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The Hobbit Hole XIX: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1329893/posts |
Posted on 12/20/2004 9:01:36 AM PST by ecurbh
New verse:
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Upon the hearth the fire is red, |
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Still round the corner there may wait |
Home is behind, the world ahead, |
Now that we have internet, it's not too bad. We email, and have a board just for us, and sometimes chat. But it's not the same as loading bothers into the car for a trip to the bookstore.
On the other hand, I like peace and quiet... I like having my books around...
Never say never. < /wet blanket >
Sorry...just been a bit down the past few days. Every year that takes me farther away is a little painful, I guess. Though on the other hand, it's also a year closer to seeing her again, I suppose.
We used ICQ a lot - my first use of any instant messaging program. But even that cost a lot of money. The German phone system is expensive - and overseas phone calls REALLY expensive.
In the long run, I suppose it was money well spent, but it was a lot of money.
Your situation is very different, of course, since I can just get on a plane and see my whole family...
And my cable modem bill is my most expensive utility by far, but I figure it's cheaper than all those phone calls!
Of that we're sure. ;-)
And you know that in at least part that's because I have friends like you guys. The internet is great, I could be in Outer Peru and be just as close to you...
((((Rosie))))
Well.... enough of that... hugging a wet blanket is not a good idea ;~D
Rosie, I think all of us here that have lost a parent know how you feel. My dad's been gone almost 27 years and I still resent the fact that he died so young. Still, life has to go on.
Maybe there's something you can do to honor your mom's memory and make it a little less painful for you, your Dad and your siblings.
Nana's old, and there are certainly a lot of other issues, but she kept saying "It just doesn't seem like Christmas." (good grief, I'd have to hire a staff if we did anything more). But wife said to her "It's still Christmas, it's just a different Christmas."
Nana's kids used to fill each other's stockings. This year, we helped Nana divide up Christmas ornaments from their tree and give to each sibling in the stockings that used to hang at the house.
That seemed to help.
And I got rid of a couple more boxes. ;-)
That was a crafty way to get through boxes... I wonder if we could do that with all my grandpa's boxes of slides?
We're heading that way with Nana's pictures.
Grandpa's slides are all the same picture, different background... Grandpa and/or Nita posed in front of something... "Here we are at the Holy Land" "Here we are posed in front of the Arc d'Triumph" "He we are posed in front of Aunt Betty's house".
It's like looking at boxes and boxes of Flat Frodo pictures ;~D
You could buy some of those plastic sleeves and then just distributed them evenly amongst the kids or grandkids.
Then again, your hubbit could scan them all and put them on a CD.
But you'd still have the boxes...
Heh...
Blinking, huh? Think you're better than us or something?
Just wrote a check to pay off the credit card.
I think I'm ready for a Guinness or two.
Well, for me the garden helped this summer. My dad had a green thumb. And the first time I pinched off spent marigold blossoms the scent took me back to some pretty happy childhood memories. I grew his favorite flowers and veggies. Did me good to be out in the sunshine, too. Always a mood booster.
The illness that claimed him started about 15 yrs ago and forced him into a medical retirement. He went through quite a depression until he figured out other ways he could "provide" for his family. Ultimately he turned to cooking and mastered several dishes: green chile burritos, green chile enchiladas, beef jerky, etc. Not to mention the Christmas fudge. My next project is to compile those recipes and others from his youth (depression-era recipes are a real trip) into a cookbook for the family.
All that being said, Christmas was mighty difficult.
It's an elf thing. ;)
Christmas was a downer for me the first few years, until we could re-make it a little... and it's good again.
Wife's next project is to help Nana make a teddy bear. It's a long story, but Nana never had a teddy bear as a child. 10-15 years ago, youngest daughter gave her one. After she moved it "disappeared" from the house...along with a lot of other stuff, but that's another story. It still bothers Nana.
Wife has Papa's first pacemaker. She's going to take Nana to one of those stores where you make your own bear. They'll put the pacemaker inside.
It's a little quirky, but I think it's brilliant.
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