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A Little Bar of Soap and Our Values
We are a country of generations, framed by them, marked by music we loved as teenagers, wars fought in each and of course, TV programs that we enjoyed. Each marks a different view of life and values in many ways as well. We find causes, issues that make us get involved and each is based on when we grew up. Breast cancer awareness, the environment, Vietnam, the housing crisis, each mark a generation most involved or responsive to their cause or issues. New issues and causes can appear for each generation at any time and I have found a new one to write about today. Frequently generations disagree on…
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Spouse’s Corner: Traditions – The Backbone of the Holidays
By now the decorations are up, the menu is being set, the cards and invites are purchased and stamps have been budgeted. Well, maybe in a perfect world. But the thought process has traveled down that project list. We hold traditions to keep the family on track as to what the family does: traditions help define family values and heritage. Some of these traditions can be left by the wayside without hesitation. I grew up in a Norwegian household. Lutefisk was always there on the table, but not anymore! Now I don’t even know if it is available in Michigan where I live. Oranges and walnuts were stuffed in our…
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A Quick Repair Job, Great Service Attitude and Family Times
We have a quad ATV that we enjoy for family times–giving rides and pulling things around the woods on occasion as well. A couple of weeks ago a tree got in the way of one rider and the rear axle was bent just enough to make it wobble. So we decided to replace it. It is a saga of fun, frustration at times, a great group of service personnel and a great father/son time on a Saturday morning. We found the new axle but could not find the repair manual for it. When you buy something used there are usually no books that come with it and we looked online…
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The Harvest
We have had a great summer and the harvest season is here! Our garden after a lot of work is producing and we have started freezing and canning almost every day. What fun it is to see the fruits of our labor! We started with an empty spot under our power lines a couple of years ago and just kept adding space (plus a fence to keep the deer out). Now the rotor tiller has to work extra hard and long in the spring to get us started! The preparation and planting can be back breaking but healthy as we stretch out the muscles after a winter of cold. We…
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Birthday Party: Time to Cheer Another Year!
Our summer is filled with the joy of family. Celebrating family milestones, (birthdays) achievements ( graduation and confirmation), courage (saying goodbye to hubby as he deploys), honor (deploying to the sandbox) and tenacity (newspaper reviews) hold us together and keep us leaning on each other. Some activities are so big… envolve so much effort and require such strength. Then, the calendar comes to play. A birthday party! A party for the sake of one person, but a time of pure joy. A time to celebrate that person, think about the effect he or she has on our lives. This is really an excellent adventure! Tomorrow is grandson Jacob’s birthday party.…
