Familieze………I know that is not a real word…hey I made it up..pretty cool uh? It is that special language that all families have that is their very own. Our family has many special words or phrases that make no sense to anyone but us. For instance “goose guitar”. This phrase is used quite frequently in our family and it means: don’t get your hopes and expectations up too high because you might be disappointed. It all came about when Joe was about three. The kids received The Humpty Dumpty magazine. In one edition there was a craft project: “Make Your Own Goose Guitar” Well, Joe was so excited, so he and dad followed the directions perfectly. First you carefully color the picture of a very stretched out goose, then you cut out the page and glue a piece of cardboard to the back.  Next, dad cuts out the goose then you string rubber bands from the beak to the feet….wallla!!! a goose guitar. And Joe said, “Is that all there is?” In his three year old mind he was sure a real guitar would appear if you followed the directions! Thus, one phrase in our familieze…..when something looks too good to be true, or in anticipation of anything fun….One of us is bound to say….”watch out it might be a goose guitar!”
Author: Baba (Page 3 of 4)
I am many things – daughter, sister, wife, friend, mother and my crowning accomplishment is grandmother (Baba) of twelve! I love God, I love life, and I love having fun! My motto is: "Life is too short to be anything but joyful!!
“Baba, do you know there are twenty-six letters in the alphabet?” Exclaimed five and a half year old Tessa, who was sitting in the back of the van on a short road trip, looking through an ABC book. “So, are all the words in the world written with just those letters?” ….it is a bit amazing isn’t it?? I mean, have you just stopped and gazed around a bookstore or library…. books, books, books!!!!! Sentences, paragraphs, pages, chapters volumes of words and only 26 letters! WOW!
Actually I tried…..you can’t “fix” a broken cookie! I thought duck (duct) or as we call it “thousand mile an hour” tape would fix anything!!!! It doesn’t work on a broken cookie. Babas (grandmas) will try anything to save a breaking heart…actually all he wanted to do was lick off the icing so surely the tape would hold the back of the cookie together…nope the sugar stuck to the tape but the tape could not hold three pieces of cookie together….and so instead of a mended cookie I had to administer comfort in hugs and kisses and lots of love. I think it must be like that with the Savior……sometimes the broken pieces are not meant to be “fixed” and so He holds us in his arms and comforts us with hugs and love.
Today was THAT day…..every year there is one perfect day in May…a day when the sky is crystal clear and blue all day long, the temperature is in the high 70’s, there is no wind (only a slight breeze every so often) the grass is totally green and the trees and shrubs are decorated in lacy spring-green budding leaves, birds are singing, flitting among the bushes and building nests. I dug and planted, potted and watered…..I sat here and there on benches and chairs and rocks and simply right in the middle of a garden patch and spent quiet moments dreaming, imagining what this garden of mine will look like in full bloom and I praised God for this perfect day! Yes, this is the day….I want to yell STOP!…STOP time stop right here….let it be May 17 for 30 days….give me 30 days of this day….then it can be May 18th and continue on for the summer.  Perhaps heaven is a little like THIS DAY!!!!Â
“This is the day the Lord  has made let us rejoice and be glad in it!!!!!”  Psalm 118:24
I think it was Elvis who sang the song Memories. One line is, “Memories, pressed between the pages of my mind.” What a visual!! Can’t you just see the worn and faded pages? Do you slowly turn the pages of your mind finding long lost treasures you’ve tucked there? ….I do, I often spend time lingering over the the pages of my mind..discovering bits and pieces of memories I’ve lovingly preserved between the pages.
I recently attended a dear cousin’s memorial service and several family members and friends shared many memories about this much loved man. I thought how sad it was that he was not there to hear those stories and to add his own to the retelling. It is so sad that we often, or almost always, wait until someone is gone to recall memories we hold dear. Just imagine the joy of recalling memories together……not waiting. That is exactly what I plan to do. I am going on a journey, a virtual search through my mental scrapbook  and I am going to share precious memories I find pressed between the pages of my mind.
Ah…my friend, come over here and sit,
I’ve got a mightly hankerin’ to reminisce a bit.
I want to stroll down memory lane, together you and I.
I want to talk about those happy days gone by.
I want to hear the music we listened to back then,
Don’t those “old” tunes take you back again?
Let’s taste the milk and honey of the memories we share
As we wander back to those days without a care.
I want to laugh at something silly until my sides split.
I surely have a hankerin’ to reminisce a bit.
Oh, my friend, we’ll laugh and probably we’ll cry
As we walk down memory lane, together you and I.
Then sometime in the future I hope we’ll sit together just this way
And we can reminisce about the fun we had today.
Cobalt blue!! Just saying it causes a sensation of explosion in my mind! Brilliant, bright …bluer than any crayon in my box!
I love that color!
I saw a cobalt blue car the other day…it really caught my eye , I did a double take and my mind exploded with a “Wow!!”
I love that color!…I don’t think I would wear it, don’t want a car that color…but cobalt blue is a feast to my eyes!
I looked it up in the dictionary: cobalt-an ore considered by miners to be worthless and injurious because it contains arsnic. However it’s compounds are used in inks, paints and varnishes and it is used in the treatment of cancer.   cobalt blue: a pigment containing cobalt and aluminum oxides.
Well, that boils it down scientifically but it can’t take the excitement out of the color…I still love feasting my eyes on cobalt blue!!!!
Gee…so much is going through my head today….no wonder I am on “air head” mode. Can’t remember what I was going to write about…in fact
I forget where I’m going and I’m already there….
Quite frankly it gives me quite a scare!
I put the toothpaste in the fridge and cream on the shelf
And when I look into the mirror I hardly recognize myself!
Of course if truth be told, that mirror is getting very old
Why, it’s crinkles give me wrinkles and it seems that everyday
The silly thing makes my hair look a little more gray.
What’s a Baba to do?  Think I’ll buy a new mirror!
A baby girl was born into our family on April 1, 2009!!!
My 10th grandchild!!! she is beautiful, I held her for hours, I kissed her downy head, I touched her perfect soft skin, gazed at her and memorized her tiny little nose, perfect rosebud mouth, slender wee fingers and precious miniscule toes. She scrunched her face in frowns and yawns and she smiled at me! (Grandmas, you know they smile at us don’t you?…they can call it “gas” or whatever, but we ‘know’ don’t we?) As she wrapped those perfectly formed fingers around my arthritic one I tried to imagine……would she want to wear curls or pigtails or ponytails? ribbons and bows or baseball caps? Would she be a princess dressed in pink froth or would she prefer blue denim? Would she rather dance or play soccer?….????
Then I prayed for her…for joy, for peace, strength, health, love, humor,and for just enough strife so she will appreciate her blessings…and then I prayed that she will always walk with Jeus!
A baby….a sign of hope in an unsettled world.
Just call me Junkmail Judy….. challenged to come up with ten crafts using recycled materials I have a new appreciation for junkmail.Â
Every year I put on an Advent Festival at church to make crafts for Christmas. Being sensitive to the economy this year I decided I should spend as little as possible. Aha, I thought, how about a “Green” festival this year. My goal was to not buy any new materials or supplies. Pondering my new assignment, I sat staring at a stack of holiday catalogs. Aha, I thought, a perfect medium. Out came my scissors and a glue stick. To date I have come up with: Two different table top trees, one quilled and one folded, bells, snowflakes, an angel and my mind is still reeling with possibilities. I tried these and some other recycled crafts on about 60 people, from seniors to preschoolers yesterday. All were thrilled with the outcome and carried home a bag (recycled of course) full of goodies to trim the house this holiday season! I had so much fun and had only to purchase some glue. I’d love to share the possibilities with others of like mind! Happy crafting!!!!
“Goin’ up to Cripple Creek, goin’ on the run
Goin’ up to Cripple Creek to have a little fun”…….To many people that means “gambling” “taking a chance”. But not for me…I like to go to soak up some history. I like to gaze across the lay-out of that little town and imagine it in it’s hey day!
In my mind I see hundreds of houses and store fronts and thousands of people milling in the streets, “ taking a chance” on life. Wagons, horses and mules clutter the scene while miners, sturdy women, prospectors, entrepreneurs, ladies of ill repute, the newly rich, the very poor, plain folk and fancy folk are all making history….and it was just a little over a hundrd years ago.
There is a marvelous new museum called the Pikes Peak Heritage Center perched on a hill opposite the Mollie Kathleen Mine.
This great new attraction boasts some of the finest panoramic views of Cripple Creek and beyond. It features an informative film on C.C. history that is very well done. Great photography and bits of history are masterfully displayed throughout the grand structure. It would take several hours to really appreciate it all. I was with a senior bus group from The West Center and so had to hurry on….you can be sure I will return to spend more time.
On we went to down town Cripple Creek for lunch then to the Butte Theater so see an absolutely fantastic version of Rogers & Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” David Craven as Curly had a magnificent voice booming out “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” to start the play in musical motion! Anna Malone as Ado Annie was equally enchanting especially her rendition of “I’m Just a Girl Who Can’t Say No” The entire cast was superb and kept the audience tapping its feet to the familiar tunes as the story unfolded.
This procution can hold its own to others I have paid more than four times as much to see. It was very professional and a terrific bargain for theater works of this caliber. Even at the price of gas (which, by the way, is cheaper in Woodland Park at $3.69 gal.) you can’t go wrong….Adults just $14.75 and Seniors $12.75.
The show runs through September..This “nugget of gold” is a must see. Kudos to The Thin Air Theater Company of Cripple Creek!