Ruth from Duluth

Today is my Grandma’s birthday. She was a pretty special lady so I just want to say a few things about her. There was a lot to admire about her. She lived to be 90 and she was one of the healthiest people I know. I remember visiting her in Minnesota as a young child and I was impressed that she was still jogging into her 70s.

I remember in her 80s she was hit and knocked over by a car while walking in a parking lot. She went to go and get checked out and while any other woman her age probably would have broken a hip, she checked out fine and made sure she got to her water aerobics class that night.

She had more spunk than any woman I know. She wore a bun in her hair with two chopsticks sticking out. She loved fashion and good quality clothing. She drove a maroon 68 Mustang that she adored. She seemed to have a need for speed on the road and sometimes I even worried that she was going too fast.

I would always like to hear my mom say, “You are just like your Grandma!” She told me that we were both Pisces and because of that we had things in common. I can’t remember all the things we had in common except we both enjoyed a good bowl of oatmeal and she always had to dance when she would hear good music. I feel like I am still learning lessons from her as I think back on her life. I remember she was very much into deep breathing and now I am looking into the benefits of deep breathing.

She believed in taking control of her life and made the best of every situation. When my grandpa died, she decided that she needed to take over his advertising sales business and start meeting with his clients. When she found out that the valium her doctor prescribed her was addictive she got angry and quit cold turkey. When she felt lonely she remembered to think of those who were less fortunate than she was. She had four beautiful daughters and definitely left her mark on the world.

What Dreams May Come

I know it may be a little silly but one of my dreams came true.  For my birthday I got some gift cards and with those gift cards I got myself some matching silverware.  I have never in my life had a matching set of silverware.   I have only had a roommate, hand me down, miss matched group of utensils. 

Living with roommates at one point, we had some ugly silverware.  It was Michele’s birthday and I was trying to think about what to get the girl who has everything.   I was talking to my roommate Brooke and I said maybe we should get Michele some new silverware because the stuff she had is ugly and mismatched.  Then Brooke said that the silverware was hers and she got it at the dollar store.  I think her feelings were hurt for a second but she didn’t hold it against me for too long thankfully. 

Thanks to my roommate’s bargain shopping eagle eye, I scored two eight piece sets for $35 each.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take the plunge and then we ran into a guy at the store who said, “Buy them.” He went on to tell us about a time he wanted to buy a lamp but he wasn’t sure about it and by the time he decided he wanted it, someone else had snatched it up and he can’t forget about the lamp that got away.  

I later that night I ran into a friend at Harmon’s and was telling him about how I just took the plunge and bought a whole lot of silverware.  He reminded me that I need to live a little.  I never thought of having new silverware as living a little but I guess in a way he is right.  I am going to definitely LIVE IT UP with my new set of silverware.  The other reason I feel good about this is that I was able to donate my mismatched set to my roommate’s inner city school where it will go to a family in need.  Sounds like I win/win to me. 

Side Business?

I got a random email from my dear friend Ester this week which said, “Would you be willing to let me buy some dried fruit and veggies from you for my trip?” Initially I wasn’t happy about the request because I had no idea what this would entail and she finished her email with “Don’t argue though……I don’t accept it for free. I will reimburse you whatever cost you want.” I also had no idea what would be reasonable to charge her. I had just figured that with the time it takes me to dry the fruit it would never be worth what people would expect to pay me.


Well then I was talking to my mom about some dried pears that I sent to my niece for her birthday and my mom was eating some. I think she felt a little guilty about eating so many of them and she said that she was thinking that she should pay me to send up some more dried fruit.

I also mentioned to my friend Brooke what Ester had requested from me and then she said, “I know I would totally buy dried fruit from you.” Then I started to think about when I gave my co-workers an assortment of dried fruit for Christmas and two of them came back to me and said that their wives loved the dried fruit and wanted to know how I made it.

I just bought my dehydrator so I could work on getting some food storage for myself and take advantage of seasonal low produce prices and avoid preservatives in most food storage products. Well I guess I will see if it goes anywhere but it is fun to think about anyway.

Tax Day

So I used to be even more clueless about filing my taxes than I am now. I would turn to my mom to have her help me with them. This was a bad cycle we got into because we never got around to filling out the forms until April 15th. This always made me feel like the screaming banshee in this Hallmark card here except we would end up screaming at each other by the end of the day.

My mom tried to look at the more positive aspects of waiting till the last day. She would talk about how they had free cookies and juice at the post office. How the post office was open until midnight in some locations. How there were so many people at the post office that you might just make a new friend.

Somehow in the end we managed to become friends again and laugh about our stressful day when we dropped those envelopes in the mailbox. We were just happy that the adventure was over. Well I knew I had to break the cycle a few years ago and do them on my own. I found some online tax services that have been really helpful. My taxes are already processed this year and I am just waiting for my money to be deposited into my bank account.

I tried to tell my mom about how quick and easy they were to use. She didn’t seem to like the idea at all. The only thing she would tell me was that she liked doing hers on paper. I don’t think there is any changing her mind, but I tried. I am going to go out on a limb and guess that she will be mailing hers off again at the last possible moment so she can get the free cookies and cider at the post office.

Strangely I miss the madness a little bit.

Go Cromwells!

So I have this great friend from Jr. High named Kate. I remember the first time I talked to her we both had study hall and we went to the library to do homework. One day I asked her if I could borrow a piece of paper and after she gave it to me she said “Thank you” before I had a chance to say it. I loved to tease her about that. We had some good times together with our friend Monita and my older sister Cate.  We were a bit on the rebellious side, skipping class, starting small fires in the street and doing whatever we could do with the tiny amount of money we had. We all had to have a pair of Converse All Star shoes in whatever color and style we wanted. These are the ones I had…
I have many fun memories of that time, except for the times that Kate got grounded which happened a LOT and it was usually for a month at a time. The rest of us could get caught skipping school and our parents didn’t really care. I was a pretty good kid for the most part so my mom didn’t worry about me too much and gave me more freedom than most. I remember once when we were walking home from school early cause we wanted to, and Monita’s grandma drove by. I was worried that she was going to get in trouble. Her grandma said, “Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” Monita said something about how she just felt like leaving and her grandmother asked her if she would be home for dinner.  That was the end of that conversation.

Kate has a father who has been in quite a few films. Kate’s brother John wanted to be an actor just like his dad. She and her brothers got to go to the Academy Awards in 1995 when her dad was nominated for best supporting actor in the movie “Babe”. We were all watching hoping he would win. There was only so much room at the table and she let John sit by their dad since she knew he wanted to be an actor someday and she got to sit way in the back out of the view of the cameras. I knew John wanted to act but I didn’t know if it was ever going to happen for him until I saw this poster on Kate’s FB page.

I asked Kate about the film and this was her reply, “You totally have to see this. As you can tell from the tag, I play a headstrong fighter pilot who courageously commandeers a plane to go rescue a company of men trapped on the front by the Gerries. Unfortunately, she is ...court marshaled for going AWOL and shot dead while trying to escape from military prison, but her granddaughter (also played by me) avenges her death by perpetrating the same heroic offense during Desert Storm, this time saving the lives of two 4-star Generals and their sons and earning a Purple Heart which she accepts in her grandmother's name.” Cracks me up! Needless to say, I am excited for this film to come out. They are still waiting for the release date apparently. John said he would let me know when he knows.

It was so sad when Kate and Monita left for a boarding school in Iowa and I had to deal with high school without them. My life was a whole lot less exciting but maybe that was all for the best. ;)

Random Act of Kindness

So I was running to catch a bus yesterday and I didn’t think I was going to make it because the bus was ahead of me and had crossed the street before I did.  It was raining a little bit so it would have been nice to catch it even though I was only going to ride it for a few blocks and I could have easily walked it.  This random guy in a truck across the street saw me running and he started to honk at the bus driver.  The bus driver had stopped to let someone off the bus but didn’t see me running so he closed the door and started to leave. 

I didn’t really mind and didn’t want to make a big deal of it so I just gave up.  The man in the truck saw him leaving and he wasn’t very happy that his bus driver was going to leave me to walk in the rain.  He was holding up traffic as he was stopped and started to honk with greater intensity.  I tried to motion to him that it wasn’t a big deal but for some reason to him it was and he kept on honking away.  Finally the bus driver noticed that something was up and stopped for me.  It just makes me wonder why a total stranger makes it his business to make sure I get on my bus.  Kinda random but also really nice at the same time.

Finding Faith

My Sunday School teacher shared this quote a few weeks ago and I liked it so much I asked her for it and I wanted to share. Here it is..

"Perhaps the most unexpected spot where I encountered faith was at the Naval Survival Training Institute in Pensacola, Florida. I traveled to the sprawling air station on the Gulf Coast to meet Ray Smith.... Smith co-authored the latest edition of How to Survive on Land and Sea, an encyclopedia of practical information on what to do if you're stranded in the tropics, desert, mountains, or ocean.... I'm hoping Smith will share the tricks of the trade. I begin with a simple question: 'What's the secret of survival?' Without hesitating, he answers: 'Faith in God.'

" 'Really?' I ask. 'Absolutely,' he says. 'It's a major factor in all survival scenarios.' Smith's close friends include some of America's most legendary ex-prisoners of war. Faith is a unifying force in all of their experiences, he says.... While editing his survival manual, Smith wanted to start with a verse from Psalm 23: 'Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.' But his publisher said no way. 'It's just not appropriate,' he was told. Smith insisted and ultimately prevailed. He feels so strongly about faith that he thinks it properly belongs as the first chapter of any book on survival. In military parlance, it's a force multiplier, a factor that significantly increases or multiplies your strength or effectiveness. When you're feeling weak, he says, faith pumps you up. When you're run down, it gives you a boost. when you're discouraged, it lifts you up."

~ From Ben Sherwood, "The Survivor's Club," pp. 135-36