how many people followed suit !

TURKEY TALK !

OK, SO IT IS THANKSGIVING AGAIN

What do you first think of when you hear Thanksgiving?
Probably pumpkin pie, or getting together with family, or Grandma Young's green jello -OR maybe even one of the 45 million turkeys that are eaten each year at Thanksgiving.

SO how much do you really know about that turkey that lands on your table every year in November? Let's find out !

1. What is the long fleshy skin that hangs over a turkey's beak called ?

2. What color does a wild turkey's naked head and neck area change to when it mating?

3. When turkeys reach maturity they can have up to how many feathers?

4. How fast can a wild turkey run?

5. What is the average weight of a turkey purchased at Thanksgiving?

6. What is the percentage of white meat in an average turkey?

7. Male turkeys gobble. What do female turkeys do?

8. Do turkeys have heart attacks?

9. How big was the heaviest turkey ever raised?

10. Does eating turkey make you feel sleepy after your Thanksgiving dinner?


READY FOR THE ANSWERS ?? OR DO YOU THINK YOU KNOW YOUR BIRD WELL ENOUGH TO NOT NEED THE CHECK THE ANSWERS?

1. Bet I fooled you on this one. I thought it was a waddle? Nope, that hangs below the beak.
The part that hangs over the beak is called a "snood!"

2. This area turns blue.

3. WOW, guess I won't try to pluck my own turkey soon. A mature turkey can have up to 3,500 feathers. (Who do you suppose counted them to find out?) With my luck, I would get to 2,940 or so and then sneeze. GADZOOKES!

4. Wild turkeys can run to to 55 miles per hour! How did the pilgrims ever catch them?

5. The average weight of a turkey eaten at Thanksgiving is 15 pounds. - I would have thought it would be larger than that.

6. A 15 lb turkey usually will have about 70% white meat. It never seems like it when we cut ours up.

7. This was a new one for me. Turkeys gobble, right. Yes the males do but the females make a clicking noise.

8. Turkeys do have heart attacks. Who would have thought! The Air Force was doing test runs and breaking the sound barrier. Nearby turkeys dropped dead with heart attacks.

9. The heaviest turkey was 86 pounds. Can you imagine what he looked like. He was about the size of a large dog.

10. Last but not least - No don't blame the turkey. It is more likely all of those CARBS you are downing than that turkey bird.

I used this as my opener at my Weight Watcher mtg last night and we had a blast with it.
I actually condensed it here. There were 22 facts but I didn't even get all 10 of these answered right when I first took it!

SO enjoy your bird in a different perspective this year. He now has some personality rather than just being a big hunk of meat on your plate. HAPPY THANKSGIVING

HOLY, SMOLEY ! WHAT AM I DOING UP HERE?

Several weeks ago just for fun we went to a weekend marriage seminar at a local church. After we got home we had to do a "flag page" that asked a bunch of questions and then it analyzed our personalities. It is taken to help you and your spouse understand each other better so you can relate to one another easier.
Mine mailed me to the wall ! It was SO me. I quote one small paragraph:
"Dee enjoys a routine life where nobody notices her. She lives in a conscientious manner so she won't rock the boat. Staying in the background creates peace for her. She is usually good at what she does and likes to be able to predict what will happen next.

SO WHAT ON EARTH AM I DOING UP HERE !!

The Setting: Weight Watchers Annual Innovations meeting for everyone in the our area which includes two WW territories which means the whole large banquet room at the Sheridan Hotel by the airport is filled with WW staff.

The Reason: To introduce staff to the brand new program and things that will be coming soon for the new year.

The Time: After lunch, The new things have been revealed and awards are being handed out. You know, all the little pretty trophies etc are lined up on the table and person after person comes up and gets hugs etc. (you know the routine) After while it sort of becomes - Ahhh, Isn't it time to stretch etc. OK, just a few more items and we're done.
Let's just get this over so we can go home.
SO in a sort of semi conscious state I suddenly hear MY NAME and see it listed with a group of other leaders from all over both territories who are receiving the "Diamond Leader Award" and the next thing I know I am up on the stage in front of all those scary people out in the audience !

My first thought: Whatever do they give these out for. It is one of those things you read about in our monthly staff news magazine that leaders way out there get for doing fabulous things and you read no further because that has to be leaders who lead ten million meetings a week that have fabulous centers and gobs of beautiful skinny successful people in their meetings.

Conclusion: So after I got my pretty gold pin with one small diamond in the center of the WW wave logo and another small diamond on the 2008 attachment, I actually had to come home and look up in our staff news who they really give these thing out to.

Quote from our last Staff News Bulletin:
Diamond Leader Award
Presented to the top 20 percent of leaders in each territory who exemplify the Diamond standard: The highest percentage of their members reach lifetime status, and they have the highest member retention rate. A Diamond Leader leads at least two meetings per week, is a supportive team player, attends staff meetings and follows Weight Watchers policies and procedures. The Diamond Leader aware is given annually to all qualifying Leaders in that year.

OK: I have to admit that was sort of fun and yes, even an honor BUT I'm ready to crawl back into my little comfortable hole now with my two little meetings and my fabulous staff of gals that really deserve this too because they make me look good : )

FUN - FUN -FUN !

I'm still having problems getting pictures where I want them and getting more than a few onto my blog but here are a couple from our recent cruise. I wanted the ship first but they are in the complete backwards order but here goes anyway.
We had a real blast although the last day of being at sea was VERY rough...It was the roughest we had ever had on a cruise and there were a lot of "sick" people.
Our group picture was on the formal night....
Always fun to dress up and play "like the other half " once and awhile. (Aren't the guys cute !) I love that picture ! What a blast. We had Tom and Judi, Steve and Cindy, Betty and her sister Sharon with us. It was so much fun. We plan on doing it again sometime. Anybody is welcome to join us next trip. The more the merrier.

I'm Still Alive

Wow, I haven't blogged for so long there probably isn't anyone checking any more anyway. Life has been a whirlwind since our cruise. Have some great pics to post.
(It was a blast, by the way, More later)

After the cruise we headed right over to Spokane for the weekend. Was home Monday nite thru Thursday. Then left Friday am for the Women of Faith conference in Portland. Fantastic - (More later) Got home Sunday nite

I'm running over to Jackie and Chris's twice a day until next Sunday to feed and play with their four kittys while they are on vacation - What a blast they are!
(More later : )

Actually had Monday to breathe - Tuesday was at the shelter with the kittys
Yesterday we had a fun morning with some long lost shirtail relatives that called Tuesday asking if they could come down and compare Family Tree notes and pictures. She is Bob's 1/2 cousin on Grandma's side. They live in Satsop, WA. Had a blast sharing things. Got some great new pictures (More later)

On top of all that, I got called for jury duty again next month .
Well, I need to finish up my Weight Watcher lesson and have some lunch.

Looks like I have plenty of topics to talk about as soon as I get an extra minute.
Phew - life is busy, busy, busy!

Bob just popped in the door and said he filled up the pickup at Costco and gas was 2.95 a gallon WOW ! That IS fantastic news!

Hugs to all