The Long Hall

We have a really long hallway in our small condo in Florida, and I had a hard time deciding how to decorate it so it doesn't look like a landing strip.  I decided to paint the bottom three feet a glossy white, add an interesting chair rail with star trim blocks, and add wainscoting frames. The stars are rubbed with a pale red paint to look like a starfish.

Our little starfish, or is it a Texas star?

I also did not want to spend a lot of money buying pictures that could be damaged, or taken by renters. So off to the stores to buy some inexpensive frames, some scrapbook beach pages, and some beach and vacation stickers.  Before our trip, I went the school in Indiana where I worked and I used their Ellison Machine to cut out letters spelling BEACH. Thanks ZWMS!

On each end  of the hallway I just framed the plain scrapbook sheets of beach paper and put them in a blue frame.

                            


For the rest of the pictures I used scrapbook paper as the background and glued a letter in the middle of the paper, decorated the letter with stickers, framed them in a white frame, and hung them down the hall. Easy Peasy!

You can see I used two different colors of the letters and staggered them one on top of the other. Then when you read the the words on the background paper you can see that the coconut tree on the sand sticker was the perfect choice.

I love this water drop paper and what better enhancement stickers than, "making a SPLASH", and snorkeling equipment. 

The "A" background has the phrase "Relaxing At The Beach", and what better way to relax than a lounge chair.

OK, Catch the Wave, starts with a "C" and I couldn't resist rolling the paper a little bit to make it wavy. C the wavy paper? Couldn't resist.

These are two of the most important items I pack for the beach, suntan lotion and flip flops! In this case "H" could be for HOT!

This was such a great project and the pictures were pretty easy, and I get complements all the time on how cute the hall turned out.

Enough of all this typing, I am going to the BEACH!

Really Dad, A Merchant Marine?

I was going through some old papers after my parents passed and found the most interesting document. A Continuous Discharge Book from the Department of Commerce that belonged to my Dad. I have to admit that I had no idea what exactly a Merchant Marine was, and most certainly had no idea that my Dad was a Mariner.

My Dad's Discharge Book from 1942. I blurred his last name from the window.

What is a Merchant Marine or Merchant Mariner?  They are Private or Government ships or vessels that were used to transport goods or services throughout the navigable waters of the United States. In my Dad's case he worked on three ships that were car ferries that transported train cars, automobiles and passengers across the Great Lakes. The "car" in car ferry is related to train cars, not automobiles. He was a porter on the SS City of Midland 41, the SS City of Flint 32, and the SS City of Saginaw 31. My Dad was 23 years old and spent the Summer of 1942 working on these three ships.

The car ferry would pull into the dock at a set of railroad tracks and the train engine would push the train cars, using the tracks, into the ship.

The Continuous Discharge Book looks almost like a passport. The document was issued by the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation. The book included date of birth, height, eye and hair color, complexion, place of birth, his thumb print, signature and photo. This page was signed by the Assistant Inspector of Hulls at the Port of Toledo in Ohio.

The log pages of his discharge book lists the name of the ship, the date and place of engagement, rating (job), description of voyage, date and place of discharge, and signature of Master and Shipping Commissioner.  In my Dad's book, for example, the first line of the log lists that he was on the City of Midland, engagement was on 6-5-42 in Ludington, he was a Porter, on the Great Lakes, discharged on 6-17-42 in Ludington, and it was signed by Chas E. Robertson (the ships Captain).

There is a strap inside the book that had a Certificate of Service slid under it. This document has my Dad's picture on it and certifies that he had taken the oath required by law to to serve on an American vessel of 100 tons gross and upward in the Deck Department in the rating of ordinary seaman. He received this on June 4, 1942, one day before he sailed. My parents were married exactly 2 years later on June 4th of 1944.

On the back of the certificate was a list of the jobs he was endorsed for. One was for the Engine Department to serve as a coal passer-wiper. A coal passer would supply the boiler with coal and remove the ash, and a wiper would clean the engine spaces and machinery. He was also endorsed for the Stewards Department and serve as a Messman (food handler).

My Dad worked the first two weeks In June in 1942 as a porter on the Midland. The SS City of Midland 41 was built for the Pere Marquette Railway Company in 1940-41 at the Manitowoc Ship Building Co. in Wisconsin for $2,000,000. This ship was hailed as the largest car ferry in the world. The Midland could hold 34 freight cars and 50 automobiles. It had 74 air-cooled staterooms that included 12 parlor suites, salons, and a beautiful dinning room. On it's maiden voyage, to Lundington, MI on March 12, 1941, it was loaded with 32 train cars loaded with 1,526,000 cans of condensed milk. Sweet!

The SS City of Midland 41

Post card my Dad sent his Dad, my Grandpa, after about 8 days of work.

During WWII the SS City of Midland 41 served as a training vessel for the Coast Guard and the US Navy. During the Summer months it acted as an extension of US10 and carried passengers and their cars across Lake Michigan. Then in November of 1997 it was stripped down to its train car deck and turned into a barge. The Midland was renamed the Pere Marquette 41.

They disassembled the Midland and took it down to the train car deck and renamed it.

For the next month my Dad worked as a porter on the SS City of Flint 32 and the following 6 or 7 weeks he worked on the SS City of Saginaw 31, also as a porter. The Flint and the Saginaw were sister ships that were built in 1929 for the Pere Marquette Railway Co and were also built by the Manitowoc Ship Building Company for $1,250,000 each. Both ships could carry 32 train cars and had 40 staterooms and 5 parlors.

This is the SS City of Flint 32 and it looked just like its sister ship the SS City of Saginaw 31.

The Saginaw caught fire in 1971 and was sold for scrap 2 years later. The Flint was sold to the Norfolk & Western Railroad in 1970 for $100,000 and converted into a river barge. The SS City of Flint 32 was renamed the Roanoke and operated until 1994.

I was surprised that my Dad had such an interesting Summer job. I had no idea that he worked on these ships, or why. Maybe his parents wanted him to get out of the small town in central Ohio where they were living and have a sea adventure. I am positive that he would have done anything to not work on the family farm that Summer. I know he may have been in college at the time and that may have been how he made money for that Summer. This was the first Summer after the December 7 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor, when the United States entered WWII. Maybe he was trying to see if he wanted to enter the Navy. As it turned out he didn't enlist into the Army until March of 1945 which was closer to the end of the war. I think that may have had to do with his father dying in 1943 and he was the only male living at home helping my Grandma on the family farm. There is so much I don't know about my parent's younger years, and there is really no one left to ask. I guess I will just have to keep investigating through all that paperwork that was left behind. Paperwork like my Dad's Continuous Discharge Book.

Aging Hurts

What is it about getting past the age of 50 that everything starts to hurt? You start with the short grunt when you push yourself up from the chair to stand up, and the ahh when you sit down. As you get older the grunt gets a little louder and the ahhhh a little longer.

I have learned that I have parts of my body that can be pulled that I didn't even know I used. Planters fasciitis is an inflammation of the band of tissue that connects your heel to your toes. Really? You just wake up one morning and you feel like you are walking on razor blades. The the best news is there really isn't much they can do for it, but they sure are willing to try anything, for a price, lol.

I remember my parents talking about sciatica and thought they were just making it up. Guess what. They weren't. Who would have thought that sitting on a hard surface, like the floor, for a long period of time playing with your Grandkids could cause so much pain? Not me, until I couldn't sit or walk for a week.

When did just sleeping become a hazard? You go to sleep perfectly fine and wake up with a stiff neck. People would say that they slept wrong. Really? There is a wrong way to sleep?

Then there is turning wrong to get the shampoo, or moving clothes from the washer to the dryer and you pull a muscle. Right under your shoulder blade and it hurts to breath. I should invest in the ThermaCare Company, because heaven knows I use enough of their products.

When did this happen? I get that we have to put up with the physical aging process. I don't like it, but I get it. The laugh lines, crows feet, forehead lines, sagging eyelids, turkey neck, etc.......  But, I do not understand the random aches and pains that can make an active person of middle age to feel like they are way into their golden years.

I love the quote by John Wagner, "Don't let aging get you down. It's too hard to get back up!

True, True.

We will Never Forget 9/11/2001

There are major events that have happened in every generation. These are events that are so life changing, or affects a person so dramatically that the person can tell you exactly where they were when that event occurred.

My parents were of "The Greatest Generation", born in 1922 and 1925, and the event their generation remembers where they were when they heard the news was of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

My Siblings and I cover the entire span of the "Baby Boomer Generation" and our event was the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. As a girl of a few months shy of 4 years old, I still remember the aftermath of that event, not the memory of where and how I heard about it.  My older brothers and sisters can tell you exactly where they were. My younger brother was born the day after the assassination, so he would be closer to a "Generation Xer"

Generation X had some major events that happened that may have affected them, like the shooting of John Lennon or the fall of the Berlin Wall. But I think they most likely share their event with The Millennials.

Then we come to the Millennials or Gen Next, and their living parents and grandparents  9/11 is their Generation's life changing event.

 I remember that day as clear as if it happened yesterday. I was getting ready for work. I had the television on in my bedroom and was listening and watching Good Morning America when Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer came back from a commercial with the news of a plane flying into one of the World Trade Center Towers. I was shocked. There were videos coming in from people near the scene and you just could not believe your eyes. The though of terrorism did not even come into your mind. It had to be a terrible accident. Then about 20 minutes later another plane flew into Tower 2 and you knew it could no longer be just an accident.

I remember watching and crying. The videos and pictures of the burning buildings. You could see people hanging out of windows and some jumping or falling. It was unreal, like a movie. I was glued to the TV trying to make sense of all of this. Waiting for someone, anyone, to tell me why this happened. Then another plane flew into the Pentagon. How could this be? Who are flying these planes? What do they want? When is this going to stop? I called my husband while this was going on, and also called my work and told them I was going to be a little late and let them know what was going on.

At a few minutes before 10am, just before I was walking out of the door, Tower 2 collapsed. I was standing in front of the TV just getting ready to turn it off and I saw the tower fall. I was paralyzed. I remember just staring and crying. I didn't know what to do. I called my husband again and I worried about my kids finding out. I worked at a Middle School, my older 2 kids were in high school and my youngest was in elementary school. I was afraid they would find out about this and be scared. Hell, I was scared.

I went to work and as I was entering the school, just a few minutes from my house,  I walked into the office where everyone was in shock. We had staff that had friends and family that worked in the towers and they were frantic trying to get information on them. The principal was trying to keep the information away from the students and asking the teachers and staff to keep the TVs off in the school. As all of this was happening at work Flight 93 went down in Pennsylvania and 25 minutes later Tower 1 collapsed. I really felt like this nightmare was never going to end.

When my kid came home from school, the older two ages 17 and 14, were in High School and knew what had happened. My youngest, who was 9, heard some bits and pieces of the events, so we tried to explain it all to him. It is hard to explain the unexplainable.  It was an event in my kids lives that had them questioning their safety. As a parent it was hard to comfort them and assure them when I was questioning our safety too.

For the days and weeks that followed that day the parents and schools had the kids get involved in helping or contributing to the first responders.  On the days immediately after Sept 11, the older Kid's High School had a penny drive and collected over $8000. Every child from all socioeconomic backgrounds contributed. I was very active in the school's parent groups and we decided that the elementary kids could make survival boxes for the firefighters and police working at ground zero. All the kids either by themselves, or in teams decorated a shoebox in a patriotic theme, they wrote letters of thanks to the officers and firefighters, and they filled the box with pictures they drew and snacks. We had parents fill up their vans and cars and they made the trip from Fort Wayne, Indiana to New York City to deliver the boxes. They took pictures and brought back notes for the kids. It was a very rewarding experience for all our kids. They really felt like they were helping.

On today, the 15th Anniversary of 9/11, I am not sure how my children remember that day. My daughter sent us a text on Friday saying that the 9/11 coverage had started on the news and it is still horrifying after 15 years. My older son is spending this day in an country in Asia, so I am not sure if he even realizes what day it is.  My youngest, I am not sure how much of the day he actually remembers.

As for me, it is always a very sad day every year. I cannot watch the documentaries or specials anymore because it is still too upsetting. I went to the Perot Museum in Dallas a few years ago and they had a special exhibit on  9/11. They had a piece of one of the towers and a room that showed a movie of old news stories and testimonials. I sat in that room and sobbed during the whole movie. Thank goodness they had tissues at the exit, because I was not alone. All you could hear in the room when the movie was over were the sobs.

I don't think there will ever be a day when the memory of September 11, 2001, doesn't make me feel like I did that morning standing in my bedroom watching an event that changed a Generation.

Water Bottle Bling

Last Christmas we had all the kids in for the Holiday. There were six adults staying in our house and everyone was drinking water. We drink both water from water bottles and from the filter from the refrigerator. I was amazed at how much water went to waist from the water bottles. Everyone would grab a bottle from the refrigerator, take a few drinks out of it, sit it down and then could not remember which bottle was theirs. I had half full water bottles sitting everywhere.

To relieve this situation I laid, out on the counter, a sharpie and asked everyone to mark the lid with their initial. That only worked when they remembered, and the sharpie was not misplaced.

This week my son and his girlfriend were in town for a visit, and my daughter and her family came over for a family get together. A shout out to my older Son who missed the get together! So, once again all the adults are drinking water and leaving half full bottles sitting around. I decided that I would try an idea that I had after the Christmas water bottle problem.

I am not a wine drinker, but I have seen wine glass charms and thought I would make something similar for water bottles. Off to Joann's with my Son's girlfriend to buy supplies. I bought some elastic cord and charms from the jewelry supply section. I cut about a 4 inch piece of cord, put a charm on it and then tied the ends of the cord in a knot. They were simply made, but served their purpose.

I put the decorated cord around the top of the water bottle. Now everyone can grab a water bottle and a cord to add a little bling to their drink. This way they can identify their bottle wherever they put it down.

When you are done with your water, take off the bling and put it on your new bottle. Problem Solved!

An Empty Nest Again!

Five years ago we sent our youngest off to college and became "Empty Nesters". This was a hard adjustment for us to make, and was made a bit more difficult when we moved away from the home where we were last living with our kids. We made two moves after our last child left for college and we settled into the same town as our Grandson and we found out he was going to have a sibling.

In mid May of last year our sweet Granddaughter was born 10 weeks early. We are lucky that my daughter was prone to having big babies, and I am sure that was what gave her baby girl a better chance to thrive. Our girl was 3lbs 11oz, but was still so very fragile and small. She was hooked up to a ventilator, feeding tube, under a blue light and in a heated incubator. Every day was a waiting game of steps forward and every now and then a step back. She was a fighter though and after a few months in the NICU she was able to come home.

It is hard to believe that they can get that much equipment on that little girl.

The Nurse held our girl up for a picture in between changing her equipment. 

Unfortunately, our girls time in the hospital used up most of my daughters maternity leave and she had to go back to work in August, at least part time. Then came the question. Mom can you watch the baby for her first year so she does not have to go into daycare? I would love to say I yelled YES!, But I really had to think about it because it was a huge commitment and responsibility. Not to mention I was still living in temporary housing in a one bedroom apartment. It is not safe for a preemie in daycare due to the delayed development of their lungs and I would never want her to get sick, so of course the answer was Yes!

Our Beautiful girl at home

For the first few months I would drive to my daughters house in the morning and stay there with the baby until she came home. Then when we moved into our house in October I would go pick her up and bring her to my house, and then drive her home each evening. The few months after we moved into the house our girl decided she did not like the car, so every day I would start my day with a screaming baby and end on the same note each night. Thank goodness that didn't last for longer than a few months.

Finally a happy traveler. She is sucking on a pacifier, holding a blanket in one hand, playing with a toy in her other hand, and moving a ring with her foot. This is one very talented baby!

In July of this year our sweet girl started going to her brother's nursery school two days a week, Monday and Friday. She was doing pretty well at school and I still watched her Tuesday through Thursday. But, today is my last day of babysitting and our big girl is going to school full time tomorrow. How do I feel about it? Well, the short answer is, that as I am typing this I have tears in my eyes.

This baby loves to eat!

This has been a week of lasts for me. On Tuesday I wished my College Son a great first day of school for the last time and today a sad goodbye to my sweet baby girl on Meemaw's last day of babysitting her.

Our sweet girl has grow into a beautiful, curious, athletic, funny and smart toddler. She makes me smile everyday! She has, like her brother, brought me so much joy as a Meemaw that words cannot express the love I have for them both. I also know that although it has been hard this last year being restricted and not doing some of the things I wanted to do, it has been one of the most rewarding years of my life. To see a little human develop all their skills right before your eyes is something I did not think I would be able to experience again, so for that I am so very grateful.

She had a very interesting crawling style

Up from her last regular nap at Meemaws

A ringing bell makes the dog 

bark and wakes the baby up.

I would not be honest if I said that I didn't have mixed feelings about once again being an "Empty Nester". I remember the first 6 months or so feeling like a shut-in because I stayed in all day afraid to expose this little girl to the outside world. Now, I am looking forward to staying up late and not having to get up by 6am. I am looking forward to crafting and sewing again for long hours during the day. Taking off to go to the store will be easier without all the extra planning and packing. I can take the sign off my doorbell now, lol. But, the thought of not holding that sweet girl everyday will be like going through withdrawal from a very strong drug that I am totally addicted to.

Tomorrow I will officially be an Empty Nester, Again!