My grandpa took this

My grandpa took this [2008-06-12]
Not for hot flashes of course, but every morning he had a glass of OJ and in it he had 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar and 1 teaspoon of honey. He said he believed in both apple cider vinegar and honey for curing whatever ailed you. He lived to be 93 years old, so maybe its true. I'll definitely buy the pill form. I have not had hot flashes yet, but am 48 so you never know.

$100 K from grandpa [2008-02-14]
you mentioned dad has psych issues. has your son been checked for this? i suppose i'll end up being a meddling mother because even as adults, if my children show signs of mental illness, drug abuse, whatever. i will do my best to get them help.

Grandpa from Tennessee taught me to cook it [2007-12-05]
x

Should I make the kids sleep over at Grandma & Grandpa's? (sm) [2007-11-20]
My MIL frequently asks for my children to sleep over. In the past, I would force them to go a couple of times a year. The problem is they cry and beg me not to make them go, even now when they are 7 and 10 years old. My MIL is a good person, but she doesn Now you are going to help me make cookies, then we are going visiting. She doesn They are very active in their community..but it is sort of all for show and they like to take the kids around and show them to everyone. I do understand this, but you would not believe the begging and pleading and crying I get from the kids not to have to go. Would you make them go? If so, how often?

Black Friday [2008-11-19]
My husband and I always shop on Black Friday, but if there's something we really want he goes out at about 4:00-5:00 in the morning to get it and then comes back to get me at around 9:00. I'm not a morning person at all. I usually don't go to bed unti 4:00 a.m. because of work so the thought of getting up that early doesn't appeal to me. We leave the kids at my parents where we spend Thanksgiving. Then we go out to a fantastic Greek Restaurant for lunch then back to grandma and grandpa and then travel back home an hour away. Then the next day it's off to cut down our Christmas tree.

mother started with a story from her [2008-08-24]
grandfather about his mother having a picture over her bed of general bragg, her father. this started about 1959 or so. I knew all my grandparents (one grandmother died in 2000 at 90)and I also knew three of my great-grandparents. By the time Mother got through, we were all in the UDC and qualified for colonial dames and DAR (I guess yankees got all our money and we haven't had any since!). My gm's family was part of the stephen f austin old 300 who settled Texas. My gm was a past President of the Texas Division of the UDC, just because of a story grandpa bob told one Thanksgiving. I think Mother said start with family bibles and death certificates. This will take untold amounts of time and effort. Our vacation memories from 1959 on are mostly of tombstones in Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina and Mobile, Alabama. And, of course, like most of us, I just have to say I am an American because by now there are just too many hyphens to think about! We did not even get to my gf, who was the first one born here in 1904 from swedish immigrants. I was the one who accidentally found a bjorkland on the ships roster of the titanic. Even the relatives in sweden did not know about him. Poor young man may have been coming here to meet with my great-gp's for all we know. When I think how interesting history could have been in school! I was so bored and in fact, it is fascinating, especially if you find any tidbit details about the actual people and what their lives were like. They were so constricted by peers and the times; just think, that old aunt everybody bragged on her cooking could today be a world renown chef. There was a PBS story about some black women in the south known for their quilting skills and the patterns they made up. Who knows how many today could have been famous artists? I see a lot of talent going to waste on walls of graffiti and overpasses. Some of these kids are remarkable, or could be. good luck with your tree chasing.

What are your favorite childhood memories [2008-08-15]
Watching the kids in the neighborhood play takes me back to my childhood days. Lots of people say they would never go through childhood ever again but I would in a heartbeat. I Mine were 1. Playing all day and night on weekends and after school. My only concern was getting in the house before dark (or by supper time). 2. Grandma Grandpa lived up the road so spent lots of time with them (they taught us how to do the polka to Lawrence Welk). 3. Didn Everything was prepared for me. And, no laundry. Always had clean clothes hanging in the closet. 4. School. Learning, learning, learning and being with friends. 5. Being free enough to have imaginary friends and nobody would tell me I was losing my mind (or were they really imaginary????) 6. Girl Scouts (need I say any more). 7. The idea that I could be a ballerina, movie star, singer, or anything I wanted to be when I grew up and my parents entertained that as though it could become a real possibility for me. 8. Mom and dad tucking me into bed and kissing me good night. 9. Thanksgiving with the whole family over. 10. Best Christmas gifts were Lite Bright, Easy Bake Oven, Feely-meely, Incredible Edibles, Frisbee, Slinky, dolls, and anything that was not mechanical or electrical. 11. Ice skating,sledding parties, and slumbar parties. 12. Being innocent enough to not know about all the kooks and problems in the world while I had the protection of mom and dad always. Well I could think of a ton of things, but those were the best times of my life. What are yours?

My one very vivid memor was before I even started school [2008-08-15]
Grandpa and I would take a walk through his neighborhood every Saturday morning and eventually make it to Dunkin Donuts for chocolate covered sprinkled donuts and hot chocolate. On the way back, wewedding mints sitting on her coffee table. Another favorite was getting to the be the Statue of Liberty in a parade while in Bluebirds! It's hard to stand still on a moving float!!

This is what I used to do (sm) [2008-08-13]
My parents and brother used to go to my dad's mom and dad's house every year for Thanksgiving. My grandpa used to be a professional chef, so he would cook up a feast. Anyway, G-pa and G-ma also had dogs and smoked like chimneys, and as a steroid-dependent asthmatic with allergies, I couldn't go to their house. I had to stay home. (I tried for a number of years to go with them, but I would get quite sick just being there.) Anyway, I would stay home and do the Christmas tree. We had a huge artificial one that was beautiful. Separating the branches to make the tree look just right took about as long of time as they were gone--about 4 hours. When my parents and brother came home, my mom and brother and I would put up Christmas ornaments. Now that I have my own house and lovely family, we have had big Thanksgivings and also very small Thanksgivings. Both are great. Since hubby is an RN, sometimes we do T-giving on a different day than the actual Turkey Day because he has to work.

I believe too [2008-08-05]
I love your philosophy about kids. What a wonderful mother you must be. I too am a believer. Always have been since I cangrandpa. They had not told him at this point that his grandfather had died. When she asked him how he knew it was grandpa he looked at her and rolled his eyes and said duh, mom. About 4 years ago I went home to visit my mom who was dying of cancer. I was staying with my sis because there was no room for me at my momwhy, why, why do I have to spend the night, why canBecause your mother needs you. This voice was so loud and clear it sounded like someone was sitting in the passenger seat and scared me enough to make me swerve. I have a strong suspicion it was my grandfather. What he said (because your mother needs you) would not be something I would have thought of as I was only thinking of myself and was ashamed at myself afterwards. So if that was grandpa he put me in my place that day (which is exactly what he would have done if he were here in our realm).

If you did the best you can I am proud of you [2008-05-15]
Grandpa told me that when helping with homework and tests.

These are my good ol days [2008-05-11]
First being of course growing up where all I had to worry bout was studying in school and getting good grades. All four grandparents were alive. Grandma working wardrobe. I'm grateful for what I have but it is very depressing to see everything sky rocket. What used to cost me $100 a week for groceries I'm now spending around $200. So while I am grateful for what I do have I sure do miss the good old days.

I made these a few years ago and they were a big hit... [2008-02-18]
my grandpa (who is 84) actually said I should go into business---LOL...I think he thought I had sewn them or something so he was quite impressed...they are really fun to make too...

Grandparents are Heaven on Earth [2008-02-07]
I have no kids so can only give you a viewpoint of how my grandparents shaped my life. I grew up very close (personally) to my grandparents (grandma was my second mom). My grandparents (moms side) lived up the road from us (about a 5 min walk with an open field between us). In the mornings we would walk outside and if she was out we would yell hello up there and grandma would yell back hello down there. She took care of my sister and I during the day while mom worked. We went everywhere with her every day (hairdresser, butcher, stores, errands, church activities, her friends house, etc). She taught us how to whistle with a blade of grass, play here is the church with our hands. We ate every Sunday supper with them and then she and grandpa moved the living room furniture and taught us how to polka to Lawrence Welk. We also ate there often during the week. Once a week we would spend the night at their house. Grandpa had a lawnmower repair and sales business but anytime I was having trouble in school, he would come in and after supper sit down and help me (mostly with math), but he didn't even think twice about not helping. He was the most unselfish person in the whole world. When I was feeling down about my grade on a report card or test (I was a C & D student, occasionally a B and very rare an A) he would ask me if I did the best that I could and I said I tried really hard but I just didn't understand. He told me as long as I tried the hardest I could he was proud of me. We grew up in the country and g'ma taught us about wild flowers, quilting, and other country type stuff. During the winter we would have sled parties at her house for my girl scout troop and she would bring out hot cocoa with mini marshmallows. Just a couple years ago my best childhood friend was telling me she had just been thinking about that sled party and my grandma bringing us the hot cocoa, and I just have so many wonderful life memories the list would go on and on. She died when I was 16 (30 years ago), grandpa died a few years ago. I miss them so much it still hurts. My dad's grandparents lived 15 minutes from us and we spent every Sunday afternoon with them and when I was old enough to drive I would go up on my own during the weekdays and sit at the table and talk and talk with grandma for hours. I miss them both so much too. I think grandparents are the most wonderful gift a child could have. I was blessed to have mine live so close to us. They spoiled us rotten and we loved it! Oh how I dream of being young again and having my grandparents to talk to. I'm now 48 and live alone with husband. All my grandparents and mom are gone, dad lives across the country and I see him once every 3 years. I sure do miss them all. I hope all kids have a chance to be close to their grandparents the way I was. My mom (when she was alive) and dad all have fond memories of their parents (they both told me they had the best parents anywhere). So the only way I can sum it up is that Grandparents are Heaven on Earth.

I think its credit cards... [2007-12-27]
The newspaper had an article the day after Christmas how people are defaulting on their credit cards all over the place. This added to the mortgage companies having problems with people unable to pay their balloon payments and the bad housing market, price of gas is sure to lead (the article said) to a recession. When I was shopping I saw all the people with tons of things in their carts, DVD players, computers, etc. on Christmas eve. This was regular people at Walmart. I saw a lot of credit cards flashed around. Paying minimum payment will cause Christmas to cost tons more and they will be paying beyond the item's life which they purchased. We went through this. We tried to sell our house, rented to own another and went broke in 3 months. After we had 2 house, fell back on credit cards the interest piled up and it was terrible! We moved back and are on a budget. So, I shopped without credit this year, and you know what? I had more fun. And I have 3 kids. Their things were simpler than the fancy things they got last year. The most expensive things we got were bikes because they are growing and we got those on sale. The rest were creative items. I am not saying that what we did is so great. What I am saying is that peeople are not looking at the big picture these days and if they do not use cash (as we had not in the past), they may not be able to pay their debt if hard times fall. In the meantime, grandpa sent my son 100 bucks, which I let him spend on a train set (I should not have let him do that he is 7) and he cried that his money was all gone and he did not want the train set anymore. I bet if I had him save some of it and had him buy simpler things, well I bet he would not have been crying. At least at age 7 he is learning that money is not easy to come by. And he is learning the hard way because I will not give him more money to replace what he spent. Sorry such a long message. It is just that we did not even afford an XBox, and I wanted a Wii myself, but we avoided all of that because in the end we learned that Christmas is not about credit cards, the junk it buys. I think the end of the cartoon the Grinch where the Who people did not even care about the presents was correct. Maybe we'd be happy with less things and more love. I don't know. This was not meant to be a sermon forgive me. We all have to learn what Christmas means to us and I say let people do what they want, consequences are always result of actions anyway. Just IMO. Happy New Year everyone!

Good luck. I hope he quits but... [2007-11-23]
if he doesn I think he should definitely smoke outside but if he refuses, blowing the smoke directly out the window will help a bit. My father-in-law smokes in the house sometimes right by the window, and his house doesn't smell nearly as bad as a lot of smokers' houses. I My step-grandpa died of lung cancer and never smoked, but both of his wives chain smoked, and I My husband also has asthma, and I wonder if it Dr. Phil always says you teach people how to treat you, and it sounds like up until this point it hasn Good for you for putting your foot down!

Well, I was raised on a farm so...sm [2007-11-16]
I knew early on what confine meant when we had a cow ready to give birth. My grandpa confined her to keep her from running off into the pasture to have it on her own. You can imagine my surprise (disgust actually) when I heard educated doctors use basically the same phraseology towards a human-being...I was a tad disturbed. Then I thought...it was probably a good thing I had been confined then or God only knows which park I may have had my daughter in. LOL

This is what I've told my children [2007-08-22]
and I quite frankly do not care who it offends. My children have had the good touch/bad touch conversations and I have told them I don't care who it may be..... daddy, step-dad, step-mom, grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, cousins, big brother, etc. TELL ME. The fact is pedophiles come in all shapes and sizes, family members or not, and I want my children to know, I don't care who it is, that sometimes people can hurt others, even possibly making it look like something loving, and they MUST tell. So, I'm sorry. You may disagree with the way that mother handled things but those are her children and I understand where she is coming from. Obviously if she had trust issues with you or your husband, she wouldn't send her children to your home to begin with. I think she was teaching her children to be cautious and wants to keep the line of communication open with her children. JMO

I've been through this sort of, but I was the dirty house - sm [2007-08-10]
Girl invited over one time for my daughter we are not slobs. Yeah, I find it a little annoying, but I feel bad for the little girl as she is not allowed to ever get dirty and that is half the fun of growing up. The grandparents have no tolerance for any mess, that kid must live in a bubble. My MIL is exactly the same way too, but this lady is young, about mid-50s, so you think she'd still remember. I know this is not what you mean though. Hygiene is quite necessary and the girl will be teased and tortured by her friends if they see she lives in a pit. You could alway offer to help the mom get ready for the party, though there is no nice way to say, hey let me help you clean your house, it is really gross and needs a total overhaul, and you need to learn how to do laundry, bathe and brush teeth. Kind of hard to do definitely. Just do what you think is right and be as tactful as you can.

Yes, my dad's parents [2007-07-08]
My dad died when I was 18. I love my daddy, and I love my pop (step-dad). It is so sad that my children never got to meet their grandpa, but they do also have a grandpa (my pop) that loves them with all his heart. I also have a brother, who was named after my dad, and felt it only right that if anyone uses my dad's name it be his choice, not mine. Does that make sense? Thanks for your input!!!

what 'stories' were you told as a child that you [2007-06-04]
My son was here earlier, and was telling us how in health class one of his classmates said his grandpa told him that buggers were actually little pieces of the MOTHER bugger, that blocked the passage to the brain, that was why teachers did not want kids to pick their noses, their brains would fall out. This was in Jr High, and the kid still believed it.We never told our kids stuff like that, but I do remember my mom told me if I itched my bites on my legs I would get sick, so my older sister told me I would get cancer if I itched them. I had an aunt that had recently died of cancer, so it really freaked me out, and I layed in bed all night crying that I was dying. My mom was pretty mad at my sister for that one!!

I am very sorry for your loss... [2007-03-27]
I lost my brother to suicide almost 8 years ago. It shattered my whole world because we were so close. I have a big family, but my family to me was my mom and brother. It was by far the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with, ever. I went through many stages too, and still to this day I sometimes think maybe it was just a dream, not real. I know it was real, but this other side of me thinks this from time to time. It is really hard to put in words. It does get better though. With time, you start to heal and pick yourself up and move on. It is during this time though that you have to lean on whatever comforts you have, whether that is God, your friends, your family, etcetera. All of my grandparents are gone now too. Unfortunately I was never close to any of them other than one grandpa who passed away first. Good luck to you and hang in there...it will get better.

that sounds delicious! [2007-03-08]
And I don I look for healthier ways to prepare our favorite southern dishes; rarely fry chicken (usually get it from Publix...yummy), don't fry veggies (cept for okra), but sometimes just get a hankering for good ole southern food...go to the Blue Willow in Social Circle, load up, and enjoy!

sm [2006-12-13]
Thank you all for your help. I appreciate it. Yes, my husband does realize what he did was wrong, he said he should have walked home from the program last night and cooled down. Theregrandpa called the school to see when your program was and the most hurtful thing is we have other family (Cousins) that live in this town, and they spent more time talking with them than they did my husband. They talk about family events coming up that my husband is never told about, etc. I know it hurt him watching his dad interact with his aunt and uncle and niece and nephew more than he did with us and his grandchildren. The problem is my husband was taught to act with anger (yea, from guess-who) and it's a tough habit to break. THank you for your prayers and thoughts.