Detroit Zoo

June, Jarrod, Sarah and I visited the Detroit Zoo on Wednesday. This zoo is so spread out. It is very clean with volunteers everywhere. We walked so but we didn't even see all the exhibits. We were at the great ape exhibit inside a viewing structure right up against the area where the apes roamed outside when a great ape sauntered by - probably 2 feet away seperated only by glass. The lady next to us jumped and spun around. We all laughed. I'll bet the ape thought, "Watch the humans jump when I walk by.(snark, snark)"
There's a place called Dinotopia where you can ride a simulation of what the dinosaure saw (like you were the dinosaur). I got motion sickness (so did June), but that was the only thing that went wrong. We all took great pics, saw some interesting animals and laughed a lot.

Holocaust Museum

Today June, Jarrod, Sarah and I went to the holocaust museum in Farmington Hills. It was a very interesting place, but truly sad. The history of the jewish peoples was there, then it went into the holocaust. It went into how it started, how the peoples were taken to the concentration camps, how some were put to death, some were put into labor camps, some were experimented on. There was a room where news reels showed the reality of what the allied troops found when they freed the people in the camps. The emaciation and sores on these poor human beings was appalling. The next room had pillers with stories of victims. It had their pictures on them and how they came to be in the camps. It told how many of their families survived.
This experience proved to me how truly blessed I am. And my family. My parents would have been taken to the camps had we been Jews, or even Jehovah's Witness, gypsys or another group the Nazi's decided were decadent.

Odd Jobs 2

If you're ready to be bored again, here we go.
The next job I had was at a V.A. hospital as a nursing assistant. The ward I was assigned to was a geriatric psychiatric ward. Oh, boy. There was never a dull moment. Between a patient threatening me with a butter knife to seeing a man's teeth go down a nurse's blouse - well, it was certainly a growing experience.
We moved to Utah for Bruce to go to school, so I became the bread-winner. I found a job as a sign painter. I learned how to make letters and numbers from scratch, paint huge picture windows in car dealerships and paint signs on a roof high over the city of Provo. I NEVER want to do that again.
I have taught several self-defense classes for women, some were for one class some for 4 weeks.
I had a job working as a cashier at K-Mart, transferred to loss prevention then promoted to loss prevention manager.
Next I achieved my B.A. in communications with the hope of law school, but that didn't happen. I wanted to write, but that didn't happen, either.
I got a job as a cashier at a CVS, promoted to shift supervisor, promoted to assistant manager.
I left CVS and went to Walgreen's as an assistant manager. I transferred to the district office as a scheduler for pharmacists. I quit that because my supervisors were horrible women.
Last, I worked as manager of apparel in Dunham's.
I have since retired.
Whew! I'm tired.
My most important job throughout my list of jobs was being a mother, grandother and wife. I still have that job and will never retire from that. Being LDS, I know those jobs are eternal.

Odd jobs

I have had some strange jobs in my life. Most of my jobs were ordinary, but a few were remarkable.
I started to make money when I was 12. I cat-sat 6 adult cats across the street when the humans went away for a week or so. Beautiful cats!
I also started to baby-sit. The pay when I first started was .25 an hour. One time the people I had babysat for gave me $5.00 for sitting from 7:00 to 1:00 a.m. My Dad made me give the $5.00 back. Hmmmmm. He said it was too much money and I needed to give it back.
When I was 15 I had a job babysitting from 9 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon, Monday through Friday. It was great. The kids were 11 and 12 years old. The house had central air and there was a pool in the backyard. I think I made $40.00 a week. I was RICH!
My next job was as a nurses aid in a nursing home. A truly horrible job. A woman pooped in my hand once. The best thing was that I met my husband there. He was a tall gorgeous orderly.
I worked in a nursing home for a short while again, then sold Tupperware.
The worst job I have ever held came next. It was a small factory where chickens were hung on hooks and traveled on a rack around several tables where the workers sliced off the meat and put it in trays. I got the leg part. It was cold in there, it was wet in there. The people I worked with were not the kind you would find in church. As a matter of fact, there was a little fat man who was a supervisor who smelled worse than the dead chicken. Everything he ate turned into a noxious gas that he would let loose at will. NASTY!! I ended up with a severe case of bronchitis from there.
Next I took in two children to tend. Not a good thing. Their mother was unreliable. There were days I had the children from 7 in the morning to 10 at night. The 3 year old was not potty-trained and refused all attempts to become so. After I quit watching the children, their mother died. I felt horrible for those children. I pray they found a family who would love them.
I will continue this litany another day.

Testamony

When I was little, my family lived in a big house in Detroit. It had a breakfast room and a formal dining room. We used the breakfast room except for special occasions or when company came over. In this breakfast room there were two corner cabinets. In one of them there was a plate with the Salt Lake Temple on it. My dad worked afternoons, so we didn't get to eat with him very often. However, when he was there he asked me this question: "Where are you going to get married?" I would point to the Salt Lake Temple and say, "In the temple, Daddy." He would smile and continue eating.
When I got married, I married in the Battle Creek Ward building. Bruce was not a member of the church. We had two children by the time we were ready to go to the Washington D.C. Temple. The people in the Battle Creek Ward knew we had little money, so they threw a "Temple shower" for us. I was lent a b eautiful dress for our daughter and was given cash and food for the trip. I was more grateful than I could express.
We drove with our two small children and stayed in an inexpensive hotel. We entered the temple and our children were taken to a nursery to wait until time to be sealed to us for all time and eternity.
I remember bits and pieces of my first temple experience, but the one thing I will never forget is when temple workers brought our children to us in the sealing room. My almost 3 year old son with his beautiful blond hair was dressed in a white jumpsuit. He had on white socks. He walked next to the elderly lady and held her hand reverently.
My baby girl was dressed in the incredible dress we got at the shower. It was long and draped over the worker's arm. She was handed to me. I have never felt so incredibly happy.
Here was my family. And we were kneeling before an alter in the temple of God. We were sealed for all time and eternity.

cross stitching

I just found a site that has really easy to download embroidery patterns for free. It's

http://cross-stitchers-club.com/?code_avantage=tleqzx.

Plus, if you click on this link, you'll automatically receive a gift when you subscribe. I use this site all the time; there are hundreds of all different types of patterns, and there are new patterns added everyday. It's really worth a look.

Cross-stitching relaxes me. I love to create art with thread then give them away. Hopefully when the people I love see the project they will remember how much I love them.

Mormon Channel

Kamakazi Ozzie

Ozzie

I've written quite a bit about Abby and Tigger, but not so much about Ozzie, our seal point siamese. Ozzie is incredibly beautiful - which is good because he has no brain. Or common sense. When we first moved to this house Ozzie got out. We looked for him for 2 days and finally found him around the block hiding in the doorway of a garage. The second time he got out, it took 2 days to find him again. This time he stayed on the block, but couldn't find his way home. What a cat dork!!!
Today I was sitting in my chair and happened to look out the sliding glass door. There was a gorgeous siamese cat looking in. I was shocked. Then I wondered where Ozzie was. He hadn't been on my lap all day. I knew he was in this morning because I had fed him.
I went out and opened the door, but the cat was gone. I looked all over the place but couldn't see the cat. Then I noticed a pair of blazing blue eyes looking at me from the interior of the dog house (the dog house that the dog won't use). I called Ozzie, but the cat didn't move. I picked up the back of the dog house and the cat came out. It was Ozzie! Whenever he gets upset his tail blows up like a bottle brush. It was. I picked him up and loved him up. By the time I put him down in the front room, his tail was back to normal - which is more than I can say for that silly cat!

Grooming

Today Abby and I went for haircuts. Different places. Abby had lots of matts so she had to be cut quite short. Now I can call her 'big-head Abby'. I also got my hair cut short. I didn't have any matts (at least they didn't say that I did), but it's easier to call me 'big-butt Mama' now.

Big dogs

Poor little Abby had to go to the vet for a shot today. When we walked in there was a kitten in a cage waiting to be adopted and a large German shorthair. Abby liked the kitten, she has 2 cats at home to play with. the German shorthair was a different story. They sniffed each other and Abby decided it was playing with the kitten or hiding under my chair - mostly hiding under my chair.
THEN in walked a rottweiller. The shorthair and the rottweiller went nose to nose and they decided they didn't like each other. Especially the rottweiller. Her owner took her to sit down and she kept growling at the shorthair.
Abby felt it was now time to be prudent and wanted in my lap. I picked her up and she sat on my lap and shook. I was proud that she didn't wimper. I'm sure that she was thinking that she wouldn't make even a good lunch for either of these dogs.

Abby

This morning I had to take Abby in for a booster shot. When we arrived, there was a large German shorthair. He was a friendly guy and he and Abby sniffed each other. He sat in front of his master and Abby decided to play with the kitten that was in a cage. A few minutes later a guy walked in with an almost grown rottweiller. The rottweiller and the shorthair didn't like each other. They stayed across the waiting room area from each other, but the rottweiller kept growling. My little French Abby decided that my lap as the most prudent place to be. She jumped up, turned her back om the dogs and shook like a leaf. Poor baby. Showing more and more her French heritage.

Baseball

America's greatest passtime is on. I absolutely love baseball and this is the all-star game. I have so many wonderful memories of growing up in Detroit enjoying the Tigers.
One day my dad was home (must have been a Saturday - he worked afternoons) and we were watching the game together. He said, "That umpire's name is Al." I asked him how he knew that (hopefully I was about 9 years old.)
"look at his hat. His name is on it."
Wow! It was!
Then Daddy showed me that all the umpire's names were Al. I've got to say, I was surprised. I was baffled until I got old enough to realize 'Al' wasn't a name. It was initials for the American League.

Bruce was doing genealogy this morning when he came across a picture of a woman getting married. She wore a plan white dress without a veil. The person walking her down the aisle was wearing bibbed overalls. The church was a clapboard building. This picture was of decedents of ours taken in the 40's.
Bruce’s dad bought a tiny home with no indoor plumbing when he was starting out and my parents bought a house that had no indoor bathroom. They all worked hard and made vast improvements to their homes.
Bruce and I struggled financially while we raised all 5 of our children - bought clothes at K-mart (or were home made), ate lots of hot dogs and sloppy joes, didn’t go on many vacations, drove junk cars, rented houses - whatever it took. Now we look around at our beautiful home. We have everything we ever wanted materially. We eat good meals, drive nice vehicles and have gone on some pretty nice vacations.
With a lot of hard work and sacrifices, we have met our goals. We want to thank all who have supported us. We feel blessed by God and those who love us.

Man Points

Bruce and I took Chris's kids to the park yesterday. They begged us to bring Abby with us. No problem, Abby loves field trips. This little playground has a nice area with picnic tables under a roof, so we sat there while the kids ran around on the play equipment. Ashley needed to use the potty, so I took her. When I came back, Bruce asked me why he had to hold on to a pink leash? We do have a black one, but the pink one was handier. He claimed that he lost about 25 man points holding a pink leash with a small fluffy french dog attached to it.

NEW GM

Whew! The NEW GM has arrived. Bruce has survived all the cuts so far. We think if he can hang on to his job for another year that we've dodged another bullet. Bruce thinks this is a good thing because it gets GM out from under loads of debts BUT it doesn't solve the reasons GM got into this mess. The price of health care, the unfair trade issues the no-holds-barred greed of those in charge has not been eradicated. The union has taken lots of concessions, people have been let go, benefits have been reduced but we're still worried about the unsolved issues. Hew the root of problems and they can't survive. Hack at the top of this problem weed and it'll keep growing.

Today is Bruce's 57th birthday. We're going over to Chris and Dana's house for dinner tonight. Chris texted my phone and asked how old Dad was today. Herein lies the problem. Texting is not my friend! I try. I mean, I really do try. Today I flip my little phone open to reply to Chris's text and try to type a '5'. It came out a 'k'. Hmmmmmm. Then I notice a little button the said 'EN' and thought it may help solve the transfer from letter to number. It did! I was so proud of myself for actually getting '57' on my screen. I tried to get the 'k' erased, but to no avail. So my screen had the silly 'k57' message on it. I sent it anyway.
Within 5 minutes my phone was ringing. It was Chris. Laughing. Hysterically. I waited until he could speak and said "Hello".
"Do you know what 'k' means?" he asked.
"Yes, but a nice person would ignore the mistake another person makes and go on.
More laughter.
"I knew Dad was old, but 1057 years old? Does he know you said he was over a thousand years old?"
"Not yet. I didn't think that little piece of info on his birthday was necessary."
"Well, you might want to tell him before you guys come over. We're doing a cake with his age on it."
Man, one little mistake and the world gets a little more tilted off it's axis.

Having pets is wonderful. We have two cats and one dog. The cats are independent but Abby the dog LO-OO-OO-VES to be with us. She's pretty low maintenance. She sleeps between us at night and wakes me up in the morning to let her out to potty and feed her and the cats (The cats love me in the morning before breakfast. Afterward, I'm just a piece of furniture.).
This morning I was turned away on my side when Bruce woke up. Abby had her head on his pillow. He opened one eye and got licked. In his eye. Kind of like when Joshua (our grandson) waited for Chris, his dad, to open his eyes before he shot him with his toy gun. Scary stuff!!!!!
Anyway, Bruce does not need any ClearEye today. Whatever might have been on his eye is now gone - thanks to Abby.

I got up before Bruce did yesterday. Later, when I went into the bedroom (after he had gotten up also) I noticed the bed sheets were all pulled out and twisted around. How does a 56 year old man do tornado kicks in his sleep? I meean, those sheets were a mess. He must wrap each foot in the sheet, lift up and thrash 360 degrees while helicoptering his legs then land. Of course, having size 14 feet will do much more damage than my little size 9's. No nasty remarks please.

The other day I returned a garbage full of bottles to Kroger's. When I was a kid in Detroit my friends and I used to go around gathering pop bottles to take back to the candy store. We got .02 a bottle. Five bottles gave us .10 cents - enough money to buy either a big candy bar or lots of penny candy. Today we get .10 cents a bottle. If you return 5 bottles you get .50. Not enough to buy anything. Hmmmmmmmm.