Sunday, June 28, 2009

PERFECT MOMENT MONDAY: A Good Weekend!

I've been "Aunt Rhonda" or "Auntie Roo" to a lot of kids... my friends kids. But you know what, being Auntie Roo or Roo to my own nephew is the best! I wouldn't give up the days with the other kids for anything, but I'm loving this role.

Trevor came and stayed with me again Friday night. When I got to Grandma & Grandpa's to pick him up, Grandma (Mimi) asked if we were going to stay for dinner. I said we probably would. I didn't know that Trevor had other plans. When Momma got home he was ready to go. When I asked him what we were going to do for dinner he said "HAMBURGER HELPER"! So we stopped @ Super WalMart on the way to my apartment and got the fixin's for Sloppy Joe Hamburger Helper. I even offered to buy a pizza, but he was set on the HH. I think one reason is because the first time he and Momma came to my place and ate dinner I made HH. I'm such a gourmet cook sometimes!

We watched Thomas for a while, played with trains, watched Yogi & Boo Boo and then went to bed.

Momma came over Saturday and we all three went to the pool to go swimming. They were having the annual pool party. I wasn't sure it would be a good idea. I thought it would be pretty crowded and too hot. Well, we found a place in the shade to set up our chairs and the crowd really wasn't bad. They had a few drawings for prizes. We all three got tickets. We were getting ready to leave and they announced that they would be doing the last drawing in about 20 minutes and it was a pretty good prize... $50 off rent... but you had to be present to win. So we decided to hang around. Well they called one of our numbers! I got a $50 credit on my rent for July!!!! It was worth the wait.

Afterwards, Momma went to visit her friend Marion, but T didn't want to go. "I'll stay with Roo." So Momma left, T played computer games while I got ready to go to dinner. T and I went to see my friend Gary for a few minutes and then we went and met Momma and Marion for dinner. Later on it was back to my apartment to gather their stuff and head home.

Today I worked on replacing the belt on my vacuum cleaner. It's not that hard, just a pain in the behind!!! I got that done and did some vacuuming. Then I got an invitation for a motorcycle ride if I would buy lunch! SURE THING!!! It was a nice ride and a good lunch. I even tried Rocky Mountain Oysters! They aren't bad once you get past the idea of what they are.

As we finished lunch, my phone rang... Mom's ring (You're Momma Don't Dance and Your Daddy Don't Rock & Roll!). When I answered I was SHOCKED to hear the little guy's voice on the phone. See, he just doesn't like to talk on the phone. He didn't even want to talk to Momma when she called Friday night!!! He asked me if I wanted to go on a picnic. I told him that I had just eaten lunch, but asked where they were going. He told me that they were going to the park that we went to last weekend. Well, since it was HIM that called ME, how could I not go? So I told him that I would meet them at the park a little bit later. I went and we all had a good time.

When it was time to go home he thought he should come over to my place again, but we had to tell him that since Momma and I both had to work tomorrow that it just wouldn't work out this time. We are already planning our July 4th picnic celebration though.

I love the little guy and am so glad that he is finally starting to be my little buddy. I do however miss all the kids that used to call me Aunt Rhonda, or Auntie Roo. Most are grown up now and starting to have their own families. Others I just don't get to see often enough. I love you all!!!

Hope you had a good weekend too! Enjoy the week. For me it will be a short one. No work on Friday!!!!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

June 25, 1909

(circa 1943) June 25, 1909, Marvin Otis Rankin was born. He is my paternal Grandfather. He would have been 100 years old today. He passed away August 20, 1995.

To say he was an AVID fisherman and outdoorsman in general, is an understatement. He is the one that taught me how to cast a fishing line. We have notebooks that he kept when he was fishing. He would record weather conditions, wind direction, water temperature, what kind of bait was used, etc.

He was a hunter, and trapper as well. He would trap beavers, muskrats, fox, etc. and sell the pelts. This was not a "sport" for him. He sold these pelts to help with the family's expenses.

He was a rural route postal carrier for 40 years. When Chris and I visited for more than a couple of days we got to go out with him for part of his route. That was pretty cool!

He was also the local weatherman for many years. He had an official NOAA weather station set up in the yard. Each day he had to record the day's high and low temperatures as well as precipitation. I believe he also had a machine to record maximum wind speed for the day. Once a week he reported this information to the local weekly newspaper, The Wet Mountain Tribune. For many, many years his picture appeared in the paper next to his report. We granddaughters were greatly disappointed when they quit printing his picture. As television became more regional and less local, he started reporting his weather information to one of the television stations in Colorado Springs/Pueblo. Hearing the weatherman say his name on television kind of made up for no picture in the paper. When Grandpa died, they even acknowledged his passing on the newscast.

He was a camping enthusiast as well. I think we did more camping with him and Grandma than we did with our folks. There were even times when Grandpa would set up a tent in the backyard for us to camp in out there.

I miss you Grandpa and still love you dearly. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
(Clockwise back left - Chris, Mom, Dad, Me, Grandma, Grandpa - August 1994, 2 months before Grandma passed away)




Sunday, June 7, 2009

One Lovely Blog Award


Friday morning I was nominated for the ONE LOVELY BLOG AWARD. Thank you Stacey @ All Stace, All the time.

Rules:

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you have newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I don't know that I have 15 blogs that I can nominate, but I'll do my best.

In no particular order:

Heather @ 7kidsandadog
Live and Learn the Hard Way (I'm sorry... I don't know her name!!!)

I'll have to do some research and find some others to nominate. In the meantime, thanks for the enjoyment and entertainment ladies.




Wednesday, June 3, 2009

List Your Self - Week 3


Ok... it's been a few weeks, but I'm back. We had a birthday/anniversary dinner a few weeks ago, prepping for a garage sale last week, and one week I just forgt! Here's the next List Your Self entry. Enjoy!

YOURSELF
  • LIST YOUR "SUNDAY" RITUALS

DAILY LIFE

  • LIST WHAT KINDS OF PEOPLE SHOULD NEVER DRIVE CARS

BUSINESS

  • LIST ALL THE CONTRACTS YOU'VE SIGNED

CHANGE

  • LIST THE WAYS YOU HAVE CHANGED FOR THE BETTER

CULTURE

  • LIST HOW YOU FEEL CONNECTED TO OTHER PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD

MEN AND WOMEN

  • LIST THOSE FEATURES THAT GRAB YOUR ATTENTION WHEN A MAN OR WOMAN WALKS BY

GREATER TRUTHS

  • LIST THE TIMES YOU SAID YES WHEN YOU WISH YOU HAD SAID NO

HEALTH

  • LIST THE WAYS YOU LIVE ECOLOGICALLY IN YOUR HOME

GROWING UP

  • LIST THE SIGHTS, SMELLS, AND SOUNDS YOU REMEMBER FROM YOUR GRANDPARENTS' HOUSE

SUDDENLY...

  • SUDDENLY YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE. LIST THE STUFF YOU'D GRAB TO SAVE

Have fun with these and please feel free to share your lists in the comments if you would like to.