I am not lazy, just respectful...

When I go to visit someone.. for the day or for

a couple of days..  I am careful about helping out.

It isn't that I am lazy.. and I do offer, but  if the lady

of the house says, no thanks, then I respect that.

I know there are a lot of women who just jump

right in there. Some even will start cleaning the

house with out a word.

But I have found over the years, that ever woman

has a certain way of cleaning their houses.  Most

of them are pretty routine, but with just a few things

different.

One time I had a friend ask me if I thought her house

was dirty, as a mutual friend was cleaning her kitchen.

I said no, I never thought it was, actually she was

more on to her cleaning than I was.  But she said,

(nameless) makes me feel my house is never clean

enough.. she cleans every time she comes here.

Told her, maybe (nameless) feels she has to be

busy.. and doesn't mean any harm..   But I have

to admit, there has been a few times when I felt

like that when someone does that to me.

Also there is the matter of, we each have our

own way of doing things.. like stacking the dishes

in the dish washer.  I was doing a friend's one time

like I do it... and she went in there and rearranged

the whole thing..  So I just don't do it anymore.

Because I felt like I was making more work for her.

So I offer, but if they say no.. no it is.  I will just

visit while they do the work. 

TEN YEARS...so fast

It has been 10 years ago when I  sat here one night, with nothing

to do, and not tired... ... reading a friend's blog.. and on the top.. it said.

YOU TOO CAN START A BLOG... IT IS AS SIMPLE AS 1-2-3,

Being Dave Oliveria, who writs the Spokane Review Huckleberry's

on Line.. blog.. (but it was called Hot Potatoes or something like that,

at that time).  Had said to me, that I should start a blog... but there is

no way I could do that, I told him.. that I was a wordtosser, not a blogger.

So with that in mind, at the time I was reading Slight Detour by Marianne Love... I gave it a shot... calling myself the wordtosser, and the blog  I decided would be called FROM A SIMPLE MIND... as it is as simple as one's mind can be..   And it gave me a soap box to spout off my own thoughts.. and no one could take me to task for it.. after all it was my blog.  
Also I have told stories on myself... after all if you can't

laugh at yourself.. you have no right to laugh at other.  
The humor ones have been my favorites.. as it shows the tenderness of the human species.  Also I have written some about death's in my family.

My uncle.... My aunt... and then last year.. my brother... my words

of tribute to them.. and I think the one that is my favorite is the
one to my brother.. and the one I did on his birthday.. called I WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU..  On December 23th 2014.
http://wordtosser.blogspot.com/2014/12/this-is-what-i-would-have-told-you.html

Here is what I wrote on the late evening.. of the 4th.  for the 5th of March.

Saturday, March 5, 2005

From a Simple  Mind

March  5, 2005

Going to try this out...I am just a word tosser...but a lazy one... don't know if I have enough in my mind to do a daily blog. So don't expect much...

POSTED BY WORD TOSSER AT 10:39PM     NO COMMENTS:

MARRIAGE and DIVORCE...

I just got finish reading a wonderful book called War Bond

by Cindy Hval.....it is a lot of warm stories about marriage.

Each chapter is about another couple.. These couples met

just before, during and some just after World War 2.  And

their marriages. Some fancy with white dresses and etc..

some justice of the peace, with their everyday clothes as

money was tight right after the war. 

And the common ground of all these stories... is that they

are married to this day.. at least to when the book was written,

as some of them have passed away. 

These were not 20, 30 years.... or even 50 years of marriage.

These are 6o and 70 years of marriage... to the same person.

Going thru life thru its bumps, potholes, and frailty of life.

Never giving up on each other.  Cindy hit all of these stories

with great sensibility, getting each one to tell her about the

feelings of their lives then and now....

What a lesson we all could learn from these great people,

especially when marriage is so easy to throw away these

days, you don't even need a reason anymore..  Some one

said that is because we live longer, so we don't want the

same mate for that many years...  I don't understand that

reasoning.. after all, these couples made it... and they lived

80 and 90 years... and did it all with one.  

I am not here to make judgment..  after all I got a divorce once.

And widow once. It lasted 17 years and it was a good

marriage.. with its own bumps and joys. 

And there is some good reasons why to get out of  a marriage..

abuse being a major one, for sure.  Some find that they have nothing in common anymore..with the exception of their kids.
Some have different paths to walk and the marriage isn't a happy place any more. 

But some of us.. look at marriage as disposable.. thankful

mine is not..  We are in it for the duration.. but we did go into

it in our later years..  He  at 47 and never been married.. and me

at 59.  So maybe we are more settled down than the ones in their

20's with stars in their eyes, and great hopes, thinking it is

going to be easy... Which it isn't.. it is a work of love, that

some times you have to give 70% and some times you get 70%.

But it is worth every minute of it.. And we meet all of life together..

which makes life a lot easier to deal with, when you are

stand side by side partners...

LIST...

List, we all make them sometime in our lives.

But it seems like lists are taking over my life..

I have a list for groceries, of course.  But also

list and sticky notes, so I don't forget something.

Even have some of that list on the calendar. And

sticky notes on the mirror in the bathroom, so we

won't forget the appt. for the week.  Depending on

where in the week, where the sticky note is. The

higher up ones, are the end of the week.. the

middle of the mirror is tomorrow or the next day.

There is a list of what goes in to my suitcase. So

not only that I don't forget what to put in it... but

also so when I get ready to pack my stuff where

ever I go, I won't leave anything behind.

Then there is the list for what I plan for Thanksgiving

dinner... and the grocery list to go with that. So I know

what to use for supplies.

The list of what has to be done before I go on a trip.

Have one going right now.. for a trip in June.

On that list is what I will need... what the King will

need and what Misty will need... Which is a list under

each name...

There is the list of flowers I want to get this year.. and

a list and drawing where I want to put them..

Then there is the honey do list... which some of it

we will do together... And then there is the goal list,

which has things we want to accomplish this year. 

And being I am having more senior moments as I get

older.. the more important these list become.

Do you do List? 

SEW...so

Yan can cook...

Cis can't sew

Sewing is not my forte.  Never has been.. When I left home at

the age of 17... my mother had a cedar chest with many, many

unfinished projects.  And I am sure she must have thrown them

away after I left and wasn't returning.. Or used them for dust rags.

It isn't because I was not knowledgeable in sewing. Having to

suffer thru the 7th grade, 8th grade and I think there was a half

semester class of sewing in high school..  The teachers tried.. oh,

did they ever.. After all .. every girl was a potential homemaker.

It was written in the law of the land... Girls were to work as store

clerks, beauty shops or secretarial work, until they got married.

A plan that didn't work out well for me. 

So most of those unfinished projects were probably from my

classes....as I think the only thing I did get out of all that, was

one stinking apron.. that I not only finished.. but I did  fair to

midland job of it.  

Now my mother.. she could knit up a storm.. Made the most

beautiful sweaters.. of which I still have.  And sew, the woman

did beautiful work.. She sewed outfits for my brother and I... and

herself.. don't remember her sewing anything for Dad.. Just knitted

socks.   She sewed everything.  My prom dress out of feed sacks.

A beautiful combo of coat, purse, hat that was reversible for Easter

one year, when I was a teen.. and I wore them with pride.  And

horse blankets and sheets as well.

My only accomplishment was western shirts.  Made many for my

husband, Marv... for a dear friend Mac, and for my kids... The last

one was a bone of contention... as I did one for my youngest in a

pattern on the material of hippopotamus and elephants.. orange and

green ones...  Found out later, when she was an adult, it wasn't as

great as an idea as I thought.  She became the great seamstress.

And making Misty a jacket type harness is not going well either. And

she is a worse critic than my kids... but of course any jacket is not to her

liking.. she stands like a statue in them. 

Ancestry spins my head....

A long time ago, I was entrusted with

information about our family, by my

Aunt who did so much research on

 our family (my father's...her brother)  side.

This was before computers and Ancestry.com.

It was during the time of talking to each relative

who was still alive ... be it siblings or aunts

uncles. And writing to city halls and states.

And coming up with papers from her mother.

Somewhere there is about a 20 page diary

from our grandmother, from before she got

married to after the children were born.

Also she shared many pictures.. So when

there was a book put out by the town that

my father was born.. and there was no mention

of my family... I was ....well.. pissed off.  I wrote

the ladies who wrote the book, and told them

how important my grandfather, uncle and etc.

were to the town. The island... My grandfather

had the first Ford dealership in the area. He ran

a horse and buggy taxi before there were cars.

Taking people from one side of the island to the

other, to meet the ferry which took the people

to the main land.  He had I think it was the second

store on the island.. and delivered groceries by

horse and buggy to the summer residents. And

took them to the ferry and back.  Later adding

a gas station and then the dealership. Which

my uncle took over.  My grandfather with two

other gentlemen, built and started the movie

theater that is there.. Which is now a small shopping

mall.

I asked my cousin who is the daughter of the uncle,

to help out in this outrage of omission of our family.

And found out that when her father passed away, that

his wife (her mother had passed away years ago) then

passed away... and no one knows what happen to all

the family history he had.  So I have been sharing with

her.  Also my aunt's daughter, received all the paper work

of  the family history, that her mother had worked so hard

on.  She has shared some with Ancestry.com. And some

with us... With promise of more to come.

After sending all I had to my uncle's daughter, I was done.

Let the younger ones carry it on.. But then.. my oldest

daughter decided she too, would like to get the history

of the family for her family.  So we worked on it over the

weekend.. Copying pictures and papers and emailing

them to her.. finding more things and adding to it. She

found a source on line.. and we had to smile as that

source was my aunt's daughter. So the circle has come

full circle...  Which is wonderful.

Then I got to thinking.. about the background stories I

had heard over the years... some from my dad, some

from my aunt.. some I saw... And thought I should write

this all down. Because one of our sources ... my other

uncle's son, has beginning dementia.. and we are about

to lose that information..  And while I have shared my

pictures and paper work.. there are the stories. So I

am working on that. But after awhile, your head hurts

with all the information and you don't want to leave any

thing out. So my head spins.

By the way, one of the two coolest things I have copies of

is 1. the citizenship paper for my great grandfather when

he came here from Sweden.  2. A letter written by my

great grandfather (on my mother's side) who was Chief

of Police for Newport, R.I.  to  my grandfather (on my

father's side) asking him to come in to the court house

on a certain date, to be a witness, and talk to him, the

day before he appears to testify.  

Abundance of stupidity.....

I don't know why, but Idaho seems to have

more than their share of stupidity.  And it

always seems to go viral when it happens

here.

The latest is where a state representative asked

a doctor ..during a hearing...about an anti-abortion

bill.. about whether a woman could swallow a pill

containing a tiny camera for a remote examination

of her uterus....obviously the representative does

not know where what he swallows goes... as the

rest of us do.. being we know where the bathroom is.

This isn't his first rodeo either.. seems he got into

trouble with his math figures and then tried to cover

it over when he was caught red handed with poor

math, with he was just throwing out figures.. which

is not a good idea if you are trying to get the voters

to take you serious.

He is far from the only one who has embarrassed

us Idahoan's .. too many to list.. going back to

toe tapping Senator Larry Craig. Or Senator

Steve Vicks who was mad that Idaho passed

the law that gays could get married.. so his way

to solve this was to just eliminate marriage licenses

in Idaho all together.. No one can get married.

They say we don't have the full market on stupidity

here in our state, that other states suffer as well...but

ours seems to hit the internet in a fast fashion. 

Good Grief...I almost forgot again...

The King and I were talking yesterday about licenses.

OH...MY...GOSH....  I grabbed my wallet... and sure

enough, this is the year... 2015 big as life on that card.

See in Idaho, they don't send you a reminder.. guess

most states don't. .. you are suppose to remember those

things. 

I use to get it for 8 years.. but after the age of 65, they

make you get it in 4.  Guess they want to see if you are

still walking around.  I remember as I walked out of the

office that year.. when I turned 67 (that is when it expired

after 8 years) and seeing 2011 on there.. I wondered if I

would still be alive at 71 or even be able to drive... as in

your 60's the 70's still seem far off. 

But sure enough.. at 71, I was alive and well.. and no tickets.

So they renewed it as soon as I passed the eye test.

And I left with no notice of the year coming for the next

time. Which was amazing as I forgot to get my license

that year... I was at the store and had to show my license

to the clerk, and she said those horrible words.. do you

know your license expired 2 months ago?  HOLY COW.

And it was a Saturday... had to wait until Sunday. 

My in laws came up that weekend.. so had my sister in

law drive me home... So the fact that on Monday they

didn't nail me.. (had my girlfriend take me down, didn't

want to get a ticket for driving with an expired license).

And gave me my license with no problem.. she said it

happens all the time.. you have 6 month grace. WHEW.

So now I have to make sure I get down there before

the end of March.. and hope my eyes pass. lol...  And

see if the state of Idaho will let me get a license with

out a driving test. Or a written test.. I hate written test. 

TAXES

The Federal giveth and the State taketh away...

This is the time of the year, we all dread...unless

you know for a fact that you are getting a refund..

Then you are down to your local tax person.. or

adventure enough to do it yourself... I say adventure

enough, because they keep changing the rules, so

it is hard to know if you got it right.

This year is a little tougher as you have to show

proof of insurance.. health insurance that is.. because

this is the first year of "no insurance", fines.  Some have

gotten hit for a little over $100...  some talk about $600.

Which when you think about how much it cost for

health insurance...it might be cheaper IF YOU ARE

HEALTH, to just pay the fine.

So Friday, I went into my local guy and laid out

my proof of income, my proof of outgoing... and

at the end it was... what do you want to hear first?

The good news or the bad news... Being I like to

get the bad over with.. and enjoy the good... I went

bad first... I OWE the state... BUT the good news is

I get BACK money from the Federal...so will have

enough to pay the STATE... and that is good news.

At least in my book... 

Tennis elbow?

I think I have tennis elbow... and while I am

at it.. I think I have bowler's wrist...

I decided to alternate my Wii disc...On

Monday, Wednesday and Friday... to do

exercise disc.. And on Tuesday and Thursday

to do the sport disc, that I finally found.

Well, I did some last Thursday and then

on Friday, my wrist hurt a little.. wondered

how I might have strained it.  Then put

it out of my mind.

This week, went well.... well, as well as it

can go for exercising...  Remember I HATE

exercising.  I don't mind walking outside..

but confined exercising is not my forte.

Then Tuesday night, again with the weak

wrist.. with pain.. and the elbow... On to this

morning.. and it is back with a vengeance.

Then I had my AH HA moment.. Last Thurs.,

this Tues. and Thurs.... what was I doing?

Playing tennis, baseball, and bowling.. and

I love to bowl. I use to do the real thing for

years. In fact they thought I was going to have

my twins in the alley on my last game, spring

that year. 1968.  And I only wish I did as well

as I do with the Wii... as I get a lot of spares

and strikes.. but anyway.. each day that I

played, I increased my amount of games.

Especially the bowling..  wa la... now I know

why my wrist hurts and my elbows hurt.