The Gift

My husband is a good gift giver. My favorite gift for many years was my built in ironing board, but after moving it from house to house he made me leave it in Illinois. It took a lot of hardware to anchor it to the wall and so it went w/ the house. I still miss it. I know many people will think this is silly because who in their right mind irons these days, but for me it was a painful parting.

However, my husband outdid himself this year and w/o me even asking for it I got a deluxe Kindle. I think our daughters might have been instrumental in him coming up w/ this idea. I love it! Who wants to iron when you can download the latest book in 60 seconds? I have become a reading machine which might get expensive because most of the down loads are around $10.00. I used to be a regular at the library but hey, this is sooo much easier. Also, I can adjust the font and my tired 'ol eyes like the larger print. In fact, I find it hard to read regular print now so I may never go back. This cuts out my cheap finds at garage sales, swapping w/friends and, of course, our beautiful, new library.

My husband may soon realize what a monster he has created. He may even live to regret making me part w/ my beloved ironing board.

Y 2K Jitters

I am trying to remember if I always get nostalgic this time of year or if this is a sign of getting older? Anyway, it seems this last decade went way too fast. I remember Dec. of '99 and all the anxiety felt around the world about ushering in the 21st Century. I actually had friends who filled up both their bathtubs, spent $200.00 on liquor, and $100.00 on chocolate and said " let the good times roll." My brother bought generators, food, water and guns to welcome in 2000. There was a lot of craziness.

Jim and I lived in Chicago and didn't get caught up in the frenzy. We went to a New Year's Eve party at our neighbors and watched the events on their television. Our future son-in-law, David, had asked for Brooke's hand in marriage and said he was going to ask her to marry him at the stroke of midnight. I was a little "jittery" thinking about that because she was our first little chickie to take the plunge.

A lot of things happened during the last ten years to us personally: we retired and moved to Coeur d'Alene, all our children married, all our grandchildren arrived(4 boys 5 and under), we got new jobs, my mom died, we lost several friends to illness and accidents, and Taurus Lumber was formed (Jim and Matt's company).

On the national level the decade has not been as kind. The terrorist attacks on New York changed the world as we know it and certainly our sense of security. This led to a declaration of war on Iraq and Afghanistan that has been dragging on for 9 years. Perhaps because of the financial drain due to the war, our country has been in the largest recession since the great depression. This in turn has lead to unemployment which has caused an increase in crime...and so it goes... the ripple effect just keeps rippling.

In 2008 we elected our first black president, Barack Hussein Obama. I am not sure if it is because he is black or because of his unfortunate middle name, but there has been massive dissension since his election. Internationally his election seemed to raise the U.S. in the estimation of world leaders. Ironically, he even received the Nobel peace prize this year. Locally because Idaho is such a conservative state, public opinion is very much against the president.

This ill will in our country, the war, and the economy have caused the last ten years to be very stressful. As I look forward to a new decade I can only pray that things will improve. I pray for our soldiers who are in harms way, I pray for our president and that some wacko won't assassinate him. I pray that our economy will recover so young families and businesses won't lose everything they have worked for to foreclosures. I pray that everyone will realize that we do not have to agree with everything to still love and care about one another. Most importantly I pray that the new year and the new decade will be a more peaceful, loving and less stressful time for all.

Vintage 1946

My brother Wayne and I rolled off the assembly line on a cold, snowy night in November of 1946. Wayne, who is 16 mins. ahead of me, had no imperfections and proudly lined up with the other models right away. I had a few chinks in my armor and had to have some adjustments before I could earn my place with the others. Producers, Jim and Alice Anderson, proudly took their new '46's home to join their '42, Phyllis. Now Phyllis had been the number one in the garage for over 4 years and wasn't sure there was room for one more, much less two more bodies. The garage was tight and it was also right after WWII, so there were shortages all over the country and definitely at The Andersons. However, the two new upshots squeezed in and continued to grow and grow.

As the '46's and the '42 grew they required many new sets of tires and lots of upkeep. This kept Alice, who was in charge of maintenance and Jim, who was in charge of expenses, very busy. The years passed with the normal road bumps, brushes with the law, fender benders, travels near and far until it was time for the models to hit the open road on their own. As expected, Phyllis was the first to leave traveling to CA, GA, WA, but always coming back to ID for a tune up and some TLC. She finally hooked up with a '40 who had Oklahoma plates and they ended up cooling their engines in Coeur d'Alene.

Pamela was the next to leave going to Spokane for some higher education. Wayne, in the mean time, was in a bit of a rut spinning his wheels until the U. S. government took over and sent him all the way to Southeast Asia. This was a big blow because many of our contemporaries who were sent to Vietnam came back in pieces if they came back at all. Wayne was one of the lucky ones who returned with his exterior intact and no apparent damage under the hood.

In the meantime, Pamela left Spokane to complete her education at Moscow where she was given a degree enabling her to supervise all the models coming off the lines for many years to come. During this time, she met Jim another '46 who had Ohio plates. They connected revving up their engines, creating some steam on the wind shield and doing some producing of their own: Matt a '73, and Beth and Brooke, both '77's.

The '70's are off making their own inroads and so it goes. I guess it's life in the fast lane. However, from the vantage point of a classic, I have learned a few things. If the oldies are treated well and kept maintained, their value often increases. Take the pedal off the metal and don't be in such a big hurry. Be kind to fellow motorists along the route. Embrace the trip because the journey can be more enjoyable than the destination. Keep gas in the tank, oil under the hood, air in the tires and love in your heart. And most importantly, enjoy the ride, because it's not a test drive.

Rachel's Challenge

Yesterday at my high school we had an assembly called Rachel's Challenge. It was a very "heavy" subject for just before Christmas and I have to compliment our student body because they were so respectful and well-behaved. Of course, that was kind of the subject of the assembly. Rachel was the first student killed at Columbine High School. Before her death she had worked at her school to get students to be kinder to one another and to be more accepting to those who are different from the mainstream. Many of her philosophies and visions for a better world came out after her death from personal accounts related to her parents from students she had helped and from her journals.

Rachel's brother was also at Columbine and came very close to getting shot himself. After the shooting, he had many emotional problems and went off the deep end himself. As he and his father learned more about Rachel's dreams of helping others, they decided to have this become their mission. They have spoken to high schoolers around the world and have been on many major television shows explaining Rachel's goals for helping others to become better people.

Our assembly consisted of a trained person who explained what the family is doing on behalf of Rachel and many video clips of the Columbine shooting, Rachel growing up, news stories of her challenge and the impact she is having all these years after her death. It was very moving and I saw students all over the gym wiping away tears.

Anyway, I decided to accept the challenge and write this blog in the hopes that anyone out there who does not know Rachel's story will be inspired to learn more. Just google Rachel's Challenge and you will finds lots of information. Since I am just starting to blog, I don't yet know about links and such. Brooke, my daughter who is helping me get started, is probably snickering right now.

Click HERE for the link. (Brooke added this in for her Mom, after snickering a little! Hee hee)