Crazy minds and creative thoughts...

I am not always at play.

I do have a complicated life. I run our place and am a full time Caregiver. There is always something I need to address and work on for our place.

 Thankfully, I can have great daydreams. Some would think that a person my ahem, age, shouldn't be like this. My father was a very creative and imaginative person. 
He had no talent for mundane things. His brain was always on the go. My mom was the opposite. She could plan things to the smallest of details. She is regimented in thoughts and actions.

I may be a bit of both. 

Funny how things come to you when you are mucking out a stall [Lil' Richard is the one equine won't try to tear apart our large stall.]

Sunday was MY day of stall cleaning. I filled the skid steer bucket with manure and drove the skid steer to dump the pile of old hay, straw, and shavings. Rich said he was too unsteady to climb in and out of the skid steer.

So it is my job to keep that machinery running and useful. I would much rather use the little 4 wheeler and cart to clean up stuff and dump it, but he sure loves his skid steer. 

I abide by his wishes as my 'job' as his caregiver and wife is to make his days as pleasant as I can.

Here I was dumping and spreading manure when I thought about the recent Lego build we did together. 

The Alpine Lodge build has a cute skating rink, an outhouse, and rooms to rent. It is like having a doll house to play with.

During my shoveling I thought .... wouldn't it be funny to have the Lego Batman sign in as a guest? I mean what on earth would the Dark Knight be doing at a winter lodge???

Wouldn't it be funny to take a photo of Santa Clause being interrupted in the outhouse by one of his elves?

And why would all of this occur?

Oh...And what of The Brothers Odd?

How would this fit in with the much anticipated delivery of the 9th deer for Santa's Sleigh on the MOC build??

As I refilled the bucket with manure and hay chafe, my mind skipped from one thing to another with a story line of images jumping about like quick movie clips.

Did Batman sign into the Lodge because he knew Rudolph went missing for nefarious reasons? 

What did the Elf give Santa as a reason to be interrupted while doing his morning constitution?

How would The Brothers Odd even fit in?

I drove the skid steer to the pile and dumped it, then spent time backing it into the shed to the spot where it can be plugged in on cold mornings for using. That effort took all of my brain power.

I dusted myself off and started towards the house.

What IF a Hunter chased Rudolph into the woods? What IF the Brothers Odd decided to help search for him and found Chewie?

And to think that I kept letting these thoughts engage in the back of my mind while I prepared supper and set up appointments on my calendar for the week.

All because of a Lego Outhouse and an Etsy order for a 9th reindeer.

Santa: What the $#@#$%???
Close the door and let me...
finish!
Elf: But I have important information! 
It seems we've lost Rudolph again!

Santa: Oh NO! Not again!
That foolish reindeer!

Maya is right. The more I think about something fun and creative, the more fun I have. 

Haha. My husband just came over and patted me gently on the head. He says I will be committed to the nuthouse before he goes.

Bad Bad DOG! by Charlie

 NO, not me. I am a delightful dog. A loyal dog. 

I believe in "Make Naps/Not War!"

Cookies and Laps! Not growlies and bities!

Mom took me for an afternoon walk. She said we would go look for bugs and icky things like that. I sometimes like bugs to smell and see if they taste good. She said we'd go on the road and not the deep woods. 
I was happy and carried my rope up the hill. I was all in!

When we got down past the place where the people and kids live in a cabin, mom waved to the Mom that had little children. Their dog Kettle was next to their car and had on a cone thingy and its whole body was all wrapped up. 

Mom said 'Hi' and we kept walking. 

Kettle dog must have been in a very nasty and surly mood. She came out snarling and growling with her teeth gnashing. Before mom could pick me up out of harm's way the Kettle came at me with fire and ugly in her eyes. 
I lay on the gravel road and started screaming in terror.

The Kettle dog kept raising her voice and getting nastier. I crawled between mom's legs to hide and the Kettle dog pushed the cone into the back of my mom's calves. I think I peed myself and I think mom wanted to pee herself.

She said very calmly to the other Mom that she would NOT reach around or move until other Mom had control of her dog. The Kettle dog's teeth were clashing and making noises. I thought mom's legs were getting torn to shreds as Kettle dog was pushing the cone against her legs and trying to reach me. 

I kept screaming and squeaking. I couldn't help it. I was so afraid.

The other Mom's Man Person starting Yelling too at the Mom person. It was a mess. The only one not yelling was my mom who stood absolutely statue still. 

The Kettle dog was retrieved and my mom said nothing. She picked me up and walked down the road. She was thinking.

She had never had trouble with the Kettle dog before but I could tell this really troubled her a lot. She checked me all over. I was clinging with my paws to her forearms. 

Then I sensed mom got very angry. She doesn't get angry very often or very fast. 

She put me down and told me how much she loved me and how she was so sorry and she had been scared too as she'd been bitten more than once in her life by a dog on the back of her legs. She said she was thankful for the cone on the nasty dog's head.

She fingered her pepper spray and smiled a very nasty smile. Kettle would learn NOT to approach us ever ever again.

See? I am a happy dog. A lover and snuggler. I have never even growled except at lightening bugs.

I do NOT like Bad Bad Dogs.

What about Thanksgiving?

I follow a few blogs and one thing that just came up for discussion by The Midnight Carver was Thanksgiving.

His post titled:  2020, The Year's Saddest Thanksgiving? Is a pretty good read. It makes one think. 

I can recall the year my boys and I had hotdogs for Thanksgiving. Their father was on duty and the boys and I thought it would be fun to have hotdogs and create our own picnic. Of course my ex gave me a dressing down for that. The kids and dogs didn't mind that we didn't have turkey and all the other crap that went along with it.

Thanksgiving.

I can recall as a child travelling 12 hours by car in the 60's...mind you, that was before the interstate was built...going to my Grandparents cottage to spend Thanksgiving with the Up North Family. My sister and I slept on the couch, I have no recollection of where my brother slept, or where my parents slept. 
We ended up at my Aunt's house where gobs of the family showed up. My Aunt also had indoor plumbing which was really nice.

We cousins were put in the entryway to the house at a couple of card tables and left with dishes that our mom's made up for us to eat. I can recall that we decided to take the squash [which was not up to our tastes] and stack it in a pile in the center of the table. We added things to our squash sculpture, like green beans, chunks of bread, toothpicks, and anything else we could think of.

We were having a grand time until The Moms came to check on us. Then all Hell Broke Loose. We kid cousins abandoned the table and went out to play in the snow on the hillside. Never mind the deer hunters. We escaped to the hill and used boxes as sleds. 

The Parents stayed inside the house and did whatever parents and family did on Thanksgiving. We kids had a blast. Playing dangerous games with our cousins was just about as fun as making Squash Sculptures. 

I don't recall many Big Family Thanksgivings after that year. The Sisters had a falling out and soon after we stopped the long trek to the North Land. 

I tried as a parent to participate in a family Thanksgiving with my Mom and Her Boyfriend and my Dad...sister...and her husband. It was awkward. My ex wasn't well liked so they berated me about him. Mom and Her Boyfriend got drunk a lot and my kids didn't like squash any more than I did at their age. My sister's husband was an Ass, but the cousin kids did get to play together and have fun. My poor Dad was there because he was included, but my Mom and Her Boyfriend couldn't help but take opportunities to pick on him also.

I stayed with my Dad at this house and truthfully, I think we could have had hotdogs and chips and been very happy.

This year?
It will be us. Charlie, Rich, and I. 

Thanksgiving doesn't bring about fond and warm fuzzy memories. 

To bring my mother's side of the family back together would require all relatives to leave weapons and attitudes at the door.

There won't be hotdogs, but we will have a nice quiet little meal. And it won't be a sad Thanksgiving as we are happy and thankful to be here for each other.

That is good enough for me.

Mom ... Mom Day.... Mothers Day

So I've been thinking about Mother's Day.  Surely it is a Hallmark made up card type of day but it is a nice thing to think about.

After all you only have one Mom.

I was visiting my mom a week ago and we went to lunch.  During lunch she sort of complained about her laptop computer being slow.

I sort of chuckled and asked what was wrong with it?

She said she just couldn't get onto Facebook and into her games as fast as she used to.  It was too slow and 'Slotmania' was almost boring.
I said maybe her old laptop just wasn't working as well anymore.

I suggested a Google Chrome Book for her.  She gave me a look and inquired as to why ... don't computers last ages and ages?  
No, I told her, they really don't.

We went to her house and I looked at her computer and guided her around to her games.  She huffed a bit when the screen started and stopped while she was playing 'Texas Hold 'Em'.

*See there!* she said.  
I know her grandson had gone through the computer and made sure it was updated and there were no viruses so she was good there.

Then I had to laugh.  Mom is 80 and her laptop 'doesn't go fast enough' for her.  Plus she was a bit miffed that an old computer didn't last forever.

This from a woman that still had her ration book from World War II.

I told her to use the machine and see how it went.  If it was still not up to her standards of speed, I'd get her a speedy Chrome Book that could race through her games.

We decided that when I made my next trip down in 2 weeks, that we'd have a late Mother's Day and go shopping for jeans together.

I may just set her up with a new Chrome book too.  
After all, she is hungry for speed and power in her games.

And she wants to see what is going on in Facebook from her friends.
She rarely types a thing but loves to browse.

Yes, I have one of the most unique mom's in the world.

Hungry for Tech Savvy stuff yet she can turn around and whip up a batch of jams and jellies or some great pies without the blink of an eye.

The woman who raised me for better or worse.  After all, I think I turned okay and I definitely learned right from wrong and how not to cross the line with her.

Happy Mother's Day to a pretty neat lady.

Talking to my mom...

Yesterday I called my mom.  I'm supposed to be a good daughter and call her weekly.
Last time we parted ways, we promised each other that we'd talk each and every week.  If I didn't call, she would...well okay, she might.

Anyway let's just say, I'm not the 'good' daughter in that way.  I don't call every week, but I should because you should hear my mom's voice perk up when she hears my voice on the phone.

She wanted to know what I was doing on a certain date and I told her that my schedule wasn't out yet for that.  But I'd let her know as soon as possible.  She told me that she was putting on an ice cream banana split party on that Friday and I should come.

She also told me about her group of Seniors that went out on Friday nights and had Fish Fry or Pizza and how much fun they had.

I actually decided that this could be fun to do.  So I'll check into my schedule as soon as it is posted.
My mom's senior friends are a real hoot.
What's more, is that my mom loves it when I go with her to meet her friends and do things with them all.

If you think a Senior has nothing to offer, then you haven't been around this group of folks.  I've always enjoyed time with them.
I do hope I get scheduled so that I can 'run' down and see her soon!
 

 Hawthorne Tree Blossoms ~ May 23rd 2013