Monthly Archives: November 2009

Thank-You on Veteran’s Day

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I don’t even know how you really say thank-you to all of the men and women who have selflessly, with great courage and bravery, protected our nation and the freedoms we enjoy.  I know that all the blessings we have as American citizens has come at a great price, a great sacrifice.  So, today, I want to remember and thank God for all who have served and for those who are serving.  And I want to remember some who are special to me.

Ova Dean Baker.   “Grandpa Baker”

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Grandpa Baker was an ornery old cuss.  He is now deceased but lives big in my memory!  Thank-you for serving our country, Grandpa, and for marrying my Grandma and raising her babies as your own. You were a hero in so many ways.

Donald Baker, the day he left for Viet Nam.  “Uncle Donald.”

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Uncle Donald used to babysit me and play Beatles records and say “Your mom wears combat boots, ” which was simply not true.  He was a rascal of an uncle who impacted my life more than he knows.  I love him him because he reads my blog sometimes and gets very soft-hearted (his wife told me).  Thank-you Uncle Donald for being a kid who went to war and became a bigger-than-life hero to me and all of your nieces and nephews when there weren’t many to be found.  I love you!

Everett Allison.  “Grandpa Allison.”

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He served in WWII with a wife and 5 children at home.  He managed to do that and still be an amazing husband and father all at once.  He called me “Debbie Jean” the only person in the world who did, and wrote me actual letters – in the mail!  I admired him so much and miss him deeply.  He was like a movie star to me and since he passed a way a few years ago, the night sky has never again shined as brightly.

Raymond Rhoades, Dave’s Dad

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Thank-you, dad for serving your country with honor.  There is nothing we love more than getting you talking about all you remember and the ways you saw the faithful hand of God at work in your behalf when you served in Germany during WWII.  It is hard to believe how young you were and how much of your faith was being built and perfected during those long days away.  You have lived an admirable life and have our deepest love and respect.  Thank-you for serving your country and showing us how to have honor and respect and love for this country.

Garry Rhoades (Dave’s brother) and his son  Tim Rhoades (our nephew).

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Our nephew Tim is still in the Army National Guard.  This is him a couple of years ago with his maternal grandfather (Mr. Raymond Groves, now deceased), a veteran, his paternal grandfather (Dad Rhoades, see above),  and his father Garry Rhoades, Dave’s brother.  Garry passed away a year and a half ago having suffered medical problems due to Agent Orange exposure during his time in Viet Nam.  He was never bitter, never blamed the military.  Garry remained a patriotic citizen until the day he died, so proud to have served his country.  Thank-you, gentlemen, all of you, so much.   And Tim?  God bless you and keep you!  We have you in our hearts!

And God bless those serving actively today!

Thank-you  to all who have served, thank-you so much.  In my struggle to express my gratitude (me, a person who is rarely at a loss for words), my friend Marie wrote beautifully.  You may read her lovely, heartfelt words here.

With great gratefulness…Jeanie

Black Coffee and Pumpkin Butter

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Breakfast.  The most important meal of the day.

Joe brought me a present from his beautiful wife and my sweet sister-in-law (aka: Robin – sister of my heart) when we met in Springfield a few weeks ago.  She made me some perfectly earthy cinnamon and all the spices of autumn-seasoned pumpkin butter, beautifully presented in a prismed  jar.  She also sent some of her delicately tangy and ambrosial apple-pear jam.

Breakfast.  The most scrumptious meal of the day.

I brought them home and showed them off under the pretense of sharing, but I hide them in the refrigerator, moving them frequently, so that on early, dark  mornings I can toast some thick slices of multi-grain bread and have one of each: apple-pear jam and pumpkin butter (with real butter, of course…does that go without saying?).  And my black coffee.  My very dark, very strong black coffee.

Black coffee.

In my soul, I am Julie London and this is how I sing about black coffee (and anything I am really into).  Yeah.  That’s right, I am this passionate about black coffee.

A good start to my morning…Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF:  Call Robin because I am almost out of my delicate, almost-floral bread spreads.

A Gift

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Ageless Beauty walking gently upon the Narrow Path

She runs, she glides, she rests, she makes the journey her home

Eyes roam in search of hidden truths to hold, to grasp and adorn

In never-ending pursuit of the knowledge that evades the apathetic

A solid foundation rooted in love, she unites her family

Her green touch hails life in the dead garden, now fresh and new

With tasks at hand to nurture, to provide, to advise

She shifts in form to embody the need of the moment

Watch on, watch long, wholehearted devotion you will observe

She has an audience in me, I listen and absorb

May I sit beside you, Seasoned Wisdom, on the narrow path?

What will you share?  What must I know?  What knowledge do I lack?

Speak the words that breathe life in the graveyards of my being

Then, permit the Undeserving to leave you with a wish

Hold no more the woes from seasons Time has now retired

Ageless Beauty, age in grace, grow in love, lie down in peace.

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From Tredessa Christine Rhoades, (a very wonderful daughter) in watercolor and ink, on the occasion of my 5oth birthday.  At this point in life, you enjoy being described as ageless and timeless.  *smile…

Song for a Sunday: Himself

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Sometimes one old hymn can say in very few words what an almost-three-year-old blog has been trying to say in over 700 posts.

A hymn of A. B. Simpson

Once it was the blessing,  Now it is the Lord;
Once it was the feeling, Now it is His Word.
Once His gifts I wanted, Now the Giver own;
Once I sought for healing, Now Himself alone.

Once ’twas painful trying, Now ’tis perfect trust;
Once a half salvation, Now the uttermost.
Once ’twas ceaseless holding, Now He holds me fast;
Once ’twas constant drifting, Now my anchor’s cast.

Once ’twas busy planning, Now ’tis trustful prayer;
Once ’twas anxious caring, Now He has the care.
Once ’twas what I wanted, Now what Jesus says;
Once ’twas constant asking, Now ’tis ceaseless praise.

Once it was my working, His it hence shall be;
Once I tried to use Him, Now He uses me.
Once the power I wanted, Now the Mighty One;
Once for self I labored, Now for Him alone.

Once I hoped in Jesus, Now I know He’s mine;
Once my lamps were dying, Now they brightly shine.
Once for death I waited, Now His coming hail;
And my hopes are anchored, Safe within the vail.

Albert Benjamin Simpson (1843-1919) wrote many poems and hymns and founded the Christian and Missionary Alliance

NOTE: I discovered this hymn at the end of Frank Viola’s amazing book, From Eternity to Here

Now Himself Alone…

Slice of Life

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Late afternoon. 

A golden autumn sun pours in to the living room in full, bright force as Gavin runs from the front door and sails through the air in his magnificent jump down the stairs to the family room.  He lands bent-knee in perfect Spiderman form, delighting his two sisters and his little cousin.  Sweet sugar and spice girls squeal and clap and shout their praises while they run in circles  throwing their heads back to laugh without reserve.

Guini is alternately power-serving her pink balloon like she is on the Olympic Volleyball team or kicking it down the imaginary kitchen floor soccer field.  Gemma’s teeth make small squeaky noises against her balloon as she tries to bite it while Gavin reports on his high scores at school today in between masterful leaps into the air. Sandy-the-Dog  is quite happy indeed to see the popcorn and M & Ms flying through the air as an unexpected afternoon snack. Full of sass and spunk and decked in a purple t-shirt and black gauchos, Averi saunters across the room with her hand on her hip, and up on her tippie-toes, just like I did at her age!

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At exactly 3:52 pm

Out the window in the brightly-lit, sunny street we spy a pearly-white Nissan Maxima pulling in the driveway.  Rocky is here!  Rocky is here! even Averi cries out.  All 4 kids and the dog do the happy dance, as if Rocky were a super-hero or a beloved friend returning from a far away land.  He comes in the house to hugs and children jumping up and down and exclamations of love and we realize we are in the middle of a spontaneous party of delight.  You can practically see the confetti flying through the air.

These are the moments.

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

Suspenders @ The Armory

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Renaissance Man

Dave-the-husband writes, paints, teaches, husbands, fathers, grandfathers and now he is acting again.  You can catch him this month in the newly renovated/restored Armory in Brighton with The Platte Valley Players.  He starts rehearsals this weekend for his next role as Daddy Warbucks in “Annie ~ The Musical” for Prairie Playhouse Productions. 

He says he is shaving his head.

I am shaking mine.  I guess I’ll be able to say, “I knew him when…”  But he still has to take out the trash.

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Tooth Fairy Re-emerges after Many Years of Unemployment

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Gavin’s mommy.

December 1988.  Stephanie was 6 and we left her and her two sisters (Tredessa 5 and Tara 9 1/2) home alone for a few minutes while we picked up some church supplies for the Christmas season.  Wal-Mart was 5 minutes away and it was a small Nebraska city.  I wouldn’t try this now, so don’t call Social Services on me, people.  They were given strict instructions and told to behave.

We get to Wal-Mart and call home to check on them and are informed by the very responsible and afraid-she-might-be-in-trouble Tara that Tredessa and Stephanie were jumping on the bed and Stephanie had hit her head on Tredessa’s noggin, knocking her tooth loose.

It was very upsetting.  Rushing home I am thinking, “Oh no.  We have to save the tooth.  Oh poor Stephanie!”  But it ended up being a bottom tooth and when we investigated closely, she already had her first “grown-up tooth” coming in.  Tredessa’s head was a blessing in diguise.

Having 5 kids in less than 7 years, can I just tell you we kept the Tooth Fairy veeeeeeeery busy between 1985 and the early 90′s?  Then?  We had to give her a pink slip.

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The grandbebes enter their tooth-morphing season.

Gavin is a man after my heart.  He loves to work and work hard.  He spent 4 hours one day last week shoveling snow.  His neighbor paid him $2 – for shoveling at his own house!  But he thought it was worth that!  After the Harvest Fest he dumped his huge candy haul on the floor and said, “I have to organize all this candy, Nonna!”  Organization is key for Gavin, a red-headed first-born.  Case-in-point, he had just organized the kitchen pantry that afternoon, emptying it of all its contents and carefully filling it back up.

So no surprise that this very detail-oriented and hard-working, freckle-faced kid only had that loose tooth for 2 or 3 days before it came out.  He is very consistent and organized that way.

Love you, Gavin!  Congratulations!  Be sure to tell the Tooth Fairy that prices have gone way, way up since December of 1988!…Love, Nonna

A Woman’s Alphabet

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Did you ever wonder why a woman’s bra size is measured by A, B, C, D, DD, E, F, G, and H? 

Here is how the code breaks down:

A ~ Almost boobs

B ~ Barely there

C ~ Can’t complain

D ~ Dang!

DD ~ Double dang!!

E ~ Enormous.

F ~ Fake, definitely fake.

G ~ Get a reduction, already.  Good grief.

H ~ Help!  I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!

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Thanks to my friend Christy-from-Nebraska who sent this bra-size explanation to me. And I dedicate this post to my mother who actually thought the tank top (a gift from Stormie Dae) I was wearing said, “I am so blogging these,” rather than the more acceptable and actual ”I am so blogging this,” (which is what bloggers say about everything).  I don’t have that kind of blog, I told her.  But, hmmm, maybe I do now, after this post?