Friday, May 30, 2014

Thumbs Up



As I wrote two weeks ago, Elletu received good news from one specific round of medical tests, and I was there with her when she came out of the diagnostic room and gave me the thumbs up sign. She had to go back to work, but not before j and I joined her for a celebratory lunch at That One Place. No, that really is the name of the restaurant, That One Place, and one reason we love it so much is that they play Christian music all the time. We were feeling particularly grateful to God for the good news, and we were all smiles. We wanted to capture the moment with pictures, but there were no cucumber slices available to us. Improvise! Jelly packets did the trick. (I don't think they would be good for facials, though.)

Well, that was then, this is now, and Elletu is not out of the woods yet. She just had another test, and because of that one, she is being sent on to another and more ominous one. We are rallying around her, depending on that WIRELESS CONNECTION I wrote about last time. Our prayer is that she will come through this as she did the last time, by giving me the thumbs up sign, because I'm going to be there with her. She can count on that.

We love you, Elletu!

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Best Wireless Connection

The signs are getting better! I like this one, on a reader board at a local church:

PRAYER - THE BEST WIRELESS CONNECTION

Had a great prayer with Elletu on Monday. We had just gotten back to my car in the parking lot at the hospital in Silverdale. I drove her there that morning to have further screening, and we didn't speak of it ahead of time but we were both pretty anxious about what the results would be. The word never entered our conversation, but what her doctor was looking for was cancer. We were all praying hard for leading up to this day and while she was in having her tests. I was in the waiting room, using my smartphone to keep Cool and j up on what was happening. When Elletu emerged, she had a smile on her face and gave me the thumbs up sign. INTERPRETATION: NO CANCER! I wanted to jump for joy, but I don't really jump these days. So we walked together, Elletu and I, to the parking lot and got in my car. We didn't have to say much before the tears started falling. I told her, "I know you were much more concerned than you had let on." We had a good cry and a good prayer, a time to thank God for answering our prayers.

My smartphone (wireless connection) kept me in touch with Cool and j while I was in the waiting room. Prayer (the ultimate wireless connection) kept me in touch with God while I was in the waiting room.

Prayer is the best! Thank You, God, for a good diagnosis!

Friday, May 9, 2014

It was the best of signs, it was the worst of signs...

I have been driving my husband to work every day for a few months now because of a problem he has with his heel. I see a lot of reader boards. Some I like, some I don't like. The best one right now is in Gorst. Gorst is a weird little place. Of all the small towns in our country, I think Gorst (pronounced Gorst) is the worst (pronounced wurst). But this reader board is BEST OF SIGNS:

    ORGANIC GARDENING IS TILLING IT LIKE IT IS

Then there is the sign I came across in Bremerton the other day. It is on private property next to a business that has inadequate parking, so I can imagine the property owners have had to shoo away errant parkers a time or two. Here's what today's WORST OF SIGNS says:

             private property
           you cannot park here
           while you are getting
   lunch, dinner, or indigestion
   at the restaurant, or your car
               will be tolled


I applaud the humor in the sign (regarding the indigestion) but not the misspelling. Has someone not TOLD them cars park illegally get TOWED, not TOLLED, which is what happens to cars that go on TOLL bridges and TOLL roads?

That's all TILL next time.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Spa Day 2014

We wait for it all year. It is a once-in-a-year opportunity for the BVG's to relax and indulge ourselves in the art of pampering (not to be confused with the art of Pampering, something we all perfected back in the '70's and early '80's). We thought the day would never arrived, but then at 9:00 the morning of April 26, 2014, the BVG's gathered at Trankwility Woods (as we call my home) for Spa Day. This means a day of luxurious delights for us. We all contributed to the breakfast and lunch buffets. We sipped mimosas in the morning hours, wine in the afternoon hours, nothing to excess, per usual, but with our usual flair. At 11:00 our two massage therapists arrived with their 'gear'----a massage table, a massage chair, foot and hand baths, paraffin dip containers, fragrant oils, towels and sheets. We had a schedule to follow, so we all knew where to be when. The massage table and massage chair were set up in my living room. When we weren't being worked on in there, we were resting in recliners in my family room and having either our feet or hands cared for. Heaven for me is being sprawled out, or rather forward, in the massage chair having my neck, shoulders and upper back worked on while listening to soft piano music on my stereo. I have to say, the massage I received this year was without a doubt my best massage ever. I went straight from my living room to my recliner in my family room, grabbing first my soft, luxurious blanket to wrap myself in while extending myself back into the most relaxing recliner position possible. And then I mumbled to my dear sisters, "I'm not talking to anyone." Talk about being relaxed to the max!! I was somewhere in la-la land 40 minutes later when I heard a quiet voice gently ask, "Are you ready to soak your feet?" The soaking, the paraffin dip, the oils, they are all very nice. But the 'wow factor" for me was the most incredible foot massage ever that nearly sent me into oblivion. By the time my foot massage was completed, all four of us were in recliners in the family room, barely able to speak or to move because we were so deliciously relaxed. In fact, when our two wonderful therapists appeared together in the family room, ready to leave, we could only muster weak waves but also very appreciative expressions of thanks. And I, the hostess, who should have seen them to the door, could only say, "You know the way out. Goodbye for this year. We all love and appreciate you." They had been paid earlier, so what did they care that no one got up to send them off? In fact, I think they surveyed the situation and said, "Our work here is done, and it was definitely a success." We were so sacked out, we might still be in those recliners today had I not suddenly remembered, "Oh! I forgot to take the banana bread out of the Crock Pot!" This was enough to get us all up to prepare our lunch of seafood (shrimp or smoked salmon) salad, and for this we fancied things up and sat in the dining room. Part of the reason for that was that our facials would happen after lunch, and that would be at my kitchen table. After such a fabulous day, I kind of wish we had just stopped at lunch, because we were on such a roll. The facials, I thought, were worthy of being on an episode of "I Love Lucy," but we should call it "I Love Firstelle," because it was my idea. Cool did fine with her clay mask, but I convinced Elletu and j that my recipe for an 'all natural facial mask' was a good idea. Let me just say that a mixture of avocado, honey and uncooked oatmeal will NOT stay on the face but will rather keep dropping off in clumps down a cleavage or on a lace tablecloth, or, in our case, both. What a mess! The avocado makes it so greasy that cucumber slices will not adhere to the eye sockets very well. It could be our uncontrolled laughter had something to do with it. I kept asking, "Whose dumb idea was this???" which was meant to be a rhetorical question, but they answered me just the same. I didn't like their tone when they would reply, "YOURS!" I must say, the clay mask left Cool's skin looking radiant, but the rest of us noticed absolutely zero improvement in ours after the avocado fiasco. For the record, I did not make up the mask recipe, but you can be sure I have destroyed it, and it will not be invited back to Spa Day 2015. The BVG's really didn't leave on a low note. Nine hours together, and not a harsh word between us. We can't MASK the fact that we love each other and treasure the time we spend together. We will look back on this and remember Spa Day 2014 with deep fondness, the facial fiasco notwithstanding.

Thank you, BVG's, and now the countdown begins to April 2015. Can't wait!

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Headline News

I started reading the newspaper, cover to cover, when I was just nine years old. I border on being obsessed with keeping up with the news, not just local and national but even for areas where we used to live. Nowadays I prefer to get my news online or on my phone so I don't have to bother with recycling newspapers. On days like today, when I am in a big rush (as I have been for a few weeks now), I'm too busy to read full articles. So I skim the headlines, wanting to be 'in the know' even when I am 'on the go.' It works. Who needs more than this?

* Grandmother of Eight Makes Hole in One
* Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
* House Passes Gas Tax onto Senate
* Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan
* Two Convicts Evade Noose, Jury Hung
* William Kelly Was Fed Secretary
* Milk Drinkers are Turning to Powder
* Safety Experts Say School Bus Passengers Should be Belted
* Quarter of a Million Chinese Live on Water
* Famer Bill Dies in House
* Iraqi Head Seeks Arms
* Queen Mary Having Bottom Scraped
* Panda Mating Fails---Veterinarian Takes Over
* Child's Stool Great Use in Garden
* Eye Drops Off Shelf
* Squad helps Dog Bite Victim
* Dealers Will Hear Car Talk at Noon
* Enraged Cow Injures Farmer With Ax
* Lawmen from Mexico Barbecue Guests
* Miners Refuse to Work After Death
* Two Sisters Reunite After Eighteen Years at Checkout Counter
* Autos Killing 110 a Day; Let's Resolve to do Better
* War Dims Hope for Peace
* Smokers are Productive, but Death Cuts Efficiency
* Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
* Man is Fatally Slain
* Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Experts Say

With that, I'm ready to run off to my busy day away from the house. It always feels good to be up on the news. However, I am going to be worried about that poor grandchild maimed by his grandma. I will be especially careful not to jaywalk while I'm out, just in case the police are out there. I will keep away from government buildings and have no plans to attend a funeral any time soon. Sad news about that jury--I will have to talk to Cool about that later, as she will surely have the sad details. Mr. Kelly should be ashamed of himself! Will look for white powdery substance when I am out and about today. I don't think I have to fear cocaine as much as I might milk drinkers. My children never rode a school bus, but for sure I wouldn't allow it now. I guess eventually we won't have to fear the Chinese Army, at least what's left of them. Sad news about Farmer Bill, although I never knew him. Wow, too bad about that Iraqi guy. Kinda hard to hug without arms, yeah? And ouch for Queen Mary!! Ouch for the panda!!! I'm into recycling, but this new garden aid, I don't know, it doesn't seem right to me. I've heard of a 'wandering eye,' but what was it doing on a shelf? A dog bite would be bad enough, but a squad bite, now that is vicious! I remember a Stephen King move, "Christine." That car could talk. So when a cow is mad, hide the axes--got that. Stay away from Mexican BBQ's--got that? Personally, I don't believe we will have to work per se in heaven. Miners perhaps have to go to the 'other place.' Can you imagine wasting 18 years standing at a checkout counter? I'm always in too big a rush to do that. What do we have to do to get that number up to 115? Duh! War doesn't exactly do much for peace, but you know, hope springs eternal. Send in John Kerry! Death does kind of stunt your productivity. Cold is relative. 63 is cold in Honolulu, but it signals a heat wave in Seattle. Oh, too bad the slain man ended up a fatality. And again I say, "Duh!" Prior to the plane crash, something did apparently go wrong, even drastically wrong. I hope the experts were paid well to do their study.

Learning to write proper headlines is a specific course of study in journalism education. I studied journalism in school, and I was the feature editor of our school newspaper. We learned the right way and the wrong way to write headlines. Several years down the road I came across the best example of the wrong way. A tribute to civil rights leader Rosa Parks was being dedicated in Seattle, and the day after the ceremony this headline appeared in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
                                   Rosa Parks Bust Unveiled
I don't know how that got by the editor, but I would hope the headline writer was chastised at some point. I know I laughed at the time I saw this, but today we would have to refrain because of political correctness.

Here are some favorites, actual headlines, found online:

Diana Was Still Alive Hours Before She Died
Student Excited Dad Got Head Job
Missippi's Literacy Program Shows Improvement
Lady Jacks Off to Hot Start in Conference
Bugs Flying Around with Wings are Flying Bugs
Republicans Turned Off by Size of Obama's Package
Illiteracy an Obstable, Study Fnds
Tiger Woods Plays with Own Balls, Nike Says
A-Rod Goes Deep, Wang Hurt
Statistics Show That Teen Pregnancy Drops Off Significantly After Age 25
Federal Agents Raid Gun Shop, Find Weapons
Marijuana Issue Sent to a Joint Committee
Woman Missing Since She Got Lost
Man Accused of Killing Lawyer Receives New Attorney
Mayor to Homeless: Go Home
Homicide Victims Rarely Talk to Police
Most Earthquake Damage is Caused by Shaking
Drunk Gets Nine Months in Violin Case
Prostitutes Appeal to Pope
Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Stolen Painting Found by Tree
Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
Complaints About NBA Referees Growing Ugly
One-Armed Man Applauds the Kindness of Strangers
County to Pay $250,000 to Advertise Lack of Funds


Welcome to our first BVGOOO!


She's here! Our first Bethel Valley Girls' offspring's offspring's offspring (BVGOOO) arrived safely the morning of May 1, 2014, and here is a picture of her not long after her birth. Joyful and loving congratulations to Elletu, who is now a great-grandmother! We considered Photoshopping a little cucumber slice over the eyes of this precious little angel in order to keep with our blog policy. Not only did we deem it unnecessary, this picture is too perfect to mess with. Welcome to our world, beautiful little BVGOOO. We love you already!