Luci’s Inferno

A couple of weekends ago, Michelle, Jim, Jeremy and Justin came to visit and brought enough gardening and landscaping supplies to last me all summer (maybe).  Of course the guys had to unload everything and carry it around back.  My plan was for Michelle and me to assemble a garden box while the guys went to a tractor pull.  That didn't work out so well.  Since muscular assistance was going to be required, she suggested that we go ahead and purchase the supplies for all the planned boxes while the family discount was available.  That way the guys could do them all while they were there.  We headed off to purchase lumber.  It took all afternoon and several trips but we hauled all the 16 foot strips of lumber in my car and carried them around back.  Hauling lumber in the Buick was so reminiscent of my youth when we hauled hog food in the old Cadillac. (But that's another story. I'll save it for later.)

Anyone who has seen my backyard knows that it is still a work in progress, even after 5 years.  There are lot of river rocks and a pallet of bricks that were left over from building the house.  (You never know when you might want to build a fire pit or a barbecue.)  I have developed a custom of bringing home rocks from every place I visit.  Every time I decide to add something of course it has to go precisely where the bricks and/or rocks were stacked the last time.  The guys have helped me move them more times than I can count.  To avoid hearing all the moaning and groaning, I spent all week moving bricks and digging up the grass I have watered, fertilized and weeded for five years.

Then I called Chris and Shawn and invited them over for pizza.  I think they are starting to catch on, but they came anyway.  Of course a change of plans and another trip to Lowe's was involved but Chris put together all five garden boxes in just over an hour.  I was thrilled and started shoveling top soil into them.  Shawn said, “If I had known, I would have brought my shovel."

I said, "No problem, I have another one."  Shawn helped me shovel top soil with Chris spelling us.  While we were shoveling he said that the next time he saw my number on his caller ID he was going to jump in his car and head for Florida.  I said, "That's nice. Jeff could probably use some help too."

To which he replied, "Forget that, just tell me where to dig next?”

As we were finishing up, Shawn asked, "Doesn't Dante's Inferno include a level of hell where the people are moving rocks back and forth for eternity."  I looked it up and sure enough Level 4 in Dante's Inferno is where "wasters and hoarders are condemned to roll weights back and forth against one another for eternity."  Looks like I have a name for my garden.  I just have to have the plaque made.

Thanks Jim, Michelle, Jeremy, Justin, Chris and Shawn for all the help. I don't think Dante envisioned all the laughing we did while we were working. Not everyone has a family who is willing to help them and certainly not everyone can laugh about it the way we do. Where I am concerned "Level IV" is a little bit of heaven here on earth.

Story from Luci

Eye Eye Captain

Blair is in preschool this year and really enjoys it.  His teacher, Angela, has a treasure box that the children can pick a toy from on Fridays, if they have been good all week. 

One Friday I  picked Blair up and he had picked an eye patch from the box.  He was so pleased with his treasure that he would not allow Emily to even look at it.  When he was finished playing with it, he had me hide it in a special place where Emily could not get it or it could not get lost.  He loved that old patch.

The following Friday I picked him up and, to my amazement, he had been a good boy again and had picked out another toy.  I had to laugh when I saw what he had, another patch.  I thought to myself that now he would let Emily have the first one, but no, that was not the case.  He announced to us all that he could not wait to get home and put on both patches.  It was all I could do to contain my laughter at the thought of him wearing both patches. 

He was overjoyed all the way home.  We go into the house, go straight to the hiding spot of the first patch and I just stand there to watch the show.   He puts the first patch on and then the other.  He stands there for about ten seconds taking it all in.  All of a sudden he rips off one of the patches and screams,  "Hey Emily! You can have this patch!" 

I almost fell over laughing.

Story by Grandma Jeff

I told you my Dad was Mexican

Caitlyn has really been giving her daddy, Jevon, a run for his money lately.  She never seems to stop amazing us with her wit and her ability to keep her daddy on his last nerve.  ( I love it! )

Well, to just lay a little ground work of knowledge for everyone, you must picture her daddy. He is Italian, he has dark hair and dark, olive skin.  He is a very handsome fellow. ( Please don't tell him I said that. I will never hear the end of it. )

Caitlyn started preschool this year and her classroom is full of all different types of people,  Spanish, Afro American, and White.  She is noticing that there are differences in each.  She is sooooo smart. One day Amber allowed her to have a friend over.  They were playing in the living room when her daddy came home from work.  As he opened the door and stepped into the living room,  Amber heard Caitlyn say to her friend, "See, I told you my Dad was Mexican!"

Jevon almost lost it!  He sat her down and told her that he was not Mexican, he was Italian.  She was not buying it at all.

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A few weeks went by and Caitlyn came home crying that one of the children had called her fat.  Her daddy sat her down and told her that he had a word he wanted her to use on them - Anorexic.   They practiced saying that word until Caitlyn had it down, “An-or-ex-ic,  An-or-ex-ic.”  The next day Caitlyn came home from preschool and asked Amber, "Mom, what was that Mexican word Dad taught me?"

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Poor old Jevon,  he can’t get a break.  Caitlyn spends a lot of her time begging him to teach her to count to ten in Mexican. He tries to tell her he is not Mexican. She is not buying it.  He tries to tell her that, if he is Mexican, then she is Mexican also.  She just puts her arm out and shows him that she is white, and he is dark.

Adios amigos!

Story by Grandma Jeff

BILLY BOY'S WIFE TURNS 85

Today March 20, 2010. Mother is now 85. And so is Billy Boy's wife.

ALL SINGS

Can she bake a cherry pie? Billy Boy, Billy Boy!
Can she bake a cherry pie, Charming Billy?

ONE BOY SINGS

She can bake a cherry pie quick as a cat can wink its eye.
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mother.

ALL SINGS

How old is she Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
How old is she charming Billy?

Three times six and four times seven, twenty eight and eleven.
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mother.

It adds up to she's 85.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM !

Sherry

Fifty Eight and Counting

I copied this old document from a box at Mom and Dad’s a while back.  I’ve blacked out portions of it for safety reasons ( I wouldn’t want anyone stealing her identity and making off with Luci’s millions. )

 

I bet that footprint is a lot bigger now, fifty eight years later.

 

  HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCI !