Carol's Life in Numbers

It's a beautiful Friday here in Ohio. The temperature is in the mid-70;s with lots of sunshine. My kind of day. 

The following informational list on my life was 'borrowed' from a friend of a friend of a friend here on Blogger. I got her list HERE . I promised I'd give her all the credit. Thank you, Christa. 

My life in numbers: 

1- Number of states I've lived in 

1- Number of cities I've lived in

½ - Number of miles from my closest family member 

2 - Number of siblings I have (both living)

6 - Number of years older I am than my youngest sibling

0 - Cars I've owned (I've never owned my own car, they've all been either in my mother's name or Hubby's name)

3 - Years I dated my husband before we tied the knot 

0 - Miles I drive to work each day, round trip (zero now that I'm retired, when I did work outside the home I only had to drive 8 blocks)

3 - Number of wedding dresses I tried on before I found the one (If I remember correctly... it was such a long time ago)

12,000 - Population of the town I grew up in (and still live in)

8 - Number of different jobs I've had in my life 

382 - Blog posts published as of now (on Blogger. Before this I was on 360, then on Multiply)

0 - Number of days I am older than my husband (my husband is older than me - by 214 days)

9:00 p.m. - My ideal bedtime

11:00 p.m. - My actual bedtime 

0 - Number of naps I would like to take each day (I'm not one to nap during the day... It makes me feel horrible.)

9 - Number of states I've visited

120 - Number of photos on my iPhone

24,744 -  Days I've been alive (approx.)

I hope you have a great weekend. 

Hodgepodge for 9-17-2014

Welcome to Hodgepodge edition #190!! I haven't been with the group that long, but it's amazing how long this one has grown and survived. Most don't. It says a lot for our hostess at This Side of the Pond

Thank you, Joyce, for a good time.

1. I'm celebrating a birthday this week so a question relating to aging feels appropriate. Douglas MacArthur is quoted as saying, 'You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair." Would you agree? If not why not?

Happy Birthday, Joyce. I agree with that quote. It's all a state of mind.

"If you think you are beaten, you are,

If you think you dare not, you don’t,

If you like to win, but you think you can’t,

It’s almost a “cinch” you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you've lost,

For out in the world you find

Success begins with a fellow’s will;

It’s all in the state of mind."  by Walter D. Wintle

2. What remarkable feat, interesting piece of trivia, or historical event occurred on your birth day and month? Not necessarily in your birth year, just the same date/same month.

Dec. 21, 1913 the first crossword puzzle was printed in the New York World newspaper. No, I didn't work on it. I'm not quite THAT old.

3. Describe a time or circumstance where you wanted to 'have your cake and eat it too.'

I can't think of anything.

4. What's something you do that makes you feel young? Something that makes you feel old?

They say your grandkids can make you feel young and sometimes they do,  but then there are times when they make me feel so old. Like when I have no idea what movie character they're talking about and  especially when I can't hear what they're "mumbling" about.

5. When did you last do something that was 'a piece of cake'?

Last year  I worked for  an auctioneer, he gave me the job of writing up this sales flyers and take care of his ads for the newspapers. Those first few were a pain, had me scared, but after finding out how pleased he was, it all became "a piece of cake".

6. Beef, wine, and cheese all improve with age. What's something else you'd add to that list? (not necessarily food or beverage) 

Love…. After being married to my  high school sweetheart for 48 years, the love we had then has only gotten better with age.

7. If I were to have a giveaway when we hit Volume 200, what should I give away? By my calculations we'll hit Volume 200 on November 26th, the day before Thanksgiving, which means whoever wins would have whatever it is in time for Christmas. 

That's a very difficult question to answer. I'd like to have an iPad for Christmas.

( I'm joking)

8. Insert your own random thought here.

My cousin John has had liver cancer and has so many recent set-backs. He's still in the hospital in Columbus, OH. He had surgery to remove the last of the tumors on his liver and was doing good. But then he had peritonitis from the surgeon nicking his colon. He's fought hard and has finally  been taken out of ICU into a private room. But he's had a feeding tube in his throat for so long, he's lost the ability to swallow. Rehab is working to teach him how to swallow again. I just talked to his wife and she's worn to a frazzle. I'm as worried about her as I am about John. They both need prayer. John still has a long road to recovery. 

Retirement

"When a man retires, his wife gets twice the husband, but only half the income." Thus lies the problem.

Hubby retired a few years ago, then took a part-time job, worked 3 more years, then retired again. I thought it would be so nice. He'd be able to do the things he's wanted to do and we'd be able to do things together. No more missing the grandson's ball games, or the holiday dinners with the family. I wouldn't have to listen to him complain about one thing or another every single night when he got home from work.

As for me, I'm not retired… I just don't have my job anymore. I can guarantee you if my employer was to call me today with a job to do for him, I'd be on it quicker than you can blink. I've never felt like "retiring". I don't even like the word.

I've been places around town with Bob when we'd run into someone he knows and every time they'll ask him how he's enjoying retirement and "what are you doing to occupy your time?" He always answers them with "as little as I have to". Then he looks over at me. I know the truth but I'm keeping my mouth shut.

I had such big plans for us. Maybe we could travel a little bit, a few miles from home. Maybe we could do some of the things we've talked about for years. Maybe he would be able to work more on his hobby and sell more of his work.

Then the economy took a dump and the market fell so hard and fast we could hear the "BOOM". By the time it slowed down, his retirement fund was gone. Now we find ourselves in that same category as most people our age - living on a fixed income and pinching pennies.

I could easily dwell on this and get depressed, but I'm not going to. I continue to try focusing on the good things in life. God is watching over us and we are in His hands. Despite a few set-backs, we're both in good health, we have a warm bed and a roof over our heads. So life is good. And I can still find humor in it all.

Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting. Well, for example, the other day, my wife Susie and I went into town and visited a shop. When we came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket. We went up to him and I said, 'Come on, man, how about giving a senior citizen a break?' He ignored us and continued writing the ticket. I called him a butthead. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn-out tires. So Susie called him a donut-eater. He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing more tickets. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more we abused him, the more tickets he wrote.  Just then our bus arrived, we got on it and went home. We always look for cars with "OBAMA 2012" stickers. We try to have a little fun each day now that we're retired. It's important at our age.

Saturday's Random Thoughts

It's been such a long time since I wrote up a blog post, I'm going to see if I remember how.

Not much has been happening around my little portion of the world, except for life and the daily grind. The county fair is now history and the kids have all gotten the new school year off to a roaring start. I had to do some math lately trying to figure out what grade the youngest ones were in now. One is in 6th grade, one in 4th and the youngest is in 2nd.

Then we have Grandson #3, in his senior year of high school. He'll be graduating this coming June. I've mentioned Dylan before, standing 6'5" and wears a size 14 shoe.

< Dylan with his sister Hollie

The whole family, all 14 of us, is getting together next weekend and taking Dylan over to the Sushi Bar for a party. They all love sushi, but Bob and I will be ordering from the menu. I love fish but I want mine cooked. Do you like sushi?

Last weekend we had a big party to celebrate our oldest Daughter Lisa getting her Bachelor's Degree in Business Management. We set up a taco bar and let people come and go at will, and cake. It was a long tiring day, but she and her guests had a good time. I think. 

Another picture of grand-daughter Hollie with Aunt Teresa, our D#3. It won't be long and our 1st Great-grandson will be here.

It feels like autumn has arrived here. We went from 90° to 60° in a little more than 24 hrs. I had to start wearing socks again and a jacket to the store yesterday. I still had the bedroom window open a couple inches and I woke up in the middle of the night to get another blanket on the bed. It got down to 49°. I'm not ready for this…. I know, I say this every year.

I read in the news this week that Zeus had died. How sad. He was only 5 years old. 

"Zeus, the Great Dane who held the Guinness World Record for being the world’s tallest dog, has died. The dog, whom owner Kevin Doorlag of Otsego, Michigan, described as a “gentle giant,” stood 44 inches tall and was 7-foot-4 when he stood on his hind legs.
Zeus died Sept. 3, just shy of his 6th birthday, Doorlag told ABC News Thursday." 

Can you imagine feeding him? I think I read that he went through two 30 lb. bags of food a week. They also said the life expectancy of large dogs like him was only 6-8 years.
Pasted from <http://abcnews.go.com/News/zeus-worlds-tallest-dog-dies-age/story?id=25446022>

Our county court house got some much needed repairs on the bell tower. They don't use the bells anymore, but I can remember years ago when they rang each hour. It was beautiful. You could hear it all over town. 

I watched this man go up in that bucket, slowly and very jerky, it gave me the willies. I looked around to see how many workers were with him. No one! He was all alone!  

I hope you're having a good weekend. Until next time ................ be safe, be well. 

Hodgepodge for 9/10/2014

I missed last week's hodgepodge, but I'm doing my best to participate this week.

Our questions:
1. On Thursday we pause to remember a dark day in history-9/11. Will you mark it in some special way?
No, just pray for all the families that lost loved ones that day and pray for the safety of all of us and our country. Our enemy is living on our soil and capable of doing anything that will kill so many more.

2. Do you ever/still...listen to an actual radio? Watch a videotape (VCR)? Look up a number in a phonebook? Refer to a paper map while traveling? Set an alarm on an alarm clock as opposed to your phone?

Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. I'm still old school on all those. 

3. Is it ever a good idea to discuss religion or politics with people you don't know?
No it's not. Those subjects can, and will, rile up some emotions that will not benefit the relationship. It's often not good with family members.

4. What's a dish you haven't eaten all summer, but come September find yourself craving? Have you made it yet this month?
Chili and pumpkin pie, not necessarily together but both scream autumn and cooler temperatures for me. I haven't had any yet, but as soon as the weather gets cold you'll find my crock pot full of chili. 

5. What's something you know nothing about?
Brain surgery.

6. September is Classical Music Month. Do you like classical music? If so, what's your favorite piece?
I don't like ALL classical music, but there are some I just love, for example Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata mvt 1  (see the video to the right.... I've had this on my blog page for quite some time)

7. What's the oldest thing you own?
Half the clothes in my closet!  I do have an antique piece of furniture that's probably close to 100 yrs. old that my father refinished for a wedding gift when Bob and I were married. It's an old washstand that had been painted pink.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
 Autumn is fast approaching. I do like this time of year with the colors and cool temperatures. We were able to shut down the a/c a few days ago and now we're sleeping with the windows open. But along with that comes the seasonal allergy to high levels of mold. I woke up sniffling, coughing and blurry eyes. With the good comes the bad.

Thank you for coming by. You have a good day.

A Plea for Help

I've never done this before, but I'm at my wits end, trying to solve a problem here on Blogger and I decided to just ask you for help.

I've been reading everyone's blogs the last few days, but I can't comment on how much I enjoyed it, etc. It won't publish my comments. It says I'm not logged in. When I click on the 'sign-in' in the top right corner of your blog, it puts me back on the Blogger Dashboard where I'm already sign-in. (did that make any sense?)

I had this problem before but I don't remember how I fixed it.

Can you help me?

The Return of the Hodgepodge

Our kind "leader", Joyce at From This Side of the Pond, is back from a deserved break and supplied another batch of great questions for us to answer. Thank you, Joyce.

1. As August draws to a close, share what's been your favorite weekend of the entire summer?
My days and weekends are pretty much the same. The only ones I can call favorites were the few that all 3 of my daughters were home.

2. Labor Day is marked in the US of A on Monday, September 1st. What paying job have you held that you've loved the most? Liked the least?
For several years I worked in a real estate office at the front desk. I enjoy the business, for the most part. All the agents that worked out of our office were good people. We all formed a 'family bond' and socialized a few times out of the office. The job I liked the least..... factory! I hated it so much I cried every night because I didn't want to go back.

3. Does the new school year start before or after Labor Day where you live? When do you think it should begin? There is much discussion now about older students having later start times to their school day...your thoughts?

Our local schools started this week, before Labor Day. The only advantage I can see for the older students to have a later start time to their day would be safety. Here in our town, probably 90% of the high school students drive their own cars, but the grade school students ride the buses. This would mean the younger ones would be in school and off the streets when the older kids are on their way to school.

4. What's something you've worked at recently that could be deemed a 'labor of love'?
I can't think of anything.

5.Which of the following work idioms can you most relate to right now...'A woman's work is never done.', 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.' 'Many hands make light work.'
A woman's work is never done.

6. Crab or lobster or thanks, but no thanks? Favorite way to have your choice prepared?
I don't care for crab meat, but the one lobster I had tasted very good. The only thing I didn't like was trying to break it open. I had to have Hubby do that for me.

7. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, 'Three rules of work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.' Which of the three do you consider to be the most important? Share one of your own 'rules of work'.
"Out of clutter find simplicity" My rule of work? "If I don't do it, no one will."

8. Insert your own random thought here.
We have our youngest grandson's first soccer game this afternoon after school. He's been appointed goalie this year and at practices he's done very well. At last practice, he got upset when he missed one ball, but his mother had to point out he should feel good about the 6 he did catch. He's a perfectionist like his older brother.