Author: MM

It seems as though I must once again suspend the usual light-hearted, family saga posting, to ask for your prayers for the entire Schultheis family as we mourn the loss of Crick’s brother John, known to all of the family as “Feller”.  The news of his sudden passing Wednesday afternoon from an apparent heart attack has left everyone in a state of disbelief.  Our hearts go out to Joni and his children, Kim, Jared, Katie and Kelly and his three adorable grandchildren, Lilly, Dylann and Nick.  There are simply no adequate words at times such as these, just lots of hugs and time spent together…………..remembering.

As I have struggled to offer comfort to my “other” family, I turned to the Sacred Scripture which always reassures me that all things work together for good to those who love God,  and also a prayer I came across a few months after Crick’s death which has provided a great measure of comfort to me over the past few months:

The great and sad mistake of many people, among them even pious persons, is to imagine that those whom death has taken, leave us.  They do not leave us………….they remain!!  Where are they? In darkness?  Oh no!  It is us who are in darkness.  We do not see them, but they see us.  Their eyes, radiant with glory are fixed upon our eyes full of tears.  Oh, infinite consolation!  Though invisible to us, our departed ones are not absent.

I have often reflected upon the surest comfort for those who mourn.  It is this:  a firm faith in the real and continual presence of our loved ones; it is the clear and penetrating conviction that death has not destroyed them, nor carried them away.  They are not even absent, but living near us, transfigured: having lost in their glorious change….no delicacy of their souls, no tenderness of their hearts, nor special preference in their affection: on the contrary, having in depth and fervor of devotion grown larger….a hundredfold.  Death is for the good, a translation into light, into power, into love.  Those who on earth were ordinary Christians, become perfect; those who were beautiful become good, those who were good become sublime.

TNT

TGW

The one thing nice about my WordPress blog is that I “own” it (borrowing a phrase from Clint Eastwood……..see, how early and easily I am able to “politicize” a sentence??? LOL) which leaves me solely responsible for its contents.  Hence, my rationale for checking in often with the Thesaurus and Google, and trying to parse my words to be as least offensive as I can be to everyone’s individual sensibilities in the retelling of life’s events :).

As I have been thinking about how best to commemorate the one year anniversary of Crick’s passing, I settled, not only on inserting some of the notes which were left in an “I Remember” basket at the funeral home, but also on putting together, in video form, a collection of photographs in order to better preserve the story that is uniquely Crick’s.  It served to be an emotional but strangely comforting labor of love………….ergo the sad and smiley faces in the title.  The process also proved to be quite a challenge for this technologically and instructionally challenged  “nut”!!  Figuring out the  Windows Movie Maker with all of its various icons and functions, the upload process to the blog which required that I also figure out how to upload to You-Tube was a series of frustrating and comedic  moments where I found myself invoking Crick’s name on several occasions as I was burning the midnight oil.   The last goof-up I made was last weekend just as I had finally saved the video to the computer and was preparing to upload it to You-Tube, all the while patting myself on the back for persevering in what I felt was a pretty worthy effort.  I clicked on the upload icon and then proceeded to head over to Christine and Mike’s for the Sunday night dinner with the family.  When I arrived home a couple of hours later, I checked the progress of the upload on my laptop only to discover that instead of You-Tube appearing on the screen, I saw a Facebook notation and to my dismay realized that I had clicked on the wrong icon and had uploaded the video directly to Facebook where several friends and family had already viewed the almost finished product……………….Jennifer and Stephanie included!!!!!

Now, I hadn’t told anyone that I was doing this as I had wanted to give our kids fair warning before I posted the blog on  November 2nd.  As I checked out the Facebook video, I discovered that the video did not upload properly as it had, not only the wrong size font, but also the wrong font and the wrong visual effect.  I quickly deleted the video from my Timeline and now, hopefully, everyone who would like can view it here at WordPress as I had intended.

Since I “own” it :)…………………….I chose the pictures from a collection of old and recent photos that were most readily available to me, and I was actually quite surprised at how many pictures of Crick actually existed given that he totally despised being photographed!!  The music I chose is what touches my mind and heart and soul…………evoking all of the emotions that are still coming to the surface as I continue on this journey minus the one person who could always make me feel safe and respected and unconditionally loved.

Our faith teaches that,” in Christ, “things in heaven and things on earth are united”, so if we are in  Him, we are by that very fact in communion with the saints in Heaven.  Therefore there is no reason to believe that we cannot have loving relationships with our brothers and sisters in the Kingdom of Heaven.  We, like they, are part of God’s family, only we have not yet reached their permanent state of glory in the presence of God.”  This is how I like to believe that Crick remains present in my life………..as a silent and unseen partner on my journey to that eternal peace that he has already found.  A s I was thinking about this today, I turned to my daily devotional and read the following:

I AM WITH YOU.  I am with you.  I am with you.  Heaven’s bells continually peal with that promise of My Presence.  Some people never hear those bells because their minds are earthbound and their hearts are closed to Me.  Other hear the bells only once or twice in their lifetimes in rare moments of seeking Me above all else.  My desire is that My “sheep” hear My voice continually, for I am the ever-present Shepherd.

Quietness is the classroom where you learn to hear My voice.  Beginners need a quiet place in order to still their minds.  As you advance in this discipline, you gradually learn to carry the stillness with you wherever you go.  When you step back into the mainstream of life, strain to hear those glorious bells:  I am with you.  I am with you.  I am with you.                                                         from Jesus Calling

When you call Me, and come and pray to Me, I will listen to you.  When you look for Me, you will find Me.  Yes, when you seek Me with all your heart.                               Jeremiah 29: 12-13

“As long as I can dream………As long as I can think……….As long as I have memory, I will love you.  As long as I have eyes to see and ears to hear and lips to speak, I will love you.  As long as there is time………As long as there is love………As long as there is you.  I will love you.”      (this quote was on a card which I had sent to Crick while he was over in Kosovo and I later discovered it upon his return, hidden away in his dresser drawer)        

I just can’t resist adding a P.S. …………………………………….

TNT

TGW

It is hard for me to imagine that a couple of weeks go by and as I think to myself about updating my “nut” status on the blog, I begin to hyperventilate (that is, you know, what some of us mildly OCD “folks” do when we over think things!! LOL) as I wonder how to put into thoughtful, entertaining words of the oh so common daily events of a “seasoned nut”.  I always tend to agonize over a word here or a word there and before you know it the 1200 – 1400 word allotment that I try to hold myself to turns into a three-day, several hours a day commitment.  I guess it is similar to a movie producer who strives to put forth a marketable product and spends days/weeks/months before a ninety minute film is ready to be viewed.  Therefore I have issued a challenge to myself…………..I will simply think and type on this one and only day of Saturday, October 20th………….I will not check Thesaurus a hundred times or worry about the sensitivities of my family members who may get mentioned (gee, have I ever really done that???????), nor will I google to fact check any “political” commentary I just might happen to “mention” now that the election is only 17 days away (did the math in my head………..google would have been accurate to the minutes, seconds!!!!

Right now I am sitting in the convention center in Chicago with Jim, Jennifer, Olivia, Sam, Natalie and Megan while Natalie competes in the Chicago Feis.

Monday, October 22nd

Okay………….so that didn’t work out so well.  I was thwarted on Saturday in my attempt to write and post a blog on the same day by making sure I did not miss any of the six dances in which Natalie was competing.  I was further distracted when Jim searched for the OSU/Purdue game update on his i-phone and we learned that Ohio State was losing to Purdue with three minutes left, that Braxton Miller was injured and out of the game, and that Kenny Guiton was trying to stage a comeback.   I believe we were the only ones in the Convention center who gave up a cheer for the Buckeyes stunning OT win………….not much interest at a Chicago Feis for the outcome of an OSU game :).  Natalie did well against some very tough competition, placing in all but two of her dances.  I could go off on one of my tangents about how a seemingly innocent desire to pursue an interest in dance (or insert, any sport) can take some parents to the brink of bankruptcy!!!  LOL  It seems as though someone is always devising a better shoe, a more elaborate dress complete with sequins and bling, sequined socks, sparkly hair accessories, short-haired, long-haired or pony-tailed wigs (if you want to compete as an Irish step-dancer you must have plenty of fake curly hair!!).  And then, you must have special shoes to practice in, shirts and jackets identifying your dance school and, of course, the “right ” equipment to cart all of this to and from the competitions which take place miles and miles away from home keeping the hotels, convention centers, fast food restaurants, BP, Speedway, etc open for business.   OMGosh…………the free market is alive and well in Irish dance!!!!!!!!

Crick is whispering in my ear, that I have definitely “gone off on a tangent” and by now everyone knows that my “soapbox” extends far beyond just religion and politics and I should remember what my coffee mug says about me!!!!!!!!

I had planned a different recounting of the past two weeks, but I am thinking I should share part of the adventure that was Chicago and a couple of the thoughtful and generous blessings which continue to come my way.

Chicago, despite being the hometown (?) of “you know who”, is quite a fun and exciting cosmopolitan city.  Jenn and Steve (Schultheis-side nephew and my :) Godson) graciously offered us the use of their Lincoln Park condo for the weekend.  We arrived late Thursday night, welcomed by the city lights of downtown Chicago, and settled into their three-story row home with a roof top deck.  As Friday was the only day for us to take in the sights and sounds of the Windy City, we decided to head to the Magnificent Mile and the Navy Pier.  Although the day was overcast and cool with a forecast for rain we dressed appropriately, bought an all day bus pass and caught bus #22 to Michigan Ave.  We walked up and down the Avenue venturing into the Nike store, the American Girl Store (Megan took Natalie in there), and the Lego store where there was this amazing Lego built church, a perfect replica of the real church building just down the street.  We then walked to the Navy Pier for some souvenir shopping and ohhhhhh nooooooo …………………guess what confronted me?????? …………………. two life-sized cardboard pictures of POTUS and FLOTUS (that would be the President and First Lady), and so I did what just seems to come naturally to me!!!!  LOL I hope you can all fully appreciate the effort it is taking me to refrain from jumping up on my “political”soapbox!!!  The Navy Pier would be a great place to stroll on a bright, sunny, warm day with its outdoor eating areas, boat rides, etc.  I guess I will just have to make a return visit to stroll the Pier, see the museums, the aquarium and do lots more “window” shopping.  There was just one thing that kept calling out to me before we decided to call it a day, and that was the giant Ferris wheel.  Normally, I would run like the wind as far away from such an imposing feature as I am truly terrified of heights.  The memories I have of my very last ride on one was many years ago at the Ohio State Fair when Crick lured me onto one that was probably only half as high as the one at the Pier.  He promised he would not rock the chair, but just as we got to the top, the Ferris wheel stopped for what seemed like an eternity and Crick just could not resist.  And so, with me pleading and begging, Crick began to gently rock the chair slowly back and forth grinning and laughing telling me how safe we were and couldn’t I, “just enjoy looking all around at the amazing “Columbus skyline”?” I can’t remember my response, but I guarantee you his actions certainly provoked another of our “discussions”.  Anyway, since he seems to be constantly on my mind, especially these past few weeks, I made a decision that I would beat down my fear and climb aboard (besides, I took note that this over 1400 ft. monstrosity, was moving at a snail’s pace and the sides were completely enclosed, and the people accompanying me on my mission were “safe”……….Jennifer, Megan and Sam.  Of the four of us, I think Sam was the only one not sweating bullets as we hopped on………fear of heights is apparently a hereditary trait which I passed on to most, if not all of our kids.  I just told myself not to look down, but to listen to Crick’s advice to me from all those years ago to, “just enjoy looking around at the amazing “Chicago skyline”………………….and so I did…………………….. and it was amazing!!!

Having survived the Ferris wheel and as it was approaching five o’clock, we chose to walk back to Michigan Ave. to catch the bus back to the condo.  Now here is where it began to get a bit muddled.  Jim had his i-phone with GPS mapping and he plotted our “journey” back to the bus stop.  A light rain was beginning to fall, the weather turning slightly cooler and the traffic intensifying with cabs, ambulances, BMW’s, Mercedes, Jaguars, Cadillacs and buses all competing for the right of way.  It was a people watcher’s dream, but I couldn’t slow down to enjoy it all as we wanted to catch our bus before the rain increased.  Blocks and blocks later we all turned around to ask Jim which corner we were supposed to stop to catch our bus, and, having checked his GPS for what seemed to us like the hundredth time, we were told to look for a bus headed to Clark St.  We finally thought we were at the right stop, when three jam-packed buses stopped to let off a few passengers, but we quickly realized that all of us would not fit on any of the three buses.  As the doors to one of the buses was beginning to close, Jennifer asked the driver if the next bus would get us to our destination and he informed her that we were, in fact, at the wrong stop and would have to back track to the previous block.  Long, long story short……..we had just reached the appointed location when the rain began to pour as we hurriedly ducked into the protection of the bus shelter.  Fortunately, the downpour was short-lived and soon a gentleman joined us to wait on the arrival of bus #22.  Somehow a conversation began as to our individual destinations and he asked us why we were waiting at this particular location because, he said, this bus was going to take us back to the Navy Pier that we had left an hour ago.  He said it would eventually loop around and get us to where we were headed, but in the rush hour traffic that could be quite awhile.  He told us to walk yet another block away and assured us we would be able to catch a ride on the correct bus!!!  By now, we are all getting hungry and a bit tired after already walking most of the day, and then Jim suggested that perhaps we could just start walking all the way back to the condo…………I do believe I gave him the look that I used to give Crick right before a “discussion” ensued.  To his credit, Jim relented and we pursued what had now become in each of our minds a “journey to the center of the earth”!!!  LOL  We not only had that very kind native Chicagoan to thank for our safe return home, but also another Chicagoan, a woman, who, after we had finally boarded the correct bus, listened to two other women advise us incorrectly as to which street was the one closest to the condo.  As the bus driver approached this one intersection the woman got up, walked past us all, and said, “You get off here with me!”.  She sounded so authoritative that we all did what she said and exited the bus with her and gratefully found ourselves back among the familiar surroundings of Steve and Jenn’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.  Whew!!!!  A word to the wise…………like the American Express slogan…………….”Don’t leave home without it” (a print out of the  bus routes to the Magnificent Mile)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel so blessed to have been given this wonderful opportunity to see Chicago as I continue to feel God’s presence in my life in so many little ways.  Over the past couple of months, I have been the recipient of things great and small and each one warms my heart and brings comfort to my soul.  Mike (brother-in-law) has taken care of my “three blind mice” problem which nearly did me in (hint……….never let your grandchildren know how deathly afraid you are of anything!!!!!!!), and then gave up an entire Saturday thatching and re-seeding my entire back yard…………..I thought about lying down on the grass like Crick did when I was doing the yard work last year and commenting (like Crick did to me) about how one really shouldn’t work so hard, but last year I had control of the thatching rake, and, as I having a healthy respect for large, sharp yard tools, I decided against tempting my fate with Mike!!  LOL  By the way, the yard is looking much more lush and green than it does in this pic.  Then there was the e-mail from my former employer, Dr. Liz, who wanted to know if I had received in the mail her two tickets to the OSU/UAB game that she had sent knowing how I would love to go to a game.  Unfortunately, I never received them and we were both disappointed, but a day before the game, son-in-law, Jim came up with two free A deck, 40 yard line, club tickets to the very same game…………………….Liz, you must have some amazing ESP !!!!!!!!!   And, most recently I received a wonderfully uplifting card and very generous gift from my lifelong friend, Beth who, when Crick was stationed in Korea for almost two years back in ’67-’69, spray painted gold a plastic bottle of “Joy” (the detergent) & presented it to me with a handwritten gold embossed note that stated that the bottle represented the “joy” that I would be filled with once again when Crick returned home.  Beth and I have shared 12 years of school, we have shared the same faith and the same values……………..and the same politics!!, we’ve each raised four children and we have experienced and shared the many, many joys and sorrows of this life even though we have been separated by many miles throughout many years………….in all of these ways (great and small), God has graciously touched my life with His :).

Interestingly, I just read this last night while I was thinking of Crick and how much I was missing his presence.  God surely knows my thoughts and He always helps me to see His way.

The best response to losses or thwarted hopes is praise.  The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.  Remember that all good things………….your possessions, your family and friends, your health and abilities, your time………….are gifts from Me.  Instead of feeling entitled to all of these blessings, respond to them with gratitude.  Be prepared to let go of anything I take from you, but never let go of My hand.                                                                             from Jesus Calling

TNT

TGW

P.S.  How did the Yankees lose four straight games to Todd’s Tigers???????……………..oh yeah, they couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn!!!!  Guess I will reluctantly cheer for the Tigers over the Giants…………….and wait for next year :(

P.P.S   Hey!  I did this post all in one day and I never consulted the Thesaurus once, I don’t think I have offended any family member, I didn’t “google” any political facts, but………………………..I did go over my 1200 word limit!

P.P.P.S.  Tommy, standing at the kitchen counter on a TGIFriday night just after we had lined up four boxes of pizza for dinner, can’t decide which type of pizza he wants so he begins to say, “Eeny, meeny, miny, mo……..catch a China Ho……….my Mother says to pick the very best one………….and y-o-u are it!!!!!”  I don’t know where he gets this stuff…………….Joe????????????

Please don’t expect too much from this post as I will probably just be rambling on (not “ranting”, I promise!) as I have a head full of commentary on everything from family events to sports, to politics…….uh, don’t panic, with any luck I will run out of steam before I get to the “p” commentary.  (and if you believe that, you must be watching too much MSM…………..LOL)

First of all I have to give a “shout out” to Olivia and (niece) Tori who were the last group of the “two by two”‘s to pick their evening entertainment and then stay overnight with me.  They decided to follow Sam and Luke’s choice of going to Magic Mountain to play a round of miniature golf and then, after a little pleading from me, they climbed into the go-carts for a couple of races around the track.  I did have to laugh when they came separately to the house and they each showed up wearing the very same t-shirt.  Of course, they have no choice coming from an entire family of Watterson Eagles, but to be proud to show-off their “Lady Eagle” basketball camp wear………………even if it meant looking like they had planned it on purpose.  We had initially decided to keep score, but those darn miniature golf courses place some quirky little hills around the hole so that you either roll up or down or all around and it wasn’t long before we tossed the score card aside and just enjoyed laughing at the absurdity of it all!!!  The most fun of all was the go-cart which I, personally, had been dying to do all summer long.  A couple of years ago, Crick had introduced me to them when we had taken Olivia, Sam and Natalie to Magic Mountain and had them ride in the go-carts with us………..I had vowed to return one day, and so, thanks to Olivia and Tori, I finally did.  I must confess to exhibiting a bit of a double standard when it comes to pressing down on an accelerator, to which Crick, Megan and Stephanie could all attest.   As long as I am in the driver’s seat and have control, I can be known as a bit of a speedster, however, when I am a passenger, it is a whole different story!  Anyone exceeding the speed limit by even five miles per hour will be harassed by the worst back seat driver on the planet (am I telling the truth, Meg/Steph????)!!!!!!! LOL  This all brings to mind an incident from wayyyyy back when I was working for a pedodontist in Worthington and Kathy was working for an orthodontist a few blocks down the street.  Mom had driven up to meet us for lunch and we had all hopped into one car to drive together to the local restaurant and were headed back afterwards to our respective offices (and Mom to her car) when all of sudden we heard what sounded like words blaring from a loud-speaker.  Eventually we all began to make out those words which were now being repeated over and over, “Will the lady in the red car, please pull over!”  You might correctly guess who was at the wheel…………………..well, I looked in the rear view mirror and finally saw the flashing lights of a Worthington police cruiser which had apparently been trying to get our attention!  Yikes!!!!  Being a law abiding citizen, I quickly pulled over to the side of the road and when he came over to the driver’s side to ask for my driver’s license and registration, he asked if I knew why we were being pulled over.  Of course, I really had no idea, I only knew that we were running late and that is why we were taking a short cut back to the offices and now…………………he was going to make us really, really, really late :)!!  So, he said, “Well for one thing, you were exceeding the speed limit…………………… and, for another thing, you did not come to a complete stop at that Stop sign back there.”  Ooooooooooooooppppppppppppppssssssssssss!  Cha-ching…………………and double cha-ching!!!!  There is a saying among the Clark siblings………………….if you have Clark blood flowing anywhere through your veins, you are a marked person, meaning that, if you happen to be the “needle in the haystack”…………….you will be found…………..mark our words!!  LOL  The outcome of this little “incident” was that he decided to let me off on the “not coming to a complete stop”, but the speeding ticket he gave me made for a rather expensive lunch.  The police officer even declined to write an excuse for Kathy and me to give to our doctors, explaining how he had so inconveniently detained us, (LOL) so that when we eventually returned to work, we then had another price to pay in the disapproving looks from both of our bosses.   Ah, the lessons of life!!

Speaking of lessons………….I could sure use some “golf” ones!  Jo, Christine, Julie (Christine’s sister-in-law) and I played again over a week ago.  And, since I did not want all of the angels and saints in heaven to have to hear Crick bellow, “Now, where do you think your ball is going to go?”,  I had Jo occasionally stand behind me to see if I was positioned correctly.  (I sheepishly admit that for a long, long, very long time my sense of direction quite simply did not exist until Crick finally realized that when he said “north” my mind interpreted “north” to be whichever direction my body happened to be facing – ergo, south was behind me and west was to the left side of me and east to the right side of me – what could possibly go wrong?????  please keep in mind that I was a Girl Scout drop-out!!).  For the first four holes my game was actually beginning to show some promise for the first time all summer as I focused on just keeping my head down.  The downside of that tactic was that by the fourth hole, I had already lost three balls (if my head is down how can I see where the ball is going ??)  From then on, I seem to metamorphose into Rory McIlroy on the back nine of the 2011 Masters Tournament…………..my game began to collapse like a deck of cards!

Speaking of cards (I told you there was a lot going on inside my head!)…..several weeks ago, Jo and Tom had some of us over to their house for dinner and a friendly (ha!) game of cards.  They decided to play Scum (also known as President, Kings, and many other names), which is a card game for three or more in which players race to get rid of all of the cards in their hands in order to become President in the following round………..if you happen to be the last one holding cards you become Scum .  (Don’t think I didn’t just realize that there is a “p” word in that sentence, but I will come back to that).  Now, of course, my family all knows that I would love to become President of anything just so that everyone would then have to agree with me and I could make up all of the rules as I go along (kind of like someone I know who is currently “occupying” the WH, but I digress), unfortunately, that didn’t happen this particular night.  Instead, we, all nine of us, became convinced that the spirit of Crick was somehow hovering over the table to ensure that I would lose six out of the nine games that we played.  After I lost the first three games, Tom assured me that players never lose that consistently in this game especially since we were playing with so many people.  Well, after my third stint of being named Scum, I came to the conclusion that I simply needed to change seats and so I switched with Kathy and lost the very next game, and then I switched with Ben and lost that game too!!!  That was the point at which we knew that Crick must have been having a very good time commuting between the physical and the spiritual worlds to mess with the cards to make sure that I, not only never became President but, that as Scum, I would never have any power!!!!! LOL

Family…………..you may all now breathe that collective sigh of relief as I am well over my twelve

hundred word limit and am running out of steam; and so there really will not be any political ranting:) in this post.  Except for one tiny little item of note…………………..I heard that Senator Marco Rubio was going to be at the State House yesterday afternoon and so I went down to see him.  He spoke passionately and extemporaneously for almost thirty minutes about the choice we have before us in November and when he was finished speaking, and had made his way around to where I was standing, I reached out, shook his hand, and thanked him for speaking so eloquently and without the use of a teleprompter!!!

I hope that you don’t mind that I leave you once again with an excerpt from my daily devotional, for today, as it always, always, always seems to do, the reflection speaks directly to me and to all of my concerns for the many “battles” being waged in our culture:

There is a mighty battle going on for control of  your mind.  Heaven and earth intersect in your mind; the tugs of both spheres influence your thinking.  I created you with the capacity to experience foretastes of heaven.  When you shut out the world and focus on My Presence, you can enjoy sitting with Me in heavenly realms……………As you concentrate on Me, My Spirit fills your mind with Life and Peace.

The world exerts a downward pull on your thoughts, Media bombard you with greed, lust and cynicism.  When you face these things, pray for protection and discernment.  Stay in continual communication with Me whenever you walk through the wastelands of this world.   Refuse to worry, because this form of worldliness will weigh you down and block awareness of My Presence.  Stay alert, recognizing the battle being waged against your mind.  Look forward to an eternity of strife-free living reserved for you in heaven.                      from Jesus Calling

“Do not love the world or what is in the world. If anyone does love the world, the love of the Father finds no place in him,because everything there is in the world — disordered bodily desires, disordered desires of the eyes, pride in possession — is not from the Father but is from the world.”                                                   John 2: 15-17

TNT

TGW

P.S.  I really should go pray right now, because I still have these “worldly” thoughts in my head concerning a topic I neglected to touch on!!  The “world of sports”………………………..I am thinking……………. OSU football now in full swing……………..my Fantasy Football team’s HUGE win over Tom Brown’s team this past weekend 104-62 (so sorry Tom:) ……….Mike……you better get ready, I’m coming after you next!) thanks to a much better showing by Cam Newton, Ray Rice and Victor Cruz …………………………and, of course,……………..those “aging” Yankees still hanging on to a half game lead over the Orioles despite an injury to Teixeira……………..love, love, love that Andy Pettitte is getting set to return!!!

P.P.S.  THAT IS ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ever notice how some things just happen to catch your eye?  If I didn’t know that my home was already targeted (can I still use that word? ……little insider joke for the political junkies!) as a “nut” house I would have bought this framed saying right then and there!

It really is quite funny how pictures have a way of telling a story, and when I ended my last post, I alluded to a certain “shark tooth” incident.  Actually, now that I am recalling this particular family moment, I am regretting that I did not think how perfectly the above frame would fit in at Stephanie and Joe’s house.  LOL   The “insanity” all began at a family cook-out at Stephanie’s a couple of weeks ago.  Everyone had finished eating and seven of the grandkids were playing upstairs while the adults were all gathered in the living room with Mayce and Josh casually discussing a little sports, a little pop culture and a whole lot of politics when we suddenly hear the faint sound of someone crying.  The sound soon crescendoed into a wail and we began to hear shouts of , “There’s a shark’s tooth stuck in his head!!”.  Recognizing the cry as Tommy’s, Stephanie jumped up from her chair and ran over to the stairway as Tommy, now screaming quite loudly, with Natalie and several other kids right behind him, descended the stairs.  As he reached the bottom step, Stephanie scooped him up just as Christopher, Joe, Jennifer and Megan gathered around.  Stephanie, having heard “shark’s tooth” and “stuck in head” warns Chris and everyone not to try to pull it out and begins to take a step toward the front door to race him to the ER when Natalie’s voice is finally heard above the din, “No, no, it’s not stuck in his head……………………it’s stuck on his head!!”  Now mind you, I was observing all of this from just across the room as I figured a firefighter/EMT  son and a soon to be RN daughter were quite capable of assessing the situation, but I must admit that even I, in the chaos of the moment,  had a sudden vision of  patients being treated with

impaled objects on re-runs of “Untold Stories of the ER” flashing through my mind as I created this picture of a “huge” tooth piercing the top of poor little Tommy’s head.  Well, as everyone finally heard the word “on“, a calmness settled over the “asylum”.   It was at last discovered that the clasp to a tiny (may I emphasize tiny) shark tooth necklace that Joe’s Mom and Dad had just given to Tommy upon their return from Florida, had simply gotten tangled up in Tommy’s hair when he had tried to put it on over his head and…………….I guess…………..it hurt!!!!!!!!…………………  A lot!!!!!!!! That should have been the end of the evening’s drama, but oh no, not more than ten minutes later Josh, who was being uncharacteristically whiny and touchy, unexpectedly threw up all over Christopher, the floor and a chair.  If you ever want to clear a room………….Josh did it effortlessly!  LOL

Honestly, you simply can not make these things up!  And now……… I will turn my attention to Jay (as Stephanie breathes a sigh of relief) who asked me an interesting question when I was out to dinner with him and the Schutheis sibs several weeks ago.  As I remember, the two of us were seated across the table from one another, I can’t clearly recall exactly the context in which the subject came up, perhaps it was a reference by me or someone about my 1/2 day/week job :), but Jay mischievously looked at me and asked, “What is it that you do all day?”   LOL.  At the time, I had no real answer.  I have thought about it off and on since then and have considered having someone follow me around with a video camera for a week, just so that I could honestly answer that question.  My kids, however,  would probably tell him that I am so engrossed in searching the internet for political articles the whole live long day that I hardly ever remember to put on that “boiling pot of water” and that may be pretty close to the truth, but of course, we all know that I am a much more well-rounded person than that……LOL…………….I am, after all, a Mom, a Nana, a sister, an in-law, a “dreamcrusher” aunt, a niece, an employee, a co-worker, a friend and most of all…………………………………………………………………a nut!!!  I do thank Jay for the inquiry, as it at least provided me the title to my blog :)!

After re-reading that last paragraph, I realized that I had mentioned the “p” word which is my cue that I may now inject some politics into my personal blog.  Don’t worry, it will be brief.  I just have to share that the Romney/Ryan campaign was here on Saturday and, of course, yours truly was in attendance.  It was an early morning rally and since they were appearing at a park near where Kathy & Jo both live, they both decided to join me.  Kathy said that the last time she had gone to a Presidential campaign rally was back in 1968 when Hubert Humphrey was running against Nixon!   How times have changed!  As we stood in the early morning sun with a crowd of about 5,000 to see a bit of history up close & in person, much like Kathy did in the late sixties, exercising our  First Amendment right to freedom of  speech and freedom of  assembly, I was struck by how fortunate we are as Americans.   To be among a crowd of many, listening to two little girls from St. Catherine’s grade school recite the Pledge of Allegiance and to watch an honor guard as they carried the flag to the stage to be  followed by the singing of the National Anthem, reminds one of not only the blessings of this free nation of ours, but also of the enormous responsibility to preserve the freedoms for which so many of our fellow countrymen paid the ultimate price………………………………… I am coming down from my “soapbox” now………………..with one final note…………after Romney and Ryan’s speeches I decided to squeeze through the crowd to edge closer to the area where the candidates were greeting the “folks” ( to quote an over-used term of the President…….right, Christine?!).   I managed to get to the barrier just as Paul Ryan  was making his way toward the exit and as he was approaching me, I reached into my pocket to try to hand him a Buckeye leaf sticker, when suddenly the young person standing next to me (and I will only state that she was a “she, an African-American, and in her twenties in order to dispel any remaining myths about the racist, anti-woman, elderly GOP………………………stifle thyself, Mare………….I hear you Crick!!) stopped Ryan right in front of me and asked her friend on the other side of me to snap a picture of her and Ryan.  After she got her picture Ryan was moved along by the Secret Service to the next group and I was only able to get this picture to show just how close I was to the future VP :).

I guess that now having read this entire blog post, some of you may be wondering where you might be able to purchase the Insane Asylum frame so that you can hang it on my front door.   Well, save your hard-earned money………………………..I am trying to work harder at following some of Mother Theresa’s infamous quotes:

 I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.

We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.

I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.

Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.

Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.

People are unrealistic, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway.

Spread the love of God through your life but only use words when necessary.  (emphasis mine)

TNT

TGW

P.S.  Trust me……………….. ..I am really, really focusing on the last two :)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.P.S.  GO BUCKS!

What could possibly be the significance of these two pictures?  Well, for one, my Mom loved butter mints and so for Christmas she would often get one of these tins as a gift.  I honestly cannot remember how it came to be that I became the owner of one of her empty tins, but I soon found a use for it.  Inside this small tin box are the sole contents of my sewing supplies that have been with me for over almost forty years.  Can you see all of the light blue, the yellow, the red, the green,and the brown colored spools of thread?  They are part of an original beginner’s sewing kit that was composed of these various colored spools as well as a small assortment of sewing needles.  The kit was a gift from my Aunt Margaret (also my Godmother) given to me soon after my wedding.  Of course she could not possibly have known that the only spools of thread I would ever need would be white and black! (reference previous blog post regarding comments from Sophia (age 7) about the unfashionable choice of my white and black wardrobe).   Oh, and just maybe, I might have occasionally used a portion of the blue or maroon colored thread to hem an errant I.C. or Watterson school uniform……yes, my daughters, contrary to your memory of those days……you were not always sent off to school with safety pins holding your hems in place.  While it was an admittedly rare occurrence,  I did manage, once or twice :), to successfully “thread the needle” as I proceeded on the elusive path toward one day proclaiming myself a “domestic goddess”.  (You can be sure that Crick is having a good laugh at that thought!  LOL).  And now, as preparations have begun to send seven of the grandchildren back to school, and as I am being reminded of those uniform days of yesteryear, suddenly this random thought popped into my mind (shocker!)…………..perhaps the real reason that Jennifer, Megan and Stephanie eventually dropped out of Girl Scouts was the fact that all of their hard-earned scout badges laid haphazardly in a dresser drawer waiting for that magical moment when their Mom would open up the “butter mint tin”, reach for the green or brown thread (the thread that is still in the tin) and actually sew them onto their respective uniforms.  Hopefully, they now recognize that their OCD mother was probably too busy “remaking” their beds, re-arranging their closet and…………….boiling that pot of water!  Truth be told, years ago after I had laboriously attempted to sew a military patch onto one of Crick’s uniforms, he informed me that rather than endure the humiliation of appearing at drill adorned with several “crooked” emblems on his uniform, he would henceforth take over any and all sewing requirements.  As you can clearly see, that decision of long ago to forgo Home Ec in high school has left me sorely lacking in certain “motherly” skills…………..however, I do know how to mow, rake, thatch, edge, trim hedges, weed and shovel!

With summer drawing to a close, I have finally made good on my promise to the grand-kids to take them two by two for a special evening and overnight stay.  I did decide that the four middle ones: Natalie, Sophia, Sydney and Tommy (ages 8, 7, 5 and 4 1/2) were close enough in age to be able to enjoy the same type of outing, and so they all packed their bags for a “camp-out” in the living room after taking a trip to the movies to see the latest Ice Age flick.  Of course

we couldn’t walk by the concession stand without stopping and, after they all had made their selection, the grand total for the snacks exceeded the amount it had cost me to pay for the tickets!   The next morning I took them all to morning Mass (the price they pay for spending the night with Nana……..LOL) and they each lit a candle at the Blessed Virgin shrine………..nothing like fire to ignite an interest in heavenly affairs :).  When we returned home after a trip to Tim Horton’s, they were all looking for something to play and so I suggested that  they could play “house” choosing someone to be the Mom, the Dad, etc.  A little while later I saw a couple of them crawling around the floor, moving from room to room…………apparently, no one wanted to be “the kid” hence…………a household of pets.  I only later learned from Tommy, that when they were playing house

he and Natalie had chosen to be…………………………………….the power of Nana and Papa!  I am not exactly sure what type of “power” he and Natalie were referring to, all I could think of was that my “part” was being played by my very “progressive” granddaughter (reference previous post about Natalie breaking the outdoor spigot,  flooding the basement and, in her own hysterical words, “wasting the environment”!).   Since my two by two idea did not allow for Olivia, the oldest, to have a companion, she will be joined later this week by Tori her second cousin (or is it her first cousin, once removed?)   See what happens when you are fifteen years older than your sister?……..you end up having nieces as young as your grandchildren!  Even Tori gets confused sometimes and refers to me as Nana instead of as her Aunt!  Not too sure what the two of them might have in mind for an outing, maybe I can talk them into the go-carts that I have been wanting to ride all summer long!

Did you notice how I slipped the term progressive into the blog?  I did that so as to lead into this next part of this post.  Last weekend, I participated in the “Protecting God’s Children” workshop that is required by the diocese for anyone who wishes to volunteer in the Catholic schools.  Since six of the nine grandchildren will be attending I.C. this year, I wanted to be ready to help out when needed.  Naturally, I arrived a few minutes late :) and everyone was already seated.  As I glanced around the room, I saw a familiar face and realized it was Maureen a teacher, a (ahem!) Democrat, and a friend of Crick’s from Glacier Ridge.  Maureen, along with another GLE teacher, Lauren (and, ahem!, a Democrat), came to the hospital shortly after Crick had learned of his diagnosis, bringing with them a huge bag full of get-well wishes from all of the GLE students.  Since there happened to be an empty seat at her table I slithered over and sat down.  During one of the breaks she shared with me that she had been at school earlier that week setting up her classroom and had thought of how Crick used to come into her room admonishing her about the staples that were falling onto the floor waiting to inflict injury on tiny little feet!  I love it when others so easily share their thoughts of Crick, as it reminds me of how his affectionate, kind hearted and teasing nature played a role in their lives.  Maureen and Lauren were two among many of the GLE teachers with whom Crick often shared his political views and, while the good-natured discussions did not persuade anyone to change sides, Crick definitely enjoyed these “debates”.   Knowing this, Maureen proceeded to show me the wallpaper for her i-phone……………………………no, no, no………………of course, it was the other two……………..I just could not bear to have their pictures on my blog (and this gives me an excellent opportunity to promote the right side  LOL)!  Not only did she have the President and VP on her i-phone, she also showed me a photo of her two aunts who happen to be Catholic nuns, who had their picture taken with Biden.  Not to be outdone, I showed Maureen the elephant charm that Megan gave me for my Pandora bracelet on Mother’s Day.  As we talked I made a reference to the fact that to live in Clintonville is to be surrounded by the other side.  LOL  This reality was recently corroborated when I took the grand-kids to a popular neighborhood children’s bookstore.  When I mentioned the name of the bookstore, Maureen immediately expressed how it is one of her favorites (she teaches kindergarten) ……………………..I shouldn’t have been surprised…….  case in point……I quite innocently came across these two books which were displayed at the check-out counter and upon reading the back covers, I discovered that proceeds of the sale were going to the Democratic Party!   Nuff said because we all know how I could go on……………..and on…………..and on…………..and on :).  Maureen, if you are reading this blog…………………..I wish you and your students a wonderful year and I thank you for providing me with an excuse to share the story  and these pictures!

I just remembered a really funny family incident to tell about Stephanie, Tommy  and a shark’s tooth, but that will have to wait until another post.

I will close now with this last thought and hope that you will find something of value in it for the coming days:

It is good that you recognize your weakness.  That keeps you looking to Me, your Strength.  Abundant life is not necessarily health and wealth; it is living in continual dependence on Me.  Instead of trying to fit this day into a preconceived mold, relax and be on the lookout for what I am doing.  This mind-set will free you to enjoy Me and to find what I have planned for you to do.  This is far better than trying to make things go according to your own plan.

Don’t take yourself so seriously.  Lighten up and laugh with Me.  You have Me on your side so what are you worried about?  I can equip you to do absolutely anything as long as it is My will.  The more difficult your day, the more I yearn to help you.  Anxiety wraps you up in yourself, trapping you in your own thoughts.  When you look to me and whisper My name, you break free and receive My help.  Focus on Me and you will find Peace in My Presence.                               from Jesus Calling

There is nothing that I cannot do in the One who strengthens me.                  Philippians 4:13

TNT
TGW

P.S.  I have Cam Newton and Ray Rice as my top two picks in our Fantasy Football League…………I am after that trophy that has escaped me for the past three years!

P.P.S.  Did anyone notice anything different in this blog?  Jennifer?…………hint…………..it has to do with punctuation that you have often chided me about!  (Darn, I try to correct my punctuation and end the blog post with a preposition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

I saw this comic the other day and thought “oh my gosh, it was written about me and Crick”!!!  The only changes that would be needed in the above scenario would be to, substitute our home for the office location, and put Crick in the place of  Cathy’s character and me in the place of her warm-natured co-worker.  For no matter the season…..the indoor temperature in our home was always, always, always a topic for “discussion”, and necessitated a continual resetting of the thermostat when one or the other of us was not looking!!  Early in our relationship, I would marvel at Crick’s seeming lack of awareness of the cold as he would pick me up for a date in the middle of winter without wearing any type of coat.  When I would be walking next to him with my teeth chattering, my body shivering and my shoulders hunched up as the cold wind whipped around us, he would advise me, in his always over the top optimistic way, to simply take a big, deep breath, relax my entire body and quit fighting against the elements.  I confess that my stubbornness prevented me from ever admitting to him that, for a few brief minutes, his method actually did help a little, but the very next blast of cold air would cause the tension in my body to rebuild and I would start the chattering and shivering all over.  During the first few years of our marriage, he would come into the bedroom and open up every window to let in the “fresh” air that was supposed to provide a great night’s sleep and be “oh so good for me” which, of course, would set off another “Main Street Incident” discussion!  Soooooo, how did we come to the situation where I could not tolerate warmth and he could no longer tolerate the cold??

I am thinking that motherhood had something to do with my transition from being a “cold-natured” individual to a “warm-natured” one………I believe it all began perhaps, when my blood would start to do a slow boil when I would come down to breakfast at 6:30 in the morning with my four wonderful :) little children who would then proceed to argue over what color of Tupperware bowl they were going to eat their cereal from, who was looking at whom, who was crunching in whose ear, who was sitting in which chair, why so and so was given the last of the Fruit Loops, etc., etc., etc.  And, then that “boiling blood” would spill over (why is “boiling” so much a part of my conversations???) as their Dad would make a momentary appearance and utter that well-known sentence that has haunted me for over thirty years about how I should “just be glad that I was able to get out of bed and put two feet on the floor”.   But of course, I am only being my usual facetious (I tried four different spellings, before I got that word right!) self, as I realize the real reason for the temperature switch was that once the physiology of my own body began to change, Crick simply willed his metabolism to slow down, just so that he could continue to do battle with me!!  LOL  Fortunately, for some strange, inexplicable reason,  while we always seemed to be at odds with each other over the most insignificant of life’s issues, we somehow managed to remain rock solid on the most important ones :).

And speaking of Tupperware…………………………….as I was looking on the internet (note to nieces and nephews…. a.k.a. “google”!) to find a picture of the now infamous bowls which created such early morning battles in the Schultheis household, I came across this link:  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-20033611-1039.  It is an old 60 Minutes clip from the 70’s detailing the new direct marketing phenomenon that was introduced by Tupperware.  I think you will discover it to be quite a “blast from the past”.  While I never became a “Tupperware hostess”, I confess to attending my share of “parties”, but I don’t ever remember being required to participate in the goofy games that preceded the sales pitch.  I can still remember my Mom, a “stay at home Mother” at one time attempting to sell Fuller Brush supplies from home and later on trying her hand at selling Sarah Coventry Jewelry ………..because being a Mother to eleven children wasn’t enough :)!………….(or maybe, because it was enough!…..LOL).  And soooooo, Jennifer, Stephanie and Christopher…………….you come by your entrepreneurial  spirit quite honestly, from not only the Schultheis side of the family, but also from your Grandmother’s side (the Heubel’s).  Megan and I, on the other hand, are Clark clones, ……………………….that is, we stick to our comfort zone even when that comfort zone might be screaming at us to “get the heck out of Dodge”………and that is because the two of us have a need to know why, where and what “Dodge” is and we don’t want to risk seeing what is around the other corner unless we are convinced that the grass really is greener!!   Oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh nnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooo, I feel a political comment welling up inside of me at the mere thought of the word “entrepreneur”.   I can hear Crick yelling in my ear, “Stifle Mare, Stifle, Stifle!!  “Try not to think of the President’s recent comment about “If you’ve got a business, you, you didn’t build that.  Somebody else made that happen.”  “You will cause everyone’s eyes to roll, so just put that “p” thought right out of your mind.”

Thank you to Crick for saying what was on the tip of my tongue……………….I can now just blame him for echoing my thoughts.   Oh dear, now the word “blame” is conjuring up more political commentary.  How does that happen so easily?  Time to switch over to less controversial topics, such as…………………..family LOL!!!

It seems as though we are all maintaining a high alert status since the last storm passed through here and turned the lights out on many of us for several days.  Just last week, the local news was indicating that another similar storm was headed our way with strong winds which could potentially create another mass power outage.  Can you say “PANIC”???  Facebook friends were posting all sorts of worried comments and pretty soon I could see the sky darkening and the trees begin to sway back and forth when all of a sudden the phone rings………………………it is Stephanie’s number and so I “cautiously” pick up my phone.  Tommy’s four-year old voice is on the other end, he begins by saying, “Nana???”……………..I feel myself take a deep breath and immediately my “glass half-empty” thought is, “Oh no, their power is out!!” (note from previous blog………..during the last storm Tommy and family were my house guests for five days!! LOL).  And so, I begin by asking Tommy if their electricity is out and he reassures me that they still have their power (whew!), he just wants me to know that he has a lantern ready and in case I lose power, he will bring it right over.  Gotta love that little guy!  He must have been pretty disappointed that the one time he was prepared, the big storm never materialized.  (Thank goodness).   I have promised the grandchildren that I would take them in smaller groups  to do something fun and then have them spend the night.  So far, with the power outage, vacation and their summer activities, I have only managed to have Luke and Sam (see picture :) ), the others are patiently awaiting their turn, but with  summer quickly coming to a close, we will have to choose sometime sooner rather than later.  The two boys and I picked one of the rare cool evenings several weeks ago to go to Magic Mountain so they could play miniature golf, ride the bumper boats and try out the indoor climbing play area.   Sydney, Tommy, Sophia and Natalie are next in line, but this weekend Natalie is busy with an Irish dance competition at the annual Dublin Irish Festival.  I may have to remind Sydney, however, that she is on temporary probation (LOL) for another one of her “innocent” comments which she made to me a few days ago.  We were discussing who was going to bring something I needed down from an upstairs bedroom and I explained that since my legs were older than hers, she should be the one to go and get it.  Of course, the subject came up as to how old my legs were, and I, wanting to impress upon her how much younger she was than I, and thus quite capable of climbing the stairs, factually replied that my legs were 63 years old.  Without blinking an eye, she says to me, “So………………………………you are going to die!”  What????!!!!!  How on earth do I ever maintain my self-confidence when I have my very own grandchildren critiquing the choice of colors I wear, the length of my hair, the reason for applying my make-up (reference previous blogs), and now for the fact that I apparently have one foot in the grave!!  LOL

Actually, Sydney may not be so off the mark, as my mind, at least, does seem to be aging…………I have been making a habit out of showing up for my 1/2 day/week job on days that we are not working.  You may wonder, how that could possibly happen.  Well, this summer our schedule at my Tuesday afternoon office has been operating on a more flexible schedule, and so after I returned from vacation, I arrived at the office on a Tuesday and the gals at the front desk looked up as I entered the door and asked, with what I sensed was a twinge of pity,  what was I doing there.   I said, “Well, it is Tuesday, isn’t it?”  And, shaking their heads, they explained to me what I should have already known had I kept a calendar handy, that the doctors were not seeing patients that day, and so I should go home and return the next Tuesday.  This week, thinking that I had my collective self all back together, I again ventured to my Tuesday job, pulled into the parking lot and not seeing anyone’s cars, thought to myself, “Oh no, is this the 5th Tuesday of the month?”.  And, of course, it was……………………………………………the doctors never see patients at this office on the 5th Tuesday of any month!!!  As I sat there, I did think to myself that at least I didn’t go into the office, and therefore, no one would know that I had made the same mistake twice in one month.  I was just getting ready to pull the car out of the parking lot, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw Terri, the scheduling coordinator, walking over to my car, once again shaking her head and grinning from ear to ear.  Terri said her lips are sealed, but it looks like I have blown my own cover!  All I can say is that both of the days that I was there on the wrong day…………..family, are you listening??…………………..I was right on time!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL  Is tomorrow Friday?  I think I am working tomorrow at my other 1/2 day/every other week job…………………………………I think!! :)

TNT

TGW

P.S.  As I always like to share some inspiration that has helped me on my life journey, I turned the page on my daily devotional and found this for August 3rd…………..I think many of my family will be reminding me to refer back to this page often :)…………

Watch your words diligently.  Words have such great power to bless or to wound.  When you speak carelessly or negatively, you damage others as well as yourself.  This ability to verbalize is an awesome privilege, granted only to those I created in My image.  You need help in wielding this mighty power responsibly.  Though the world applauds quick-witted retorts, My instructions about communication are quite different:  Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.  Ask My spirit to help you whenever you speak.  Simply apply this discipline to communicating with the people around you.  If they are silent, pray before speaking to them.  If they are talking, pray before responding.  Just a split second prayer will put you in touch with My Presence.  In this way, your speaking comes under the control of My spirit.                             Jesus Calling

Know this my dear brothers:  everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of a man does not accomplish the righteousness of God.                                 James 1:19

P.P.S. Gulp!!!!  To anyone I may have offended in this blog…………..mea culpa!!

P.P.P.S  I will try harder to be good! :)