Dirty Laundry

Aren’t you glad you don’t live in the early 20th Century?
When every misdeed was published in the local newspaper
for everyone in the county to read?

My uncle, the family history master, unearthed these newspaper treasures from 1901.
The young lady in the article was a cousin of my
great-great grandfather.

We got quite a chuckle out of the first one:

Not to worry….

All’s well that ends well!
(sort of)

So, there you go!
Virtue restored!

For a couple years….
(look in the second paragraph)

Poor Lulu!
Divorcing Royal for failure to pay spousal support.
Maybe the fact that he couldn’t afford $2.50 for a marriage license
should have tipped her off.
Hmmm…..

Musings

I have a few things on my mind… are you ready?

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Flynn and I have started referring to Gross Yucky New Florin (where he was previously employed) as MORDOR.
The more we know about the type of people that live there,
the happier we are that we’re NOT going.
As time has passed, we have found an utter lack of integrity and honesty from his employer, co-workers and employees.
In reference to Flynn, their battle cry is like the barbaric Orcs from Lord of the Rings:
”MEAT’S BACK ON THE MENU, BOYS!”
Let’s chew him up and spit him out.

I’m still not sure how much I am allowed to say regarding this situation here on my blog.
We are looking for an attorney, but since that state is a Right to Work state,
it’s a hard case to prove in court and most attorneys are reluctant to take the case.
We are exploring other legal options.
But since these people, (who will be referred to as “the Orcs of Mordor” from now on) are
impugning Flynn, his integrity and his professionalism, we feel that we can’t turn the other cheek.
We’ll take it as far as we can, legally.
And one day, I will name the management company that is at the core of all the dishonesty.
And it will be out there for all eyes to see.

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Moving on…..

Have you seen this game?
It’s an app for your iPod product.

IT IS A BLAST!!

I have been having so much fun playing this game.
I will admit, when Thorkgal started playing with me, I was incredibly nervous.
Have you seen her art?
Did you know she’s an art teacher?
Have you seen her husband’s art?
My little stick figures can’t hold a candle to their talent.
But Thork has been gracious and kind and has even guessed every picture that I’ve drawn.
If she laughs at them, I’ll never know….

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Did you know Yellowstone opens in
30 DAYS!?!?!?

YAHOO!!!

Guess where we’ll be on April 20!

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Belle and Beast have decided not to move to Las Vegas.
Things were not what they expected down there, so they made the very wise
decision to move back and stick with their original plan of
attending the Police Academy to become a law officer
and getting Belle’s cosmetology license.

I’m proud of them for making such a mature decision.
Now, if they would just move out of my house…..

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Here’s the funniest item of this whole post:

I have started teaching piano lessons
(to someone other than my own child).

I know.

Hilarious, isn’t it?

I am NOT a piano teacher.
I am NOT qualified to be a piano teacher.
I have NO BUSINESS trying to teach a child how to play the piano.
Yet, here I am, teaching two young children.

Yes, I play.
And I used to play well.
I don’t think it’s arrogant to say I was pretty good.
But my skills
(as I have gotten older and stopped practicing for hours every day)
have declined.
And I’ll be honest:
I DON’T KNOW THEORY!!
I don’t know chord progression.
What the heck does Harmonic Minor mean?
I can do a chromatic scale, and I kind of remember what a Tonic Chord is.
But don’t ask me what Supertonic means!!

How did I get through 10 years of lessons without learning this stuff?
Because
I CHOSE NOT TO LEARN IT!!

I hated the theory classes my teacher had.
I wouldn’t go.
And I wouldn’t do the work.
I loved playing (still do)
but all that technical stuff…..?
PSHAW!!
It’s for the birds!

Now ask me,
DO I REGRET IT?
And I’ll answer with a resounding,
HECK YES!
If I could go back and re-do lessons, I would go.
I’d still hate it, but I’d work hard at learning it.

But that doesn’t answer WHY I’m teaching these kids.

Plain and simple.
Economics.
Their mom can’t afford lessons. She could teach them herself, but we all know how that goes.
1) the kids don’t listen to you
2) it’s so easy to put off lessons for weeks at a time
3) lack of consistency

So she approached me with a trade.
If I’ll teach her kids piano until May, she will paint my kitchen for me.

I’m pretty sure I have the better deal.
And I’m so excited to get rid of the terrible yellow that is in the kitchen!

WAHOO!

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And finally,
a couple weeks ago I splurged
and bought this:

My photography instructor was wearing it.
It cracked me up.
And I just HAD to have one!

Isn’t it GREAT?

Memorial Faces

Recently, my beloved Aunt passed away from breast cancer. It was a hard blow for the family. She was the first of my parent’s ‘mature’ siblings to pass away (my mom had a young sister pass away when I was only 6). It was a reminder that life is precious and we should treasure our relationships while we have them.

Like most funeral homes, the people that handled Aunt Mary’s services has an online obituary page.
Included in that page is a link where you can view the slide show/video of pictures of your loved one throughout the years.
It was wonderful for me to view Aunt Mary’s video, in the privacy of my own home,
where I could cry and remember my beautiful Aunt and the wonderful life she lived.

After I viewed Aunt Mary’s pictures
I remembered that I hadn’t viewed the video of the mother of another of my aunts.
Her 93 year old mother passed away recently (a week before Aunt Mary)
and I was unable to attend the funeral.
It was fun seeing Catherine in her younger days, when she was full of happiness and joy. She always carried herself with dignity and grace and was always such a beautiful woman.
I enjoyed seeing photos of my Aunt before she married my mom’s brother,
and seeing my cousins in family photos with the other side of their family.

Once I realized that all these wonderful videos were online, I looked through the larger list of
obituaries to see if there were any other people I might know on the list.
I don’t get the newspaper and I don’t always have the opportunity to know if friends and acquaintances
from my past have passed on.
I found the obituary of a lady that I served in the Primary with over 20 years ago.
She was in the Primary presidency and I was the pianist, when I was newly married to Flynn.
I was shocked to see her name on there.
And again, I realized that life is fleeting, that family and relationships are so very important!
I watched her video.

After watching these three videos in succession I had to pause and think about myself.
I thought about the video someone would make for me one day.
And I thought about the pictures of me that are out there.

Pictures like this:

or this:

this:

and this:

are the norm….
NOT
the exception.

I don’t even know where to look to find a picture where
I have a “normal” face.

Hmmmm…..
I feel
VERY SORRY
for the person that has to make my
memorial video!

Cell Phone Saturday

I actually remembered to take some pictures!
(I wish my cell phone had a better camera!)