"Superman Returns" Review

My verdict is in. Tonight is the first time I have ever gone to a movie on the first day of its release. My son and I went to see "Superman Returns". It was very good. We both enjoyed it. It had lots of adventure, drama, and I will say Superman was kept quite busy! I wasn’t sure if I would take to the actor who played him. He was no George Reeves, although he has a cleft chin like George. The new actor was better looking on the screen than he is in photos. He reminded me very much of Christopher Reeves, and I had gotten used to Christopher, so that was fine. The movie was dedicated to Christopher and Dana Reeves, which was touching. I read that they planned to have Christopher do a cameo, but he passed away before he could do so. Speaking of cameos, I'm curious to know if the original actor who played Jimmy Olson had a cameo, it sure looked like an older Jimmy.

Kevin Spacey was great as Lex Luther, and reminded us so much of Gene Hackman! The actress playing Lois Lane, probably the cutest Lois Lane we’ve had, coming very close to the original.

One burning question every time Clark Kent turned into Superman, and one I’m sure I’m not alone in asking: What does he do with his clothes and glasses?

Rob said I shouldn’t write like I’m trying to “sell” the movie. So I will just tell you that we both thought it was a well made movie and we enjoyed it -- that from a baby boomer who liked the original Superman, and a guy who grew up with the 70 and 80's Superman. If you see it, I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Superman Returns

Superman of My Day Superman of our Children's Day

SUPERMAN RETURNS

"Faster than a speeding bullet!
More powerful that a locomotive!
Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound!"
"Look! Up in the sky!"
"It's a bird!"
"It's a plane!"
"It's - SUPERMAN!"
"Yes, it's Superman - strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman! Who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper,
fights a never-ending battle for Truth, Justice, and the American Way!"

When I was a child that is what we heard at the beginning of every Superman TV Show that we watched. Our generation had the original Superman on TV.

Superman started as a story in DC Comics in 1938. He was a social crusader. The first Superman leaped, he didn’t fly. He was portrayed as a meek ordinary, average person,(newspaper reporter, Clark Kent) but was really a super hero. In 1939 Superman became a comic strip in the newspapers. In 1940 he debuted on radio. 20 million listeners tuned in. It was during this time that he started flying.

In 1941 the first of 17 theatrical shorts were made to be shown in the movie theaters. He was an icon through the 1940’s, and with us being at war, he was a symbol of hope to a struggling nation.

In 1952 Superman came to television. The storyline added Lois Lane, to be a strong female character, George Reeves played Superman. He was the Superman I knew and the one my generation knew.
In 1978, when our daughter was growing up, Superman returned to the theater, with Christopher Reeve playing Superman. That is the “Superman” that my children know.
Dean Caine played him on TV from 1993 – 1997. I don’t believe the 90’s TV show was anywhere near as popular as the original in the 50’s.

10 years in the making, today, Superman returns today! There were 3 different directors, who had different ideas of how Superman should be portrayed for this generation. It took 10 years for the project to get completed. Brandon Routh will play him. He put on 20 pounds of muscle for the part.

Rob is encouraging me to go with him tonight to see the new movie. We will see the Superman of 2006. I will let you know what I think of him.

Peace

4th Sunday at Hope UMC is always a bit different than the other 3 Sundays. We have a praise team to lead us that Sunday, we often see slides that are relevant to the scripture and sermon, and there is usually a theme. This morning’s theme was “Peace”, and we were to come to church dressed like us baby boomers dressed in the 60’s. You’d think I would have some of those clothes and accessories leftover, but I don’t. I wore a shirt that has some prints and jewels on, that looks similar to our tie dyed shirts back then. I also wore jeans that are not quite bell bottoms, but wide on the bottom. Many people looked very 60’s and hippy. We had flowers in the hair, sunglasses, peace symbols, a sign that said “Make love not war”, lots of dye tied shirts, peace sign jewelery and “love” beads. All of our congregational songs had to do with peace.

Our scripture was Mark 4:35-41, where Jesus calmed the storm when he and his disciples were in a storm in the middle of the night, on their fishing boat. The sermon was about the Peace that Jesus brings to us, not the peace that the world gives us. This was a good reminder, because the world doesn’t give us much peace.

I wonder if we will soon have a resurgence of the peace movement we had in the 60’s? We need to remember that the scriptures say that there will always be war and rumors of wars.

I hope you have peace. As the song goes “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me”.

Our closing song was “Go Now in Peace”. It was a peace filled Sunday morning. I hope to keep the peace going through the week.

To read Pastor Michelle's message from this morning go to:

Livingtexts.blogspot.com

Breaking the Pop Habit

Read the blog below about the pop (the title got missed on it)

By the way, ironically, last Sunday I received one of those e mails titled "Coke vs Water", I'm sure all of you with e mail have seen it, it makes its rounds quite regulary. After reading it, it does make you stop and think before you drink another Coke. I wonder if everything in that about coke is true? I should probably check out the "urban myth" website.

Later: I just checked the snopes.com website, where I look to see if things that come through e mail are bunk or truth. For your information, here is what I found
Quoted from the web site:
"Origins: Many of the entries above are just simple household tips involving Coca-Cola, as provided by Joey Green in his 1995 book Polish Your Furniture with Panty Hose and on his web site. That you can cook and clean with Coke is relatively meaningless from a safety standpoint — you can use a wide array of common household substances (including water) for the same purposes; that fact alone doesn't necessarily make them dangerous to ingest. Nearly all carbonated soft drinks contain carbonic acid, which is moderately useful for tasks such as removing stains and dissolving rust deposits (although plain soda water is much better for some of these purposes than Coca-Cola or other soft drinks, as it doesn't leave a sticky sugar residue behind). Carbonic acid is relatively weak, however, and people have been drinking carbonated water for many years with no detrimental effects.

The rest of the claims offered here are specious. Coca-Cola does contain small amounts of citric acid and phosphoric acid; however, all the insinuations about the dangers these acids might pose to people who drink Coca-Cola ignore a simple concept familiar to any first-year chemistry student: concentration. Coca-Cola contains less citric acid than orange juice does, and the concentration of phosphoric acid in Coke is far too small (a mere 11 to 13 grams per gallon of syrup, or about 0.20 to 0.30 per cent of the total formula) to dissolve a steak, a tooth, or a nail overnight. (Much of the item will dissolve eventually, but after a day or two you'll still have most of the tooth, a whole nail, and one very soggy t-bone.)

Besides, the gastric acid in your stomach is much stronger than any of the acids in Coca-Cola, so the Coca-Cola is harmless.

The next time you're stopped by a highway patrolman, try asking him if he's ever scrubbed blood stains off a highway with Coca-Cola (or anything else). If you're lucky, by the time he stops laughing he'll have forgotten about the citation he was going to give you."

So, the next time you get the "Coke vs Water" e mail, think twice before hitting the
"forward" button.

Linda's Thoughts from Duluth

Breaking the "Pop" Habit
So… do you think there is something to this? My daughter and grandson tried to convince me when they visited last weekend that a lot of my weight is from drinking diet pop. They said that if I stopped drinking everything but WATER, that I would immediately drop pounds. Not only stop drinking pop, but stop drinking all liquids except water. I told them “but I only drink DIET pop”, they said that that is even “worse than regular pop, and that it keeps weight on people”. Then they told me to look around and notice “do you see any skinny people drinking “diet” pop?” “no,” they said, “only overweight people”. They believe that diet pop is making people heavy.

Up until I had to start being more careful about my blood sugar, I never drank diet pop, because I worried about the things in it. But, then a few years ago, I quit drinking the regular stuff and started drinking the diet. Diet Cherry Coke has become my favorite, and while I don’t drink lots of cans a day, I usually drink at least one can a day. In the summer I drink more. I also like iced tea, which is either the sweetened stuff or the artificially sweetened stuff, neither which is good for me. (A side note here…you can tell now that I am a real transplanted Midwesterner, because I am now referring soda pop as “pop” instead of “soda”! When I was growing up in PA and at least the first 20 years I lived here, I always said “soda”. Now, I am saying “pop”.)

Starting Monday morning, I took a big cup of water with me to work, and tried to keep it filled throughout the day, having a hard time remembering to drink the water, but having an even harder time staying away from other liquids. I think I could stay away from pop, as I have done that before, but staying away from orange juice, other juices, tea, latte’s, mocha latte’s, milk shakes, that is what’s going to be hard! (I had to drink water with my toast this morning instead of tea.)

I’ve managed to do so through today, almost a week. I had a terrific headache on Monday, probably from caffeine withdrawal, but I took care of that, by eating chocolate…ha ha… I must get those chocolate bars away from me…wouldn’t you think I’d soon be sick of them by now? One of my team members called last night, and she wants me to drop off 2 cases (96 bars) to her today..yeah, they are selling well.

Starting Monday, my goal will be to only drink water and to not eat anymore Seroogy’s chocolates! First the pop and other liquids, then the chocolate.(Now, remember, I said Monday!)

Reasons

-- Friend’s husband just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer – stage 4, untreatable
-- Neighbor and friend battling cancer for a long time, back in the hospital
-- Dear friend, last stages of her cancer
-- Dear friend of a dear friend, last stages of his cancer
-- Former ACS volunteer and friend, recent diagnosis of stage four cancer
-- Two loved ones awaiting the news of a breast biopsy
-- Dear friend, finished last chemo treatment yesterday for breast cancer, needs to
face radiation treatment yet
-- friends who lost their lovely 4 year old daughter to leukemia
-- The loss of a brother from cancer, too young to die
-- the pain of watching those you love and care about, suffer from cancer
-- So, so many friends who are survivors of Breast Cancer, living with the
knowledge that it could return somewhere else in their body
These are the reasons:
-- I walk at The American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life Event
-- I raise money for cancer research and programs
-- I financially support Relay teams that raise money for cancer
researchm programs for those battling this disease, programs for early
detection and awareness
-- I give through the Memorial program of ACS
-- I urge my friends and family to get their cancer screenings
-- I work for The American Cancer Society

These are the reasons why I awoke early this morning, unable to sleep.

Our Children's Grandfather

The only Grandfather that our children knew was my Dad.

Our children did not know their paternal Grandfather. Bob was estranged from his Father after his Mother was divorced when he was in junior high. Bob doesn’t talk much about his Dad, but from what he has told me, I know he did not have a happy childhood when it came to relation-ship with his Dad. His Mother and Aunties, and sister, 9 years older, are the ones that raised him, with very little help from his Father. His Father never had a kind word to say to Bob, he “belittled” him and was not a nice man.

My Mother-in-law’s marriage was “arranged”, not a marriage she wanted. She was an abused wife, and her Mother didn’t want to “hear anything” about it. She didn’t get any support from her Mother, she was only interested that her daughters married men with a good job to support them. So, after her Mother and Father passed away, she finally felt free to be able to divorce. She said she didn’t “dare” leave him while her Mother was alive. Can you imagine being so intimated by your Mother that you would put up with an abusive husband!

When I was in the hospital after Dawn’s birth, his Father came in to see the baby. That and one time when he came around the house when she was about 6, are the only two times that he saw his Granddaughter. I believe that by the time the boys came along, he had passed away.

So, my Dad was the children’s Grandfather. He was a good Grandfather. I really wish that we lived closer to him, so that they could have spent more time with him. My nieces and nephews that lived close to the farm, spent a lot of time with my Dad, and I know how they cried when he died, they said that Grandpa was so good to them, and how much they loved him and how he loved them.

I’m re-posting the photo I posted the other day…I love this photo of my Dad with our boys. He did not hesitate to show his love to them, when we visited there and when he was here. He let them follow around him on the farm, like I did when I was little. He let them drive the tractor when they were older, something that city boys loved to do. He was good with our Grandson Skylar. When they visited us, he would sit on the porch visiting with the kids. One time I remember when he brought a brand new wagon that had wood side boards, along from Pennsylvania as a gift to Dawn. When Dawn was 2 months old, they came to Duluth to visit, and they went shopping and bought a crib for her, since we had her in a bassinet, he told me she would soon need a crib.

When he passed away, our daughter went to PA with me for the funeral. She always felt so close to him.

Our grandchildren, I believe, are very fortunate to have good Grandfathers. My husband is very good with our two grandchildren. Grandfather Soderberg is also very special...both are good at being "Grandpas".

I’m very thankful that our children were able to spend time and get to know their Pennsylvania Grandpa.

Italian Grandfather

Grandpa and Grandma Rich came from Italy through Ellis Island, then settled in Northern Minnesota. After their first daughter was born, they moved to Duluth. My Mother in Law, Aunts, Bob and his sister all talk so fondly of both of them. They especially talk about how, for her time, Grandma Rich was an excellent businesswomen. She was very smart and very savvy in running a business, a household and a family.

His grandparents owned and ran a neighborhood grocery store, specializing in Italian foods. It was just down the street from their home. His Grandmother is the one who ran the store.
Grandpa sold lumber. He would often tear down places that needed to be torn down and bring home the wood and cut it into lumber for re-sale.

Bob tells that Grandpa Rich was the “head of the family” and ruled the roost. He was firm in his parenting, a disciplinarian, and what he said went. I was surprised to hear that because his Mother always told me that her father had the soft heart and that her Mother “ruled the roost” and ruled with an iron fist. That is why, when her marriage was “arranged”, and she did not want to marry, she pleaded with her Father to talk with her Mother on her behalf. She told me that he did, but that Mother ruled, so she had to marry a man she did not want to marry. (Someday, I will write about that). So, I guess, they both were firm, and Grandpa had a soft heart, but didn’t want to show it, like so many men back then, especially, Italian men. Bob’s sister says that though he tried, he could never change Grandma’s mind, she was very strong and always got what she wanted.

He was of small stature and wasn’t more than 5 feet. He spoke broken English. I only have one or two photos of them, and sometime when I get them scanned I will post their photo.
Bob remembers all the big family dinners, with Grandpa sitting at the head of the table.
Bob says, he sat at the head of the table, if he said “quiet” it would be so quiet you’d hear a pin drop. His sister told me that he always wore a hat, always, even in the house. So, if he ever took his hat off and threw it down, “you’d better run” because someone was in trouble!

His Grandpa died when Bob was in grade school. My Mother in law told us that when her Mother died, her sister from Maryland came for the funeral. Her Father told her not to go back home to Maryland, that she was to stay until fall (4 months later), because then she would be home for his funeral! Aunt Louisa granted his request and stayed, and sure enough four months later, he passed away. We’ll never know if he really had a “premonition” or if he "willed" himself to die, due to the grief of losing his wife and loneliness.

My Grandfathers

On Mother’s Day week I wrote about my Grandmothers. For equal time, I should write about my Grandfathers. However, I don’t have nearly as much to say about my Grandfathers, as I do about my Grandmothers.

Maternal Grandfather – I did not know him, and do not know much about him. He died in his early 30’s, when my Mother was very young, and because she was so young, she didn’t have many memories to pass down to me about him. I wish now that I talked more to Grandma about him, and I have one uncle left, out of three – I really need to talk with him and find out more about Grandpa Livingston. I think I told you previously that Grandma did marry later, and so I had a Step-Grandfather. He was a very stoic, quiet man, who hardly ever talked, and sure didn't talk to me too much. I know he was a loving man, and was always very kind to me.
He was very kind to my Grandmother, which to me, meant he was a good man. The most he talked to me was when I would go to the pig pen and help him feed the pigs.

Paternal Grandfather – Grandpa worked a night shift at a paper mill in the city. Us grandchildren always thought he was very grumpy. I think it was because of his job, he was probably tired during the day, when us grandchildren were around. Us grandchildren, since we are adults, have had conversations about Grandpa. We believe that he is one that didn’t know how to relate to children, but when we became adults then he talked to us. So, looking back, when I used to think my Grandpa was a grumpy man, I can forgive him of that grumpiness and will remember the times that he talked with me when I was an adult. He always greeted me and hugged me when I would come home from Minnesota, and had conversations with me then. One time Mom and Dad brought Grandma and Grandpa with them when they came to Duluth to visit us. It was great. The whaleback ship had just been put in water on Barker’s Island, as an attraction to tour, and he loved seeing that, he talked and talked about how when he was young his Dad worked on one and he remembers seeing one as a kid. I wish now that I’d paid more attention to his story, because I can’t remember it all now…but he did talk on and on about that whaleback.

Paternal Great-Grandfather – My Dad’s Grandfather on his Mother’s side. I only know one thing to say about him, since of course, I didn’t know him. My Dad talked a lot about him, because my Dad was with him growing up, so much more than he was ever with his Dad. I guess my Dad went everywhere with him, and my Dad was very close to him. Daddy always said that his Grandfather was more of a father to him than his own father was (again, maybe because Grandpa
E. didn't know how to relate to young children).

Maternal Great-Grandfather – Jacob, I did write previously when talking about Grandma, about Great Grandpa Jake. Most memorable of him is that he lived with my Grandma in his later years, and he sat in the corner of the kitchen in a rocking chair, with a cigar in his mouth, and a cane by his side. When one of us grandchildren got near him, he would put out his cane and try to “hook” us with the crook of the cane. He didn’t talk much either to us little ones, that I can recall.

Daddy

1919-2004 - Father, Grandfather, Pennsylvania Farmer

Father's Day, 2006 - My Dad

Father, I called him Daddy, and Dad. Today is Father’s Day. I miss him, though we were miles away, I miss talking to him on the phone and miss being able to say today “Happy Father’s Day, Dad”, and to hear one of the funny responses he would give me to that wish.

My parents were German, and I think they were brought up to not show their feelings. When I was growing up, I never once heard my Mom or Dad say “I love you”. Now, I’m not saying that I didn’t feel their love, of course in my heart I knew they loved me, but I never heard the words from them. I used to tell them “I love you”, but never was there a response back from them. I always knew that my Mother loved me…Mothers cuddle, speak softly, do things with their children, that make them feel loved. My Dad was always so busy working on the farm. When I was little, he did a lot with me, because Mom worked at the doctors office, and he was the one home. I have great memories of riding the tractor with him as he worked the corn (with the advent of treated corn seedlings this isn’t done anymore), he would sing the funniest songs to me. I would follow him around the barn and the chicken houses, as he did his work. But, as I grew older, Daddy distanced himself. (As an adult, I’ve learned that Dad’s often do become more distant with their daughters at this age). Dad was sentimental, but like most men, did not ever want to show it. Through my pre-teen and teenage years, I was very unsure of my Dad’s love for me. He never said much to me at important times of my life, graduation, my plans after school, my struggles I had with my first jobs out of school, when I became engaged to a boy at age 19, Daddy never talked to me about these things. Even when we talked about the wedding to Bob and my pending trip to MN., he was quiet, he would sit there when Mom and I talked, and say nothing. It was always my Mother, my Mother was always there. I guess maybe it was because he was too busy working, when he wasn’t working, he was exhausted. Also, he was guiding 4 sons, and probably thought the girls were Mom’s job.

At my wedding, when he walked me down the aisle, he had a beaming smile on his face, I knew he loved me, but I yearned for him to say it or to at least say something "sentimental" but he didn't.

The morning that Bob and I left for Minnesota, we had a snowfall the night before, and Dad had to open the lane for us to get out. The week before, even the night before Daddy said nothing to me. He helped us load the UHAUL, Mom and all my siblings said good-bye, we hugged, lots of hugs and lots of tears…and Daddy just standing there through it all. Then, I walked up to him to say good bye, and then he hugged me and wouldn’t let go for the longest time, and he said the three words I’d always wanted to hear…. “I Love You”. I cried, in fact the whole way up the road, I kept saying to Bob “he loves me, he loves me, he loves me”…well Bob kept saying “well of course, didn’t you know?” It’s a long way across the PA turnpike and Bob will tell you, he sure got tired of hearing me going on and on about how much those words meant to me. It was the most important thing he ever said to me –(except when he told me to always “Trust in the Lord”). If I had not moved away from home would I have ever heard those words?

When Mom and Dad would visit us here and we would go home, they would both tell us “I love you”. The wall had been broken. How nice, that we didn’t have to wait until their sick bed or their death bed to hear those important words from them. I wrote a note to Daddy about 5 years ago thanking him for that December morning in 1969.

My last visit to him in the nursing home when he was very sick, hard as it was for him to
talk, because he could hardly breathe…he said more than once “I love you”.

Linda Ebersole Pugliese,
daughter of Gerald Masemer Ebersole, Farmer & Father to Six - 1919-1984

Father's Wisdom

Last Sunday I had a coupon to entice me to go to Barnes and Nobles Bookstore. I don’t go there often, but a coupon e mailed to me from them, will get me there usually, especially since I finally joined their membership plan, between their sale, a coupon and my member’s discount sometimes I can get a real deal. Of course, in addition to the buying the book that the coupon was for, I did browse around and ended up buying something else too! Last year around this time I had heard Tim Russert talk about a book he wrote about his Father. It sounded interesting, but I didn’t purchase it. Tim Russert is the moderator and managing editor of Meet the Press, and the Washington bureau chief of NBC News.

This spring, due to many letters and e mails he received from sons and daughters who read his book, he wrote another called “Wisdom of Our Fathers, Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons”. Of course it was released in time for Father’s Day, and of course, I have seen him interviewed several places on TV about his book. It sounded good. I love to read books, but have found I have little time to do so, (Especially since I’ve been writing, ha ha). But, I have found another way to “read” a book. I buy the “audio” CD version of the book on CD, and listen to it in my car, on a trip, or back and forth to work, 5 days a week! It’s a neat way to “read”. SO… you know what I did, I bought the CD version of Tim’s book. I’ve been listening to it going back and forth to work all week. It is great. There are so many good stories about Dad’s, and reflections by their son’s and daughters. The letters received by Tim Russert are actually “read” on the cd, from the book, and when it’s a daughter, it’s read by a woman and then Tim has things to say in between the letters. Many of the letters bring tears to your eyes, but not all. It’s heartwarming and insightful. Each letter contains a memory that kids remember most fondly of their Dad. I found a lot of letters from children who had Dad’s that found it hard to express their love in words, but were good at it in their actions. I realized that it was not only my Dad that found it hard to say the words “I Love You” (remember one post I wrote, saying I was 22 and leaving the state, before I heard those words from my Dad, I am going to repeat some of that in my next post about Dad). I realize now that for Father’s in that generation, it was hard for them to express those three words verbally.

On Wednesday, my e mail brought another coupon from Barnes and Nobles, and I decided I wanted to pick up Tim’s first book about his Dad, entitled “Big Russ and Me”, So I did, got it for $9.00! That one I will have to read though, not listen to…the CD’s are not quite the bargain that the books are!

Grandma's Marathon - Duluth, Minnesota

Grandma's Marathon - Duluth - 30th Anniversary

This weekend is "Grandma’s Marathon". It is the 30th Anniversary of the marathon. I don’t know where 30 years has gone, but it seems like the marathon just started a few years ago. I remember when it started, we here in Duluth, would never have imagined that the marathon would become as big as it has. It is America’s 13th largest 26.2 mile road race. The runners come down the North Shore, Hwy. 61 from Two Harbors to Duluth, running along Lake Superior. It has a capacity record field of 9,758 runners. Runners come from all over the world to compete. The event brings in millions of dollars to our economy, according to the Visitor’s Bureau.

There is also a Half-Marathon, and on Friday evening, a 5 K, along Harbor Drive, downtown by the lake. Friday afternoon there were ¼ mile youth races. Our son-in-law and his friend are at the half-marathon now, watching a friend run. The weather is pretty perfect for running, in 60’s, low 70’s, and cloudy.

Several years ago, I can’t remember what year though, my brother-in-law, Ron, from Pennsylvania, trained all year and came here and ran the marathon. It’s the year that I really participated and went down to watch him come into town, and we were there at the finish line, as we celebrated him making the personal best that he set his goal, he did very well for his first marathon. It was very exciting; much more exciting, when someone close to you like that is in the race. He enjoyed the race so much; he still talks about it, and talks about how he would like to do it again. One must train a lot though, through the year, to be able to run it, and since then he really hasn’t had the time to do so. Maybe some day, he’ll make it out here again.

Family Weekend

We have a nice weekend coming up, in fact it has already started. Our daughter, Dawn and her family arrived about noon today, to spend the weekend. Bob and I have had a fun evening with our granddaughter. We ordered pizza and let her choose ½ of the pizza, with the toppings she likes. She and I played “store”, a nice change from “school” that she usually wants to play. I have a big basket that I always get out for her that has lots of stuff in, and she wanted to pretend she was shopping with the things. Bob and son in-law Bob, played golf, and the kids and Dawn met me for lunch downtown, as I was too busy this week to take the afternoon off. My co/workers get a kick out of seeing them when they stop in. Our grandson, 16, gave his Mom a hard time arguing that he should be able to drive while here, and she didn’t want him to, because the traffic was pretty bad downtown, as it’s “Grandma’s Marathon” weekend, so lots of people coming into downtown. It was a “stand-off” for a while, but she won.

Can’t believe how big both grandchildren are getting. Madelyn especially looks so much older every time I see her. She will be 6 in August.

Skylar and Rob went grocery shopping to buy ingredients for a salad that Rob wanted to make to take to his work on Monday for a pot luck. It’s one that needs to be marinated, and he used half the ingredients for salad to have for us with our supper tomorrow night, and then he’ll make it again on Sunday for Monday. The two of them had fun cutting up into small pieces lots of kinds of peppers, mushrooms, etc. for the salad.

Dawn and Bob are spending the evening with one of Dawn’s best friends from high school, her and her husband are visiting from Florida. They are down at the Grandma’s Marathon festivities at Canal Park. Tomorrow morning, Dawn is planning to go work out at the fitness center with her Dad. Then us girls will be going to a baby shower, then tomorrow evening we will celebrate hers and her husband’s birthdays. Madelyn fell asleep on the sofa, soon after getting into her pj’s. Bob has fallen asleep watching tv, and I’m now writing.

Missing from our birthday celebration will be our youngest son and his girl. They are in North Dakota for a wedding this weekend, he is the "Best Man" at his close friend's wedding.

It’s always so good to have the family together from out of town. It will be a fun weekend.

American Bandstand

I noticed in Friday’s obituary that the director of The American Bandstand for 17 years passed away. Edward Yates took a local show from Philadelphia, PA to a national institution. The show began in 1952 and it featured local teens dancing to the latest hits. The show took place in in western Philadelphia, until Clark and Yates (the director), moved the show to Los Angeles in 1964 (after which I think it was never the same). Dick Clark took over as host in 1956, the article said that at that time Clark was 26. (I did the math, because whenever us baby boomers see Dick Clark it seems like he never ages, and we know he MUST be older than he looks.) That would make him 76 years old today. He sure doesn’t look 76, I haven't seen him recently though, you'd think he would soon start looking his age!

As a pre-teen and a teen, I was an avid watcher of American Bandstand every day after school. First, I watched “The Buddy Dean” show, which was the same type of show, but it came out of Baltimore, MD, then I would switch the station over to Bandstand. It’s funny how both shows were so different, though they played the same great music. The Maryland based show, the teens dressed up, looked very sharp and dressed conservatively. The Philadelphia bandstand show, the teens dressed much more, what our generation at that time referred to as “wild”. The girls, we from southeastern, rural PA, felt that the city girls dressed like sluts (which is what wild meant). I guess it’s just that they were “city” girls, and we were “country girls”. It was a big difference. With the media now a days, there probably isn’t that difference between the city girls and the country girls anymore. In fact, some would say the majority of the girls now dress like “city” girls, no matter where they live!

Ahhh…fun memories….dancing and watching the dancing to the tunes of the day!

Chocolate!

Wow, people really do enjoy chocolate! For fundraising for our Hope UMC Relay For Life team I purchased the best chocolate bars I have ever tasted. I have been selling them at my work, and my son has been selling them at his work for about 3 weeks. I have been trying to get some of my team members to take some to sell, but they all said “lets just sell them at church on Sunday’s.” Well, I have had so many chocolate bars sitting around our house, that you guessed it, the three of us in our household have been our own best customers! I must get them out of our house, because these bars have really sabotaged my dieting and pledge to eat healthy. The first order I made was for only 3 flavors, they sold so well, I thought, “hey I’ll try some more flavors”, so I added “Peanut Butter Crisp” and “Dark chocolate” (which they say is to be healthier). They were a hit, so last week I ordered 2 more flavors. The company has a total of 7 kinds, and honestly, every one of them are good, I can’t say which one I would put on the bottom. The two that sell the best are the very smooth Chocolate Mint (which I’m told is like the Choc. Mint that Fanny Farmer makes), and the Peanut Butter Crisp. Next, would be the Chocolate Meltaway, which is like eating very rich fudge. Then there is Chocolate Crisp that tastes like Nestles Crunch, only thicker and better, Almond Meltaways (like Hershey’s with Almonds, only thicker and better), Pure Milk Chocolate, and last but not least, Pure Dark Chocolate. These bars are not thin like regular bars, they are thick and a real bargain for $1! When one of my team members tasted one of the bars, she stopped at my house this afternoon and took a large box of assorted bars to sell.

The reason I said that people really enjoy chocolate, is that in less than 30 or 40 minutes this morning after church, I sold 80 bars! I took 85 with me, and never thought I would sell that many. I think they either trusted me when I said they were the best chocolate bars I ever tasted, or they really like chocolate or they wished to donate to our team’s cause. No matter what the reason, I thank every one that purchased. I will be ordering more tomorrow morning, so I will have some to bring next Sunday. I believe that after they taste what they purchased this morning, they will want to buy more next Sunday!

Yes, we all like our chocolate, especially quality chocolate!

GOLF

My husband spent most of his life playing baseball and softball. He was still playing on both the fast pitch and the slow pitch leagues when he was in his forties. I think the only reason he quit, was when our sons reached the age to play little league. He then quit playing his own ball games and started watching and helping them play their games. He coached little league for a few years, really enjoyed helping the kids. Helping the boys with their sports and especially with Scott's high school and college baseball, kept him busy and with lots of baseball watching to do throughout the spring and summer. Baseball activites have kind of ended now for him.

He would often talk about hoping that he could retire early, as he had this view that he would not live to be a ripe old age. I keep reminding him that is what his Mother used to say too, and she lived to be 87. Anyhow, I always worried about what he would do to keep physically fit when he became older. A few years ago I spent one and ½ years going faithfully to the gym many times a week, and kept trying to get him to go too. Finally, after about a year and a half of my going, I was able to get him to try it. He started going regularly and became addicted to the exercise. Now, he is the one that has to keep after me to go to the gym!

Every year at Father’s Day I’d ask if he’d like to try golf, told him we could get him a set of clubs. He didn’t think he wanted to "chase the ball around", as he put it, so he always said no. To my surprise, last spring he commented that maybe he would like to try golf. He used our son’s clubs a few times, and decided that yes, he did think he’d enjoy playing golf.

The beginning of a new hobby! Now, this spring, he has his own golf clubs and for Christmas and birthday we got him a season pass to the city courses. Now, I’m not worried about him sitting home and vegetating. I’m so glad he found golf and is enjoying it. Both of our sons play golf too, so it gives him a chance to be with them. (He won't admit it, but I think that was the deciding factor in him trying golf).

Yesterday, he and Rob golfed in our American Cancer Society’s 8th Annual Pink Ribbon Golf Classic at the Black Bear Golf course in Carlton. The proceeds are dedicated to Breast Cancer Research. I’ve been part of helping the committee each year put the event together, since I work for ACS. So, it was a delight that this year two of my family members could golf in it. I joined them for the dinner and program after. They had a good time, though it certainly could have been a nicer day, weather-wise. This year the committee decided to change the date from August to June, hoping more people would be around, since in Duluth so many people are gone in August. Having an outdoor event in June in Duluth is risky… every day this week was warm until yesterday, wouldn’t you know it! It didn’t get much above 60, and there was a cold wind. Those I talked to last evening said they had a great time, in spite of the weather and they would be back next year. That was good to hear.

Dr. Sande, an Oncologist from the Duluth Clinic was our special speaker. He spoke about advances in treatments for cancer and about the new cancer clinic just opened at the Duluth Clinic-SMDC medical facility. St. Luke’s has also opened a cancer center, both have Breast Centers. He said that we are very fortunate here in the Northland to have such good medical facilities for cancer treatments. Years ago, one would have to travel for treatment.

We also had a breast cancer survivor speak about her experience. Dr. Sande is her oncologist. She is a friend of mine, and she did well with her talk. I have seen her grow so much since her cancer experience. She is nearing her 5 year survival mark, and I know that 5 years ago, she would never have spoken in front of anyone. She also is involved with many things now that she would not have imagined doing 5 years ago! I am so proud of her!

The event was a success and enjoyed by all. I don’t golf, so I contributed by making a purchase or two from the Silent Auction of course!

Perfect Day in Duluth

Today was one of those perfect Duluth Days! Low humidity, lovely breeze, sunny and in the low 70's, the kind of day I love here, it's the reason we live here and the reason we put up with Duluth winters (which actually have been getting milder with each year).

My friend Sharon and I went out for a walk, we had a lovely walk and great visit.

Also had a nice visit with one of our neighbors, June, who I don't get to see too often. She was out for a walk with her grown twin daughters, who live in CA and Colorado, they are both in town visiting their parents. I miss June, when I was an at home Mom, she and I became close friends and did a lot of things together. She was like a Mom to me. Seeing her tonight, made me realize what I have been missing by not seeing her more often. I'm going to make more of an effort to visit with her.

Love a Rainy Night

Just came home from a Relay For Life Meeting. We had rain this morning, sun this afternoon, and came out from my meeting to a rainy night. I drove home just as the sun was setting, and it was a calm, steady rain, very nice kind of rain, it was so pretty, reminded me of a song that was popular when our daughter was a teenager "I Love a Rainy Night". One time Dawn had it on the record player when we left the house, and Auntie Mae was babysitting Rob and she didn't know how to stop it, so it kept repeating over and over, by the time we got home she told us she was so sick of hearing that song. Now, everytime I think of or hear that song, I think of Auntie Mae. That evening, Auntie Mae didn't think too much of a rainy night!

Summer in Duluth

Sleeping Son

So, Friday evening I came home to find our youngest son asleep on the sofa in the living room. It has been awhile since I’ve seen him, my heart just “skipped a beat” when I saw his car in front of our house. I couldn’t wait for him to wake up. But, I didn’t wake him, I waited. He umpires for Eastern Little League, and the field is closer to our house than to his place, his first game was canceled, so he came home to take a nap before the second game. He told his Dad what time to wake him.

I’ve found from other Mother’s of sons, that it is usual that a Mother doesn’t see their grown son too often once they leave home. This has been a hard adjustment for me to handle over the years. When he graduated from college, a year ago, I thought I’d have my son back, but to no avail. He moved in with his girl friend of 5 years, and though they are here in town, I don’t see them that often. The girlfriend and girlfriend’s family seems to take priority. It’s hard to accept, but I’ve had to accept it. I know that if I were a Mother that laid “guilt” on him, that I would just be one more woman in his life that he would “have to please”, and I don’t want to put added pressure on him. I know I could call him on the phone each day, but again, don’t want to be bothering him when I know he is busy with his job, his girl, his part time job, etc. I have made every effort to convey this to him and when I do, he seems appreciative and he understands. I don’t think he wants a “nagging Mother”, and I have to trust that he knows how much we love him. I have lunch with him on the average of once every other week, when his schedule fits, and that helps. He golfs with his Dad and his brother, so ties are kept with them that way. We just have to find ways to connect with him, and “leave the light” on so he knows he can always come home.

Any comments from Mother’s with grown sons out there?

NO Laundry!

I just spent a week being back at work after a week’s vacation. I was tired when I came home each evening, so I didn’t write. It’s always an adjustment getting back into the work mode after time off. It was a busy week, but then I knew it would be, but I got through it. Many people commented that for a short week (Monday was a holiday), it sure was a “long” week. I think everyone experienced that feeling.

My husband had his first week off, after “retiring”. He sure did enjoy it. He golfed, went to the fitness center, walked and became the “house husband”. I can’t believe it, but he told me that he would do laundry through the week so that I wouldn’t have to do it on weekends, or evenings. He made good on his promise. I had no laundry to do yesterday, and this morning before I knew it, he had a load in, to keep “caught up!” He also is planning to do some minimal cooking, “light suppers that aren’t too hard” he said. So, he grilled supper two evenings, had it ready when I got home. Nice! I’ve never seen the kitchen so very spic and span, just the way I would have it if I were having company, every evening I came home to the house and kitchen spic and span. I think I’m going to like his retirement! Because he is keeping up with the house, I will have more time to work on “projects that have been pending, but with no time to do”, if you know what I mean, every woman has those kind of jobs pending. Yesterday afternoon, I went to a co/worker’s party for her son who graduated, without feeling guilty about taking off a Saturday afternoon. When I came home, I worked on one of those “extra projects”. How nice!

June is Here!

Linda's Thoughts from Duluth

June has arrived, and so has our nice weather. We sure have had some beautiful days, warm and sunny. Yesterday and today in the 70’s, this is just perfect. Not too hot. It’s nice to have 80 degrees, but quite frankly, I can’t take the “heat”, so the 70’s is just what I like. The flowers are out, everyone’s lawn is green, everyone’s mowing lawns, summer is definitely here. Last weekend, on Memorial Day weekend, we had the nicest weather I can remember in a long time. Usually, Memorial Day weekend is rainy around here!

This afternoon I will be sitting on our back deck reading a book I started last week.