Waiting on Fame

I got the vest part of Meri's Belle dress cut out and sewn together last night.  I plan to get as much tonight done as possible.  She went to go look at the costume department at a local college last night and they decided to make her ball dress.  So if I can get this dress done, I'll offer my services on that dress too.  We'll see.  Meri is saying they'll just take care of it.  yeah yeah...  I know how to fit you.

Anyway.  Making tracks.  They mostly slide backwards, but they do move.

One of my sisters mentioned that her husband did the DNA test thing and might find his family.  I asked, "Do you mean it's not the one he has?"  Turns out he's adopted!  I don't remember knowing that, not that it mattered to me.  Paul is Paul!  But he got a confident hit on a close 1st or 2nd cousin that lives within a couple hours of him!  How exciting!!  And the picture of the cousin actually looks quite a bit like Paul.  Uncanny...  Maybe because they're both bald.  But I do see some resemblance in the facial features too.

I should sic Sluggy on the mystery!  She'd find his birth mother in a heartbeat with the clues we've got!  Or at least by challenged by it.

Growing up in a family of 7 kids, later 8 (after I moved away) I always dreamed that maybe I was adopted or in the wrong family.  But no.  All of us girls looked WAY too much alike to be in different gene pools.  Even 4 years apart for most of us, we were still mistook for each other by some.  They probably didn't have their glasses on.  My mom just kept safe and rattled through the entire list to get to the right one anyhow, even mixing in Mark's name on occasion.  

My mom's cousin has done her side of the family tree back MANY generations.  And Sluggy has done my dad's side for me, finding no one famous, but maybe a war hero from way back in the Civil war, I think.  Oh and a scandal in my step-grandpa's family.  So there is nothing super fantastic in my family tree.  Except for of course, being related to David Soul through a divorce.  I had always heard it was to Michael Landon via a divorce, but my sisters set me straight a while back.

I'm sure David will invite us over for dinner any day now.  Just waiting...

So much to do today!  Gotta get to it.  Have a fantastic Thursday!

My Uncle Sam

In Memory of my uncle Sam.  

That wasn't his real name, but the name he always went by.  I'd met him maybe 3 or 4 times in my life.  He had moved to California before I was born.  His boys came to stay with us for a summer once when I was around 10.

My dad's remaining brother.  Three others passed away while Dad was still at home on the farm.  One by drowning, one in his sleep and one in a war.  And now Sam from cancer.

 

Since Sam was so far away and Dad has had such a horrible year with his broken back and leg, it wasn't advisable for him to make the trip for the funeral.  So on Saturday, one of my sisters coordinated a memorial for Sam.  Some of Dad's kids, grandkids and greats along with his sister and her family attended.  

It was nice to see cousins whom I hadn't seen since we were all SO much younger.  

 

A Nebraska game was on, so luckily the community center tv was able to be tuned in to that and an uncle and cousin-in-law swooped in on that.

 

The kids either played outside or worked on puzzles.  Since my siblings and my kids didn't know their 2nd cousins, there wasn't a lot of mingling going on.  Too bad.

 

My dad had written a letter to be read at the actual funeral and that was read here too.  My dad and aunt talked about memories of Sam and I learned a lot about this mysterious uncle of mine.

 

It brought closure for Dad and I'm very thankful for that.  He had been talking to Sam every week most of this year and his death hit Dad pretty hard.

It's been a rough year.

Good Friday Tidbits

The Korean meal was postponed until Saturday.

One puppy found a home yesterday.  Willow - thanks for the advice!  Several calls from that ad!

Brother-in-law, wife and son arrived this morning around 1am.  I had gotten paged, so I was awake when they got in.  I just heard them.  They know their way around...  I had just gotten back to bed, so I was tired.

I hoped it was them.

Turns out it was.  My nephew, Josh, took a kissie faced pic with a puppy before he and his folks headed off this morning to get a campus tour nearby.  His sisters go to school there now, so this would be cool if he was close too!  He used to wear the Bieber hair do a few years back and really looked like him.  He actually had his hair that way before Bieber did...  But then everyone thought Josh was a copycat.  Not so!  He wears it different now and Bieber has attempted to make it look that way too, but Josh carries it off better.  

They brought their new puppy, Demon Spawn, as my brother-in-law calls her.  I think her name though is Willow.  That wouldn't have been my first choice for this dog...  I'll call it Deemo.  My BIL is probably right with that name.  We'll be dog sitting today while they're campus touring.

I posted the above photo on Facebook yesterday of my dad, along with photos of my grandma holding him.  This one drew the most attention.  I think I showed this to you guys a few years ago when I found it while helping my parents move.  Creepy huh?!  My sister asked me to scan it in again and send it to them to blow up.  We THINK my grandpa is hiding in the bushes.  I hope it's him!

Leon is home today with his daddy and aunt Maddy.  They're already watching cartoons, eating breakfast and talking about what to do today.  Leon is just happy he could show off his decision making skills with the 4 boxes of breakfast bars that were placed in front of him.  "ummmmmmm" then head butted the mixed berry box.  He'll take that one! 

Lots to do today.  I'd like to finish a project off my to do list at work today.  Just one...  and I'll be happy!  There are too many other work distractions most days and the to do list goes by the wayside.

Have a GOOD Friday folks!  We'll be attending the Tenabrae service tonight at our church along with chili dogs afterwards.  Because WHAT makes a Good Friday a Great Friday?  Chili dogs at DQ...

Familial Retaliations...

My dear sweet cousin has attacked me on Facebook... What to do? What to do?

He's the same age if not a smidgen younger than me and we see him once a year or two at Thanksgivings.

Here is the conversation thus far...

My FB status yesterday: This Easter candy is great! I hope the kids aren't keeping track!

Sister #1: Those little malted milk balls are doing terrible things to my system, and I KEEP EATING THEM!!

Me: Oh is THAT what did it in for me yesterday??? I've moved on to chocolate eggs today...

Sister #2: The good news is that when they're gone, you can't eat them anymore!

Me: Come now Sister #2... How can that be GOOD news?...

Dear sweet cousin: The kids may not be keeping track but your hips are!!!

* Now a little back story - last week, his own son posted about how he hates it when his dad hijacks his posts with jokes that only Jon gets... *

so...

Me: Hey Cody! I'm right there with ya!

Dear sweet cousin: Now be nice...you're showing your age!!! Besides it wasn't a joke...it's the truth, SOOO Chew on that VAL!!!

Sister #1: Hey, dear sweet cousin, are you looking for another career? My weight watcher group is always looking for motivated leaders who have lost weight ;)


So here's the predicament...

1) Do I just leave it alone until his wife makes him understand that he just called me fat?

2) Take it, as Robb said, that it's a warning against eating too much candy?

3) Or let him know that I DO have a good sense of humor. As I am a jolly person...

#3 option is what I want to do... I want to post this on FB today and tag him on it.

Me: Hey Dear sweet cousin! You are so inspirational for people like myself! You remind me of Marjorie!

And then post this video. As you know I'm a BIG fan of British humor. HUGE. I love the accent as it is so NOT Iowan and they love to laugh at themselves... and others...

This is Marjorie, a group leader of Fat Fighters in Britain, being as inspirational as my dear sweet cousin...



What to do? What to do???

Thankful for fudge Saturday

I mentioned yesterday our annual breakfast before scattering, so I won't go back into that... But after breakfast was all over and we weren't quite ready for lunch yet, I had Robb and a nephew haul in the 2 big boxes of our Christmas tree parts. One sister and 3 of her kids stayed behind for one more day, as well as a cousin and his two kids. Yes! The same cousin who dissed my taekwondo form!! But he didn't do that until Saturday night... so there you go...

Several years ago I got in on a sale of these 12 foot prelit trees at Sam's Club and it was the best purchase I ever did. Well, they didn't pay me to take it like they do Slugmama, but it was a good sale.

The biggest task is getting all the electrical cords hooked together properly so all the branches are lit. But once that's done, it's a snap! You set the kids loose with the boxes of ornaments! They had a blast! After climbing on the furniture to get as high as they could, I climbed the ladder and put a few ornaments on the top 3-4 feet as well as a golden crown of thorns at the top with a construction paper star that Meri made in preschool. I can't believe it's lasted this long... I may have to laminate it and put it on a new Popsicle stick.My camera was left in the car all night and as soon as I brought it in, it fogged up immediately. So this is the picture of the process. Final product as of this morning. I must have had the camera at an angle, because it doesn't really lean like that!After tearing the garage apart looking for the box with our nativity in it, I finally found it already in the living room. Like the little metal pig, Playskool dog and bagpiper that showed up at the manger? And the decor is never complete without our trusty leg lamp in the front window! Some porch Christmas lights went up the next day with Meri's help.

On Saturday afternoon, my sister Tammy showed me how to make her fudge that she's made ever since I can remember. It's the best ever! and totally from scratch using cocoa powder and only a few other ingredients. As a kid I remember it cooling in the sink with butter melting in it. I'd take a spoonful as it cooled when no one was looking... I'll give the recipe tomorrow.

By Saturday night we were sick of anything turkey, mashed potatoes or cranberry related, so we got a couple pizzas and took them to the hotel where my cousin had taken some of the kids to go swimming. It was nice to just sit and visit and not cook anything!

Oh by the way... the fudge is all gone. It was DELICIOUS!!!

Feeling fat... and busy... Jolly? Maybe by Friday

It was a great weekend! Meri serged up some scarves she's been working on and even took my serger into her room to do it. I finished my Salsa blouse, 2 pairs of mittens & a pair of elf slippers. I need to finish Meri's Salsa blouse yet because I found out her Christmas concert at school is next week... I suppose she can wear a denim skirt with it so I won't have to whip up something this week.

This week is going to be a rush. Relatives coming and going from Wednesday, on. Rush cleaning all week, with rush cooking thrown in between free times. Sewing meeting tonight, which I will NOT skip! or forget about!

I've got to work Monday thru Wednesday, then off for the rest of the week. Hubby has all week off, so he's going to do some cook ahead type cooking for both of our dinners coming up. Plus Meri volunteered to bring hot cross buns to band practice tomorrow when they practice Hot Cross Buns in class. Um yeah... bad week for that. But Robb volunteered to make them, so I printed him off a recipe and we'll see what they do tonight.

Sisters leaving cars here, cousins staying over, sisters and families staying over. I'm not exactly sure where I'm going to be sleeping on Friday night! My side of the family has a reunion every year and the past couple years it's been here. If I post anything on Thursday or Friday, it will be to 1) Wish you a great Thanksgiving or 2) asking for your prayers...For our Thursday celebrations, we're going to be attending church in the morning, then making a 2pm Thanksgiving meal for us, my bil and his family.

For Friday, we rented a hall in the next town and invited everyone and their brother on my moms side of the family, which we've done for the past few years and have a huge dinner and talent show. I think we had about 96 last year and that was only because 2 people stopped at our hall by accident thinking it was the firemen's chili feed. So we counted them...This year the tally so far is 68, with a degree of accuracy of plus or minus 45 kids and parents. And you never know who might change their minds and show up. People coming from Nebraska, Sioux City, Minnesota, Missouri and Chicago and fringes there abouts. Some from as far as Kentucky.The talent portion of the night is the best and that show can last almost two hours depending... Anyone who wants to can bring out their talents and they sign in on THE list. We've had tumblers, bagpipers (you can guess who that is usually...), singers, piano players, skits, poems read, videos of vacations, clarinets, saxaphone, trombone, guitar, magic tricks, etc. One of my cousin's husbands enjoys being the MC because he doesn't think he has any talent, so we got him a cowbell last year. Every talent show needs more cowbell, don't you think? And I'm pretty sure that's a talent!Anyway... As I was saying, I finished my Salsa blouse and it's not as flattering as you might think. I'm feeling fat in it. But oh well! I'm going to wear it with pride and maybe let someone take a picture of me in it so I can show you.

Photo shopping might be involved. :)