Why are we so different? #1

Quite often, I am reminded of just how different Richard and I are...it scares me so I try not to dwell on those thoughts too long :-). However, our (ok ...maybe more mine than his) goal for the month of January was to get the two bedrooms re-painted. We've suffered thru several projects together on this house and realized early on we handle projects entirely from a different viewpoint and management status. Let's just say it has not been "healthy" for our union. I think this is the case of many married couples however, unless you can hire everything done. This picture totally reflects what I am talking about. Richard said he would take care of painting the

small bedroom...and added the words "just let me do it my way"... meaning "stay-out and if you do come in keep your mouth shut". I tried.. .believe me I did. Each day I would just have to take a peek and repeat outloud to myself, "I will not make a comment.. .I will not make a comment....". Well, when you look at this picture that I've posted you will see why it is hard for me to not be frustrated at how different we are. Now, when I paint a room, I start at the top and paint down doing the entire wall in that particular area I am working in... I mean I have the paint right there, the ladder, the wet brush, the rag, the floor covered... so I just get 'er done! As you can see, Richard does it quite differently .... he does the center of the walls... and does the whole room that way first. He then goes BACK to those very same areas later (and we're talking days later) and paints up next to the ceiling and down next to the floor trim....which to me seems like alot of wasted time since you have already been in that exact same spot with all the painting stuff. I did pose that thought to him... to which I got a "I said to just let me do it my way" response....So here we are two weeks after he started and the room is still in the same condition with just the primer on the walls and nothing done about the top 2 inches... and my tongue is bloody from biting it so often.....realizing it's Jan. 31st.... goal date...un-done project...and still trying to adjust to sharing this life with another person. richie..... ya gotta love him.

Love What I Saw....

Even Santa bows at the feet of Jesus......

So What do you do to earn a Paycheck?

The subject of jobs has been on my mind quite a bit in recent years. Probably because of the difficulties I see my husband go through in trying to find one that's a good fit for him after ShopNBC did their coporate sweep-thru and decided to get rid of anyone over 45 with long-term benefits and hire all new college grads. What does one do when they are 50, uneducated, trained in programming TV shopping shows, and don't want to leave the Mpls area to go work for another TV show? It's been a frustrating, yet enlightening journey for us. I think of my own journey in the workforce, and two things stand out in my mind. Two yrs. back when I worked for Mesaba Airlines, I had an interesting conversation with a recently retired high school assistant principal who trained with me for the part-time ticketing agent job. He stated he took the job so he could fly back and forth to Phoenix for free to play golf. I thought, man how nice... I took the job as my second job to make ends meet. He then started to whine about how he had worked as a principal for 32 whole years and deserved to be retired and continue to receive a pay-check from the school district for the rest of his life. His demeanor and tone was as if no one else in the world had ever worked that hard or that long. Well, as you can imagine, I just about wanted to slug him.... because I thought... ONE job? ONLY 32 yrs? AND a paycheck with full insurance benefits the rest of your life????? I couldn't keep my mouth shut... so I proceeded to tell him that I was about the same age he was...that I had worked a total of 21 jobs, most 2 at a time, and when I added up all my years of service at those jobs it totaled 85 years ---- and I didn't expect any of those jobs to be sending me much of a paycheck in the mail to live off of for the rest of my life. I'm not saying that someone who's worked 32yrs doesn't deserve to retire with a pension, but I am saying there are many others out in the work force who work even longer and two jobs at a time that will never see such benefits, and he should be mindful of those in that situation before he starts whining in public about how tough he thinks he's had it. While in retrospect, it would have been smarter for me to have followed the route he did, my life didn't turn out as such. Dad always preached at me to be a dental hygenist... but did I listen? Nope, I was much more interested in fashion design during my college years. Which leads me to the other thing that stands out in my memory. My daughter once made a comment when at a family gathering with my brother and sister that stuck with me...I unknowingly interpreted it incorrectly, but spent years thinking it meant they were successful in their jobs as they owned businesses and there I was.....someone who had not been a success at anything.....hummm....my brother quickly responded saying "well she raised you and your brother all alone and look at you both now, I'd say that was pretty successful" .... which got me thinking.... about jobs and what defines a person's success. I can say that I've always pretty much enjoyed working at the many jobs I've had. I can say I've just about always had more than one job at a time. I can say that I've had way more experience in life working my 21 different jobs than most. I've done everything from cleaning a government post office building, to admitting bleeding people into an emergeny room, to selling women's under garments to cross-dressers at Daytons, to sliding into an icy ditch with a bus full of kids, to loading an airplane and giving the captain the signal it's OK to back away from the gate, to sitting in a live taping of a Tide TV commerical, to translating conversations for deaf people across the US thru their TTY's, to throwing people their morning newspaper, to sitting with a kid in the counseling office comforting them because they're scared to go home and tell their Dad they just got cut from the Spud Hockey Team, to processing legal court documents for an attorney, to helping educate people about the importance of chiropractic in their lives.....and still cleaning barf up off the floor of a school bus! And, I know this is not the end of it for me. I'm sure I will still be working for many more years to come with more experiences ahead of me....which makes me wonder, just what it will be? Who wants to hire a Grandma in their late 50's??? Greeters at Walmart right ? Which all leads me to an experience I had this weekend which caused me to post my random thoughts on jobs down on paper here....I used the elevator at the Excel to head on up to the 3rd level. To my surprise, there was an elevator attendant on duty! The "Art" in me made me strike up a conversation with her. She was a gal about my age.... big smile on her face and cheery voice. I asked her if this was her regular job to which she replied "Oh Yes ! and I love it!" I noted she had a chair to sit on while on duty and a radio station overhead. She said she listened to WCCO as they gave out the weather, the news and good talk radio. I just couldn't believe that someone could support themself and enjoy a job just riding up and down the 4 or 5 levels of the Excel all day long. There's no windows to look out, no fresh air...just an 8x8 cubicle with people in and out and that weird feeling in your stomach of going up and down all day long...... and this lady enjoyed this! What a comparison to the man who expected to retire after his 32 yrs at a school. I used the elevator several times that day as I moved from seat to seat...and when I left I asked her exactly what she liked about her job and know what she said very excitedly ? "Nancy Kerrigan got on my elevator today and man was she pretty! That just made my whole day"..... how simple a job can be for some of us huh ? I believe that lady felt she was a success in every way.

Found a few more...

Found a few more pics to post of yesterday...worked my way through the crowd to take this close-up of the characters from The Wizard of Oz that had been sculpted complete with backdrop. It was my favorite. The other pic is the awards ceremony for the Pairs... if you read the Mpls Star & Trib today you saw the pictures of the couple on the right who were former champions and took 2nd this year. He didn't really care, as they were the last skaters on ice and at the end he dropped to one knee and proposed to her! You could hear the crowd surprisedly go "oooohhhhhh!". I even found myself saying outloud "Oh my gosh, he's proposing to her!". They replayed it up close on the Jumbotron and you could see the puzzled look on her face when he asked her...she's Korean or Chinese I believe and I don't think she quite understood at first what he was doing...he asked her again a 2nd time saying "you will marry me won't you?" and she then smiled and hugged him and said "yes" to which they got a standing ovation!

Lost....but better for it!

OK...so I got disoriented trying to find the Kellogg Underground Ramp entrance at 8AM yesterday morning...(Richard's fault since he chose to take a bus charter rather than come with me to skating :-))and I ended up right in front of Rice Park where I discovered "Oh ! Here is where they do those ice sculptures I see on TV"...so I pulled the car over to the curb, hopped out and snapped up some pics of the ice carver's hard at work.. and yes, they do use chain saws! It was amazing to see... and it was basically just me, the carvers and a couple of TV news channels in the park that early. In between skating sessions I decided to walk my way back over to the park to check them out more closely... and as you can see by the 2nd set of pics, it was completely a different scene...I felt as though I was back in Chicago with Ria! People, People, and MORE People crowding the park, complete with an outdoor musician trying to make a buck -- he didn't quite do as well as August Rush! I also found the Herb Brooks memorial...

For Katelyn....

Grandma sure is wishing she would have made the trip to Moorhead to pick you up and bring you along with to the skating championships. The winner of the Ladies Singles was only one year older than you...and not much bigger! I took pics of my favorite costume for you... and wished I could have bought you this cute little pink one to wear to your practices!

Magical....

I knew I'd enjoy the day, and turns out I did --- except for the fact I should have brought friends and family with me! Especially Katelyn, as she's taking private skating lessons now! I bought the cheapest ticket just to get myself in the door and then spent the day moving from seat to seat to take it all in. Had a hard time trying to figure out what was more interesting, the judging table, the skating performances, the Kiss and Cry area or the broadcasting booth! Man, that Bob Costas is one hot-looking dude...and that Buttons guy can barely walk.. and WHERE was Peggy Fleming ???? Anyway, I started out up-high right behind the Kiss and Cry area and the entrance gate. Was captivating..and the skaters are so teensy-weensy...most about the size of Katelyn. I ended the day by snagging a seat in Row 10 down on the end just about the time clock where I was able to get a few pics of Mark and Amanda. The people around me were skater's friend and family from all over the US and the gentleman behind me was a former judge so it was interesting listening to him give the play by play to all of us at each performance. After hearing the names of skaters and their hometowns from every state, it was special to hear "and representing the Red River Valley Skating Club from Moorhead, MN" on the PA when Mark came out. There is quite a difference between the final groups and the earlier groups...mostly in speed and they just do everything stronger! My biggest surprise of the day was how many of the skaters fall. Just about every single performance had someone take a spill. Even Mark tumbled as he tried to save Amanda from falling after one of the lifts and twists. They ended up taking 5th and just missing a medal at the podium by one place. It was a good place to be on a Saturday in January. Sorry my picture taking isn't the best.....I needed Ria and her camera!

Look for me on National TV

One of the first things I can remember wanting to be when I grew up was a famous figure skater! We lived across the street from a busy skating rink and I spent many an hour there. It wasn't until my Mom took me to a local ice show that my neighbors Debbie and Pam Miller were in, that I realized ice skating involved pretty little costumes, lights, fun music and makeup! I remember plain as day sitting in the stands watching Debbie float around the ice in this little blue velvet number of a costume...thinking "hey I wanna be one of those". My Dad's paychecks didn't put us on easy street back then either...but I did have an uncle, who didn't have any daughters of his own and worked for Sears! Each year we memorized the Sears Christmas Catalog and in about 5th grade he bought me the skating outfit I had shown him that I wanted in that catalog. I'll never forget it because he also bought me the fake white mink cape with matching fur muffler for my hands that I 'd give anything to get my hands on today! It was a black, wool/felt vest with white trim and matching little skirt. I thought I had made it big-time..... little did I know my Mom wasn't going to let me wear that thing over at the rink in the sub-zero temps. And, worse yet.... little did I know the worst was yet to happen....we were putting on a play for our 5th grade class and the teacher must have overheard me bragging to my friends about my new skating outfit. The play called for ice skaters to float about the stage amongst the trees. So guess what ? The teacher called my Mom to ask if the school could borrow my skating outfit for the play... I was thrilled thinking I was going to finally be able to wear and show off my cute little skating number....when in reality, it was Debbie Miller who got to prance the stage in my outfit and guess what I got to be? Yup, a butt-ugly tree dressed in green crepe-paper and brown tights... I'll never forget rocking back and forth like a tree in the wind while she got to skate around me wearing my costume! Maybe that's where all the trauma in my life really started .... :-) Anyway, I've always enjoyed watching skating competitions on TV. This week, the US National Figure Skating Championships have been at the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul and tommorrow, I am going to spend the day there watching the Ladies Finals and the Senior Pairs Finals ! ! For me, it's kinda like Ryan going to watch Tiger Woods play over here at Hazeltine Golf Course! Another fun part about the day is that Mark Ladwig, a young man who used to hang at my desk back when I worked in the counseling office at Moorhead High School, will be competing with his partner in the Pairs Finals. He used to always talk about his future goals in skating as a high school student, and now here it is 10 years later and I'll be in the stands watching him in actual national competition. Check back for the outcome and for pictures from my adventures at the Excel!

I Remember....

Just thinking about my former post and how Richie and I just pulled our big orange busses right up in front of Dunn Brothers Coffee on main street in Chaska, left them running and hopped on in for a quick cup....sorta like something a driver could do in good old Pelican Rapids, not in a western metropolitan suburb. It also made me think back to the days when my Dad first bought the busses in Pelican and got me started as a driver, way back in 1979. I remember how he would stand out on Hwy 59 with a red flag and stop the highway traffic, flagging his busses through so we had the right-of-way to get out of town quickly. People would stop their cars, wave and back then it sorta felt like an honor to be driving their kids home after school. It was appreciated. I especially remember on snowy, storm days how the traffic would gather round completely stopped as he stood out there in his work grays and green sweatshirt and flagged us through... a driver could see the worry on their faces, and feel the townspeople supporting us, wishing us safety as they let us through knowing we had tough roads ahead of us. These days, it's certainly nothing like that for school bus drivers. Down here in Chaska, parents delivering their kids to school always feel they have the right-of-way... even when every school has a separate bus delivery area with huge signs warning other motorists they are prohibited.....they cut in front of you, they honk their horns angrily at you, they often just ignore your red flashing lights and stop-arms. To them, you are nothing but a nuisance on the road, and believe me if you're driving down two-lane Hwy 212 and have to pick-up kids several times, they'll risk their life to pass you so they can get to work. I also realized how all of my Dad's kids are still bus drivers...Richie and I drive, Sheri and Mike drive, Jim drives and even though Johanna doesn't saddle up, she's involved in the family school bus business. This must make my Dad proud --- funny though what a difference a generation makes... not one of his 8 grandchildren have ever gotten licensed and sat behind the wheel. Maybe the newest generation will change that...there's 9 great-grandchildren with two more on the way...and each one has always seemed to enjoy playing with a school bus.

My Favorites

It's Friday, so that's route day. Both of our routes left a bit later this morning so after picking up our busses at 6AM, Richie took me to get my favorite coffee at Dunn Brothers, which just happens to be right next door to my favorite little antique shops here in downtown Chaska, Linda's Cellar....good way to start the day.

Winter Moonlight....

for those of you out during the night as we are, i'm sure you've noticed that perfect shiny moon reflecting off the freshly fallen snow we had on Monday.... sure does light up the night...when finishing up the route on Tuesday morning I had the full moon setting on one side of me and the full sun rising on the other side of me...perfect......

For Carter & Cooper #2

Look at the backyards in this neighborhood ! Everyone pitched in and built an full-sized sheet of ice for the hockey players....complete with nets.....it sits down low in the backyards of an entire circle block of nice homes.... Would be fun to live here too!

Have you . . .

driven the NEW HWY 312 ? That's a common question here in Chaska the last few weeks. After years of waiting for a quicker route than the stoplight-filled Hwy 5 through Eden Prairie and Chanhassen before you get to Chaska, we were finally thrilled to have a direct route off of 494. You can now hop off 494 and within 10 mn. be here in our driveway....we are a mere 1/2 mile from the off ramp and with just 3 turns you're here. What a difference! The one thing I don't like about it is the way they have dug the highway down deep so there are high hill-like walls on both sides. Also, it gives the appearance that we live deep in the country as you can't see the houses of EP or Chan along the way...it's complete countryside! You'd never know you just drove by Bear Path where the Viking players live behind fenced guard gates...or past Lake Riley or past the Chanhassen Dinner Theater. I'm fortunate as I live only 1.8 miles from the Clinic and only 2.1 miles from the Bus Barns, so I'm not your typical Chaska commuter to and from work. I sure like the quick trip into the Metro area now though...the MOA seems alot closer!

For Carter & Cooper ! !

Look who's back out Grandma's dining room window? Grandpa Richard came running this morning to tell me there were two fat Cardinals sittin' on the lilac bushes outside the window. Sure wish you guys were here eating pancakes with us again watching them sun themselves....

If I Could #2

This would be another house I would want to live in....was on my bus route over in Chanhassen on Friday....I'd live here for Carter and Cooper ! They could run in the back yard and play all the hockey they wanted....if you look closer you'll see it comes complete with flood lights and hockey sticks stored in the garbage can...how fun would that be ?????

They say Brrrrrr.....

People from home ask me "how can you drive a SCHOOL BUS down in that Minneapolos traffic?"......I usually just have to chuckle....because more often than not, I'm out in the country with my bus, looking at scenes like the above one. Actually, those fish houses are on Lake Riley, right in Eden Prairie.... It's one of my favorite lakes to head to in the summer. Everyone in the Twin Cities area is freakin' out cuz it got a few degrees below zero... and the wind might blow from the north ! ! ! ! A northern girl like me woulda thought the blizzard of the century was coming. I just have to shake my head and smile... these folks have NO idea what cold is...or what stormy is. The biggest surprise to me in my nearly 4 yrs. of living here is how much warmer the winters are. There's just no wind like there is in Fargo....There's no blowing snow so bad you can hardly shut your car door, no blow ice on the roads, no just trying to keep it between the telephone poles and barely being able to see the hood ornament of your car. They pre-treat the roads if there's even a forecast of snow. That's why it bothers me when I'm back up near PR and see how bad the roads are. They spend all the road money down here in the Metro area....I always smiled back in December when doing my paper route Mike Lynch would get on WCCO at the start of his 5AM shift and excitedly exclaim "this is the 14th day in a row it's been below 32 degrees...we're in a major cold wave!".... and it's still 21 above zero....That's what I mean...below 32 degrees to these people is suffering. To me, when it's been 14 days below zero...well then, that's winter! I'm one of the few down here with an auto-start on my car....you just don't see them here like you do at home. BUT, everyone is curious about mine! These people don't warm up their cars, cuz it's rarely that cold. Richard drove me crazy yesterday worrying about exactly what clothes he should wear out on his pizza route and then onto his midnight paper route...he had every boot he owned out and lined up along with different thicknesses of socks.....uff-dah! Every single newscast yesterday and even this morning has features on frost-bite, how to layer, how to warm your vehicle...it's downright amusing.... I see we even made Good Morning America :-)

She's BACK. . . !!!

and I'm not sure who's happier... Richard or Miss Bailey. I think Richard, as I've never seen him take a nap on the couch. Evidently, he feels obligated so Bailey has a comfy place to sleep. Whatever, it appears we need a bigger couch!

FOO - FOO ! !

What a change.... When I first met "Doc" she came across all TOMBOY! She's probably the best female rifle shot in the state of South Dakota. A great vacation for her is to head back to her Dad's farm in the small town of Kimball, South Dakota and go pheasant hunting! Before she bought her Lexus, she drove a Dodge Dakota truck. . . She's way more apt to show up at the clinic in her work boots than she is in patent leathers. She says the reason she hired me was because I came across all princess and sparkles for her front desk (what ???).... Anyway, Doc and I both like to decorate. We try to maintain a very homey atmosphere in the clinic.. which is one o the things I love about working there. We always put up several trees at Christmas and decorate extensively for every season. Yesterday, I came back in for the afternoon shift and look at what I had waiting there in front of my front desk! ! This Valentine's TREE! My Goodness Doc has gone FOO-FOO on me ! She teases and says the ostrich feathers on it are in honor of me... but I really think that some of my princessdom has finally rubbled off on good old Doc!

Shoulda Known.....Better

For those of you who have read my prior two blogs this one will make sense...the way the morning routes went I shoulda known better than to show up to take a stab at the afternoon one...but they were extremely short-staffed so I did. Yes, that's right all those drivers that live on what I call "easy street" were at what the boss described to me as "somewhere warm right now"... hence leaving subs like me to make sense of their route and system. Well, as you guessed it, I got the kindergartners again... coupled with the "transitioners", or the term they use here for the high schoolers who can't quite make it in the mainstream of the "real" high school. Everything went surprisingly well until.... the bitter end ---- I got to the end of my route list and there he was.... the kindergarten kid pictured. I had a sheet labled "Sheep Bus" with addresses on it only... that say turn right on this street, then turn left on this street and most 5 yr olds can't tell one taupe house from the other taupe house in these new neighborhoods...so if MOM isn't standing outside at 3:30 I'm screwed. Yes, kindergartners here can't memorize Bus #634 so we have to be called the "Sheep Bus" and we proudly portray the "Sheep Picture" on our windows! Which as a sidelight, really, really surprises me since Miss Kennedy just out of kindergarten can rip off her 7 digit Student ID # for her school lunch card in seconds flat!.... must be smarter in the Moorhead School District.... whatever ------ the little smiley faced guy shown here just keeps grinnin at me as I'm saying to myself ....."hmmmmm wonder where this youngin' lives" and I wonder even more to myself " geeeezzzzz I sure hope he knows where he lives cuz there's no more addresses on this dang list" ----- so I take a gulp, put on my nicest smile after a crappy day driving this dumb school bus and ask him... "So buddy, tell me, just where do you live ?".... and without missing a beat he looks at me like I'm the stupidest lady on earth and proudly announces "South Dakota"......I won't even tell you how the story ends.... but I will say, that's one that would make even Old Art laugh out loud. Guess it's things like this that keep me driving school bus... kids like him are my prozac!

Still Crankeeeeee

Being's my mind is still spewing over the prior post, I had another thought----I can remember being in my Dad's office where he kept a large map of the PR School District and used colored stick-pins to pinpoint where route stops were....I can also remember him spending the month of August out driving the actual routes and timing them.....he'd flip over in his grave if he'd ridden along with me on the route I drove this morning ...and in essence, maybe he did...ha ha.,... He's probably up there saying right now "dollface, if somone in the chaska district just reads what you done put on paper, you're fired!"....whatever! Anyway, I decided to put my hyperness to some good use and clean my fridge...which of course lead to cleaning my cupboards that I realized had not been given a good washing since we moved in here over 2 yrs. ago. While cleaning the fridge I realized how impressed I've always been with my daughter-in-law Ann's fridge! It's funny when you visit your adult children's homes and see the different ways they live versus the environment they were raised in....I've always been pleased at how Ann's made sure Ryan looks clean and neat in his dress, and that his hair is always trimmed and fingernails are clean... man oh man how I remember trying to get that kid to wash up in the mornings during the elementary years :-) Anyway, everytime I'm there I just enjoy looking at the inside of her fridge. Not only are there organic and healthy food choices in there for her family, but everything is always shiny clean and neatly stored in containers and organized! I'm always so jealous---and as I looked inside my dirty, scummy -lookin' fridge this morning at the cookies, and processed sandwich meats, and packaged foods I've decided I need to turn over a new leaf...purchase some new, fresh storage containers, head to Trader Joe's to see my nephew and stock up on some healthy, organic foods, bottled water and keep that fridge shiny clean! Maybe part of the problems is my husband's wine bottles! What's up with this always having to have them in the fridge at a tilt??

If I COULD

I find I often play the game "If I Could" within myself. Dangerous thing to do as I know I'm to be content with the life I'm now living...but it's like the devil in me makes me do it! In thinking about my former post on bus driving, I sometimes wonder why my life has always included the need to still drive bus...even though I realize there are some things I really enjoy about it. One of those things is driving through different neighborhoods and seeing all the homes and how people uniquely make it their own, at least from the outside. I think about the ones I wish that I could be living in... and alot of times wonder why my paychecks have never afforded me the luxury of living in ones like those I see! ! The picture above is one of my favorites here in Chaska....If my paychecks let me live on Easy Street...this would be the house I would choose. I love the green shutters with red trimmed windows, the fact the garage doors are on the side so you don't see "all garage" when driving by and I adore the window boxes. It has just the right combination of vintage, shabby, farmhouse, and of course has "water" in the back yard ! Another one of the things I enjoy about bus driving I was fortunate enough to see again on my afternoon route yesterday.....and oh how I wish I could have gotten a picture of it... cuz it just warms my heart every time I see it. I was driving through a neighborhood over in Chanhassen that I just love. The houses are charming, a bit on the upscale side of town. I had high schoolers onboard..I had to stop for an oncoming bus that was just letting off elementary schoolers so I could just rest a bit and take in the view of it all.... and there it was, a large-sized dad hustling down the sidewalk towards me to meet his 3rd grader... he had the hugest smile on his face which completely matched the eagerness in his eyes and the best thing about it was his large arms completely outstretched wide open for his child to rush in to. To me, this is one of the best scenes a bus driver gets. If only every child could be greeted at the end of their school day by someone waiting there outside for them, arms outstretched, love in their voice and a great big hug. I don't remember ever having that as a child....other than remembering being older and calling my dad with my problems and he would always say "come a-runnin' dollface"... meaning I could come home whenever I needed to. But worse yet, I don't remember ever giving that to my own children. I was their bus driver, so I saw them each night after school but I think there is something to a kid not having to learn the combination to the lock box on the side of the garage and coming home to an empty house after a day out in the world. Anyway, getting back to my thoughts on "If I Could" this is one thing I would do differently if I had the chance to do it all over again....

Back at it....

Well, it was back in the saddle again yesterday morning at 6 AM - as a sub-driver, I never know what route I'm going to venture out on until I arrive in the barn. Today, it was a kindergarten route, ironically in the same area my former paper route was. It also included a new housing area that involves alot of one way streets and those new "round-about intersections" which I find highly annoying in a school bus. I'm usually never concerned as there ALWAYS is one student who finds their self-worth in sitting in the front of the bus letting me know that they can do this route turn-by-turn completely by heart... and believe me, I appreciate those "route brainsters" (as I call them) very, very much when I have 3 closely timed runs to do and 10 pages of turn-by-turns with addresses to read all while I drive. Today however, I realized "whoah... these are all kindergarteners who can't even see above the seats to look out the windows!"... I did make a few wrong turns mid-route and all of a sudden I hear behind me "hey old lady bus driver, we're going the wrong way" from the chubbiest, reddest-cheeked, runniest-nosed little guy I'd seen in a long time. And yes, you guessed it... he did indeed tell me turn-by-turn the entire rest of the route.... ahhhhh it never fails, even when they are only 5. I also had another first this morning after 29 yrs. of bus driving....at one stop there were 3 little kids....the first 2 got on and the 3rd who was a little girl all dressed in pink from head to toe looked at me with apprehension on her face, tears in her eyes and said as she started walking away "I forgot to kiss my mommy good-bye" - - - - I tried my usual sweetest-voiced "well honey you can kiss her hello when you get home today"... to which she just kept saying "no I need to go kiss my mommy goodbye".... to which I did the inevitable---watched her run away, shut the door and kept on driving the route. Guess that mommy better get her act together and make sure her darlin' gets that kiss in before she bundles her up and sets her out on the curb and goes back inside for her cup of morning brew.

Enjoying My View

Enjoying my View.....

as the

night sky moves in

across the lake...and

another new year approaches....

YIKES !

what's a girl to do when she orders herself up a pizza on new years eve and when the doorbell rings guess who it is dressed up in the domino's outfit ? ?

Anyone out there with an ARM on their mortgage knows why this is!

My Fav's...

Each year as I pack away my treasures I've displayed during the Christmas season I find I've developed a new favorite..... Today I'm packing things up and realized my favorites from this year were..... my little silver tinsel tree I had in my sewing room .... and this cute little teapot I bought for five bucks that I had on my sideboard cupboard in the dining room....