Life in the Desert

We've been here Henderson for two weeks already. I'm finally getting around to posting from the desert. As you already know, we left home after saying our final good-bye to our dear mother and mother-in-law. Although we miss her dearly, we are, nonetheless praising God for her home going.

The first stop in our journey was in the Chicago area of Illinois to spend some time with our precious daughter Paige. It is always a joy to spend time with Paige and Michelle and Liam.

We played Bonanza in honor and memory of her grandmother. Our girls were so blessed to have really special grandmothers who took part in their lives and taught them many things.

I am always so happy to be able to spend time with Paige.

Boomer is always happy to see us.

Liam didn't make weight. Are you kidding me? 60 plus pounds and he was overweight. Anyway, we didn't get to see him wrestle. I think he looks rather Rockyesque in his sweats and mouth guard though.

We left Crystal Lake on an early morning with the temperature reading 11 below zero. Our thoughts ran ahead to the 50 degree warmth of the desert.

The second stop on our journey was in the Amarillo, TX area to visit with our dear friend, Izzie, who has recently moved to Hereford, TX to live near her son and his wife. We had a delightful breakfast and visit with Izzie, Kevin and Kim.

We left Hereford and drove to Albuquerque where we spent a wonderful evening with our dear friend Megan Estochen Smith. She is new to Albuquerque but she managed to show us around the Old Town and direct us to a really neat New Mexican restaurant.

The next day, a long one, found us here in Henderson, getting settled. It was so good to arrive here. We called Gretchen and had dinner with her that first evening. We spent the next few days getting settled in and preparing for the arrival of our friends, Bruce and Shelly....which is the next installment in our desert journal.

Until then,

Hugs and Hippo Hugs.

.

Elva E. Wolfanger, 1914-2011

After consulting with family members, I presented the following eulogy at my dear mother-in-law's funeral on February 7, 2011.

Elva Wolfanger was an amazing woman. Were she alive, she would surely dispute this statement. You see, my mother-in-law was not only humble, she was a woman who really did not know her own worth. I doubt she ever realized how many lives she touched in a positive way in her 96 years.

Most of you here, today, know many things about Mom. We, her family, want to share some of the many things we know about her.

Elva Wolfanger was a woman of honor. In her 50 plus years of marriage, she honored her husband and her marriage vows.

She honored her mother with whom she and her family shared their home, and when her mother-in-law was no longer able to care for herself, she welcomed and cared for her.

She was a woman of kindness. Whenever her name is mentioned to friends and acquaintances, people remark on her kindness to others. While most of us would close the door on salesmen and those prosletizing their religious beliefs, not Mom. She would invite them in and listen kindly to their spiel, not wanting to hurt their feelings. It never surprised me to find a Watchtower lying on her coffee table. Not that she read it, she just couldn't be unkind.

A loving mother, Elva Wolfanger had high expectations for her sons. She taught them manners, responsibility, respect for others. There were many things she didn't tolerate; disrespect for elders, use of bad language. Yesterday Laverne told me that although he doesn't remember the circumstances, he still remembers the tast of the Ivory soap that followed his use of bad language.

Her sense of discipline sometimes abandoned her. In the case of her youngest son, my husband, and his buddy wrestling on the bed. As the bed crashed to the floor, mom was up the stairs brandishing her brand new fly swatter with a plastic fly fastened to one side. As she began hitting the ill-behaved boys (you were allowed to discipline your neighbors children in those days), the fly swatter broke apart sending the fly....flying. I guess the absurdity of this hit Mom at that moment because, as Jim remembers, she collapsed onto the broken bed laughing with the two offending young men.

She loved her chldren. She was able to blend her love, kindness and honor with discipline, raising three sons. As she modeled these traits for her boys, she saw them grow to adulthood to not only honor and respect her, but to show love and respect for their own wives and others in their lives. This is evidenced by the loving and respectful way that Dale and Carolyn have cared for her in these last years.

Grandma Wolfanger adored her grandchildren. She did all in her power to make them know how special they were. She derived such joy from spending time with them.

A face book post fromher granddaughter, Paige - "Missing my grandma Elva today; who made rock babies with us, and was the fastest triple solitaire hand this side of the rockies, and believed that someday a UFO would land in her back yard and treated her grandchildren like they were gold, and who returned to her creator yesterday.

From her granddaughter Gretchen Wise -"Dear Grandma, Thanks for letting me fill every inch of your house with wildflowers, for letting us fly gliders off your back porch. Thanks for saving the Star for us to read (my first trashy magazine). Thanks for the rock babies and the hand made Barbie clothes. I'm sure that you are making whoopie pies with the angels. I love you so. Be at peace."

Her joy in parenting and grandparenting continued in these last years through the birth of her great grandchildren. Their cards, visits and entertaining with singing and playing their musical instruments brought her great joy in her last years.

From her Tennessee great granddaughters: "Great Grandma, I will play my flute for you. I will play the piano for you. And I will sing for you. You will always be in our hearts. We love you."

As a mother-in-law, Elva was a woman of wisdom. One of the many wise and wonderful things she taught her sons was to never, ever compare their wives' cooking to hers. I remember so distinctly the day, early in our marriage, when I made fried pork chops and Jim said, "Where is the gravy?" My answer was that you don't make gravy from fried pork chops drippings...You know where this is going, right? His answer, "My mom does." didn't set well with me. And the next time we went to Austin, I paid him back by tattling to his mother. I don't have any idea exactly what she said to him, but suffice it to say, he never compared my cooking to hers again.

Mom was a wonderful cook and she always tried to make our favorite foods. In fact, if you even so much as mentioned that you liked something, you might expect to have it every time you came to visit. I remember Derek commenting that he liked her cherry pie. From that time on, there was always cherry pie for Derek.

She was a woman of hospitality. Whether hosting her card club or the Ladies Aid, out of town relatives, or friends ofher children, she was gracious and welcoming to everyone who was a guest in her home.

On holidays, she invited not only us, her children, but our families also. If you had happened upon one of our celebrations, you wouldn't be able to distinguish who belonged to who. We were a family and that's the way Mom wanted it.

As you can see, Mom was many things, but most of all, she was a woman of faith. She lived a life of quiet trust in God. If God said it, she believed it. She needed no proof. God's presence was so obvious in her life. She didn't stand on street corners telling of her faith, she didn't pray in public, she didn't speak or preach to large crowds, but to know her was to see the beauty of a life rooted in God's love.

I'll leave you today with these words from her youngest great grandchild, three year old Wyatt. "Dear God, bless great grandmother, keep her safe and warm and happy."

Amen.

January Projects

These cold, snowy January days lend themselves to staying indoors and working on projects.

Although. or perhaps because, I started this past week with a visit from the Stomach Bug, I didn't have much energy or oomph to do anything too physical. So, instead I turned my mind to some projects that have been on my mind.

I've started to knit a little again. Here is the beginning of a scarf I'm making for a Pay It Forward I'm doing on Facebook.

Another of my Pay It Forward projects is this little scrapbook I made for a former exchange student from Germany. This is a little memento of our visit together.

I have an artificial evergreen tree that I keep on my porch in the summer. I have it decorated with woodsy things for the summer. For July 4th, I have some patriotic decorations and I have some Halloween decorations. I bring it in the house and add gold balls for Christmas. This year, I have decided to keep it in the dining room 'til spring. I found some fun hearts and traded them for the gold balls.

I'm going to look on the Bronner's Christmas Store website for snowmen for next January. I'm not home for St. Patrick's day, but plan to look for some Easter decorations for April.

I spent a day in my craft room working on cards and scrap booking. Here is a card I finished up and sent to my uncle who gets pretty lonely on these long, snowy winter days since my aunt passed away.

I spent a day in my craft room making some cards. Jim's brother and his wife for their 50th wedding anniversary.

One of my best friends from High School is having a significant birthday in a few days and I made this one for her. I must admit that after I sent this one, I bought one with a less sentimental message.

I also did some cooking yesterday. I planned to share the recipes with you, my friends in Blogland, but I'm running out of time right now. We are on our way to Pennsylvania in a few minutes. We will visit my precious mother in law and celebrate my brother in law's birthday as well as he and his wife's 50th wedding anniversary.

Rushing away, I say....

~Hippo Hugs~

I've Been Tagged

My very interesting blogging buddy, Lyn recently tagged me. Like her, I don't love these tags, but also like her, I haven't been tagged in a while, so here goes.

Here is how it goes:

1. Thank the person who tagged you and link to her blog. (Check)

2. Share eight things about yourself (Check)

3. Pay it forward to eight bloggers. (I'm not sure...give me a few minutes on this one.)

4. Contact those bloggers to tell them they have been chosen in this tag. (See 3.)

1. Although it is hard for me to believe, I will have been retired six years on January 31st. I left my job as Library Director of our local public library just before my 60th birthday. Jim had already been retired from his teaching position for 2-1/2 years, and though I loved my job, I felt it was time to be free to spend time with him. We have really enjoyed our time together this past six years. The other day I remarked to him that every day I'm retired I love it more.
2. I have a tattoo. It was my plan to get a tattoo on my 6oth birthday, but we were in DisneyWorld and they just don't have tattoo parlors there. My tattoo is a dragonfly on my ankle. Getting a tattoo was my way of thumbing my nose at old age.
3. This sounds funny, following my tattoo disclosure, but I am an Evangelical Christian. Although I was raised in the church, I didn't really accept salvation through grace until I was 25 years old. The past 40 years, have been the best of my life. I am deeply aware of how I fail to live up to the name Christian, but I am so grateful for God's grace and mercy that keep me going and striving in this life.
4. If I were to start over in a career I would choose Television Journalism. I think I would make a great anchorwoman or tv interviewer. What a great profession that would be. Can't you just see it now? The NBC Evening News with Anchorwoman, Pam Wolfanger.
5. Jim and I have a Bucket List. We have accomplished many things on our list already. Some of the remaining things are: riding a zip line, white water rafting, take ballroom dance lessons, travel to Costa Rica, actually travelling to many places too numerous to list. I also want to own a Mini-Cooper and write a book about the town in which I grew up. And that's just a small portion of my list.
6. At 66, I am the last member of my immediate family. My parents both passed away within a year of each other. My precious brother left this world in 1998 and I miss him every day. My sister died of lung cancer several years ago. It's hard to believe that I am the only one left. I am so wonderfully blessed with an in-law family who love me and treat me like a sister and daughter. When I hear people complain about their in-laws, I always take a minute to thank God for this wonderful family in which he placed me.
7. I am one of the world's greatest procrastinators. I'd say more about that, but I think I'll wait awhile.
8. I have a wonderful husband and children. I am so proud of my daughters. They are both bright, outgoing and caring women who make me happy to be their mother. My son-in-law is a joy to me. What a kind and thoughtful man. He kind of reminds me of the girls' father, my precious husband of 42 years.

Okay, if I were going to send this to eight people, they would be:

• Cheryl, whose blogs always inspire me to write more. I always think how proud her mother must be of her.
• Fay, whose strong faith encourages me.
• Dagmar, who is one of the most creative bloggers I've met so far. Her blog is just beautiful.
• Patti, Oh Patti, you are precious.
• Tracy, my creative and delightful next door neighbor.
• Chrissy, who I love like a daughter and always makes me laugh.
• Midlife Mom, whose faith and joy amaze me.
• Pam, who I identify with.

January Musings

We're almost to the middle of January and the clothing experiment goes on. I haven't posted any pictures these past few days as I have mostly been hanging out in my jeans.

We did go to New Jersey this past weekend to celebrate LaVerne and Cathy's first wedding anniversary but somehow my camera never made it out of the suitcase. We had a good time celebrating with LaVerne and Cathy's friends and family. They sure are happy.

They did all the food for the party themselves and I came home with a couple of great recipes. I plan to make Paul's bean dip for the Super Bowl party .....Okay here is my dilemma.....I am really trying to use proper grammar. So....the Super Bowl party we are going to....is incorrect useage. I need to say the Super Bowl party to which we are going. And that sounds stilted, even though it is correct.

Okay, I had no intention of writing about this, but now that I've started my rant, let me continue. I am so bothered by the way people butcher grammar these days. I admit that I may have become a little obsessive, but at the same time people have become really, really lazy.

Some of the problem stems from the lack of teaching. No longer do children learn the parts of speech, diagram sentences, or even drill on spelling words. Whole Language has ruined the English language in my opinion.

I was reading a book by Mary Jane Clark in which I found this line: "What time do you need the papers by?" I screamed and threw the book on the hassock. My brother in law, sister in law and husband just laughed. They really think I'm losing it. But, I ask you, is it too much to expect writers and news reporters to use good grammar? If we can't look up to these people, then who?

Then there is the matter of your and you're. Even ads in the newspapers get that wrong now. Some of my Facebook friends, intelligent, educated people, don't seem to know the difference. It's enough to make me want to unfriend them.

Here and now I admit that I don't always get it right, but I am trying. Maybe I should thank all these people who hack away at the language I love. They really make me think.

Okay, the rant is over. I'm off to clean my upstairs and throw away all those size ten pieces of clothing that I will never wear again. Wonder where the trash can is at?

Put your heart, mind, intellect,

and souleven to your smallest acts.

This is the secret of success.

~Swami Sivananda~

~Hippo Hugs~

Experiment - Day Two

On day two, I chose to wear my jeans, a snowman turtleneck and my red vest for lunch at the Olive Garden and our usual Tuesday movie.

I need to confess that this morning, I switched my black tee shirt for a second vest. Decided I might be a little chilly with just shirts. Other than that, I plan to stick to the plan.
Still only 12 items.

~Hippo Hugs~

Twelve for Thirty

Maybe it's because of the economy and so many people out of work, maybe it's the poverty and tragedy in Haiti and other parts of the world, maybe it's just my age, but I have been thinking a lot about excess this past year. I look at all we have and all we actually need and I see the chasm.

Jim and I talk a lot about paring down, hoeing out, getting rid of the excess. That is probably because we have emptied out both his parents' and my mother's homes and laughed at all the crazy things they kept. We don't want our daughters to say that about us.

Now, if any of you know me at all, you know that I have a huge weakness for clothes. This dates way back to my high school days and has probably grown with age. I just love clothes. I spend a lot of time thinking about what I'll wear where and how I will accessorize it.

A few months ago, I read an article in a magazine suggesting the experiment of choosing ten items of clothing and wearing just them for a month. I was intrigued by the idea and found myself thinking about it at odd moments of the day. Finally, I decided that I would like to give it a try....after the holidays.

Today is my first day. I have adapted the plan to suit me, just a little. I am doing Twelve for Thirty for the month of January. At this point, I must clarify that I have chosen twelve items of clothing and have not limited my accessories at all. I'm hoping to be so creative with accessorizing that no one will really notice my dearth of outfits.

So, join me, will you and see if the Clothes Horse can actually stick to the experiment?

Here are the twelve items I have chosen: black slacks, grey slacks, denim jeans, one white top with a screen print, one white turtleneck with snowmen, one plain white turtleneck, one black turtleneck, one black long sleeved tee, one long sleeved grey tee, one red vest, one black jacket.

Here I am on day one ready to spend the day with my friend Karen.

I need to add here that I did not count my workout clothes, or my house pants in the mix.

Stay tuned and see if I can actually do this.

Self confidence is the first

requisite to great undertakings.

~Samuel Johnson~

~Hippo Hugs~