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This page is sort of a mixture. It is meant to be about my pets and other thoughtful happenings on my journey
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| We have two yellow tiger cats. One is Timmy who has been a member of the family for about 12 years. We adopted him from the local animal shelter. He adores being petted and cooed over. The other is about 5 years old now. He joined us around Thanksgiving time when he was 6 or 7 weeks old. Sheeba (our white Boxer) found him under the porch. He is shy with strangers but is as affectionate with my son and I as Tim. |  |
| Right now we have two 10 gallon aquariums. One has two very large iridescent sharks. The other
six community fish and a large algae eater. We have had other beloved pets over the years who enjoyed their lives with us until it was time to leave this earth. Another yellow tiger cat, several wonderful dogs. We have had some that were a little less ordinary: a ferret named snickers; two white doves used in my son's amateur magic shows; and a mynah bird. |
| About five years ago there was a company that contracted with our local Kroger grocery store allowing their customers to do on line grocery shopping. The name of the company is Pea Pod. I tried the service as soon as I heard about it. I thought I was in heaven. The way it worked is you would go on line, select the groceries you wanted, pick a time for delivery and submit the order. At the time you selected, your groceries were delivered to your door!!! Can you imagine not having to park a mile from the store, going through the isles, waiting in the check out line, bagging the groceries, loading your car, getting home and unloading the car? Well, sadly, Pea Pod discontinued their service to our area and I had to go back to regular grocery shopping. I am waiting for someone else to see how wonderful this idea is and start up the service in our area again. I still have my membership with Pea Pod and can use their service for sending gift packages to friends. I get on line and log in to Pea Pod and select a pre-designed package they offer or select what I would like in the package from a list they offer. Of course the foods they offer for this part of their service are non-perishable. They can be delivered anywhere in the country via UPS.
I now shop at Kroger or another local store for my groceries (until I find another company that will offer the on line/delivery grocery shopping service). Anyway, I was in Kroger the other day and noticed something that gave me pause for thought. I saw three different teenagers at three different locations in the store and at three different times using cell phones. Wow, what technology. |
| As you can imagine, having the pets I have, I have had to find a pet supply store where I can get the things I need to keep them healthy and happy. I have found a place that is like a huge pet department store. Lucky for me there is one not to far from my home but I can use the internet to either order supplies or look up items before I leave for the store. They always have what I need and help when I have questions. PetSmart is a great place to shop.
We took a six week old Golden Retriever across country. We went to PetSmart to look for a carrier that met airline approval. The clerk was very helpful in finding exactly what we needed. I also looked for the information on the web site and found what we needed there too. One of my aquariums became infected with a fungus. I went to PetSmart to see what I could find to clear up the problem. The clerks suggested some medication and it worked great the tank is completely clear now. |
| I have finally had my first experience shopping on E-Bay. It is sort of like a giant yard sale that you can go to anytime and you can be fairly certain you will be able to find what you want or close to it. I can see how a huge number of people have become so excited about it. Just in case you haven't heard about it, it is a place on the web that you can either buy or sell. There is a terrific search engine within the program by which you can find what you are looking for easily. Try it, you'll like it. |
| Have you ever noticed going in certain places brings certain kinds of feelings? Well, I get a warm and fuzzy feeling when I shop at WalMart (this probably sounds a little corny but I really feel it). There are three commercials I have seen for WalMart on TV which I think goes a long way to validate this feeling. One of the commercials is of some employees of WalMart and they all seem so happy and they claim working there is like working with family. Another commercial is of a mother shopping with her daughters and they seem happy to be shopping together and sort of like girls night out. The other is of a man and his family and they all have big smiles on their faces. I know they are getting paid for the commercial but none the less they all seem genuinely happy. One other factor that may contribute to my feeling is the book called Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts. A young girl lives in a MalMart store for a time by hiding at closing time. |
| This week there was a day set aside to bring your children to work. It began years ago and was then called bring your daughter to work day. Now it has been expanded to include our sons too. My children are grown but I have grandchildren that I bring. I work in a very interesting place and the kids really like to see some of the things that go on in my work place. First we started with a community breakfast of McDonalds sandwiches and a welcome from one of the VIPs in our building. Then we went on for the rest of the morning with a planned program that allowed the children to visit each of the departments and how they work together to get an important job done. After the organized program the children enjoyed lunch with their parents (grandparents) and then, in some cases, spent the rest of the day watching what their parents did everyday when the go to work. All in all, it was a great experience for the kids as well as the adults. |
| It is so wonderful the way some habits you enjoy point to other things you enjoy. Let me try to clear that up. I subscribe to a monthly magazine that supports one of my health interests, keeping my cholesterol under control. Anyway, in this month's issue there was a mention of the practice of Yoga to assist in making one's life more healthy and less stressful. There was a mention of a web site that supports this experience. The site is called Yoga Everywhere. If you have interests along the Yoga lines, you may want to have a look at this site. |
We came to one of the bumps in the road that life throws at us once in a while. One of us (family) had a health problem  which caused some alarm. It had a positive out come after all was said and done. Anyway, I digress. One of the things that came with it was a visit from my daughter-in-law and my two grandsons. They drove from California. Once things seemed to be going along well, we had a great visit. It feels so good to be able to just sit back and watch them play - in-line skates, skate boards, tag, playing in the rain, any and all games they come up with. Their energy seems endless. And it is always sad to see them leave for the journey home. My other grandson returned with them which was a great adventure for him. I got a call from them detailing all of the sight seeing stops they made on the way back to California - the grand canyon, a huge crater made by a meteor years ago, the petrified forest. One of the boys took over 180 photos.
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Well with summer coming we needed to go out and buy a new lawn mower. The grass was getting so high, Heidi (dachshund) didn't want to go  out to do her business. Anyway, what a selection to choose from! We ended up with one new to us, it had larger wheels in back. Suppose to give better turning room. Now the yards look better and Heidi doesn't mind going out. Now if it were just as easy to do the weeding. I still seem to have to do it the old fashioned way, leaning over and pulling. But it is one of the headaches that come with the good old summer time and one I don't mind to much since it also means of the rest of the beauty that comes with summer.
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The 4th of July! What a great holiday. Most Americans are so grateful of our freedoms and are proud to be Americans they go all out to take part in the celebration of this holiday. Back yard cookouts, parades, and to end the day wonderful displays of fireworks. In my memories mine is one of the many families that have chosen their life time occupations that are in service to the country and community and the many aunts, uncles and cousins who voluntarily served two to four years in the military over the years. A great uncle, my father, another uncle, my spouse, my brother-in-law, my son, my son-in-law and myself all serve our country and community to help keep it free and safe and allow people to seek the happiness that is part of our inalienable right The rest readily serve when there are critical needs and times for the community. The hazy days of summer make the holiday perfect for the picnics, parades and fireworks displays. Our cookouts have slowed down a little due to diversified family placement and activities but they will continue whenever we can. The fireworks displays in our community are so popular that the crowds are massive. I prefer to find a relatively quiet spot to see at least the fireworks that are high in the sky. We have made a tradition of going to a particular parking lot not far from our house that we can see the annual downtown display. We take our lawn chairs and snacks (and bug spray) as well as a radio tuned to the synchronized music that accompany the display. Some families in our city enjoy the preparations for the parades and fireworks by parking an RV or setting up a tent right in the downtown parking lots and lawns and sidewalks of the city very early in the day so they are assured of a spot so they don't miss any of the excitement - food vendors, entertaining music, camaraderie, making and meeting friends, parades, and finally the colorful skyward displays of light. The fireworks seem, for me at least, to give a warm, happy, prideful feeling as we make our way home at the end of the day. |
We went to the county fair last week. We had a really good time. One of the differences between the county fair and the state fair is the cost. At the county fair the kids can ride everything for free after paying to get in.  At the state fair we pay for every ride. Of course the kids are the ones who enjoy this for the most part. I like both kinds of fair. The county fair is much smaller and easier to see all they have to offer. One of the things we saw that we found interesting was one of the chickens in the show was getting a bath.  The owner put him in a bucket of water, slushed him around then picked him up. The chicken even seems cooler after the bath.On the other hand the state fair has so much diversity. My sister and I take things a little slower but the kids excitement is hard to contain. I was worn to a frazzle but the kids were ready to go back in the evening. They wanted to experience it all with all the lights. Now we'll go to the state fair and maybe one more near by county fair. |
Isn't it funny where you can find smiles and happy memories? One Sunday a couple of weeks ago my son called to ask if my sister and I would go look at some property he was interested in. It was one of the hottest days we have had so far this summer so we had the car AC cranked to top output.  Before we left the house we checked the internet for at least sketchy directions on how to get to the property. It was about an hours drive and most of it not off a freeway or major highway. I like seeing country side I haven't seen. It is so interesting to see other peoples homes and yards. Sometimes we can get great ideas for ways to "beautify" our own yards. Anyway, when we arrived at the property we found that it sat quite a ways off the county road. There was a gravel road leading from the main road to the house. There were puddles here and there down the gravel road because of some heavy rains the day before. About a third of the way up the gravel drive a young dog came running towards the car. He commenced BITING THE TIRES!!! We could actually here the pop of the tires as he bit into them. I couldn't move more than a few inches at a time. My sister stuck her head out the window and told me when she thought I could move. I think it took us 20 minutes to get 50 yards. The only time in the whole process that we could make any headway was when we hit one of the puddles in the drive. Apparently, he didn't want to get splashed. There was no way to turn around til I got to the house so I had to keep going. Then we had to take the same trip back. We laughed so much it took even longer to get from here to there. Oh, we did get out of the car when we reached the house and found the dog was as friendly and affectionate as he could be (and had no interest in the tires now that they weren't moving). I guess his favorite toy is a moving automobile tire. As we returned home, we saw some "open house" signs and stopped at a couple of other properties. It turned out to be an enjoyable trip and we saw some beautiful homes and country property. |
Celebrating holidays and birthdays are wonderful for me because in our busy lives that seems to be the only time we can be together as family. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago we all spent a few hours together for my grandson's birthday. Almost all of us were there.  but some couldn't be. We have a family who is deeply involved in serving their community and country so sometimes it is not possible to get us all together at the same time. Usually those who can't be there call on the phone during the gathering so we really do share in those wonderful bright moments. |
Boy have I fallen behind in  updating this web page. I have been very preoccupied with all that has been going on in our country since September 11. Since my last update I have read a lot of books I will catch up gradually on that part of the site. Other family things have been going on that have taken  up my "free" moments for doing and thinking. Anyway, some wonderfully beautiful fall days have passed and now we are moving into the dreary days of winter--not quite so fast though. We still have a few more gorgeous days of autumn to enjoy though. One of the many things that has happened in my life since I last wrote is I have started teaching sunday school. What an enlightening endeavor. Along with the rest of my family I have a lot of busy days coming up. Thanksgiving, Christmas shopping, helping with a big move. Wow, I guess all of this along with working a full time job keeps me young!!???? I'll update again as soon as I can. Keep visiting my site. I have seen a growth of "hits" and I love it.
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Here I am again, taking so long to get the site updated. It has been extremely busy for my  family in the last few months. My granddaughter started to college, my son and his family  moving back from out of state and moving into a brand new house. It is so big and in such a nice area, between country and city actually it is a village. The of course we had Thanksgiving and Christmas.And then, of course, the start of a beautiful new year. I'll try not to take so long to update next time. Also, take a look at the new section I added - Nostalgia. See ya!
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| Earlier on the page I mentioned that I shopped through Pea Pod and that it has been discontinued in this area. Well, since they have moved on I have missed them with a passion and hope that they will come back or some other company will start up those services here again. In the meantime I still shop at Kroger but I also do a lot of shopping in a store in our area called Big Bear . I find a lot of bargins there and it is great to find items at Big Bear that I can't find else where. It is also nice to shop in a store that started right here in my own city. |
| I have rambled on so much that this page has become full so I have started a continuation of "moments", just click here to continue. |
One of the major projects for my family was putting a roof on a member's home. As it happened it was during the hotest part of this summer so far too. The day I took the photo a storm was moving in - great for cooling things off butnot an opportune time in the work process. Anyway, it's done now - or almost. Now we'll get on to other summer activities. I'm to old to be much help with a roofing job but I could cook and keep an eye on kids and animals. It was hard work but it is so nice to have the family working together. 
My grandchildren who have lived in the military for many years have come home! Now I get to see/share more of their activities. They have recently started littleleague practice.What fun! Anyway, I took my trusty digital camera to their practices and I have some photos I would like to share here on the web site. To have a look at some of the shots I got click on the underlined 