Bad boys, Bad boys..

I have come to a rather interesting conclusion.  The older I get, the more appealing bad boys seem.  It was always my perception of aging that the progression was to be calm, don't rock the boat, quiet and peaceful and a big dose of prim and proper.  Wrong!  I first noticed it when the "new" Ridge appeared on The Young and the Restless.  He's a bit rough, his hair is long, he has an appealing accent and is hot!  I've always liked Max and Val on Dancing with the Stars but I especially loved them last season.  I've never been a proponent of tattoos....but I've grown to kind of like them (on men not women!)  One of my favorite pigskin players is the Seahawk's Richard Sherman..He was not a favorite of some at the end of last season but he was/is a favorite of mine.... I think he's awesome!..One of my favorite new shows, I stumbled on one night over a year ago.  It was the pilot of a Cinemax drama called Banshee.  I've never been a fan of violence and sex on TV...OK, maybe just violence... This show has a huge helping of both along with a bad boy main character.  I was hooked!!! And then there's Christian Grey!  I read the first book.................and the second and the third.  Will I go to the movie?  Hello, Happy Valentine's Day to me!


So, I ask myself....."How could you have gotten so off track on the mild mannered, senior citizen train?" I now realize that not all bad boys break hearts and not all Boys-Next-Door have gentlemanly intentions. They come in all forms and pretenses and coats of charming armor. I'm 62 and if I want my knight in armor or leather or nothing at all, I've earned it and it's my imagination anyway....so get off my back............................................................or not ;-)

Rainy Days and Mondays....

Rainy days and Mondays all rolled into one this morning.  As you know, Monday is my favorite day of the week.  Maybe more so for me than others who actually have to leave the house to go to work. It's my day to catch up, clean up and sometimes pay up!  We had a great week-end. Lacie's Dad and our good friend Greg treated us to a day on the lake floating, chatting, munching and hydrating.  Bailee was in the water from the minute we anchored till it she was declared officially waterlogged!  We ended the day at Lake Side Grill where we celebrated Jeff's promotion!!!






















 Yesterday the kids moved Lacie from her apartment to storage awaiting the closing on her "new to you" house.  Such a happy and exciting time for everybody.  We all pitched in and mowed the laws in record time and ended the day with burgers and sweet corn.

Oh what a Beautiful Morning.....

This is my kind of weather.  Doors and windows open, fans moving the cool air around, 7 squirrels having breakfast, 3 blue
jays discussing feeder rights, one small woodchuck trying to gather enough food before Annie Oakley and the boys from Duck Dynasty learn his whereabouts and a tiny bit of ambition to hit the dusty spots the sun is unveiling.  All that and the trailer for 50 Shades of Grey is released. It really takes so little to make senior citizens happy these days:-)

Sunday Funday

Yesterday was a perfect day.  Lots of family time, great temperatures with a nice breeze, lawns freshly mowed, 4 wheelin' on the outdoor menu and steak kabobs and sweetcorn on the indoor one.  We ushered in the night with a roaring fire and perfectly toasted marshmallows cozied up with chocolate and nestled in graham crackers.  We lit up the skies by sending a glowing lantern into the heavens

with our own little, unsaid, wishes tucked inside.  Mine had already come true:-)

Happy 70th Birthday :-)

Wow, that sounds like something you'd say to a country:-)  My big. handsome brother would have turned 70 years old today if God had chosen to leave him on this earth. That part, I may never understand. I try to believe and I try to hold faith above many other things but the big guy....or gal, doesn't make it easy sometimes.  I guess when I depart and find myself sitting at the right hand of........Steve and/or Dad, then maybe I will truly be a believer... until then, a little skepticism will walk with me.
Seventeen years is not long enough to have a big brother but I have 17 years of wonderful memories. Steve was 8 years older than I and he was the best... even if he did say so himself;-)  He would pay me quarters to stay away from him....and his friends but always with a smile and always leaving me with the knowledge that he really didn't want to get rid of me but after all, he had a reputation to uphold.  I remember trips to Southern Pines and Florida every winter.  The three of us packed in the back seat while Mom and Dad smoked and motored us 1500 miles south.  I remember our annual trip to Hotel Syracuse where we had our own room and did our annual Christmas shopping. (We also shopped a bit from room service.)  I remember water skiing at the lake and he could do almost anything on skis......and off.  He's the only guy I knew who ever skied barefoot on Owasco Lake.  We'd build pyramids of skiers and ski 6 at a time behind our big blue boat.  When I was only 10, off he went to Manlius Academy to prep school..... I was never really sure what he was prepping for but he sure looked handsome in that uniform.  Next, he was off to Franklin College in Indiana... a long trip for us. When he returned home he became an underwriter for Kemper Insurance and lived in Syracuse. I know exactly how Bailee felt every time Uncle Jeff came home to visit.  I felt the same when Steve was home. Had I known we would only have him for a few more years, I'd have locked him in the attic;-)
It still makes me sad that he never had the opportunity to marry his love, Kathy, have a family and make a difference.  He would have loved my family and I would have loved his.  How different my life might have been if he were here. A little bit of us all died that night in August. A parent should never see their child die!  There was a huge hole in my Dad's heart that never mended.  It was nearly 35 years before he would even have a conversation about Steve and then it was bittersweet and tearful.  But now, I have faith that they are up there hitting golf balls, disgusted with politics on earth and marveling at a market over 17,000. If we believe...and I'm trying...... we'll all be crammed into the car together again one day and who knows where we'll be headed!!

Back up on my soapbox;-/

Here I am, high upon my soapbox once again.  I must preface this rant with the fact that my Dad was a stickler for good financial practices. It was mandatory in our house that you knew who made money, how to make money, what to do with money and most definitely what NOT to do with money. ( He would always remind me that my husband was good at making money and I was equally good at spending it!) This was not an option.....you listened and hopefully you learned.  I know, everybody's going to say, if you don't have any money, there aren't any issues... Wrong.... everybody has money!  You've either earned it, inherited it or the rest of those working have given it to you.  How you handle it is what's important. Believe me, there is nothing easy about handling money.  It's a huge catch 22!!  The financial world is hugely complicated.  Take for instance, a mortgage.  You need a decent credit rating to get a decent interest rate.  If you never had a credit card and always paid cash (which you were generally taught was the right way ...you don't have the money, you don't buy it!)  you then have no credit history.  It's not easy and this generation (20-40) was probably taught less than even we were.  Here's today's rant!
There is no written or moral rule that our children are left with an inheritance of any amount.  We support them throughout their entire childhood, teens and even through their college years.  It is, however, imperative that we have funds to retire.  Social Security is a well that is becoming less and less "wet!"  Many folks (parents) in my Mom and Dad's generation chose to sign over their homes to their children.  They, later in life, ended up in a nursing home or assisted living or even in their children's homes.  It became apparent that the empty childhood home should be sold.  This home, in all legality, now belongs to the children.  The children do not want to pay taxes on the funds they will receive upon the sale.  Hello children, you're being given money which is now taxable.  What part of that didn't you understand?  This is my point.  Everybody should be taught how to manage money... my money, your money, our money!  I begrudge no one state help if they are trying.... but they need to know how to manage it.  I begrudge no one inherited funds (I've received them) if they know how to manage it. I begrudge no one a hearty salary if they know how to manage it.
Now it all comes down to education. I've always said that everyone expects the educational system to teach our children everything from tying their shoes to respect to grammar.  It is pathetically transparent that they should teach finance. It doesn't need to be taught in 12 steps (common core) but our economy is tanking and much of the problem is related to ignorance.....not stupidity...I believe they're two entirely different beasts. Our entire society is walking over dollars to pick up dimes. Without financial knowledge, we'll soon have no dimes to pick up!


P.S.  I am appalled at the number of people who don't even have a will...WTH....

This and That

Where does time go?  It's July and I haven't blogged, bragged or bitched since June.  That's just not healthy!  So here goes:

We are having so much fun planning and decorating (in our minds and on Pinterest) how to decorate Lacie's ( and Jeff's) new house.  She hasn't yet closed but when she does....we're gonna be ready.  She is such a joy for our family and she fits like a glove!!!!  She makes Jeff  happy and when when your kids are happy, you're happy! :-)

I acquiesce......Bailee's hair is cute.  She loves it and it's neat and cool and so much less time consuming. I guess maybe it was the little girl I didn't want to lose more than the hair.

We're down to 6 hens and Steve.  All 3 of our new Easter Egg hens have "crossed the road" to chicken heaven:-(  We did catch a skunk in the trap but not sure if that has been the culprit or not. We are now closing them all in the coop each night... It's too bad as the nights are warm and they enjoyed roosting in the pen. We hated to leave them out as sitting ducks (or hens.)  The worst part is now we no longer have blue eggs as Brownie appears to be in henopause:-(

Big storm last night. We were in Dryden and took cover at Resa and Michelle's.  Lost power while we were there but eventually wound our way back to Locke... which took a direct hit.  LOTS of trees down, play yards and gazebo's thrashed around and wires down.....Moravia was fine...weather is so fickle.

Yesterday was a good day for babies though.  Lacie's sister Abbie, gave birth to a beautiful little boy, Gregory Kenneth.  The first boy for Lacie's family.  She and Abbie each have a daughter so baby G is a real blessing!!!

On a much lighter note..... Lee has been having some neck pain and stiffness and asked me last night if I thought it could have something to do with his new deodorant... Welcome to my world folks!!!!!