A Chocolate Kiss or Two....

Do you see this photo of the jar of Hershey Kisses? This jar was full two weeks ago. Look at the level now, I took this photo on Tuesday, and it's even lower today. One of my co/workers won this as a door prize at an ACS meeting she was at. What a door prize for an ACS meeting, especially after the report we just heard this week from our organization telling us how obesity ties into cancer risk! She said she didn't dare take it to her house, as she would eat them all, so she brought the jar of kisses to the office for us all to be tempted each day! Unfortuantely this sits on a table right in view from my desk. Everyone refuses to have it on their desk, or even near their desk. I love chocolate, so you can imagine how many of them I have eaten with them being so close and in view all day long. (Now, I didn't eat them all) I usually do fine until about 2 or 3:00 pm. And, I'm reminded each day that I open the lid, that I cannot eat "Just one" chocolate kiss.

Notice, I put this jar by our new ACS "Healthy Eating" Cookbook, to show you just how big this jar is. Not a recipe in this book using Hershey's Chocolate Kisses, I'm sure!

Between birthday cake, an office pot luck, and these chocolate kisses, I have really been avoiding the scales, I'm scared to look!

One good thing, tonight, when passing out Halloween candy to our little "Trick or Treaters" in the neighborhood (over 100 came to our house), I was able to leave alone our chocolate minature bars we were giving. I had my fill of chocolate during the day! (Although, I had my husband answer the door most of the time, just in case, so I wouldn't be tempted.)

Tomorrow and Friday, three of our girls in the office will be gone, I am moving this jar to one of their desks, in another room! I will be on vacation for a week afer that, and I sure do hope that by the time I return, this jar will be empty!

Happy Halloween! Hopefully, you didn't eat as much chocolate as I have this week!

The 18th Birthday Boy

Just got the birthday photos developed from our

Grandson Skylar's 18th Birthday Party.

"Mama's Happy"

Remember a few posts back when I was telling you that I wrote three paragraphs and then it all “disappeared”… well, it was something important that I was telling you, and I never got back to the computer to re-write and post it for you. I don’t think it will be three paragraphs now anymore… but this is what I wrote about:

Our youngest son that I mentioned to you about not too long ago, telling you that he and his girlfriend of 7 years, built a house together and I was “sort of complaining” that they did this without benefit of marriage or even being engaged. You'll remember, I'm sure, that I was being the "fussy Mother". Well, guess what… on Monday night, October 15th, our son proposed to Sarah! I had talked to him the Friday evening before, and he confided in me that he was going to do so, but asked me not to tell, as he wanted to surprise her. (I must say, I was honored that he confided in me about it first) He said he purposely avoided her birthday or Christmas, as he said those dates were “too obvious”. He told me that he’d been shopping for a long while for a ring and was trying to save money for one, and that’s why it didn’t happen sooner. He had purchased a ring that week and was excited about surprising her with it. He said every time he thought he had some money saved toward the ring, something would come up with the house that he needed to use the money for. I told him that’s the way it is when you are building/living in a house!

Now, we are all pleased – Sarah has been part of our family for a long time, and now it will be “official”. Now that they are engaged, I am not going to “push” for the wedding date, I will leave that alone. (I guess there is the chance that it will be another 7 years before the wedding- but I'll be quiet if it is).

So...”Mama’s Happy” and you know what they say when Mama's not happy - now “Mama’s Happy”.

Congratulations Scott and Sarah!

BALLOT

Next Tuesday is ELECTION Day! We have an important Mayoral race here in Duluth and also City Council and School Board Elections. I will be back in PA visiting my family there on Election Day.

On Friday I mailed my absentee ballot to City Hall. I wanted to be sure I had my vote in for Mayor and City Councilors, since I will be out of town next Tuesday on Election Day!

The last few days there has been more in the papers about our mayoral candidates and there have been two more debates, both televised on TV. Our family watched both debates. I’m glad that watching these debates after my ballot was sent in, did not make me change my mind. (I didn’t think they would) I am assured, after the debates, that I have voted for the right candidate! Also, we have the right candidate’s sign in our front yard! I’m glad there is an absentee ballot option, I’d have been sad if I couldn’t have voted for him.

Now, next Tuesday, I will have to call home from PA to find out if my candidate (s) won!
It will be interesting to see. I really believe that the mayor’s race is going to be a close one!

Road Trip

Saturday our Covenant Group all piled into a van and we took a road trip to St. Paul. Seven of us in one van, did we have a great time! It was a great day for a trip, it was bright and sunny, with fall crispness in the air.

We visited Rev. Hargrave, who was our former pastor at Hope and was also part of our covenant group. She had an appointment change in July and moved from Hope to Farimount UMC in St. Paul. We have all missed her terribly and she invited us to come for a visit, so we had planned this for about 2 months.

She saw us pull up and came out to greet us. We sent her hellos from all those who told us to be sure to greet her. She hugged each one of us before be were barely a foot away from the van! We had coffee and rolls with her at her parsonage, only a hop, step and jump away from her church. Their home is very nice, in an older, very quaint St. Paul neighborhood. Her home had mementos of Duluth, a Duluth painting, rocks from the lakeshore, and a model Duluth lift bridge, built by and given to Theo by one of our Hope members. She commented that Duluth and the North Shore will always be in their hearts. She asked if the “lake was still there” and we all laughed! We visited with her boys and husband and noted that they are all very happy. The neighborhood is full of young families with lots of children for their boys to play with; the boys are in good schools and are having fun.

She took us to the church next door. It’s a beautiful old church, well kept, with beautiful stained glass windows and “theater in the round” sanctuary, a great balcony, where all the teens sit. They have a great fellowship hall, and two kitchens! They have an elevator, so she didn’t have to get an “elevator in, as she had to do at Hope”. The church is full of young people, kids, middle aged and older parishioners, a good mix and it is full every Sunday.

We had lunch together at “W. A. Frost and Company” a restaurant in the historic Cathedral Hill neighborhood. It was a wonderful menu, in a great old building of arched windows, fanciful brickwork, fireplaces, oriental rugs and original oil paintings. After a great meal, and fellowship, we walked down the street to the bookstore that is owned by Garrison Kelloir. We all came away with books. I bought one titled “Things to Do When you Turn 60”. I haven’t had a chance to read any of it yet, but it looked interesting.

We hit the road to return home about 3 pm and arrived back home in time for our driver to make it to the Duluth Symphony. The ride was fun. There is just something about a car full of women, talking, laughing and singing, that can’t be beat!

What a great day it was. So good to see too, that though we miss her so much, we know that our friend Michelle and her family are in a good place. She will always be close to our hearts, the visit helped us by seeing that Michelle is happy, but also that her husband and family are happy, seeing exactly where they are, it all makes us feel much better about her absence from Duluth.

Thank you for the visit, Michelle. We love you!

The Sky This Morning

I tried to post on Saturday morning and couldn't. Had trouble on Sunday also. Then last night and this morning our internet was down. Gee, I have so much to write about this week too! Guess it will have to wait!

I'm just going to write a quick note here from work this morning to say that I couldn't get over the sky on my way to work this morning. It was so unique! There were lots of black clouds that were all sorts of shapes, with white sky around each one. Since clouds are usually white, these black ones really stood out. I couldn't keep from looking up the whole drive here. Lake Superior was a deep shade of blue/gray, very interesting shade, one we don't see often. It was a sight to behold! The weatherman calls for a change today from our warm nice days we had yesterday and Monday, and according to the sky, I think he's right. It is to get windy, 35 mph winds, and rainy later this morning and throughout the day and night.

It will make for a "spooky" Halloween night for the kiddies.

Where Did my Three paragraphs go?

Oh my gosh, I just wrote a blog post about some good family news that I wanted to pass on to my readers, and when I saved it, copied it from my word document to this spot, a previous post showed up. Now I can't find it anywhere...I can't figure out where it went... am I going to have to write up those 3 paragraphs again??!! I do a word document first, because I've had things disappear when I write it directly on this site, but never had a word document disappear. Very strange!

Visiting Parents - I Could Relate

My supervisor's home state is California. She and her family have lived here in Duluth a few years, but her parents and relatives live in California. Today she was very excited. Her parents were flying into the Mpls. airport and driving to Duluth, they would be at her home when she arrived there after work. She was trying to finish early, as she is taking tomorrow and Friday off to be with her parents. It was 4:15, and I thought she had left. She was still there. She was very happy and excited knowing she would see her parents very soon. I could relate to the excitement she had all week and especially today, because I remember many days where I was working at my place of employment, knowing that my parents were enroute from Pennsylvania to see us. I remember how excited I always was on those days.

My parents always drove here, they never flew. I knew when they left the farm, and I waited anxiously for their trek across the states to Duluth! Knowing Kim would see her parents upon her return home after work reminded me of one specific time when I was waiting for my parents. I was working at Northern City Bank, downtown. I carpooled with my husband, so I would wait outside of the building at 306 W. Superior St., and hop in the car when my husband would arrive, so I was always on the lookout for his car. It was a Friday and I knew my parents were on their way, but didn't expect them to arrive until later that evening. I was excited all week and especially that day at work, I was really excited to see them. While I was standing on the street watching for my husband to get there, I saw my parents station wagon drive by, oh my gosh, was that exciting! When my husband pulled up to pick me up, I couldn't get him to drive fast enough through downtown and up the hill to our home! Those were the days before the freeway and downtown traffic was slow moving at that time of day. Listening to Kim's excitement today, brought back those good memories.

That time was the trip where they brought along a couple with them that lived close by us, and were good friends of my parents and family, Lloyd and Hazel. Lloyd worked the night shift at Allis Chalmers with my Dad, and was also a farmer. Their son was in the service in Minot, N. Dakota, so my parents offered to bring them along, and then my Dad took them to N. D. to see him. Lloyd was a 4-H leader, along with my Dad, and so it was real special for me to have them visit us too, as he used to be "my 4-H Leader". Our daughter really took a liking to him and called him her "second Grandpa". He was a wonderful man. His wife is still living, and I visit her on some of my trips home. We lost Lloyd to cancer a few years before we lost Dad. I will never forget the guidance he gave to me and so many young people through the 4 H program, he was very special.

Waiting for Mom and Dad to arrive in Duluth was a very special time of excitement for me, and I am very thankful that they were able to get to Duluth as often as they did. Wonderful memories Mom and Dad's visits. Mom always told me "we will come out to see you while we are able, because the time will come, when we will not be able to come (travel)"...and they did come, and the time did come (sooner than I wanted it to) when they couldn't...so we remember all the good times when they were with us here in Duluth.... Thank you Mom and Dad for those great memories!!! Enjoy your parents visit, Kim!

Skylar is 18!

We spent the weekend in Hudson to celebrate our Grandson’s 18th Birthday! We can’t believe that he is 18 years old! I can’t believe that 18 years have passed since I was in the hospital in the middle of the night, and waiting for his birth with his Dad and our daughter! I was able to hold him in the nursery within minutes of his birth, while Dawn was still in recovery from a C-Section. I will never forget that night, and I will never forget how special it was for me to be holding my first grandchild in the wee hours of the morning. He was so cute, and he had blonde hair, not peach fuzz, but hair! It was one of the most wonderful nights of my life, next only to my own children’s births.

These days I’m carrying around 4 different wallet size poses of this boy in my wallet, and I show them around a lot. Especially, when I see someone I haven’t seen for awhile and they ask about Dawn, out come the photos! I have to laugh that so many of them that look at pictures tell me things they remember about him when he was little. (They lived in Duluth until he was 4 and I used to take care of him a lot, while Dawn worked.) They remember how full of energy he was, how he was a real “handful” for Mom and Grandma, and how much fun he was to be around. They tell me things that I have even forgotten! We never knew what was going to come out of his mouth that would make everyone laugh. I was at the grocery store on Friday night picking up his birthday cake (Grandma and Grandpa bring the birthday cakes), and I ran into Skylar’s first Nursery School teacher. I haven’t seen her in years, and of course she asked about Skylar and Dawn, and out came the pictures. She told me, “of course, he’s a dancer, he was a mover and shaker when he was in my class!” This teacher was only a few years older than our daughter at the time, and Skylar was in her class during her first year of teaching. She said she will never forget him. Our next door neighbors called him “Dennis”, as in “Dennis the Menace”. Dawn and I of course, do remember what a handful he always was, and I know Dawn will say he still is!

The neighbors that called him Dennis, there was a boy who lived in that house before them, he was one of 4 children, the other three were girls. We would have maybe called him “Dennis”, as he was full of energy and lots of fun and he was also a real handful for his Mother. They lived there while her husband was in Greenland with the Air Force. His name was T. J. One time after T. J. was all grown and in his twenties, he came back to Duluth and visited us. I thought at that time, that Skylar reminded me so much of T. J. when he was young, and it was very comforting to me to find that T. J. turned out so well, I knew then that Skylar would also turn out well when he grew up.

Now, our Grandson is on the threshold of manhood, and he has his whole life ahead of him, and we are all anxious to see what he does, we know he will be a success in whatever he chooses for his life.

If you remember, from my previous posts, I told you that in Feb. of ’06 he took up dancing, and how good he is at it. When I tell people who knew him when he was little about this, they all say they aren’t surprised because of how much energy he always had!

Yes, dear Skylar, is still a handful, but oh my, do we all love that handful, and everyone who knows Skylar loves him. (Remember, at the National Dance Competition in Las Vegas, he won the “Congeniality” Award with 50 votes out of 52 potential votes! Ok, now Grandma will quit bragging!

Happy 18th Birthday Skylar, we all love you!!!

Our Cancer Facilities here in Duluth

Read in my post below from the "Report on the Status of Cancer in our Nation" released yesterday.

Last Friday, several of us from your local American Cancer Society office, were given a tour of the new CANCER CENTER facilities SMDC, here in Duluth (St. Mary's Medical Center). It was opened last spring, and is a great center not only for cancer patients, but also for the cancer patients, their families and caregivers. It is a resource center for cancer as well as a treatment center.

St. Luke's Medical facility also has a good Cancer Center. I have not seen it, but have heard they are doing a wonderful job for their cancer patients and families also.

The thing that really struck me during the tour, was this one fact that was given when we asked about the cancer diagnosis at their center. We were told that they have 30 NEW cancer diagnois EACH MONTH! That seems to be a lot, especially when you consider that is only at SMDC. This does not count the ones received at St. Luke's Medical Center!

The flip side of that fact, is that I heard yesterday on the news that 70 % of those will live or will live, even if it is terminal, another 5 - 10 years. They pointed out that cancer is definitely not a death sentence anymore. That is it the good news!

We can be thankful to have such good medical centers right here in our city!

Status of Cancer in our Nation 10/15/2007

From the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer – released yesterday, October 15, 2007:

"Today, the American Cancer Society joins the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries in issuing the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer.

Again this year, the report indicates that we are indeed making significant headway against cancer. It also underscores the critical importance of cancer control efforts and improved access to health care in a special section examining cancer incidence among American Indians and Alaska Natives in six regions of the United States.

The highlights of the report include several positive trends in cancer incidence and mortality:

From 2002-2004, cancer deaths in men and women decreased by 2.1% per year – nearly twice the annual rate of decline that occurred from 1993-2002.
Death rates decreased for 12 of the 15 most common cancers in men and for 10 of the 15 most common cancers in women.
Important declines were noted for the three leading causes of cancer death among men: lung, prostate, and colorectal cancers. Among women, death rates from colorectal and breast cancers decreased, while the increase in lung cancer mortality slowed substantially.
Overall cancer incidence rates for both sexes and all races combined declined slightly from 1992-2004.
Authors of the report attribute these impressive gains to successful tobacco control efforts, earlier detection through screening, and more effective treatment."

Another Note on our Duluth Public School Situation

Some of the signs I saw in yards over the weekend were the “Let Duluth Vote” signs. These signs are referring to the fact that the plan that the school board approved a few months ago, they approved without a referendum. They were allowed to do this, and they took that option. There are people who are upset that we are not allowed to vote on it.

I am not one of those. The plan was well studied and thought out. The board wanted to move forward without a referendum, not because they wanted to dupe the citizens, the plans were made public and meetings held for every citizen that was interested to attend and see these plans. The reason they opted for no vote, was the time factor and the fact that waiting would cost more money, they felt the need to move forward and not wait around until election time. The longer they wait to get things started, the more money is going to be added, and there’s no reason for that, when this study and plan was well thought out.

Yes, everyone might not agree on the plan chosen, of the three plans proposed. I know it wasn’t my choice, however, we must get on with this process and not keep postponing, as other school boards have done in the past. I applaud this school board, that they have actually taken action!

The cost to bring our buildings up to date is not much less than the figure to overall them all, and that would just be a band aid, we’d still have old buildings. The average age of our schools is 53 years old.

There is a very good letter on the opinion page of the News Tribune today. (I have a link on this page to the News Tribune).

I agree with the writer when she said, quote:
“I support the School Board moving forward with the proposed long-range plan. In a democratic system it is the right of every citizen to be represented. We citizens vote for people to represent us, to do the research, to see the big picture and to make informed decisions that serve the interests of the community as a whole. For the citizens to step in and approve or disapprove of representatives’ well-thought-out decisions is micro-managing and could lead to individuals (many of them uninformed) making decisions based on self-interests rather than the greater good. All who contributed time and ideas to the process deserve thanks. I welcome the opportunity to pay my part for the future of the Duluth public schools.”
– -Robin Downs

Highlight of the Weekend

The weekend is over, back to work tomorrow morning. I just have to tell you about the highlight of my weekend (no, not the cell phone thing)... but I had a great hour and 1/2 phone conversation (not in person - but hey, Mom's of sons are happy with a phone call, if we can't see them in person).. with our youngest son. The one that lives in Duluth, in the new home, I called him, and he was home alone and we had a great visit! It sure made my week! Mom will take what she can get. Thank you, Scott, for the visit!

"What Will Put Duluth on the Map?

I found Jim Heffernan's column in today's paper interesting. Click on the link below to read it.

What will put Duluth on the Map?
Jim Heffernan Duluth News Tribune
Published Sunday, October 14, 2007


http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=52250&section=columnists&columnist=Jim%20Heffernan

PS - When I lived in Pennsylvania, I never heard of Duluth until I met the man that would become my husband, his home was Duluth, Minnesota.

Cell Phone Woes

I’m not one to use my cell phone very often. I mainly use it on weekends to call my friends and relatives in PA because I have unlimited free cell phone minutes on weekends. My cell phone broke about 3 weeks ago and I have been surprised to notice that I’ve missed having it to use a few times during the week. So, yesterday afternoon I decided to drive over the hill to the Sprint store to check into getting it fixed or a new one. It was 5:15 when I arrived and discovered they closed at 5. Since I was in the area I stopped at Super One grocery store and spent $85.00 that I wouldn’t have spent if I hadn’t gone “over the hill”. So, early this afternoon I went again, as they were open at noon. The customer representative looked at it and said “Oh, this is an old phone, do you have insurance?" Then he asked my phone number…well, since I never call my phone, and seldom give my number out, of course I didn’t know it. I called my husband and asked him for my number! Next question, do you know your password – I guessed, and I guessed wrong. If I could give him identification, he could give me my password. Found out that I didn’t have insurance, so it couldn’t be replaced at no cost, and he informed me that they do not “fix” broken ones. He could offer me $75 toward a new phone, but if I waited until Jan. 1st, then I could have a $150 credit. So, I looked at the cost of the new phones, of course $75 would only be a drop in the bucket toward a new phone cost. I did note that with the $150 I would be able to get one, without having to pay anything extra. Then he told me that if I had an old one, they could re-activate it, then I could use it until Jan. 1st. So, home I went. I hunted up the old one, but wasn’t planning to go back up anymore today. Then, husband, who is not a procrastinator like I am, insisted that I drive back up there and "get it done", as he put it! So, I did. Well, the same customer rep. looked at my old one, and once again said “Gee, this is really old, this is way before my time!” He tried charging it and then told me that this kind of phone won’t turn on until it is fully charged. So, I was told to take it home and fully charge it, then either come back up, or I could call customer service and they could give me activation instructions over the phone! So… I left there and stopped at Shopko, which was nearby, for toilet paper, which I knew we were running short on… and bought the toilet paper, along with several other items, totaling to $50.00. So, three trips to the mall area, “over the hill”, and $135.00 later, I still did not have a working cell phone. I decided that even if it did charge up before 5 pm, I was not going up there again today, I couldn't afford to! That was all earlier today.

About 15 minutes ago I looked to see how the charging was coming. I even looked to see if my cell numbers were still there, they were, and low and behold, I called one of the numbers and discovered that I don’t need to call Sprint to have it activated. The call actually went through. So, now I have a working cell phone again, even if it is an ancient one, I really don’t care! When Jan. 1st comes, I won’t need to be in any hurry to “go over the hill” for a new phone! Unlike some, the style of the cell phone is meaningless to me, as long as I can make my calls on the weekends to the family, I don't care how it looks!

Things I Observed...

Things I observed
while driving over the hill 3 times, to get my cell phone working:

--Lots of election signs in yards
--Lots of trees with the leaves gone
--Lots of trees with leaves on yet, the colors are not very pretty anymore
--A large area in Kenwood where construction is taking place, leading me to wonder what is going in there?
--Arby’s is now open in the old Hardees spot in Kenwood
--Observed a very busy Arby’s, the first Arby's in Duluth. Arby lovers are happy.
--Many people working in their yards, something I should have been doing

-- Fall decorations on porches and yards
-- Halloween decorations on peoples porches and yards
-- Christmas items in Shopko, when it’s not even Halloween yet!

-- Houses where new roofs are under construction

-- Houses where new siding has just been put on

--More election signs in yards!

--Our home's resident squirrel in our yard, packing away his nuts for the winter

I think all these observations lead me to realize just how close winter is in coming to the Northland.

Safe Haven

This morning I was downtown by 7:20 for a 7:30 breakfast and program that was held by the Safe haven Shelter for Battered Women. It was a fundraiser, and I was invited to attend by a friend, who's friend was hosting a table there. I was very surprised when I arrived and saw how many people were at this event! It was major. Apparently this is their "second annual". It was very interesting to hear about their mission, about the worthwhile work they are doing to help overcome family violence and to give a safe shelter for battered women and their children. Two survivors of domestic violence spoke of their experiences. It was interesting to note that one of them suffered not so much from physcial violence, but from mental and emotional abuse from her spouse, which really is as bad. She said over a period of years, she was made to feel that she was worth less than dirt. Isn't that sad!

http://www.howiehanson - click on Peg Anderson's article about Safe Haven on Howie's site, to find more information about the shelter and the Justice Center that the Capitol campaign is about.

I must run now - off to my Water Aerobic class.

Water Level Up

Well, the talk of the week in Duluth is the weather. I went across the street yesterday and today to pick something up for lunch, and both times, and coming and leaving from work, I have had people mention all kinds of things about the weather. People I don't even know, people in the elevators, people in the building, on the streets, in the skywalks...the weather seems to make people chatty. One man in the elevator yesterday said he was glad for the cooler weather and that it was time for "a change". Another person commented "isn't this the craziest weather, one day hot and the next day cold". People are commenting on the cold mornings, the dark mornings and the wet weather "do you think we had enough rain now" one said.

I do know that the newspaper said that the water levels in Lake Superior are now up, which is good. We had more rain in Sept. than we had all year. Some people are having floods in their basements, and storm sewers are overflowing.

I heard its been so hot in southern Minnesota, by Rochester, that the leaves aren't changing colors, they are confused!

This morning's news was that they had snow in Fargo, ND. They can keep it! One weather stations says we will have a cold, wet winter, another predicts a warmer than usual winter. I guess we'll have to hang around to see who's prediction is right. I do know most "snow birds", our neighbors included, are not hanging around too long to see if it is a warmer winter. One couple left last Monday, some are leaving in November already!

I think the thing I hate the most lately, is the darkness in the mornings. I guess after Daylight Savings time ends, that will improve. We have DST later in the fall this year.

Now that it's going to probably be cool around here from now on, I am hoping that southesastern PA keeps their warm weather through the first week of November, so that I will be able to experience some warmth when I'm there, after the cold weather here. Well, my lunch period is about over, so I'd better get back to work!

Thought for the Day

I think its the weather and the darker, gloomier days, I have not felt like writing these days, but there is something that I thought I'd share with you this evening.

This afternoon I cleaned my desk at work, and unearthed this saying that I had tacked up once and it got covered up, haven't seen it in a very long time! So, I reprinted it on clean paper and hung it up again by my neatly cleaned desk.

I shared it this evening with my Covenant Group. Maybe it's something you will like.

"Lord, take me where you want me to go.
Let me meet who you want me to meet.
Tell me what you want me to say.
AND keep me out of your way.

This could be a daily prayer!

October - Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Breast cancer death rates among women have been decreasing steadily since 1990 due, in part, to progress made in early detection and treatment options. However, as the American Cancer Society recently reported in Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2007-2008, a new problem has surfaced: mammography rates are on the decline and the reasons are not well understood.

With National Breast Cancer Awareness Month now at the forefront, it’s important for you to know how ACS is fighting back against the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women. Throughout October and beyond, ACS and ACS CAN will focus primarily on the importance of yearly mammograms and the need for increased funding for critical screening and treatment programs to help address declining mammography rates and health care access issues.

“There is HOPE in the fight against breast cancer, but we must do more. Encourage the women in your life age 40 and older to get a mammogram every year. For more information about how you can fight back against breast cancer, visit www.cancer.org/breastcancer or call 1-800-ACS-2345.”

Minnesota Smoke-Free

Monday, Minnesota's state smoking ban went into effect. Minnesota's indoor air will definitely be fresher now, non-smokers will not have to be exposed to second hand smoke. This is a good thing for our state!

This morning's newspaper had an article about it, and a quote from someone in Wisconsin (this state is working on getting a smoking ban also, though they are quite a way behind MN), really made me feel SAD. I sure hope not all smokers feel this way but his statement was:

"Smoking is more important than friends... I mean that" How sad!

Autumn is Here

Oct. 2nd - Note: I wrote this last night and thought that I published it, and see tonight that I didn't...it was to be posted before the one below titled "Housewarming". By the way, I managed to wake up before 4 this morning, the trip down and back to St. Paul went well, it rained the whole way home. Boy, am I tired tonight!

October 1st. Can you believe October is here already? I can't, except when I look outside, then I can. The leaves are beautiful, the air is crisp and the mornings are great!


We had another beautiful weekend, although we did get rain both Sat. and yesterday, but the days were still lovely. I love the smell of fall in the air. I love the smell in the mornings after it had rained the night before. All the leaves falling all over our yard. The leaves were beautiful in Woodland last week. The peak was probably this past weekend, as with the rain, they are starting to fall pretty fast. I didn't make it up the Northshore yet, and by next weekend, the leaves may all be down. I heard today that this was the rainest September in 4 years, and this is helping with our 6 year drought, and that the rain even brought up the level of Lake Superior a bit. That's good.


Fall also brings football season. Yesterday was the big rival game between the Vikings and the Packers. Our son and his girlfriend invited us up to their brand new home (see my post about it... with my thoughts on them building a home, I have kept mum on my blog for 9 months, because I thought I should, but can no longer be quiet...I had to write about it). I don't enjoy football much, but do like to cheer for the Vikings when they are playing the Packers.


We had a nice time, they had her parents, and three other couples over to watch the game on their very large TV Screen that is almost a big as the living room wall. The guys were all in "heaven". Us girls sat in the kitchen area and chatted, just checking on the score periodically. Sarah fed us well during half time. It was a good way to spend a rainy afternoon.


I must quit writing soon and get to bed early tonight. I am to meet one of my co/workers downtown at 5:15 tomorrow morning, for a drive to the cities for a training session for work. Oh my, I'm not looking forward to getting up at 4 am. It might be a bit easier, especially if I go to sleep early, because I have been getting up between 5 and 5:30 am for about 3 weeks now....we'll see!

Housewarming

All of my readers that are age 40 and up...have you noticed what the newest trend is for our grown children in the year 2006-07? Somewhere around the 80's and 90's we saw more 20 something couples co/habiting without marriage, sharing the rent of an apartment. In the early 2000's we started to see more and more couples buying a home and living together while they were engaged to be married. Now, in the last few years, we see more and more young couples living together without being married and also without being engaged. We now see them buying homes, not just renting. I'm sure it's due to the high cost of rent, especially in Duluth, and low interest rates. O.k., all you babyboomers...are you having a hard time adjusting to new trend. Maybe you are like me, it never bothered me until one our children fell into this trend. Do any of you have children that are living together, not married?

As parents, after our youngest son graduated from college, we had to get used to the idea of him and his girlfriend moving in together in an apartment. That was hard. Even though they were a couple for over 5 years. Even though Bob and I are products of the 60's, it was still hard to accept. Then they talked about buying a house because rent was so high. I think we would have understood then, if they had bought a house that was a fixer upper, to fix up, sell later to make some money to apply toward a newer home. After all, that's what our generation did. These are ambitious kids, they could do that too. A lot of my generation bought a "fixer upper" and actually were able to move into a newer home years later. Not all of my generation moved on, many stayed in the home they bought 30 plus years ago. Bob and I are one of those couples, as my husband is not a "fixer upper", we have to pay to have things done in our home, so therefore, we still live in our "fixer upper", fixed it up as we could afford to over these last 37 years. We never moved on...but we learned a long time ago to be happy with what we had. We decided a long time ago to give up on the idea of ever moving on to a "newer" home.

And, most of our generation have been like us.

Our children's generation, though, are not like their parents. They want everything, and they want it now. What will they want and have to strive for in their life if they get everything they want at age 25?

Our son and his girlfriend of 7 years, did not opt to buy a "fixer upper", they actually went to a contractor and had a home built. I don't understand their thinking that this all needed to be done before an engagement ring was purchased. (I told my son when he told me they were going to build, that he was "putting the cart before the horse". Call me an old fashioned Mother, I guess I just have a hard time understanding the young today. (Oh my gosh, am I starting to sound like my Mother now... ??!!)

I KNOW they are very lucky to have a brand new 3 bedroom home in a nice residential neighborhood. It's a nice home. I am happy for them, don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge them...but I do wish they would be married, or at least engaged. As a Mother, I worry about my son getting hurt maybe somewhere along the line, I know, I know, I have to quit worrying about that. I know too, that this is THEIR business, and I need to keep my opinions and thoughts to myself. I have kept quiet for the last 9 months, but feel the need to vent in writing - maybe then I can finally let it go. I have been trying for a very long time to let it go...he's been out of college for 2 years now (don't worry, they never read my blog).

I just wonder what they have left now, to dream for. The house is built, it's all furnished with brand new furniture, appliances, and everything down to the decorations on the wall, all sodded and landscaped and the deck being built this week, even a fancy mail box, and fall decorations. They have everything they need. What is left to get? I know when they finally do get married, it will be awfully hard for the guests of the wedding to purchase a wedding gift! Of course, that is if they ever do get married. (I talked to a friend last week that I haven't talked to for years, she told me her son and girlfriend have been living together for 11 years, and have a 9 year old son together.) I know, I know, I can just hear all of you readers saying "Linda, you have to give this up, let them be, and don't worry about them"

O.K. O.K. I will keep trying.....