So now that the “protesting season” is over, there have been several other things keeping our summer busy.

So one of the first things that I did, and I was in the mood to do until my muscles needed to recover, was to pull weeds in the flowerbed.  Then I found some perennials (and a few annuals) and a bag of bark, and made a 3 foot section look pretty.  There are many more weeds to pull, and flowers to plant, and I’ll take care of them, a section at a time.

Then, there was a trip to see my grandma and celebrate her 92nd birthday, in the area where I grew up.  Before I left, I went to the site where my grandparents used to have a dairy. and took some pictures.  There used to be another building on this site in front of the white building where the machinery and the cooler were located.    One of the most prominent memories from when I was little was being told to wear shoes (red top/ black rubber boots….year round) and being told to watch out for wet areas or puddles as it could be caustic soda, which was acidic and could burn the skin.  My dad came home a few times with some nasty burns from that stuff.  Yikes!  To describe it would just not please the imagination of the reader!

Then, there is the summer ritual for kids everywhere……camp!  Our church is having camp this month and my girl has been looking forward to this since June.  Thanks to us being busy with the road renaming business, there were many opportunities for her to watch her brother, so she earned most of her money that way, and a donation from her grandparents helped too.  We did all of the summer camp shopping (Do we have enough t-shirts & shorts?  Does she need a new swimsuit? etc).  I bought snacks for her to take with her to give out as “bribes” to the cabin inspectors there.    When the day came for her to leave for camp, I think that I received one hug good bye and she was on the bus, anxious to leave (however, this is our first year of her being at camp with her own phone, and I’ve been getting a lot of text messages from her all week).

So with her being gone all week, we only had one child at home.  What does a younger brother at home do with his time, without his sister at home to play with, or tick him off?

Well there’s time in the garage with model trains………..

Videogame time………

(and a little “Phineas & Ferb” to fill in the rest of the time)

Swinging and burning some energy at the park…

I think that the park made him the happiest.  He was able to run all over.  Then about a half hour after I took this picture, someone was smoking pot nearby and the smell was rather strong.  So we thought that it was time to go before the boy started to say something out loud like “People shouldn’t be smoking!”.

So we then went to the store and restocked our Oreo and chip supply (no, the smell from the park didn’t give us the “Munchies”, we just all have a sweet tooth and like salty food) and took the boy home.

More on our summer, as it progresses……………stay tuned

A few months ago, I posted a blog about how our governor had decided to change a state highway, after a friend who had donated to his campaign, at the taxpayer’s expense (during a time when he was telling our state lawmakers that we had to cut back on everything else during this recession).   Since then, my husband and the other co-founders of a group to stop it, started gathering signatures to get approval to put an initiative on the November ballot (they had no problem getting the 1,000 signatures for that…….especially if you go to a Tea Party rally on Tax Day).    Then, came a 30 day waiting period while the signatures are verified, and the Attorney general approves the ballot initiative, and then the 10 day period for anyone to complain about it.  When all was said and done, and we were given the green light to collect the 83,000 signatures, we had one day to do it.   We were given the “okay” to collect, one day before the deadline to have them in.    So, Mr. P. (my husband) and the other organizers, really had to be creative with how they could collect so many in such a short time.

So in the time leading up to “the day”, they:
~bought a banner featuring the name of their group and web address, as well as the date of the signature drive.
~spent a few days, holding that banner on the overpass that crossed over the highway in question, waiving & yelling.
~were interviewed on the morning radio program several times.

~because this was a statewide signature drive, and because they did have an online petition option (print it out, sign it and send it in), they rented post office boxes in 5 cities where those closest to them could mail them to us faster.
~also had volunteers (including me) gathering signatures in front of post offices all around town.

After a full day of signature gathering, and making trips to the post office boxes, we only had 1,117 signatures.  So Mr. P and company, took those signatures to the Secretary of State’s office (they couldn’t accept them as there obviously weren’t enough) and then to the Governor’s office with a handwritten note, so that he could see, just how many  people were opposed to this idea.

So, what do we do now?  Well, Mr. P, and his co-organizers are now running for office (two of them are running for State Representative and one is running for State Senator).

It’s interesting, in that we had no idea, when this started, that the road we were fighting for, would lead to this.

T

Today, we had a rare treat.  The kids and I met up with my grandma (the lady on the right) and her sister (the lady on the left), her daughter, their niece and her daughter.  My grandma, Theda, is originally from Texas and her sister, Bessie, still lives there.    These days, they don’t get to see each other very much.   My grandma is in her early 90’s and doesn’t travel as much anymore.  Aunt Bessie is a little younger ( and a few inches taller) and she isn’t traveling as much either.  She flew out to  the state that her daughter lives in, and then her daughter drove her up here to visit.

You know, there are many folks who believe in population control and that having just 2 kids is more than enough (however, if those two kids are of the same gender, then it’s ok to have more until you get the opposite), or if you have reached your 40’s, you should stop.   Now if my great-grandparents had followed that logic, these two sweet and fun ladies wouldn’t be here (and neither would I for that matter).  You see, they are the fifth and seventh out of seven children.   Their parents started off with two children, a son and a daughter, and it was that way for about 10 years.  Then suddenly, they started having children again and within a few years added five more.   I think that there is 21 years between the oldest and the youngest.  Aunt Bessie was 5 when she became an aunt for the first time.    Over the years, all of the children married and had children of their own.  .  The cousins age range from the first to the last grandchild is about 40 years.    Anyway, these days, my grandma and her sister are the two surviving siblings, and they are very special to us.   Bessie starts her journey home tomorrow and I bet they’ll be talking on the phone on Sunday (or Saturday)

(I would type more,  but my computer is being slow and my husband is in bed nearly asleep and it’s getting late..and I “need” to check my Facebook…haha)

I saw this question posted at “The Joyful Journey” blog so I thought that I’d post my answer to this same question.

Hmmmm….five years ago…my kids were still shorter than me.  My son was 7, and not ready to read (now he literally reads everything…out loud!).  My daughter was still somewhat of a little girl and now she’s a teenager starting highschool in the fall.  My husband and I were still in our 30’s then as well.

On a more personal note, but with getting into specifics, five years ago,  I was living  with a lot of uncertainty in my life and and wondering, every day, if it would end on a good note or a bad one.  My life  was going in a direction that I hadn’t planned on,  and I found myself  feeling like I had been forced onto the scariest, fastest roller-coaster in the amusement park, when I was only in line for the kiddie one.    Everyday, trying to keep things calm and normal for my family while I was being whipped around.     Now, I don’t have as much uncertainty, however I deal with a lot more stress than I ever have.   Things have slowly improved, and hopefully, in five years, I can look back and report that things have improved even more (I’m praying that they do anyway).

Check back in 5 years and see!

Ok, this is my boy.  He will be turning 12 soon, and we’ve been planning his birthday party.  Now due to his autism, his mind processes and plans differently than ours.  He’s very “obey the law or rules” type of person.  However, he’s very into everyone else obeying the “laws” that HE makes.   So today, he made a list of rules for his party.
Keep in mind that what he wrote has been influenced by what he’s heard in the news lately, and from reading and making “Neighborhood Watch” signs for our house.

“BIRTHDAY PARTY WARNING!
Birthday Partys are Required by Permission Please whrite for who & the time&the Date the Month & the year & the Place & your R.S.V.P. Zipcode & there Adress & there city & there State & there Zipcode & the person who has the party have to be a Legal Resident Under property Laws.  & Non Legal Residents are Prohibited in birthday Partys.  having Non permision birthday Partys you can be arrested or Prosecuted.   it is Legal to have a birthday Party with Permision.  having Partys without Permision is illegal Violators will be Prosecuted.”

Isn’t that the welcoming party that you want to be invited too?  If I didn’t personally know the author of this piece, I’d be puzzled, but since I do, I have to chuckle a bit.  Just one of the many, many unusual things that he’ll come up with.

Lp

I’m sitting here surfing the net and trying to make improvements to how my blog looks (trying out new things) on a Sunday morning, during a time when I would normally be leaving for church.  Before I go any further, I will say that the picture of the rose above is huge!  It’s from our yard (last year), and to represent spring, I thought it was appropriate.  It just really stands out doesn’t it?

So as I stated, I’m here instead of going to church, and that is because I went to church last night.  My daughter & I are teaching 2 & 3 year olds during the Saturday night service this month.   So we can sleep in for both days of the weekend and not just Saturday.   After August, I’ll need to leave that job because my son will be graduating to the Jr. High group in the fall, and because of his autism, he really can’t sit in the regular church service alone.

So it’s Sunday morning, and we’re home and ready for it to be our son’s bedtime already.  This kid is all over the place looking for old pieces of cardboard on which he had drawn signs, as well has the large fat pens he used to draw with.  He can’t find them, and he doesn’t look very hard.  This is a boy who will walk into a cluttered room, scan it and then declare, “It’s not here!”.    He’ll sort of ask, in a demanding tone, that we help him find them.  However, when we help him, he stops looking.  If he doesn’t find what he’s looking for, then he’ll declare that it/they were stolen (yes, robbers came in, and stole cardboard and markers and left all of the electronics).  Then if he still can’t find them, he borders on having a meltdown which includes tears.  So we as parents are constantly trying to help him stay focused, and think things through and not to get discouraged, and remind him that he needs to control himself and watch his attitude or he could lose his “good report” and his trip to Sonic in a week and a half.

So after typing that whole paragraph, the boy finally found the markers and the cardboard.  His sister had been using the markers on a project in her room (not on the walls!).  So now all is well in his world, at 10AM.

Now, I’m debating on whether or not, it would be wise to take a walk.  The sun was shining when we woke up, but now the skies are cloudy and in Oregon, there’s always a good chance of rain (light rain would be ok though).

Happy Sunday!