Everyday Chatting & Waffling {2023} Let's get to know each other!

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Sherri, you have been so helpful! Thank you :)

Shana, I worked for an Indian company where most marriages were arranged. They were all very happy, which made me rethink my horror of arranged marriages. The owner of the company and his wife were incredibly well-matched. He said his parents provided him with a list of prospects, and he (and they) picked her. We had one young man who had fallen in love in college and talked to his parents. They went through the evaluation and arrangement process and determined they would be a good fit. I asked him once what he would have done if they had said no. He said he did not know. Their culture is so very different from ours. It was the best company I have ever worked for, and I spent some time in India working. It was such an adventure.

I am at Steven and Nessa's on 'baby watch!' she is due any time; the doc said any day, but no signs of contractions yet. I think her mother is coming tomorrow to be with her, and Steven is working from home. I will continue to come up and clean for them. it will be a bit of a holiday for me, though, I won't need to be up every single day.
 
I graduated from Highland High School in 1968. All of my children graduated from the High School. I have had several grandchildren go to the school. Two are at the school at this time. This morning at 4 a.m. a fire was noticed and one of the buildings with the cafeteria, gym, choir, and band was totally destroyed. It has been a hard morning for me. I am visiting family in Washington and am not there right now. They will be going back to virtual learning the rest of the year. One of the grandkids graduates from the school this year.

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Congratulations Ane! What a beautiful little one and your layout is too!

Thank goodness that fire happened when none of the children were at school, Katherine! At least they will only have a month or so of virtual classes and then a summer break.
 
Katherine, I'm so sorry for the loss of the school and all it represented for you and your family. I hope they are able to rebuild quickly. Hugs!

Lynnie, thanks for sharing your experiences regarding people you've met with arranged marriages. I'm watching the show "Indian Matchmaker" now and it's pretty wild to see what is normal for different cultures. For example, on one of the couples first "dates," her parents were present, as well. I couldn't imaging going on a first date with my parents! LOL!!! Or worse yet... going on a date with my daughter and a prospective boyfriend... oh the horrors! Ha! But I do love learning about different cultures and what a wonderful world we live in.

Yesterday, I took a couple of the local college kiddos down the road to the Wizard of Oz museum and then we walked around the "yellow brick road" to the city park to see what was left of the tulips. The recent storms took out most of them, but there were still some that were in protected areas that were still gorgeous. Then hubby and I put new flowers on Ridge's grave (yesterday was the anniversary of our son's accident... 13 years now, hard to believe). Today, we're heading BACK to Wichita (fourth time in a two week span) to take my oldest nephew and his little family to lunch to celebrate his birthday. Then we're going to a college baseball game with my brother and SIL. It's supposed to be chilly today, so I need to put on a sweater and grab a jacket.

Tomorrow, I've been invited to a crop with some ladies. They're so sweet...they now save me the table closest to the wall outlet so I can plug in my laptop. i haven't made a single page all week due to my travel and work schedule, so I'm looking forward to getting some pages done. I'm not looking forward to the metal folding chairs! LOL! (Yes, I bring chair cushions and lumbar support with me).

Have a great wekeend, all!
 
Blessings on baby watch, Lynnie!

Katherine, I'm so sorry about your HS. We went through that with ours too, years ago. They built back so much larger and better and I hope you can too.

You're always so busy, Shana. Don't know how you pack it all in. Sorry about your son.
 
Katherine, I remember when my high school library caught fire and destroyed every book we had. It was heartbreaking. I can't imagine so much of the school being damaged. I can feel your heartache. As Carla said, at least it is just until the end of the year (hopefully). They will be scrambling to sort out the graduates, though, and they are robbed of their last year together. Still, kids can be very innovative.

Ane, how are things going with the little one? Have you had a chance to visit yet?

Shana, I don't think my children would take well to a chaperone on a date. One of our happiest couples met on their wedding day. They work together and have amazing children. I met their oldest when she was just a toddler. I watched her while her dad interviewed for our company. She is now a doctor!

I did not realize you had lost a child. I lost two, one at 23 and one at 41. Lost seems such a wrong word, as though we were careless with them. Died seems such a harsh word. Do you ever scrap pictures of him? I scrap Chris and David all the time.

Still no baby. Today is the actual due date, so we will see :) Nessa is feeling okay (at least she was over the weekend) but nesting like crazy. She is really busy all the time. She loves being home. I wish she could be home with the children all the time.
 
Katherine, I'm so sorry for the loss of your school! I'm sure I'd feel the same way if my high school burned down. :(

No, I haven't made it out to see my new grandbaby yet. Son and DIL have asked that I come in August, so that is what I'll do. If they need me earlier, I will go, of course. But Adonis will be 3 months old then, which is, coincidentally, the same age at which I met Lena. I can't wait! :)
 
Shana, what work is it that you do? It seems you have such a busy life that I wonder how you find the time to create all your gorgeous LOs. So sorry to hear about the loss of your son, I cannot imagine that pain. Your children are not supposed to leave before you do.

It is Anzac Day here downunder, a public holiday to commemorate our serving men and women past and present. There was a street parade, the older veterans still living being transported in army jeeps, children marching wearing their departed relatives medals of honour, great representation of bands and school kids, emergency service organisations, and much more, a beautiful warm sunny day was gifted for the occasion. There is something about a parade that always grabs ahold of me inside and brings tears to my eyes. There is always a dawn service and during the Covid lockdown, people were encouraged to stand on their footpath with a lit candle at 6am while listening to a broadcast of the Last Post being played over the radio. It was the most moving thing to stand out there and see so many other neighbours doing the same thing. The news photos of such isolated togetherness was humbling. This afternoon my sister and I are going to visit my disabled daughter and play board games.

Waiting for baby news, Lynnie. Congrats on your new family member Ane, I already did so on your lovely welcome to the world LO.
 
Just came back from my trip to London, we had a fabulous time and it was so good to see my family again after almost four years. We also had a lovely dinner with friends who live in Windsor. I will catch up reading all the posts later. First busy with scrapping for my CT duties LOL.
 
Happy Tuesday, all!

Any baby news, Lynnie? To answer your question, yes... I still scrap photos of our son. But I don't share those online. In fact, his headstone is a combination of photos that I collaged in PhotoShopped, and then we had it cast in bronze. So that way people visiting the cemetery will get a sense of the person he was. He was 19 when he died. We still have photos of him up in our house, too, but we don't have anything that could be considered a shrine. We really had to focus on our daughter's mental health and her needs. So we talk about our son openly, we made a conscious choice to not let ourselves get "stuck" if that makes sense.

Jill, I work as a director of education and training for the Kansas electric cooperatives. We are a statewide association for the not-for-profit electric utility that serve in Kansas. I do a lot of event planning, director education, employee education, and all of the youth programs. We have 27 member-cooperatives in the state, and I serve on a couple of the national committees, as well. I've been at this office for 21 years, but in the industry for 25 years. Let's just say I have one of those careers where I'm never, ever bored! LOL!!!
 
oh Shana, it's just heartbreaking. Lynnie, too, same. And of course we are now at the age where we are losing our life partners and parents as well. Sigh. Big hugs to all. Thank goodness for the good memories we savor and nourish w our scrapping hobby. That headstone sounds amazing, Shana. I didn't even know that was possible.

In other, mundane compared to life wrenching family losses, news... Yvonne, I'm so intrigued by the images I see in movies and on tv of the current London townscape. I visited w my parents as a highschool grad gift back in 1973 and marvel at how it appears now. Our little Honolulu is nothing like it. On Netflix I'm currently watching Diplomat which takes place mostly in London and its surrounds. So fascinating. Lynnie, I'm sure you can chime in on this subject, as someone who's witnessed the transformation.
 
breoni said:
Happy Tuesday, all!

Any baby news, Lynnie? To answer your question, yes... I still scrap photos of our son. But I don't share those online. In fact, his headstone is a combination of photos that I collaged in PhotoShopped, and then we had it cast in bronze. So that way people visiting the cemetery will get a sense of the person he was. He was 19 when he died. We still have photos of him up in our house, too, but we don't have anything that could be considered a shrine. We really had to focus on our daughter's mental health and her needs. So we talk about our son openly, we made a conscious choice to not let ourselves get "stuck" if that makes sense.
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Shana, I get "STUCK". My brother and SIL lost their daughter in a car accident 15 years ago (she was 26). Since then, they both have become somewhat secluded. My brother seems to just go through the motions of work and around the house work. They don't speak to anyone and just stay to their-selves. So heartbreaking.
 
Jill said:
...
It is Anzac Day here downunder, a public holiday to commemorate our serving men and women past and present. There was a street parade, the older veterans still living being transported in army jeeps, children marching wearing their departed relatives medals of honour, great representation of bands and school kids, emergency service organisations, and much more, a beautiful warm sunny day was gifted for the occasion. There is something about a parade that always grabs ahold of me inside and brings tears to my eyes. There is always a dawn service and during the Covid lockdown, people were encouraged to stand on their footpath with a lit candle at 6am while listening to a broadcast of the Last Post being played over the radio. It was the most moving thing to stand out there and see so many other neighbours doing the same thing. The news photos of such isolated togetherness was humbling. This afternoon my sister and I are going to visit my disabled daughter and play board games.

Waiting for baby news, Lynnie. Congrats on your new family member Ane, I already did so on your lovely welcome to the world LO.
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I just saw a Facebook post saying it was "Hug an Australian Day." I should have realized it was Anzac day. Some of our ladies make Anzac biscuits in honour. Your description of the COVID Anzac day really touched me. It reminded me of all the "apart togetherness" that folks had during COVID. Folks were singing from their balconies, singing in zooms, sitting out on streets talking to neighbours from a distance, hanging out signs of hope. Much of the kindness of that togetherness seems to have dissipated. Perhaps it will come again soon!

Yvonne55 said:
Just came back from my trip to London, we had a fabulous time and it was so good to see my family again after almost four years. We also had a lovely dinner with friends who live in Windsor. I will catch up reading all the posts later. First busy with scrapping for my CT duties LOL.
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Glad you are home. Hopefully you have lots and lots of new pictures to scrap.

breoni said:
...Any baby news, Lynnie? To answer your question, yes... I still scrap photos of our son. But I don't share those online. In fact, his headstone is a combination of photos that I collaged in PhotoShopped, and then we had it cast in bronze. So that way people visiting the cemetery will get a sense of the person he was. He was 19 when he died. We still have photos of him up in our house, too, but we don't have anything that could be considered a shrine. We really had to focus on our daughter's mental health and her needs. So we talk about our son openly, we made a conscious choice to not let ourselves get "stuck" if that makes sense. ...
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I don't have anything even remotely a shrine to my children either. I scrap them a lot, but mostly because I have the pictures and I love remembering them. We did not get 'stuck' either. Chris and David are remembered often by name, and with joy. I never wanted the children to be walking on egg-shells around me. I also had an acquaintance who made her entire life a shrine to her daughter who died. They set a place at the dinner table every night, the remaining children had to wear t-shirts every day with the girl's picture, they spent every holiday at the grave site and the daughter's room remained a permanent shrine while the other three girls had to share a room. A candle was lit under a painting of her all the time and all family pictures had a picture of the girl included. This was 14 years after the death!! That is what I call stuck! It was a message to me, though.

glee said:
oh Shana, it's just heartbreaking. Lynnie, too, same. And of course we are now at the age where we are losing our life partners and parents as well. Sigh. Big hugs to all. Thank goodness for the good memories we savor and nourish w our scrapping hobby. That headstone sounds amazing, Shana. I didn't even know that was possible.

In other, mundane compared to life wrenching family losses, news... Yvonne, I'm so intrigued by the images I see in movies and on tv of the current London townscape. I visited w my parents as a highschool grad gift back in 1973 and marvel at how it appears now. Our little Honolulu is nothing like it. On Netflix I'm currently watching Diplomat which takes place mostly in London and its surrounds. So fascinating. Lynnie, I'm sure you can chime in on this subject, as someone who's witnessed the transformation.
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London has changed since my childhood for sure. I didn't visit there often, but there are so many new buildings. I read in a forum where someone wondered why the English had demolished so many old buildings and built new ones. With typical British humour, someone had answered that the Luftwaffe in the 40s had kindly offered to demolish it for free to make room for the new buildings.

Honolulu has also changed since I lived there in the 70s. The Ala Moana shopping center is totally different, the radio station is gone and the old apartment building there. I couldn't believe the changes. Even Ewa beach is different.

carla said:
Shana, I get "STUCK". My brother and SIL lost their daughter in a car accident 15 years ago (she was 26). Since then, they both have become somewhat secluded. My brother seems to just go through the motions of work and around the house work. They don't speak to anyone and just stay to their-selves. So heartbreaking.
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I am glad I never got stuck this way. It would be so depressing to spend my life mourning the loss of someone I loved. I am so grateful they were part of my life. If I had a choice to have had them and lost them or never to have had them at all, I would choose to have them. I think it was CS Lewis who said "The sadness now is part of the happiness then!" SO true.

No baby news! Yesterday was the due date.
 
Good morning ladies. We are 2 wks into the cruise and one more to go. I’ve been sitting on the balcony having room service coffee and enjoying the warm morning air as we sail along. We are at sea for two days before arriving in Mexico. It’s been relaxing yet busy. We spend our time on excursions, playing games, swimming and attending shows and every night have a relaxing dinner with a few other couples we met. Haven’t read a book at all yet. We booked our next cruise, Mediterranean for 2 wks in the fall. I am loving cruising. I read thru the last few pages of chatting so I don’t feel totally out of the loop. I’ll check in when I return.

Lynnie - I’m sure there will be baby news by the time I return.
 
The Netherlands is a monarchy. Today it is Kingsday. Every year we celebrate the Birthday of our King. For the first time in weeks the weather was fine. We ate orange tompouces, went to our city centre to have some drinks and enjoy the music. We had a great day.

 
@glee I’m enjoying diplomat so much, I find it very humorous. I’m only on episode 3 though.

@ Lynnie I feel for your daughter in law I was overdue with both mine

@ everyone needing a hug here is a big one

@ rae loving your posts
 
Baby news Lynnie?

I’m sitting on deck, relaxing with morning coffees. I’m going to hate going home and having to cook and get my own coffee lol. The days are flying by and hard to believe we’ll be home at the end of the week. I’m looking forward to scrapping soon. I’ve never gone 3 weeks without it. Soon I’ll be scrap shopping and scrapping with you all. One more port in Mexico tomorrow, a few more days at sea and then home.
 
Good Sunday to everyone! I have come down with a rather nasty cold. No fever but my head is all stopped up and sore throat. My Grandson was sick with it all last week so I should have known I would come down with it too! I will survive! Have a fantastic day!
 
Happy Monday, all!

Best memory from April? I'd say it would have to be my great-nephew's first Easter Egg hunt! He's just too precious.

Happy May Day! When I was a kid growing up in Nebraska, we used to make May Day baskets. They were filled with flowers and little treats like candy or cookies. Then we would take them to our friends and neighbors' houses, ring the bell, and then run. I have no idea why the tradition was to leave the gifts anonymously, but it was always a fun activity!
 
FormbyGirl said:
Sherri, you have been so helpful! Thank you :)

Shana, I worked for an Indian company where most marriages were arranged. They were all very happy, which made me rethink my horror of arranged marriages. The owner of the company and his wife were incredibly well-matched. He said his parents provided him with a list of prospects, and he (and they) picked her. We had one young man who had fallen in love in college and talked to his parents. They went through the evaluation and arrangement process and determined they would be a good fit. I asked him once what he would have done if they had said no. He said he did not know. Their culture is so very different from ours. It was the best company I have ever worked for, and I spent some time in India working. It was such an adventure.

I am at Steven and Nessa's on 'baby watch!' she is due any time; the doc said any day, but no signs of contractions yet. I think her mother is coming tomorrow to be with her, and Steven is working from home. I will continue to come up and clean for them. it will be a bit of a holiday for me, though, I won't need to be up every single day.
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Lynnie- that is so interesting on the marriages. I suppose it can work and in many cultures over centuries it has and perhaps the parents do know best. I think I would find it weird.

KatherineWoodin said:
I graduated from Highland High School in 1968. All of my children graduated from the High School. I have had several grandchildren go to the school. Two are at the school at this time. This morning at 4 a.m. a fire was noticed and one of the buildings with the cafeteria, gym, choir, and band was totally destroyed. It has been a hard morning for me. I am visiting family in Washington and am not there right now. They will be going back to virtual learning the rest of the year. One of the grandkids graduates from the school this year.
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Katherine- that is tough on the school. A school I taught at for 13 years [originally built in 1905] went to fire following a hurricane in 2017.

Yvonne55 said:
Just came back from my trip to London, we had a fabulous time and it was so good to see my family again after almost four years. We also had a lovely dinner with friends who live in Windsor. I will catch up reading all the posts later. First busy with scrapping for my CT duties LOL.
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How cool on your trip!!! I'm happy you were able to gather with family.

breoni said:
Happy Tuesday, all!

To answer your question, yes... I still scrap photos of our son. But I don't share those online. In fact, his headstone is a combination of photos that I collaged in PhotoShopped, and then we had it cast in bronze. So that way people visiting the cemetery will get a sense of the person he was. He was 19 when he died. We still have photos of him up in our house, too, but we don't have anything that could be considered a shrine. We really had to focus on our daughter's mental health and her needs. So we talk about our son openly, we made a conscious choice to not let ourselves get "stuck" if that makes sense.
! LOL!!!
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We too can join into the 'death of a child'. I don't post about it.

bcgal00 said:
Good morning ladies. We are 2 wks into the cruise and one more to go. I’ve been sitting on the balcony having room service coffee and enjoying the warm morning air as we sail along. We are at sea for two days before arriving in Mexico. It’s been relaxing yet busy. We spend our time on excursions, playing games, swimming and attending shows and every night have a relaxing dinner with a few other couples we met. Haven’t read a book at all yet. We booked our next cruise, Mediterranean for 2 wks in the fall. I am loving cruising. I read thru the last few pages of chatting so I don’t feel totally out of the loop. I’ll check in when I return.
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Rae- I am following your trip on FB. I will say y'all got in and got out of Florida at the right time for the cruise. There was your before cruise flooding...and since several more weather mishaps just awful in the SE part of Florida. Our side- basically ok.
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Happy Monday. Happy May.

I've been a bit amiss for several reasons. Baseball busy- granddaughter busy - CT stuff for the end of April get ready for May-Hubby setting procedures up for his back and some medical that is taking its toll on me. And I usually do not share much on me.

In my case, I am not in agreement with the diagnosis and that isn't helping anything. They claim I have severe sleep apnea and need a CPAP machine. I claim I don't and it's a ploy to place another senior citizen on more devices and medication. Not adapting at all to the machine although I've tried. Another mask is coming this week, so shall see.
I've yet to have any sleep while machine is on. Just way too too much air from it that I do not need. My minimum for compliance is 4 hours a night. I've gotten up to 3 and a bit. That said there remain many apneas recorded [so they say] and I'm wide awake and breathing just fine. Actually faster than my preference as too much air is blowing.

Other news on a fun front- we saw the Savannah Bananas Saturday night. It's a ton of fun baseball excitement. Kinda like the Harlem globetrotters of basketball.
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I have my initial appointment with my sleep doctor at the end of the month. I snore so badly that my hubs says he thinks I have sleep apnea. We'll soon find out.

I've been MIA for a while. I try to catch up at work sometimes when I can. I haven't scrapped in a while and I do miss it. I just don't feel like taking the laptop out and setting it up to not get much time on the computer. Than again, I'm on the computer almost all day at work and don't want to be on it while at home as well.

We're doing well. Jeff lost over 100 pounds by watching his diet and taking Ozempic (for diabetes but the side effect is weight loss). Philip is still struggling with pain in his wrist from what doctors say is over-use. The next step would be a cortisone shot which he cringes when we mention it. Molly is graduating with a bachelors of psychology with a minor in education. She taking summer course and will graduate with her masters next May. We hardly see her anymore as she spends most of her time with her boyfriend of almost two years, working her both jobs and going to school and doing homework.
Hubs and I are taking a few days get-a-way to go to Disney without going into the parks. We are going to Universal for a week at the end of August with both kids (probably the last we'll all get to go away together :(

Be well, stay safe, I'll chat when I can.
 
LilyAne- Good luck with your sleep study. My experience has been awful. One thing that has made a difference for me is new pillows and sleeping a bit more elevated.
Wow- on the ozempic for Jeff. My hubby is on it. Haven't noticed any changes yet.

HappyTuesday- Made it thru the night. Last night in 47 min, I supposedly had 20.9 'events',... however, I was awake the entire time and felt fine.
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Good morning ladies. It is my last day on the ship (we dock at LA tomorrow morning and then we will be on a flight home in the afternoon). I just realized I could come into the internet cafe and get onto a computer and keyboard (so much faster and easier than using my phone).

I have had a great time but am really looking forward to getting back to real life again at home i.e. photo walks, scrapping and hikes with the dogs. I can't wait to shop and scrap on Friday. It seems like forever. I haven't taken as many photos as I thought I would be I think I have somewhere around 4000-5000 photos. It'll take awhile to get them loaded but they are small files (didn't bring my big dslr) so should be able to start scrapping over the wkend with them.

Lynnie - baby yet????

I have a culinary talk and tour in a bit so need to get going. I'll check in with guys over the wkend.
 
Michi, I just learned about the Savannah Banana baseball team last week. I've heard it's a hoot!

I've caught the oh-so-trendy sinus infection that's been going around our office. So now I have a deep cough and sound like a country music singer with a sultry voice when I try to talk. Ha. Hoping to kick this crud soon as I have stuff to do!

I mentioned our son's gravemarker that I designed using Photoshopped that was then cast in bronze. Here's a recent photo of it:
4-22-23_003-X3.jpg
 
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