Serve And Protect

This week was National Police Week.  I know our men and women in blue have had a hard time with the trust of some of the communities they serve.  Yes, there certainly have been some sad and unfortunate decisions and actions by the police.  Riots, and destruction of property has followed in some cases. I don't understand how that helps anyone but I will say that police are humans.  Humans make mistakes but they also can do wonderfully heroic feats.  I send condolences to families that have been involved in these tragic circumstances and in no way am I making excuses for police.  But I have a wonderful Niece that is a police officer.  She has put her life on the line and has served for 20yrs in the police force outside of Chicago.  She was a detective for a bit.  She was tackled by a drunk and has had back issues that involved surgeries and even a spinal implant.  Still she works and won't leave for disability reasons. Katie works with the DARE program at schools and helps with training their new therapy dog, Bandit. She helps plan events for Special Olympics that involve her department. I don't know all else she does but I know she gives her all, day in and day out, for her community. She serves and protects. I pray for her safety daily and I'm proud of all she does.  My Dad served as Chief of Police in our community when I was growing up.  It was a volunteer program back then that lead to a full, paid police force today. I know he would be so proud of Katie and I'm sure is smiling down on her.  I blogged about her being honored a few years ago as Officer of the year in at her police force.  Thank you Katie and thanks to all our police.  Give a thanks to an officer for service in your community.  Happy National Police Week!

Katie and my Dad, her Grandpa!  Katie is also a wife and mother of 2 kiddos.

Here's my sister Midge...Katie's Mom...and  my niece Amy...Katie's sister...and Bandit! Katie was involved in a program for Special Olympics today at Dunkin' Donuts called "A cop on top".  They stand on the roof and get donations for this worthy organization. 

Katie and Bandit at an elementary school helping with a reading program.

I love Bandit's badge! He's doing great in this program and will make a wonderful therapy dog for the department.  Let's face it, he's dang cute too!   

Progression

 I can't believe that May is half over and I've only blogged once! I need to be more progressive or maybe more aggressive in getting some posts in.  Before I go into my thoughts I want to take time to say Happy Mother's Day to all the great Mom's out there.  I sure miss my Mom and May wasn't only Mother's Day but also her birthday month and also the month she passed away 3 years ago.  Lots of memories and dates that bring her to mind in the month of May.  

This was taken at her 90th birthday party.  She would have been 97 this year on May 17th.  Just a few days away.  We all miss you Mom.  This coming weekend would have been the time we would travel to Chicago and celebrate with her.  So Happy Mother's Day and Happy Heavenly Birthday Mom!  This month has been a combo pack of weather.  Cold, warm, rainy, a bit of snow, and lately pretty nice Spring temps.  I know I showed the sidewalk mess in my previous post and it took a bit to get it finished but progress was made when Mother Nature got on board.

Step one...the wooden sidewalk that was a mess.

Boards all gone and mud mess next.

The cement guy got it prepped.

Cement getting poured before it actually poured raindrops!

Sidewalk in! Now the ball is in our court to get the steps rebuilt and the flower bed weeded and new plants put in.  Progression!  The other side of progression this month has been the bird nest that now has babies in it.

Fuzzy little babes.

Now they are hungry feathered friends.  It's been fun to see the progress and I know one day the nest

will be empty and abandoned.  I'll get my baker's stand back for flowers but I'll miss watching nature take it's course.  My final progress report has to do with our Church's Temple that was finally finished and had an open house in the past few weeks.  Jack and I went down last Wednesday.  It was closed for 3 years while they rebuilt it because of a builder's blunder and there was a mold issue that needed to be corrected. 

Not the best photos but it was a beautiful day to drive to Columbus and we're looking forward to having a Temple closer to us again.  They are going to build another Temple in Ohio near Cleveland so we'll have a couple to be able to visit.  Progression is a good thing!  Now to progress to bed!

Night all!

May Day!

Happy May Day!  I remember celebrating this day as a child in school with dancing around a may pole, gathering in flowers and making cone baskets to take home to Mom.  Once I had my boys, when they were little,  make a May Day cone with flowers for our next door neighbor when we lived in town. Did you ever do anything like that back in the day?  I wish today was a day fit to dance around outside and gather flowers but the rain keeps coming and it's only in the 40's!  Plus, to make it more fun, it's suppose to have a few snowflakes thrown in.  Oh well, that's Spring in Ohio for you! It looks like a warm up coming by the end of the week.  With nicer weather ahead perhaps the sidewalk will be able to be put in.

Here's the entrance to our front porch without the old sidewalk. Quite the mess!  I'll be very excited to show the finished project hopefully as soon as the weather breaks and it can be finished.  With all the rain we've had lately the Pines are super green.  Green like I imagine Ireland to look like.

Thankfully Annabelle is white so we can spot her easily!  You can see many of the trees are sporting green leaves now.

The dogwoods are all in bloom also.

 White blossoms down by the creek help break up all the green.  The other thing that happens in Spring are all the birds nesting.  I have a few in the garage that I want to evict! But the weirdest one is the goofy Robin that decided this area was prime realestate.  We have 6 acres of land with tons of trees and this was the best she could do?

The baker's rack on the patio between the house and the garage...really?  No shelter, no privacy, no way!  Every time we drive into the garage or come out of the house she takes off. It will be a long Spring waiting for those eggs to hatch while flying away every 10 seconds!

Good luck little birdies.  Momma is a crazy gal!  I did put some boards on the top shelf to aid a bit in keeping the rain off.

Maybe she needs a may basket with some flowers and a few worms thrown in to welcome her to the neighborhood.   Happy May Day!

Being Tired

 Our weather, like many of you, has been a crazy mix of warm, cold, sunny, rainy, windy, and a few hot days thrown in for some flavor.  Silly Mother Nature!  Some of those changes happen in one day around our neck of  the woods. Makes a soul tired!  Speaking of tires...smooth move into my post today!  On Wednesday my tire pressure notice came up on my dash as I was dashing to work.  I thought it might just have been because we had cold weather and that sometimes affects the pressure.  However, after coming home and looking at the tire I saw a lovely nail imbedded in it.  Dang!  So off to our tire guy...the name of the place is actually "Guy's Tire"!  We waited for the fix only to find out we had to buy 4 tires!  All wheel drive vehicles are suppose to have the same tires....so they said.  And after checking it out I found out they were correct.  So I handed over the wallet and got all  new tires.  I was off work Thursday so they put the tires on and I was good to go.  We had an 80de day on Thursday and no rain so I was also good to go for mowing.  My grass grows with the speed of light!  I hopped on the mower, started it up, and lo and behold it had a flat tire!  No way!  So no mowing as Jack had to take the tire off after work and he took it back to Guys for it to be fixed on Friday.   After work on Friday and before the rain was to start I mowed and when I was done the rains appeared and I praised the good timing.  We have a few projects this Spring and Summer that will put more dents in the old wallet but just have to be done.  Our sidewalk to the front steps was made of wood when we bought this house 22yrs ago.  It really needed to be taken out and this is the year.  Jack has been doing the demo part to save a few bucks and it's almost ready for the cement guy..different from the tire guy...to come and get it done. 

Don't come up the front walk unless you want to leap onto the porch!  After this we will have our fireplaces fixed so we can actually use them this Fall and Winter.  That's another wallet cruncher but necessary.  Yes, all homes need maintenance and sometimes things just have to be done.  I'll have before and after pics of course and will enjoy the final outcomes.   All these things do make a person tired!

The young man doing the sidewalk also had wood he wanted to get rid of and we gladly bought it off of him to get a start on next Winter's cold. This was just the first load! It will need to be stacked and covered so there's another little project that will again make us tired.   Last but not least I have to say that even with all the weird weather ups and downs we have had a pretty Spring.  

The magnolia tree bloomed nicely and even with losing some of it's blossoms it still looks pretty.

The flowering crab is also extremely lovely!  Our dogwood trees are just about ready to be in full bloom and you know I'll get pics of them when they're ready.  Seeing all this beauty is the one thing that doesn't fall into the "tired" category but it's getting late and that does remind me how tired I am tonight!

Night all!

Easter Greetings!

 This is one of my favorite times of the year.  I love Easter and all it stands for.  I love making the food and fun with family also.  Sunday I was so glad Jack and I were good to go as far as the Covid bug was concerned.  We were both feeling better and enjoyed a wonderful Church service and then prepared for the kids and Grandkids to arrive.  We ate lunch around 2:30.  We  had ham and tons of extras to enjoy. We all ate enough that nobody even asked about dessert! I put the pies in the freezer to be enjoyed at another gathering.  The weather was just perfect.  Sunny and in the 60's.  I even mowed the yard on Saturday. The grass had grown so much poor Annabelle had to struggle to get through it to pee! Ha!  I only got a few pics believe it or not.  I really wanted to gather everyone together for a group photo but just didn't get around to it.  Too busy with all the activities going on.   We had 3 different egg hunts.  One for the only 2 littles we have and one for the teens and then one for the adults.  

I found this cutie when I was in Chicago and he looked so cute on the lawn for the egg hunt.

The two littles that hunted first were Hazel who's almost 2 and Aria who's 6.  It was hard to get a good pic of Hazel who never stops moving! They both had a fun time.

The teens were next.  Here's Cameron and that's Mandy in the background.

Rae checking out her winnings! The teens all got some cash to spend during this week's Spring break.

This was the only pic that showed the adults...half shot of Anthony and that's Jordan in the dark clothes! I guess I just ran out of picture taking steam! Ha!  The adult eggs had lottery tickets in them and Anthony scored the most with $25 winnings. There were a few others that got ten or five bucks and a few dollar wins.  All in all I think they enjoyed it. They are good sports about it anyway!

Our Granddaughter, Summer, came by later after going to her other Grandma's.  It was a nice surprise to see her and her pup, Happy.  You can see my other Granddog, Kip behind her.  We had all the dogs and then the neighbor's dog, Cooper joined the group.  Annabelle was worn out by the time everyone took off for home. That's about it for pics.  As you can see we were blessed with wonderful, sunny and kind of warm weather.  It was a perfect day.  

The next day Annabelle just wanted to rest up in any sun she could find.  We're having a sun filled week with temps rising to 80 by Friday.   I worked yesterday and today and I'm bushed after the weekend too!  Hopefully tomorrow I'll be raring to go and work outside in my gardens of "Weedin"!  Happy Easter everyone.  If you missed Easter on Sunday, Orthodox Easter is this coming Sunday.  We were invited to my cousin's Greek Easter celebration out in Chicago but we're not making the drive. So I'll just enjoy a quieter weekend ahead.  

That Dang Covid Bug

 Three years ago when the pandemic hit I thought at first we were making a mountain out of a mole hill.  I was wrong of course and working in health care it was a scary event that we weren't sure how to handle.  Many deaths and super stressful work conditions changed us in different ways.  I was worried back then for my Mom who was in her 90's and my sister who was battling a host of health issues.  Mom was in a rehab unit because she broke her leg and was the only one who didn't get Covid.  She came home for 2 weeks and passed away from a blood clot.  My sister has stayed Covid free so far and I hope continues to be that way.   Jack and I also managed to stay away from it even with working in healthcare.  That is until 2 weeks ago.  I mentioned that Jack had gotten sick but when he tested it came back negative.  His symptoms were so classic though that I was doubtful that the test was correct.  Then I got sick too and didn't test until this week on Tuesday.  Sure enough I tested positive but was really feeling much better.  Just more fatigued than I liked.  Work called and wanted me to work on Wednesday but when I told them I had Covid since last Saturday I was told to get better soon and I would need to wait a couple of more days to be allowed back in the hospital.  Ok with me since I'm enjoying the nicer weather and occasional naps! I'm getting ready for Easter gathering here on Sunday.  Jack and I will both be over the waiting period and our symptoms are fading.  Most of my family members have had the virus more than once, even with being vaxxed and boosted as we are.  So I'm looking forward to this weekend where our weather is calling for sunshine and temps in the upper 60s'.  Let the celebrations begin.  I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.

The kitchen mantle is bunny infested! I have many decorations that I enjoy this time of year.

I love this little Easter scene made out of wood and all white except for the tomb and stone. I love it because it depicts the real reason for this season.  Our Savior's sacrifice for us.

After Church on Sunday the kids and Grandkiddos are coming for lunch and then the traditional egg hunts.  Since we have more older ones than youngsters we have adopted a few new traditions and we ended up with 3 different hunts...littles, teens, adults.  It's all in good fun and you know I'll have pics later.  In the mean time it takes preparation for it all to come off and the eggs are being filled and the food is being prepared and in the freezer until Saturday.  

I found this big old wooden bunny at a resale shop in Chicago last year.  He's getting ready to help with the egg hunt.

We have continued with the mild weather with just a few chilly days thrown in.  The thunderstorms yesterday didn't do damage like they did in other parts of the country.  It was really nice most of the day with temps in the mid 70's! A true gift.  All doors and windows could be open to let in the fresh Spring air and blow out all the winter blahs!   So until Sunday, I hope all of you are healthy and enjoying Spring break or maybe a long weekend.   

An April Fools Joke And A Birthday

 I can't believe it's April already and April Fools was yesterday.  I was never big on pranking anyone on that day but the Gods of illness decided I needed a little joke.  Last Sunday Jack got super sick and it knocked the wind out of him for the week.  He actually missed 2 days of work! I was so hoping not to fall to the same thing but yesterday that same truck headed my way.  I felt like crap all day but did manage to get a few chores done like grocery shopping, banking and sending tax forms to the accountant. Every Saturday Jack and I always do our weekly shopping and we did a rush job yesterday just to get it done. I slept most of the rest of the day.  Thankfully this morning I did feel better.  Maybe the truck wasn't as big as the one that hit Jack?  This weekend we watched our church's General Conference that's broadcast from Salt Lake City.  Lots of good, uplifting and inspirational talks and music.  It was nice to just sit and enjoy it. (Except yesterday when I confess I slept through a lot of it) Today is also our youngest son, Jordan's birthday.  He's living with us until he can find a house in the area to buy.  Feeling better had me making some steaks, baked potatoes, and salad for lunch and then a chocolate cake.

A few T-bones never hurt.

A little Cesar Salad and 

Baked potatoes to round it all out.  And don't forget the cake...

Thankfully the weather was beautiful today with sunshine and 50de temps.

This morning Annabelle found her perfect spot in the sun for a little nap.  We did take a couple of short walks.

Some Spring flowers were blooming.  I was super mad to see something...rabbits or deer.. have taken a liking to my daylilies and my just immerging Irises.  Chomped to ground! RRRRR!!! 

To make my little illness just a bit better I had just gotten a tooth pulled and a bone graft put in to prepare for an implant some time this summer.  I think my jaw looks a bit swollen.  Or perhaps it's just my natural chimpmunk cheeks!  Which ever it is, it was pretty sore.  Still is just a bit.  Oh well, enough whining and complaining.  There are so many folks out in the world suffering with real problems.  Night all and Happy Birthday Jordan!

Jordan on the right with his cousin Bill who's birthday is also in April and for just a few weeks they are both the same age. Bill will turn 40.   Enjoy the last year of your thirties Jord!