A Beautiful Memorial Weekend

My peonies are blooming!

Good morning son! What a beautiful morning. How about there? It's a cool and breezy morning here. I picked out the place to plant my Double Delight this morning. It will be right out my living room window where I can see it when I get up in the morning and right next to my peonies. It simply amazes me that God planted my two favorite flowers right in front of my window years before I arrived; lilacs and peonies. He certainly is amazing.

I noticed yesterday that the robins on hour front porch have all flown their nests. The one nest had three babies. I think they use to change places and sleep stacked on top of each other. They had grown so much they couldn't all fit into the nest. Guess it was fly or flat! Or should I say, "splat"! It's a wonder they lasted as long as they did. They were stacked like firewood in those nests.

"Nests" can get very comfortable. But, it's important for both parents and children to realize the purpose of a nest. A nest is designed to be a safe haven for children to learn, grow and get strong for their journey ahead. Whatever that journey may be and whereever that journey may take them. It is NOT a place for a parent to encourage the child to stay or to try to keep them. It is NOT a place for a child to remain. True, sometimes children are pulled and encouraged to stay or, they become a place from which children are reluctant to leave. After all, it's pretty cool to live in the nest and be cared for and have everything done for them. However, that is not the intent of a nest, neither does it lead to a healthy life for either parent or child. 

For me, as a parent, I loved having you in the nest. I would have loved to have kept you there forever and ever. But, I knew I wanted the very best in life for you and I knew you wouldn't find it in the nest. I knew eventually you would want to leave. How, you ask. (No, I know you didn't ask. Knock it off and let me finish. This is MY blog.) I knew, because I grew up in one of the  best of  "nests". I love the way I grew up. We were allowed, and encouraged, to be kids. We had a childhood. I was so lucky to have a mom who was willing to stay at home and "take the rap" for being the "wicked witch" while watching dad come home every night as the "white knight"with all us kids clamoring over him. I know that at the end of some of those days she went to bed in tears. Not because she was unhappy that we were so glad to see dad, but because she felt like a "wicked witch" on some days. I know, because I did. Some days it was as though all I ever said was, "Aaron don't". I know I said it a lot because when you started kindergarten the teacher asked you your name. You said, "My name is Aaron Matthew Jamison, but my mom just calls me 'Aaron don't'." Our family laughed about that many times over the years. But, I'm off track as usual. The nest. Although I grew up in a wonderful "nest", I did dream of being on my own. I have to believe that every child dreams of that. That's the way it should be, we as parents getting you as children ready to leave the nest. Just like the birds do, we need to teach you to fly. But, I never, ever intended you to fly as far away as you've flown. I mean heaven, really? What were you thinking! I can hear you laughing. It sounds so great. I see your smile this morning. I know you knew how much you were loved while you were here and I know that you know, that we know, you are happy where you are, doing what you are doing. May a joyful noise. I'll hear it here in the sunshine and the rain. You learned your lessons well and are exactly where God intends you to be. Serving Him.

Last Friday dad and I bought some groceries. I start in the roduce department now, that's a change I've made. I had a great time. Usually produce is the last stop and we pick up the essentials like lettuce and tomatoes and maybe carrots and celery...if we need them for a recipe. It was fun to pick up different fruits and vegies like blackberries and corn on the cob. Dad and I have made some good changes a long, long time ago.
 For instance, we've been drinking fat-free milk since before you were born. I've always used diet soft drinks and dad made the switch after we were married. It seems those are some very big hurdles for people making the switch to getting fit. The challenge of moving is more difficult for me than the eating. This week I've added a banana about 10:00 each morning. That takes me through until lunch. Dad and I are having our main meal at lunch and then we just snack or have a bowl of cereal for dinner.  Oh, I have to tell you a "dad" story. When we bought groceries the other day I bought some popcorn. I specifically bought 100 calorie bags so I didn't have to measure. That night we were watching a movie and dad suggested popcorn. Sounded good so dad went in to the kitchen to  stick it into the microwave.He came back a little while later carrying the popcorn saying, "Sorry it took so long, you got such small bags I had to make three. I added a little butter and salt for taste.". Ugh! He saw the look on my face and said, "Uh oh, you bought the small packages on purpose huh!". I had to laugh. We're both learning. I experienced a bonus too. I decided to get on the scales last Thursday. It was down 7.3 pounds. Oddly enough, I'm enjoying the additional moving more than anything. I'll keep you posted on my journey. Dad's back to grilling....it's the beginning of another adventure.

Jamison is asleep at my feet here on the couch. Dad is in the kitchen getting our morning iced tea ready. I also hear the pill bottles so he must be getting our morning array of those colorful little baubles we swallow every morning. It's a good think he knows what he's doing. I haven't a clue.


My determination to get fit remains consistent. It's been two weeks now since I decided there has to be more to getting fit than the gym and a diet. I continue to do stairs at work. One trip up and down is 40 so it doesn't take many trips to add up very quickly. I had to slow down the first of the week. Because of the way I have to do stairs due to my knee it throws my hip sideways. I could barely walk a couple of days. I made a couple of trips on the elevator during the week but I think it's all settled down now. I just tried too much too fast. 


We're having 80 degree weather here. Yesterday morning we made a quick trip to Saratoga Springs. I found a custom designed iron queen head board and foot board on Craigslist for $30. I know! I had to actually enlarge the print on the add to make sure I wasn't leaving off a zero or two on the price. Dad and I had decided to just get a mattress and box springs for now and pick up a headboard later. I couldn't pass this up, and didn't want to. It's absolutely beautiful. I love it when I get a deal! The lady said she was changing decor in her guest room and just wanted someone to take it away. No problem lady, consider it gone! 

My project for today is to paint the guest room. Actually it's going to be our room. We're moving to the back of the house. The room has two windows and quieter. We're just going to leave the furniture in our old room and add the new bed to the new room. Corey gave me a purple carpet that will fit the room perfectly. The wood floors are beautiful but the carpets really help with holding heat in the winter. There is no insulation in the floor and a huge basement under us so the carpet will help buffer all that.


Oh, speaking of Corey, the rooster decided to attack Josie yesterday. Needless to say, that rooster is being seriously considered as an addition to a McNuggett bucket! She has a couple of scratches, nothing serious, THIS TIME, but she was pretty shook up. Corey and Jon are spending tons of time in their yard. And they do have the yard. It's beautiful. The kids are getting in the pool. We're having some 80 degree weather so the water is "warming", if you can call it that! Josie and I were suppose to make book marks for everyone last date night but didn't have enough time. She and I agreed last night that I'll pick her up Tuesday after school and we'll make them then. She's very happy.

Yesterday I emptied the living room hutch, sorted all the glassware and moved the hutch into the kitchen. We badly needed cupboard space in there. I moved all the dishes and bowls into the hutch and then had cabinet space for boxed items and cereals. It works great. I'll paint it later. (You knew that was coming, right!?) I don't know, there's just something about painting that puts a whole new perspective on things. You know me, everything in the house is a project. Sometimes I feel sorry for dad. He gets a glimmer in his eye when we

Pretty huh! Looks like God's sky today.

finish a project, like, "finally, we're done", only to find we're just moving to another one. He should be use to it right? I mean it's going to be 42 years this December and it's always been the same. Around here, if you don't want to be wallpapered or painted, you'd better be moving. I'm excited to get started painting today. I'm using a color I've never used before, a very soft, soft, aqua blue. I've used tons of blue before and am trying to introduce it back into our home, but I've never used this shade. It's always been country blue. I'm having a good time mixing blues...and some purple, into our color theme. It's making me much happier. Dad too. We feel more like it's home.

So this week in my journey of getting fit, I'm going to increase my steps at work, walk once a week with dad and Jamison (unless they walk in the heat) and start with using my "band". What are you going to do to get more fit? Is getting fit something you even have to think about in heave? I doubt that's likely!

Until next week, be Aaron, love mom

The Birds are Singing and So Are We!

 Good morning son! What a glorious Sunday morning. Jamison is sitting in his window seat watching the birds on the front porch. There are birds chirping everywhere. We left some of the windows open last night for the first time. It's suppose to be 85 today with a low of 58. Not weather you enjoy but I like it. Tomorrow is slated to be your type of weather; 60% chance of rain and 75!

It's been a good week. I've made some changes. They've been good and at times painful, physically painful. The first change I've made toward the goal of getting fit, is to take the stairs instead of the elevator. At work, it's much easier now because the stairs are wide enough to pass this slower, more mature, lady. And, the stairs themselves are wider in width so my foot doesn't slide off. There are 20 stairs to the second floor and our offices. The first day I did 160! Needless to say, I reduced that the remainder of the week. My old hip has been really yelping this week. I've not pushed to do 160 every day but I do stairs as many times as my hip will let me every day. If I have to take more than 2 Advil I know it's had enough. I'm still parking to the back of the parking lot and walking the "rolling" landscape. I don't think there is a flap piece of land in Troy! Except maybe the Hudson, and I don't walk on water. Yet!  I've not given anything up yet, but I have changed quantities and what I am eating. I'm back to eating more of my salads and I'm enjoying those. Dad is getting set up for grilling this week. I bought a "grilling basket" yesterday at the Christmas Tree Shop so we can cut up and grill vegies. Haven't weighed and don't know if I will for awhile. I can already tell the changes I've made are making a difference. One of the personal stories I read in The Joy Fit Club last night said she didn't weigh for a year and when she got on the scale on her one year anniversary she had lost 100 pounds and she is now a personal trainer.In the next couple of weeks dad and I are going to begin eating at the kitchen table again. During the winter with just the two of us it became very easy to sit and eat in the living room.

Anyway, back to the spring cleaning and the dirt and dust. I always think I'm going to get more done when I get home from work at 1:00 p.m. than I ever do. We made great progress yesterday though. We ran over to the Christmas Tree Shop earlier in the morning. I had a gift card and wanted to pick up a Christmas Tree Shops couple of rugs. I know, Christmas Tree Shop is a misnomer. It actually is "The Christmas Tree Shop" during the season. But, the remainder of the year it has EVERYTHING and at a huge discount. Yesterday I found a rung for the bathroom, curtains for the dining room, a beautiful footed glass globe (I want to make a terrarium), a grill basket so dad can grill-up some veggies and some odds and ends. We were headed to the Habitat Re-Store to look for a headboard but it was to warm to leave the dogs in the car so we'll do that another day. You know me, cleaning means moving furniture. We were smart enough when we moved in though to put all the heavy, big pieces of furniture on sliders so it's just a matter of sliding it out of the way and into a new spot. You know what, maybe we should come into the world that way, on sliders I mean. Just think how easy transition would be. We'd just slide from one place to another, one circumstance to another, one challenge to another. Nope, I don't think that would work. What would we actually learn from all the sliding; that life is a breeze? Life isn't a "breeze" and life is not fair. I wonder how many times you heard that in your short lifetime? Enough that you had it tattooed on your arm. If we were on sliders we'd probably miss all that is important in life. We'd probably slide right by all the lessons in life that make us who we are; the things in life that shape and mold us. For the most part, I like who I am today. The things I don't like I'm working on, not sliding by them. I appreciate the chance to work on them. I guess it's that piece of me that always says, "I can do it". What sense of accomplishment would we ever have if we could always just "slide by"? None I tell you, none. It's gratifying actually to struggle and come out stronger and better for it on the other end. Hopefully not only do we get stronger with the struggle, but someone watching us struggle gets to help if the opportunity arises or, better yet, looks at what's going on and says, "Note to self, don't stick your hand in an open flame". You know what I mean. It's just like when younger brothers and sisters see the older brother or sister get "tromped" on and they say to themselves, "Note to self, don't do that!" 

If we could slide from one part of life to the other and had no struggles, how would we ever get strong? How would we ever learn how to appreciate life and the things and people in it. How would we learn that it's important to give if there was no struggle? How would we learn to appreciate it there was never an opportunity for someone to give? How would we learn to love if there was no heartbreak? How would we learn to recognize war if there was no peace? How would we learn to value what we have if there was no work? No, being able to slide through life would not be a good thing. Although it might be great to be able to slide through all the tough stuff in life, sliding and sliders are for heavy furniture. Sliders would not make for a healthy life.


How the heck did I get on that? Oh well. Son, I really do enjoy these Sunday morning "conversations". Yesterday Kristin posted the video of the 2009 Eugene Laff Off where you won comedian of the year. It was so good to hear your voice again. I do so miss your laugh. But, you always said your job in heaven was going to be "jester in the King's court". I so hope you were right!

Last week, on Mother's Day I gave myself the gift of beginning spring cleaning here at home. Need I tell you, the gift just keeps on giving? We've been at it for a week now. How can so much dust and dirt accumulate with just two of us and one little 21 pound dog. Goodness. I put all of my large chickens in the tub yesterday to wash them. Ick! (No, not live ones. That would be Corey. As a matter of fact, even as we speak she has two more baby chicks in the bath tub upstairs and has more coming.) I don't know about that girl and her thing with chickens. Some of her "older" ones "crossed the road" last week. (Oh for crying out loud, don't even go there!) All right, all right, why did the chickens cross the road? To get to the other side. Isn't that obvious? Evidently these chickens knew the neighbors had just sowed fresh grass seed. What a feast they had!

Well, anyway, back to spring cleaning here on the farm. Dad worked on the kitchen floor this last week and you really can actually see your reflection in it. The kitchen windows are open, the fresh air coming in. He's scrubbed the stainless steel sink so many times I wouldn't be surprised if it begins to leak from the hole he's rubbed in it. I moved things around in the dining room, we took a leaf out of the table. I have my chandelier out that I got for free last year at Habitat. I'll get that cleaned up and painted and it will be beautiful over the dining room table. It really has no competition at this point. The fixture that's currently up there looks like a $2 flying saucer. We have a beautiful white, original tin ceiling. I can't wait to put the chandelier up. We've finished cleaning the "storage room" and I'll paint next week. Like I said, I found curtains for the dining room yesterday and I'll get those up, maybe today if I'm lucky. I'm slowly but surely reinserting the blue back into our home and we're both loving it. I don't know why I ever took it out. Everyone needs a change now and then so maybe after 25 years of blue I was ready for a change. Who knows, all I know is, it's nice to have the blue again.We have two more pieces of furniture to move, the small hutch in the living room I'm moving to the kitchen because we need more cabinet space and the dresser I had in the dining room I'm moving to the living room for a TV cabinet. I can no longer stand looking at the million cords hanging down from the back of the TV. The new cabinet isn't open on the backside so we won't be able to see all the cords. YES! I'm looking on Craigslist for a very inexpensive computer cabinet for dad's computer. If I can do that, he can leave everything he's working on out and just close the doors until he can get back to it...plus, the cords won't show. Have I told you I hate cords? Well, I hate cords!


Right now, Jamison is laying in my lap as I'm having my conversation with you. I don't want anyone to think that I think that you're actually in this conversation verbally. Wow, that could actually send some people in the wrong direction! Sammy is sitting in the window watching, and I imagine by now, waiting for his "mom". Katrin is picking him up this afternoon. Knowing her, she'll be here before noon. She's with Sammy like we are with Jamison.We don't like them gone very long. Heck, most of the time anymore we make a decision as to whether to go somewhere based on whether Jamison can go or not. We've had free passes to the movies for months now and haven't gone because we don't want to leave him home by himself. And, if Sammy's here and they could stay together we don't want to leave both of them so we don't go. Pretty sad isn't it? (Rita, you can stop laughing now!)


Miss Josie was over last night for a visit. We watched one of her favorite movies, talked and talked and talked, painted her nails red and by 9 p.m., she was saying, "I need to get packed up now", I'm ready to go home". She carried her purse on her arm the rest of the evening. She was just tired. She and dad and mom had worked in the yard all day and she was pooped. About 10:15 p.m. we remembered we were going to make book marks for all the family. We'll do it sometime one afternoon this week. I'll pick her up from school and bring her home and well make book marks.

June is fast approaching. It's the month that is super packed. All the kids have "moving up" exercises at school, Jamo graduates from 8th grade, Josie has her first dance recital, Father's Day (Dad's really going to miss you this year.He'd like to go to a cabin in the mountains for a couple of days so I'm doing some research so I can make the reservations.) Hey, you're taking all grandpa's and great grandpa fishing right? How is the River of Life for fishing? I bet you won't get by without taking great grandma too though.

Well, the robins are really raising a racket from their nests on the front porch; we have three. Right now it sounds as though one of the "kids" has decided to "slide" rather than to do what mom has said because someone is definitely getting a scolding!


Well, until next week, be Aaron, love mom