Blog Thought!

I have realized recently, especially in looking at other blogs, that I for the most part write for myself.  I have tried to figure out how to get more readers but it seems what I have to say is of no importance to anyone but me.  I share my posts each time I write a new one.  I comment often on other blogs and post my blog address for them to visit in return.  I don't understand it.  Does it stress me out or make me angry?  No.  I am okay with writing for myself.  It helps me see things better when I read my thoughts out loud.  However, when I have gotten comments in the past, it has helped me to see things from another point of view.

Well, that is my rant for now.  I will continue to post to my blog even though I may be the only one reading it.

We Made It To Anniversary 45!!

Butch and I have been married for 45 years today.  Wow!  That is so hard to believe because it only seems like yesterday we were this young couple starting out on a new adventure called marriage.  We began our life together in an upstairs flat of about 432 square feet (the apx size of today's tiny homes). How we managed that is amazing to me.  I suppose that is the reason we know we could not function in a tiny home today.

No one prepares you for married life.  Most young couples believe it will be sunshine and daisies all the time.  But eventually the honeymoon ends and married life really begins.  In my opinion, marriage is a journey of hills and valleys.  It is a journey that begins with 2 people learning to live with each other with all their similarities and differences, it's knowing you won't always agree on everything and sometimes compromise is necessary, it's finding a way to talk to each other about what really matters, and it's knowing someone has your back no matter what.  There will be bad times but giving up is not an option.  You need to keep moving because eventually you will get thru it together.  Another important thing that should be part of a marriage is a sense of humor.  Sometimes with everything going on in your life, the best thing to do is laugh.

Of course, the most important part of any marriage is Love.  Not the kind of love that burns in a moment of passion but the kind of love that continues thru the day to day routine of life: burnt dinners, dirty diapers, unemployment, bills, arguments, teenagers, those annoying little habits we all have, etc.  That is the love that is the strongest and will continue; as it has and will continue for Butch and I for 45 years and beyond.

It's the First Official Day of Summer!

Happy Father's Day!!

Eric and Butch

Butch and AJ

Butch, on this Father's Day, you can be proud of the father you are. You have raised two wonderful sons.  Under your guidance, they have grown to be men with good and kind hearts, loving souls, good senses of humor, smart, strong and brave. You have taught them a sense of responsibility as well as respect for themselves and others.  You have instilled in them loyalty and pride in this country and in the life they are blessed to have.  You have given them your love and support along with the knowledge that they would always have that no matter what. 

                         "A father is neither an anchor to hold us back,
                           nor a sail to take us there,
                           but a guiding light whose love shows us the way."

My Lumberjacks

I live in the woods so in order to have tv, we have a satellite dish.  It is great!  We can watch local tv, networks and a number of channels we pay extra for.  However, there is a downside.  Because we live in the woods, trees grow...as they should.  But in this case, it is not a good thing.  Eventually, the trees grow so high that they interfere with the "line of sight" for the satellite dish.  What can we do?  We must take down the trees that are in the way.  As my husband and I are older people, we called upon our younger son to come out to the house with the chainsaw to do the deed.  As you can see from the pics, things did not go as planned.  The chainsaw, which according to my son worked at his house just before coming to ours, decided not to work.  So, plan B was to chop the trees down by hand.  Not good as our son is a bit out of shape for the task.  So when exhaustion overtook him, the senior citizen in our house took over.  It took quite a bit longer than we anticipated to take down the two trees but it got done.  The 2 lumberjacks...well, they were very sore the next day.

What was I doing while all this was going on?  I was taking pictures and holding the cell phone in case 911 needed to be called.

Recycling for a good cause

I am an obsessive follower of the 3R's - recycle, reuse and  reduce.  I try to follow it daily in my life.  This past Saturday, I was able to do a large recycling project and contribute to a good cause at the same time.  Our city partnered up with Goodwill Industries to hold a number of electronic recycling events in our town.  This past Saturday was the first of these events.  A list was posted on what items they were accepting.  Everything from computer components and accessories to small office and household electronics.  My husband and I did some cleaning out of our garage and basement following the list.  Then it was just a matter of loading all into the car and head for the drop off point.  To our surprise, there was a line of cars from the moment the gates opened but everything moved fairly quickly as we only had to wait 10 minutes and then many volunteers unloaded the car for us.

We both remarked how this was such a great way to get all this stuff out of our house, not put it in a landfill and support a good cause like Goodwill Industries.  In fact, we were so happy about it, we convinced our son to do the same with his electronics.  We are going to keep looking around the house for more so we are ready for the next recycling date.

2 TVs, 2 vacuum cleaners & misc. computer components