diaryofanut

Strangely, reading the Calvin & Hobbes comics makes me feel more normal, and less of a “nut”…………..I knew all along that there must have been an underlying reason for my purchase years ago of every Calvin & Hobbes book ever published.  Little did I know how much I would come, at this stage of my life, to appreciate the similarities in some of our thought patterns and approach to life’s puzzling questions!!!    Before I dragged myself outside to shovel the three inches of snow last weekend, I paused to consider if it was even worth my effort.  But………………the thought of even more snow (which was scheduled to fall …and never did) piling up on my very long driveway coursed through my OCD mind and before I knew it, I was shoveling away.  I pause as I consider divulging this next little nugget of information, and I only do so in the interests of future generations of OCD minds (LOL)……………………………………….are you ready for it??????????  Here it comes…………………………………………….as I shoveled, I noticed little pieces of the driveway’s crumbling black top, along with the pesky oak leaves which somehow have continued to fall throughout this interminable winter, mixed in with the pure white snow   I eventually began to chuckle a little to myself as I controlled my “need” to dump a shovel full of pure white snow on top of the ugly mixture.  Perhaps I should submit this issue to the Dr. Keith Ablow segment on Fox & Friends………..”Am I normal or am I nuts?”!!!  

As I looked back over this blog, I realize that it has, once again, been almost a month since my last post.  February has come and gone………and while I have been working hard on my PMA (positive mental attitude), Punxsutawney Phil has not made it easy.  His pronouncement of six more weeks of winter means that we still have, in theory, another week or two to go, (to say nothing of the three snows after the forsythia bloom!). but in keeping with Crick’s “glass half-full” mantra……….daylight savings arrived on Sunday!!!  An extra hour of daylight and some snow-free/ice-free sidewalks may be just what I need to kick myself out of my cozy home to resume what used to be a daily walk. February proved to be yet another very busy month…………the good mixed in with the not-so-good.  Besides all of the non-stop shoveling and shivering, we basketball fans who can usually count on the Buckeyes to brighten up the dreary months of winter, have been mostly frustrated and disappointed in how this season has evolved.   What is it about shooting free throws that seems to elude the Buckeyes?  Oh, and what is it about players who are nearly seven feet tall, but can’t put the ball in the basket when they are standing right underneath it, or worse yet, miss the dunk????  Well………..at least I won’t feel compelled to fill out an NCAA tournament bracket with Ohio State going beyond the first round!!  Gee…………I hope I don’t sound too sarcastic!!   LOL  What has been more entertaining for me this season has been watching the grandchildren play for my old grade school alma mater, the I.C. Rams. (“I.C.’s got a real team……a team that’s really on the beam…….we’re gonna win…….we’re gonna fight……I.C.’s gonna win tonight!!”…………….yep, those were the days……………and here is a “throwback” picture to prove it!!!!!).

And while I did not see ALL of their games, I did get to see each one of them play at least once.  I must admit that getting up at 7 AM on a freezing cold/snowy Saturday morning to drive across the city for an 8:00 game did not hold much appeal to me, and so I was, I admit, rather selective about when and where I would show up.   Grandparents, I have learned, must be careful of this tactic, however, because some grandchildren like to keep “score”.   Let me explain.  Sophia, Sydney and Tommy all played rec center ball as I.C. does not have basketball for K-3 grades.  Because Sydney and Tommy both played at a convenient time and for the same team, I ended up going to watch them play several times, but because Sophia played on Friday evenings when the TGIFriday after-school-care chaos reigns in my home, I did not get to any of her games until the end of the season.  On one of those Fridays as I was telling her that I would be coming to her game the following week, she looked at me and said that she was glad to hear that, because I had been to three of Sydney and Tommy’s games and none of hers!!!!  Whew!!!  I really did not think that it was such a big deal to the younger ones to have me in the bleachers, but I am very relieved to know that as their seasons came to an end, I did not disappoint anyone!!!

In addition to basketball, we celebrated yet another Clark family Baptism……..Shannon and Dave’s daughter, Evelyn Juanita, who was named after our beloved Aunt Evie and Shannon’s Grandma Downey.  From what the Clark and Downey families know of these two infamous namesakes, little Evie has some pretty big shoes to fill, and if she inherits any of their character traits, there are sure to be some fireworks in her future!  LOL.

I was honored by Olivia (oldest grandchild) to stand as her sponsor for her Confirmation which took place a couple of weeks ago.  When we attended the practice session a few days ahead of the Sunday that the Bishop was to come to administer the Sacrament, the eighth-graders were being given some final instructions,by their teachers, one of which was that when the Bishop began to question them about the specifics of the sacrament of Confirmation, they were told to politely raise their hands, stand up to give their response, and then wait for the Bishop to signal to them to be seated.  Well, Confirmation day arrived, and after the Gospel was read, the Bishop stepped down from the altar and proceeded to address the students by posing this very first question to them,  “What is the meaning of the word, ‘confirm’?”   OMGosh…………………….for a good two minutes (or so it seemed) not one single, solitary hand went up…………..there was only complete and total silence…………………I looked back to where the eighth-grade teachers were sitting and saw looks of sheer horror on their collective faces :)!!  The Bishop graciously “saved” the moment for them by providing a little assist and gradually Olivia and her classmates rose to the occasion and proved that they were in fact, well prepared and ready to become “soldiers of Christ”.

Are you wondering about the insertion of these next two photos ??  I shall explain.  As I noted in the last post, my very funny brother, Bobby, has been undergoing treatment at the James Cancer Clinic at OSU since October.  He had a five and a half hour surgery on February 20th as part of his overall treatment plan and while the surgery was successful, he developed post-surgical complications which kept him in the hospital for almost two weeks (we attribute this to the “Clark curse” as in, “if anything can go wrong, it will”…….. as in, “if you see a light at the end of the tunnel, it’s probably an oncoming train” {my Dad}…………as in, when “our ship comes in”, it will probably be the Titanic {my Mom}…………see my “glass half-empty” attitude has been fostered all along by my family upbringing….. ha, ha ha!).  At any rate, navigating the vast complex that is The Ohio State University Hospitals requires that one come supplied with a bag full of bread crumbs to be strategically dropped along the endless hallways to enable one to retrace their steps back to the outside world.  And then, once you find your way back to the parking garage (provided that you can remember which garage you parked in!!!) you also need to arm yourself with cell phone pictures depicting the exact location of your car.  Thinking that I was quite clever in coming up with this idea, late in the evening on one of Bobby’s first nights in the hospital, Christine and I smugly headed back to my car.  Now, I knew that I had parked on level #2, but there is a #2 north and a #2 south and apparently, we must have been initially searching for my car in the wrong direction or had unwittingly walked right past my car because as we perused the cars, my car seemed to be M.I.A.!!!  Armed with my key fob, I hit the panic button and we could hear the extremely loud beeping as the sound echoed off the walls of the indoor garage.  We could also hear a voice calling out for someone to stop the beeping, but I couldn’t figure out which of the four buttons to hit and the beeping continued until Christine grabbed the fob and miraculously found the button to bring forth silence.  We then headed off in the direction from which we “thought” we had heard the beeps, but upon walking up the ramp, the car was no where in sight.  As we were now wary of hitting the panic button again, we felt that we could for sure find the illusive car by simply hitting the unlock button to hear the single beep.  This we did……………..again…………….and again………….and again for close to fifteen minutes, all the while passing other hospital visitors who amazingly had no trouble at all finding their vehicles!!!  We would walk a little ways, hit the button, hear the beep and then look at each other and ask, “Didn’t you hear the beep coming from over there????”  After which we would walk in that direction, only to discover that when hearing the beep again, the sound seemed to mysteriously come from where we had just been!!!  I believe that perhaps the only reason we finally found the car was that our Guardian Angels felt obligated to rescue us given the amount of entertainment our dilemma was providing them!   Once we stumbled upon the car, the only challenge left was discovering how to navigate the whole exit process with its confounding protocol on how to pay for your escape!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (But that is a whole other story!!!).  

Perhaps not coincidentally, as we await the beauty and new “life” of spring, bringing forth all of its comforting warmth and colors, we Christians, who have just recently entered into the fasting, reflection and prayer of the somber Lenten season, are also awaiting the promise of a new life, a life that Jesus brings us by leaving His tomb on Easter Sunday.   Instead of closing with a devotional reading and Scripture passage, I would like to share a song that I first heard last March while on a retreat with Jessica as she prepared to enter into the Catholic Church.  It touched my soul in a way that music often does for me, but with a  much deeper element of  reflection, comfort and peace.  I often listen to it before I fall asleep at night as it never fails to bring me to that place where I feel connected to the spiritual side of myself that is often lost in this hyperactive world in which we all live.  When it was presented to our group, and after listening to a beautiful lecture about the significance of “light” and “darkness” both in the Scriptures and in the rituals of our Catholic faith,  the lights in the room were turned off and we were asked to close our eyes as the music began.  I hope that you too will be blessed with the peace that permeates this beautiful hymn. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifXaWHBAJ74

TNT

TGW

P.S.  The Yankees are coming………………….the Yankees are coming……………………the Yankees are coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks once again to Calvin, I can finally get started on another blog post.  It seems like the biggest writing challenge for me is composing the opening sentence.  Over the past three years I have acquired a deep respect for all of those legitimately great journalists/authors/cartoonists/bloggers who churn out articles/books/comics/posts on a regular basis.  If I had to face a deadline, I would indeed be “dead”!!! LOL  Well now, back to the whining, complaining, griping Calvin and how I can so totally relate to him after the events of the past several weeks.  After all that has happened, and after all of my “griping”, I can only conclude that my overworked Guardian Angel took a much-needed vacation shortly after Christmas……..and truth be told, I think he/she is having a bit of trouble getting back into the swing of things!!!!

This “overworked” angel must have hastily packed his/her bags and departed secretly to some “heavenly resort” a few days after Christmas (we all know that my angel would never even consider an “earthly campground resort” as a get-away-from-it-all!!), for it seems as though my travails all began soon after the holiday when I woke up one morning to  encounter freezing cold temperatures……………………….inside my house!!!  Upon inspection, the thermostat reading was 45 degrees, but let me tell you even to a warm-blooded creature as myself, if felt like sub-zero!!  I called a family acquaintance who has, in the past, rescued Crick and me  from our heating and cooling issues and he graciously offered to come right over.  As I had to go in to work that morning, I waited until he and his partner arrived to let them into the house.  From my initial explanation of the situation, he quickly concluded that the problem was most likely a one or two hundred-dollar replacement blower for the furnace, but that he would check everything out and would bill me later.  Well, when I returned home early that afternoon, the house was toasty warm, but Charlie hadn’t left so much as a note to indicate what he had found, and even though I left him a voice message thanking him for restoring heat to the “hearth”, I have yet to know the extent of the “damages”. Anyway, I had no sooner sat down in my now comfy, heated home for a quiet lunch, when I received a text message from Stephanie that she was in the ER being evaluated for an extremely rapid heart rate and so I jumped back into the car and headed over to the hospital.  By the time I arrived, the situation was under control, but the ER doctor wanted her to remain overnight in order to have a cardiologist see her the next morning.  (what?????  a hospital with no heart specialist on staff?????…………..okay, okay………….so it was a Friday after all………….and the Buckeyes were playing that night in the Orange Bowl!!!!) LOL), but I digress.  Confident that Stephanie’s health status was not serious (after a follow-up appointment with a cardiologist who specializes in the electrophysiology of the heart and after getting a heart ultrasound, she has since been given a “thumbs up”), I offered to pick up the Baird grandchildren and we all headed over for a prearranged Orange Bowl party at Christine and Mike’s.  Not only did the Bucks throw a real damper on the party atmosphere, but I managed to ram my toe into the large wood stand on which stood the Demko Christmas tree.

I made such a fuss over my poor bruised toe, taunting Mike with my hobbled walk as I kept getting up from my seat to check on the kids, that Christine fastened an “angel on a wire” to mark the spot in order to warn me and others that this area was an accident waiting to happen.  LOL  It seems that the Christmas season, me and the Demko household are bad karma.  Several years ago, on Christmas night, I suffered a compound fracture of my index finger while trying to break my fall after having tripped over their dog.  It’s another interesting, painful and expensive (LOL) saga, in which I have since taken great delight in reminding Mike of every single Christmas!!!!

Fortunately, for me and for the Buckeyes, that Friday ended, but my reprieve from troubles and complaining were short-lived.  The very next week I had delayed going to bed one night in order to catch up on the latest news (does that surprise anyone?), a little while later I found myself waking up from a brief snooze to the sound of dripping water coming from the basement.  I jumped up and when I arrived at the bottom of the stairs, I discovered water dripping from just about every pipe.  Yikes!!!!   I ran back up the steps to grab my phone (you may remember from previous blog posts that I admit to being useless in emergency situations) and as I stepped into the kitchen, water covered the hardwood floor.  Long sad story, short………..I called my boisterous,  designated “pest control”, brother-in-law Mike whom I awoke from his peaceful slumber at 12:20 AM.  Thankfully, he must have a soft spot in his heart for a “damsel in distress” as he arrived promptly and immediately asked where the main water valve was located.  Gee…………………why didn’t I think of that????????  Once the water was shut off, he kindly helped me soak up the water in the kitchen with some old towels before heading back home to dream pleasant dreams of the sister-in-law from H-E-double hockey sticks!!   The next day, the plumbing service who arrived determined that the dishwasher was the source of the problem and that the bad news was I would need a new dishwasher.   To which my reply was, actually for me, that was the “good news” because I don’t really need a dishwasher, but I do need properly working pipes and plumbing!

The next day, thinking I was out of the woods, I began the task of washing the soaking wet towels from the night before.  I threw a large load into the washer, closed the lid and pushed start…………………………….the washing machine began to groan at me as if to mock me for my cockiness in assuming that all was well now.  Undaunted, or should I say stubbornly in denial, I repeated the whole operating procedure…………same depressing groan!!!  What to do next?  Why, call upon the “soft spot in his heart” brother-in-law from the other side of the family……….Crick’s long-suffering brother, Jay.  He generously gave of his time to stop by to not only look at the washer, but to also complete the work Crick had begun when he installed our sump pump several years ago :)…………the “bad news” was the 20-year-old washer had spun its last cycle!!!………the good news was the sump pump got a new heavy-duty hose!!!!   Hats off to Jay and Mike………brother-in-laws extraordinaire!!!

What is perhaps most astonishing to me is that all of this happened within about a one week period.  After the last incident, I was truly worried about “putting two feet on the floor” each  morning.  Suffice it to say that, of late, things have settled down a bit (fingers & bruised toes crossed!).  However, given the fact that I began writing this post over two weeks ago, I guess the only portion of my life that has truly “settled down” is that which deals with broken items!  It seems that family events are always, always, always swirling around me, and, oh yeah,……………can’t forget my half-day/week job LOL!!  There is the shoveling of snow, morning Mass (still 10 minutes late!!), breakfast at Bob Evans with either Bobby or Christine, or both, or with my new “buddy”, a Kindle Fire.  There are those busy grandkids who keep me hopping from one school or athletic function to another or pitching in to help with childcare or driving someone to an appointment. and did I mention……………shoveling snow?????   I have also been trying to stay in touch with the extended sides of both families. and so it was that one weekend the Schultheis sibs and spouses came over for dinner and card night.  My oh my, how we have evolved into a bunch of “old geezers” (as Jay likes to say) since after dinner, we all decided to scrub the card game opting instead for the simple pleasure of sitting around the table, talking about our families, our jobs and our politics LOL!!!  Then last weekend, the Clark sibs and spouses got together at Bobby’s house, ordered pizzas/wings and sat down to watch a bunch of old home movies!!  If ever there was a cause for laughter…….watching one’s family life being played out in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and yes even the 90’s will certainly do it!!  (Wow!!! our lives are  covering a whole bunch of decades!!!)  Perhaps home movies could be the topic of another blog post because there is such an abundance of hilarious, “historical” information to be shared…………………………………….Clarks beware!!!!!!  Oh, and did I mention……………shoveling snow???????

Speaking of home movies, I just happened to put together a “day with nana” video for all of the grandkids which highlighted some moments from their outing with me which represented my Christmas gift to them this year.  I put the video to music from the One Direction song, “The Story of My Life” which is one of their favorites (with the exception of Sam.who prefers his Rap…….ugh!).  This was the result:

One last thing before I sign off………….as I was looking for some inspiration to leave with all of the readers of this blog, I found this particular passage as I was thumbing through the pages of a new devotional.  I truly do believe that there is some Divine intervention which inspires the writing of a “diaryofanut” because I stopped at this specific page which begins with, “My eyes are on all those”, and ends with “my eyes are indeed on all of you”.  I find this interesting since this phrase had become a favorite of Crick’s from his days at Glacier Ridge Elementary.  He would walk the school halls and encounter the kids getting ready to head to their buses, hand them one of his infamous mints and give them this sign:

And so, let’s just say this blog post’s inspirational message is straight from Crick to all of you :)

My eyes are on those whose hope is in My unfailing Love.  To enjoy abundant Life it is essential for you to have hope. However, many people indulge in false hopes and find themselves increasingly disillusioned as the years go by.  So I urge you to choose well the object of your hope.  The best choice is:  My unfailing Love.  From the time you first trusted Me as Savior, nothing…..including death, life, things present or things to come….can separate you from this Love.

When you follow My divine guidelines, you can enjoy the Peace of My Presence.  I am everywhere and I see everything, but My eyes are especially on those who are putting their hope in Me.  Such people are ever so precious to Me, and I watch over them vigilantly.  This does not mean I shield them from all adversity.  It means I bless them with My nearness in good times, in hard times….at all times.

So persevere in placing your hope in My perfect Love.  Look up to Me in the midst of your moments, for my eyes are indeed on you!                                                                                                 from Jesus Today

The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love.          Psalm 33:18

TNT (till next time)

TGW (the good wife)

“When God takes someone from us, it is always for a good reason. When the sheep have grazed and thinned the grass in the lower regions, the shepherd will take a little lamb in his arms, carry it up the mountain where the grass is green, lay it down, and soon the other sheep will follow. Every now and then our Lord takes a lamb from the parched field of a family up to those Heavenly Green Pastures, that the rest of the family may keep their eyes on their true home and follow through.”                                                                                                                       Archbishop Fulton Sheen

I hope all readers of this blog will indulge my need to remember DH on what would have been his 66th birthday.

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Crick
Happy Birthday to you !!!

TNT

TGW

December Post………..Take One:

I feel as though I have been living out an entire year of my life in the very short span of a single month!!!  Thanksgiving, a baptism, football, basketball, leaf raking, snow shoveling, pumpkins, Christmas tree decorating, a 50th birthday celebration, yet “another” Schultheis baby shower, Christmas parties and school plays, shopping, cleaning……………where oh where are Simon & Garfunkels “sounds of silence”?????!!!!!  LOL

Let me begin with a photo of one of the ingenious and inexpensive gifts that Tommy requested for his 6th birthday.  It all started when one of Tommy’s friends wanted to know what he wanted for his birthday and Tommy told his friend that he wanted a large box!!  The friend’s Mom called Stephanie and it was confirmed that this was in fact Tommy’s wish.  And so on the day of his party, Tommy’s friend did not disappoint.

The picture reveals the “box” after the creative genius of Luke, Tommy and the “babysitter Nana”  (well now that I look at it…….it wasn’t all that “creative” or “genius”…….a few cut-outs here and there and a few marking pen inscriptions, but that is what you get when your Nana got a “D” in art!!) who all went to work to transform it into……….well……….you decide!!  This was actually a brilliant request on Tommy’s part as the box entertained the Baird’s for days afterwards.  It also brought back memories of a time when the Cliffords, Clarks and Hummers…..(the 60’s version of “the Little Rascals”)….. searching for some summer fun many,many years ago, would scavenge huge boxes from behind the old piano store on High Street and drag them back up Oakland Park to be converted into shops, houses or space ships depending on the whim of the day.  It is refreshing to know that something so cheap and simple is still “in play” today!!

December Post……………Take Two:

This morning as I procrastinated in “putting my two feet on the floor” I mentally vowed that I would return to my blog and complete this post before the clock struck midnight on December 31st.  Suddenly, the postman’s motto came to my mind………….wow!……….with a little play on words, I had accidentally stumbled onto a title for the post!!!!!!!  Perhaps this is a sign, (I thought to myself) that I will now finally be able to sit down and put the chaotic but memorable month into some cohesive pattern. So here I go once again…………just please keep in mind that as I have given myself a deadline, the outcome may not be as polished as an OCD mind would prefer!  LOL

Fingers tapping on the keyboard……………thoughts racing…………….where to begin??……………..clock ticking……………..pressure mounting…………….”Just start at the very beginning, a very good place to start“.   Why thank you, Julie Andrews!!  

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, Ryan Walter Wallace was baptized into the Catholic faith marking the beginning of a life-long journey.  Who knows…..perhaps his destiny may one day lead him into the priesthood, in memory of my dear Mom who always preached to her eleven kids……….”if you choose the religious life you will always have a roof over your head, food to eat and a vacation at least once a year”!!!!!!  Ha, ha, ha…………apparently none of us “heard” the “call”, but you may not be too surprised to know that there were moments over these many years when each of us recalled her words with a bit of wistfulness!

Christmas gatherings soon followed.  The Clarks have a gag gift party tradition that has evolved over the past twenty years.  It began with a siblings/spouses/boy/girl friend-only invitation which then expanded to include the over “21-year-old” grandchildren who then became too numerous :) and so the party reverted back to the siblings/spouses and then gradually became inclusive of a few of our Aunts/Uncles/ and a cousin or two.  This year as we looked around the gathering and noticed the absence of way too many departed loved ones, we joked that maybe it was time to re-invite those once upon a time “over 21 year olds” who have now become the “over 40 year olds”!!  LOL  Anyway, at this year’s party I did not end up with what could be best described as the “gag gift of my dreams” (LOL)  I actually got down on my knees and pleaded with John (one of my rascally brother-in-laws!) to not trade with me, but to no avail!! I guess, in the end, my pathetic plea must have tugged at his heart-strings as he ended up presenting me with the “air-popper” gun as we were all preparing to leave for home…………………..I must say this gift has truly been a blast”!!!!  ha, ha, ha!   The other gift I received was from my brother, Bobby  (who, by the way, I am so happy and proud to say, finished a six-week course of combination chemo/radiation therapy for cancer on the day of the party……..surgery and follow-up course of chemo will take place sometime in January…….prognosis good, but prayers always welcomed). The gift, as you will see in the pictures, is an authentically framed photo of Yankee great Lou Gehrig giving his infamous farewell speech in Yankee stadium.  This photograph has been awarded a place of honor in my home so that anyone who comes down the stairs or passes from the living room into the kitchen must be reminded of Yankee greatness :).

The Schultheis family Christmas party took place in Cincinnati at Tracy and Erik’s last Sunday with an array of new babies, a slew of young kids, a host of “Millennials”,  “Gen-Xers”,  and of course us “Baby Boomers”.  Santa (a.k.a. Richard) paid his annual visit and almost immediately after “Santa” had passed out all of his gifts  to the youngest among us, someone spied a real live “rein”deer prancing through the neighborhood!!  Christmas is truly a magical time of the year!

I hosted Christmas Eve dinner at my house with Megan, Jennifer, Jim, Christopher, Jessica and their kids.  We feasted on a delicious prime rib meal courtesy of Uncle Bill’s Christmas gift to us, and, thanks to the Barefoot Contessa, the meat was done to perfection (well, I guess I should qualify “perfection”………….neither sons-in-law Jim, nor Joe, after all of these years of Schultheis family dinners, have ever been converted to our “medium rare” tradition!).  And then, as Christmas Day dawned, an alert was sent out to all of the family, that my niece,Tori had come down with what we learned later was influenza A.  Therefore, Christine and Jennifer made an executive decision to transfer the time-honored Clark family Christmas day festivities along with all of the food/drinks/etc. from the old homestead to Jennifer and Jim’s home.  Poor Tori……….her Christmas was celebrated “in absentia” as her sisters, Leah, Katie and Erin brought along a framed picture of their little sister and made sure that the picture was situated in a prominent place at the Christmas meal and afterwards ceremoniously moved to where a group of us were playing a new word game, Speedeebee and moved yet again so as to be situated close to Tom who had broken out Olivia’s new guitar to lead everyone in a round of Christmas carols!  All the while these thoughtful sisters had  “pictures of the picture of Tori” taken so that Tori would one day realize what a great time she had the year of the Christmas of the influenza!!!

Two family birthdays followed right on the heels of Christmas Day.   Joe ushered in his 41st birthday on the 26th and Jennifer’s 42nd birthday followed suit on the 28th.  Jennifer’s birthday, however, took on a rather somber tone as Jennifer, Jim, their kids and several of us family members travelled to Barberton, Ohio to pay tribute to Jim’s mother, Kay who passed away after battling Alzheimer’s for several years. Kay was another of God’s “glass half-full” advocates……..she was a genuinely kind, carefree, cheerful person whose fun-loving nature and infectious smile will be greatly missed.   

One little side story…………..on the last “TGIFriday grandkids” day before the Christmas break, Tommy and Sydney were sitting in the breakfast room with paper, pencils, marking pens and.a stapler.  They would call out to me on occasion asking for a certain spelling of a word and then wanting to know where my Bible was………curious as to the nature of their project, I finally decided to ask  what they were making. Tommy explained that he wanted to make a Bible with a cross on the cover and so Sydney was helping him by doing all of the drawing while Tommy dictated to her his version of the Bible.  These pictures reveal the finished product.  (FYI………I only helped them spell “reference” and “criminals”  LOL!)  One takeaway from this is the realization of how impressionable they are at their young ages.  Tommy hangs on every word his kindergarten teacher says.  For example, while I was engaging Luke, Tommy and Mayce in a conversation at dinner one night, Tommy surprised me by relating to me something he had learned at school that day from his teacher about “needs” and “wants”.  He said to me, “I might “want” new tennis shoes now, but I don’t “need” them and my friend “wants” a new x-box, but he doesn’t “need” one.”   Very enlightening………something I “need” to remember about how they are sometimes really paying attention to what we do and say!!

It seems fitting to close with this particular meditation, for just as Tommy and Sydney are learning important life lessons, I too, continue to learn.  Many times over the past few years, I have gained insight that I wish would have come to me much sooner.  I suppose that as our earthly life is but a journey and that whatever insight I have acquired was born of the experiences of my unique journey, I can therefore only assume that my understanding will continue to be enhanced as I persevere on the path God has set before me.

I am God your Savior.  I guide you and teach you, so put your hope in Me all day long.  I guide you according to My truth, and I teach you important lessons as you follow the path I’ve prepared for you. Because I am both your Savior and your God, I’m able to help you with the obstacles you will encounter. Your difficulties can even be blessings when they draw you into deeper dependence on Me.

It is important to have your hope in Me all day long.  It’s easy to be confident and trusting sometimes-when you are well rested and things are going smoothly.  However, when things get hectic or unpleasant, you often forget the object of your hope:  Me.  Yet this is when you need Me the most!  So make it your goal to keep your eyes on Me all day long.  You won’t be able to do this perfectly, but it is a worthy goal-one that gives focus to your thoughts.  It also helps you enjoy My Presence as you go along the path of Life.    from Jesus Today                                                                                                                                           

Guide me in your truth and teach me for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.                                                                                                 Psalm 25:5

I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope…..You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.                                                Psalm 26: 8-9

TNT

TGW

P.S.  Apparently, there is a budding comedic poet in the family who goes by the name of Christine!! While doing numerous loads of laundry after Christmas, she found herself muttering the following:

Twas the night after Christmas and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
Hubby in his stupor and I feeling blessed
Had just gone to bed as the guests had all left.
Now we were nestled all snug in our bed,
While visions of Merry Maids danced in my head!
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter!
The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow
Covered the spillage of the trash overflow.
When what to my wondering eyes should appear
A giant snow plow! No Merry Maids here.
Oh, sure! They shovel and clear all the streets.
But what of my dishes, pine needles and sheets?
I was very discouraged as I turned around,
Then in Mary Margaret came without sound.
She had a broad….swiffer and a round little…pail
That swished when she moved like a pilsner of ale.
She muttered a lot as she scanned the big mess,
Then cleaned it all up and remarked, “Oh, God Bless!”
Her thumb on her nose, fingers waving above,
She looked at my hubby and stuck out her tongue.
Then we heard her exclaim as she rushed down the road,
Get outa my way or I’ll miss Glenn Beck’s show!!!!!!!!

P.P.S.  Having successfully accomplished my self-appointed December 31st deadline……….I can now offer my heartfelt wish for a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous 2014!!!!!!  And one can’t usher in a New Year without a rendition of “Auld Lang Syne”:

I sent this Calvin comic to members of my family, and my sister, Carole sent me back an e-mail regarding her daughter, Regan who I must admit was the most precocious child I have ever known:

I really think that Calvin and Regan are of the same mindset.  I had a conversation with her about heaven when she was nine.  I told her that if she continued behaving the way she had been, she would not be able to get into heaven…..(well it worked for Mom to say that!!).  Her response to me was, “You have not been to heaven, so how would you know how bad is bad enough for God to not let me in!!”

LOL……………this is the very same child who at the age of four was confronted by Carole, who asked in exasperation:  “Regan, why can’t you ever just do what I tell you to do????”  To which Regan, with tears in her eyes replied, “I try Mommy, but the bad side of my brain tells me to do it, and the good side of my brain tells me not to do it………..and the bad side always wins!!”

Oh yes, we Clark sisters have many such stories that could have earned us a pretty penny, if we had only had the ambition to figure out how to market our funny and challenging children!!   I, having moved way beyond ambition, have merely been focusing on my children’s children in order to better document for my family’s posterity, through pictures and video, the various personalities and antics of the “gang of ten” grandchildren!!  Take for example, Josh and Mayce…………they are an interesting and entertaining duo.  Josh has always been very solicitous of Mayce…..getting the booster seat for her whenever it is time to sit down for a meal, making sure she is happy by sharing his toys or getting her a snack or something to drink.  Mayce, on the other hand, is quite happy to have all of this attention when she wants it, but her charming and demure personality can suddenly turn cranky and ill-tempered as it did last Sunday.  While we were all at Christine’s for dinner, the twosome were having a great time giggling, running around the house, etc…………………until a black cloud seemed to descend on Mayce from out of nowhere, and suddenly she decided that she wanted nothing to do with Josh.  Poor, poor Josh………he tried to win her over by putting his arm around her and when that didn’t seem to work, he tried putting his face in front of hers all the while declaring over and over and over again, “Mayce, you are my best “fweind”.  At any rate, whatever it was that caused Mayce to turn on Josh was not going to be easily overcome.  There is a saying in the Clark family that whenever a toddler becomes crabby and uncooperative, we simply state, “He/She is just tired!” and that would let the parents off the hook so to speak.  LOL  Given this amusing relationship between these two, I turned on my video camera while I was watching the two of them for a couple of hours one day last week.   The end result of that video, after some minor editing, can be viewed at the end of this blog. (if anyone is curious).  :-)

Here in Ohio, fall has finally taken hold………..which brings up a question…… why must the trees with their beautiful lush, green leaves in the summer and their gorgeous, vibrant, orange, yellow and red leaves in the fall……….why must those leaves “fall” to the ground????  I mean……why couldn’t they just simply disintegrate right there on their branches???  Is it so the hardware stores can increase their profits with sales of rakes, leaf blowers, and lawn/leaf bags in the fall (because, heaven forbid, we can no longer burn those leaves!)??  Or is it so someone with an OCD mindset will be forced to turn her attention away from political blogs, “put her two feet on the floor”, grab her rake, leaf blower and lawn bags and head outside to restore “order” to her unkempt and littered yard??  Just asking.  Anyway, last Friday I went out to the yard while the TGIFriday grandchildren were at my house and as it was a fairly decent day weatherwise, I decided to attack some of those pesky leaves and prune back some perennials.  Well, one by one a few of the kids followed and were surprisingly eager to pitch in.   Tommy and Sydney opted to prune the hydrangea, Natalie took over the lawn mower and Sam and Luke took turns with the leaf blower………I comandeered the rake and together we made pretty good progress.  At one point I heard Sydney tell Tommy…………”This is the most fun I have ever had”!!  LOL  (Christopher are you listening?).  Of course, after about a half hour they all gradually fizzled out and returned indoors, but hey!!  a little help is better than no help!!

Apparently, Nana is making some impact on a couple of  the grandkids in another area of their lives.  One day last week Jennifer stopped over with Natalie and Ryan and Natalie proceeded to tell me (quite proudly, I might add) that she had made her bed exactly as she has seen me make it in the past.  I told her to text me a picture so I could admire her hard work and this photo shows off her bed making skills.  Now, not only has Natalie been observant, but so has three-year old Josh.  As the little ones usually follow me around whenever they are with me I never hesitate to provide instructions for the various household tasks.  For instance, if I happen to be making up a bed, I will show them how to tuck the sheets in and to pull them taut enough on which to bounce a coin.  I have explained to them that I learned  this little snippet of advice from Papa (a carryover from his basic training days!!).  And so it was that I received this text picture from Christopher of what awaited him when Josh called him up to his room one morning.   Isn’t it interesting what kids pick up on??  I guess since I can not be known as the “great” singing or dancing or athletic Nana…….I will have to be content with knowing that I will be known to them as the “great” neat freak Nana!!  LOL

This coming week OSU fans will be celebrating beat Michigan Week and although Michigan is not having their greatest season, we will be playing at Ann Arbor and the Wolverines can redeem their season by knocking off the undefeated Buckeyes.  I found these pictures of the OSU football team from 1897 the first year that the two teams played each other and the infamous “snow bowl” game of 1950.  At  least 9 inches of snow alone had fallen on Columbus that Saturday morning and by game time, the temperature was hovering near zero as 30 mph winds swirled around the stadium.  Amazingly, some 50,000 fans made it through the turnstiles where OSU officials did not even bother to take tickets and so any spectator crazy enough to brave the elements could walk right in.  Michigan won that game 9-3.

Of course, before the game takes place, we will all be taking time out on Thursday to give thanks to our God for all of His many blessings.  This year our large ensemble will gather at the old homestead on Oakland Park with Christine and Mike hosting the day’s festivities.  No matter where Thanksgiving Day finds us gathering, and no matter what our personal circumstances may be this year, by looking at the “glass half-full” as Crick would do, we will be able to view life’s challenges with a grateful heart. Curiously, today’s devotional reading reflects on exactly this point.

Thankfulness takes the sting out of adversity.  That is why I have instructed you to give thanks for everything.   There is an element of mystery in this transaction:  You give me thanks (regardless of your feelings), and I give you Joy (regardless of your circumstances).  This is a spiritual act of obedience-at times, blind obedience.  To people who don’t know me intimately, it can seem irrational and even impossible to thank Me for heartrending hardships. Nonetheless, those who obey Me in this way are invariably blessed, even though difficulties may remain.

Thankfulness opens your heart to My Presence and your mind to My thoughts. You may still be in the same place, with the same set of circumstances, but it is as if a light has been switched on, enabling you to see from My perspective.  It is this Light of My Presence that removes the sting from adversity.                                                                                                                             from Jesus Calling

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.  His mercy endures forever.                                                                                                          Psalm 118:1

May you all enjoy a Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving.

TNT
TGW

“When someone you love becomes a memory…….your memory becomes a treasure.”                                                        Author Unknown

Ted and Molly were a couple from my parent’s generation whose marriage seemed to me, by all appearances, to reflect a relationship that was uncomplicated and effortless.  I would watch them each week at Sunday Mass where they always occupied the same pew, sitting close to each other…….the two of them were always impeccably attired, her beautiful white hair was worn stylishly short, while he defied aging with a full head of dark hair showing only a tinge of gray.  I came to know them better over the past ten years as we shared the same Eucharistic Adoration hour each week and would often chat afterward, sharing news of our families.  During these times, I came to further admire their caring, loving, quiet and gentle natures and their obvious devotion to one another and I would leave their company wondering why on earth I couldn’t take some of that same “quiet and gentle” and impart it into my own relationship with Crick.  “Easy”, “effortless”, “uncomplicated”, “gentle” and “quiet” were adjectives that I could never have applied to my own relationship with Crick (envisioning the King’s Island Main Street Incident right now ,as well as the “discussion” from years ago which led to my charging out the back door with the words, “You are a nut, Mary Margaret…..a nut!” ringing in my ears!  LOL).  From our many conversations, I discovered that, not only were they both lifelong residents of Clintonville, but that they had attended Immaculate Conception grade school together, became boyfriend and girlfriend, married, raised a daughter and, as they say, the rest is history.  Sadly, Molly passed away a few years ago and Ted, who is now eighty-seven and experiencing some health issues, is no longer able to attend Adoration.  Our friendship has continued however, and we call each other at least a couple of times a month and when I am able, I will stop by his home and quiz him about “the good old days” when life was so much simpler.  Now, why am I telling you all of this????  Because it is a back drop to a conversation that Ted and I had earlier this year as we were sharing our thoughts about the loss of our spouses.  Ted confided that despite the passage of time, his longing for Molly and the profound sense of loss, while somewhat abated, persists to this day.  This wistful yearning, I, too, have come to better understand for while it is the second anniversary of Crick’s death, I continue to discover that seemingly trivial places or events, in unguarded moments, will elicit a memory of Crick along with a twinge of sadness and an overwhelming desire to will him back to this world (I believe there is an old saying, “be careful what you wish for” !!  LOL).  Perhaps strangely, (after all……………I am…………a nut!!), I choose to fully embrace these often overpowering emotions, as they have a way of drawing me closer to that “memory” of all that he was, and all that we shared.  And furthermore, it is in the losing of myself in those memories which seems to keep him always close in my heart and alive in spirit:).

And so, on this anniversary date and in Crick’s memory,  I would like to recall some poignant reflections of our family and friends from the CaringBridge guestbook entries:

Jim is a remarkable man who brought a smile to my face and always brought smiles to the faces of the children at Glacier Ridge Elementary. He has touched my heart just like he does with everyone he meets.

I once thought “Crick could turn a turnip into an apple.”

The first two years I thought Crick was crazy.  I just wasn’t used to him and the way he was always goofing off and pushing everyone’s buttons.  Over the years I have come to consider him a really good friend and more like a brother than a father-in-law.  What I have realized the last few years is that he always did understand me.  We could talk and nothing was ever forced, it was always real and he always listened when I needed him to.  He would always take my side when the women would gang up on us, and of course, we would instigate everything.

He is a man’s man.  Well, he has not only championed that sentiment, but has done one BETTER………he is a kid’s kid!

I remember when Crick took us outside one winter to build, not just a typical snowman, but our very own igloo!!  We built it so big it lasted until almost spring!  He also helped me to buy my very first car, it was a stick shift and he helped me learn how to drive it and, after many hours of practice, he suggested that we take the car for a test drive up Cooke Rd. to see if I could handle it on a hill.  Well…..I couldn’t make it up the first hill and we kept drifting backwards toward the car behind us.  Finally, Crick put his foot over mine on the accelerator and away we went.  I think his exact words to me were, “Well, you can always sell this car to someone else!”.  He would always beg me to walk on his back and promise to give me all of the change in his pocket.  Boy, was I naive, thinking I was going to make a lot of money.  But……..he did teach me the value of a quarter!!!  Over the years, Crick would put a lot on his back for our family.

Crick was fortunate to have many of his teenage family and friends as his employees during his management days at Friendly’s (or I should say, we were lucky enough to have him employ us!).  As a freshman in college, Crick gave me the confidence to become a supervisor and while I didn’t believe that I could handle the responsibility, he put me right out there and trusted that I could!  He saw a potential in me at that age that I had didn’t even know existed.  When we were younger he would take all of us kids hiking during our “Clark cabin trips” and using his army “skills” would take us on quite an adventure down some incredible hills.  He would also hand out to us his army rations to sample…………yuk!!

I started thinking about how long I have known Crick…………it has been basically my whole life!!  I remember sitting in our living room on Oakland Park and talking into a reel to reel tape recorder to say “hi” to him when he was stationed in Korea and then he would send the tape back to us so that we could hear his voice.  I remember Mom making me clean the basement before his wedding to MM in order to display all of the priceless wedding gifts (wonder if they have any left!).   Funny to think now, that I was one of the altar servers at their wedding!!  Crick was also there for Jimmy……there was the day that Jimmy was hiding in the bushes in front of our house and Crick went out to gently remind Jimmy that he was at home and not back in Viet Nam.  Who else but a veteran like Crick could have known what Jimmy was going through. Crick was also there when I was going to enlist in the Army Reserves and he was going to make sure that I ended up in his unit so that he could watch over me………..he even went to the commander to make sure this would happen.  For some reason I never did enlist, but I always knew that Crick was going to be there for me.  Crick has been and always will be one of my brothers!!

I developed a friendship with “Mr. Jim” at Glacier Ridge Elementary.  Our relationship was always  of a fun nature!  I tutored students after school and of course, Jim made us regular visits.   In return, we would pull his vacuum cleaner plug, toss candy wrappers on his tidied floor and turn lights out, to name a few of the things we did to get him to react.  Jim and I quickly became friends and always had fun with our antics.  Yet, we could also have wonderful discussions on life.  He became a real friend to me as we both shared in common the closeness of our own families.  Jim will be missed by more people that we can fathom and I know that Jim will be meeting my Mom in heaven and making her laugh like he always made me!

It seems like a long time ago that Crick and I were standing on the field at St. Michael’s in our wildly unprotective football gear……paper thin shoulder pads, helmets with no face guards or chin straps, and for me,…………fearing the fact that I would have to tackle his older brother, John as he came blasting through the line.  Life seems to warp into hyper-speed as we grow older.  I must say that although Crick and I were never terribly close growing up, I have fond memories of him: caddying with him at York Temple, the fact that he seemed to instinctively know how car engines worked, and how he always exuded this sort of Gary Cooper type…….tall, dependable, good-hearted vibe, even as a kid.  And if his presence is still felt by someone as distant as I am to him, I can only imagine what his presence means to all of those who are truly close to him.  It speaks volumes about how Crick has journeyed through this life.

And so it is, that our family drinks of the “glass half-full”, each morning, “putting two feet on the floor” and being ever grateful for all of God’s many, many blessings.

Message to Crick…………………….while God has you in His keeping, be assured that your family has you in their hearts…………………..Always, Always, Always :)

In Memory Video:

TNT

TGW

I am sharing these pictures as a way to explain why I have been absent from the diaryofanut blog for the past month.  

Let me begin with September 17th, the day that our family welcomed Ryan Walter Wallace into the world.  His arrival six weeks early via C-section created some tense moments, especially for Jennifer who had been admitted to the hospital several days earlier with pre-eclampsia.   We were all astonished at his 5 lb. 10 oz. birth weight which definitely aided his ability to adapt to his new environment.  If his first couple of weeks are any indication of his future, “mellow” may just become the new family buzzword!  (Methinks he takes after his Dad……LOL).  But I think Megan’s comment sums up little Ryan perfectly……”He is just so darn stinking cute!!!”

Actually the entire month of September was one celebration on top of another.  Not only did Josh, Mayce and I observe our birthdays, but there were three baby showers for Schultheis babies about to be born, a post-wedding party for Katie and Mark and the induction of Crick’s brother Feller (John) into our alma mater’s inaugural class of the Bishop Watterson Athletic Hall of Fame.  As to the birthdays……….I decided to share my third birthday photo which was taken with my brothers, Jimmy and Johnny,  because, as Josh and Mayce, who turned three this year, will one day discover………..you are way cuter at three than you are at sixty-five!!!!  I do love the fact that my last three grandchildren now share my birthday month with me……….and like our former pastor who used to conclude Mass by saying, “The Mass never ends, it must be lived”  (to which a stunned little boy, could be heard one Sunday calling out from the back of the church……”OH NO!!”  LOL)……our family will be saying, “The birthdays never end, they must go on, and on, and on, and on…………..!         

The day after my birthday, the Schutheis family gathered together to honor the football accomplishments of their Dad, grandfather, brother and uncle during half-time of the Watterson/Cincinnati Winton Woods game.   The actual induction ceremony into the first ever BWHS Athletic Hall of Fame was held on Sunday following Mass and a buffet brunch as Kim, Jared, Katie and Kelly accepted the posthumous award  for their Dad.  It was a bittersweet moment and one that conjured up long ago memories of the 1960’s football legacy of the Schultheis brothers…..John (Feller), Jim (Crick) and Joe.  Hey Joe………..I wonder why the nicknames stopped at you????!!!!

The second week of September found me sharing another week in the OBX with some of my favorite Schultheis family to savor a little R&R (this year we were minus the company of Peggy, Mark, Joe, Judy, Jay and Rayne, and of course the most ornery family member of all…………..Crick :-( ).  We were fortunate to enjoy great weather, a fantastic view and most of all the makings of many more wonderful memories.  The trip, however, proved to be a little more costly for me in that the very first day we all spent lounging poolside, I picked up my beach cover-up (no self-respecting 65-year-old female dares to walk very far without one!!), when I heard something fall to the deck.  When I looked down I saw that it was my cell phone that had hit the deck and split apart.  All I could do was watch as my cell phone battery slipped between the deck boards to the darkness below!  Horror of horrors!!…………..how was I going to manage the rest of the week without a connection to my family back home……………or more to the point………….how were they going to manage without being connected to me????!!! LOL  I discovered that beach towns do not accommodate cell phone battery losses, and so I would need to order a battery online and wait 3-5 days for delivery.  And so it came to be that my children and I learned that we could in fact, survive, absent any knowledge of our day-to-day existence…………….well………. for at least one week!!!   In addition, I was destined to suffer yet another significant electronics loss a little later in the week.  I had decided to take a midday walk along the beach accompanied by my mp3 player (good thing I am slow to upgrade my technology……..the loss of an i-pod touch would have been $$$$$!).  I love listening to my personal mix of music and so for about an hour, I hummed along with Garth Brooks, Bon Jovi, Sugarland, Billy Joel, and oh yes…..even Barry Manilow :) and then, as I began to feel the heat and humidity of the day, I headed back to the house where I immediately jumped into the pool forgetting all about the mp3 player tucked inside of my suit!!!  Ooooooppppppsssssss…………..another electronic device lost to me for the week!!  Thank goodness my Kindle and laptop never made it outdoors…………fifteen years ago, these products were never even on my radar and I managed to live quite well without them.  Of course, during those days Crick provided all the distractions any one person could handle!!!! :)  While I was in Corolla, I also was afforded the opportunity of  sharing an afternoon with two of my favorite “non” family people who just so happen to also be my employers!!  Ira and Lori were staying that week on a fourteen-mile stretch of beach collectively known as, “The 4×4 Beaches” where there are no paved roads, no shops and no restaurants. A four-wheel-drive vehicle is required, as you must actually drive on the beach to access the vacation homes.  If  you are familiar with the Outer Banks, you will know that this area is also home to the wild horses of Currituck County.  Ira and Lori very generously made the half hour drive to our section of Corolla to pick me up, treat me to lunch and take me on a four-wheel drive tour of the wide open sandy beaches.  The wild horses must have decided to go into hiding that afternoon, as the only sign of their presence was “something” visible on the sand which one would definitely want to avoid stepping in (if you catch my drift!).  Despite not catching a glimpse of the horses, I had great fun bouncing along that stretch of wide open sandy beach, marvelling at the boundless beauty of ocean, sky and sand!!  I am so very grateful to both of them for taking time out of their own vacation to add yet another experience to my ever-expanding world.

A little side note to Jay and Mark (brother-in-law “tormenters extraordinaire” who did not make the trip)……………….I purchased a pool float and one day while I was lounging under the Carolina blue sky so completely and totally relaxed that I actually closed my eyes as I relished the peacefulness of the moment…………..when out of the blue a “frightening” vision intruded on my peace of mind.  I had this eery sense of “someone” leaning over the third deck railing holding a bucket of ice water, and then another disturbing vision of “someone” swimming underwater toward me ready to capsize my float!!!   With a huge, huge sigh of relief, I realized that you two “mischief mongers” were back in Columbus, miles and miles and miles and miles away from me, my float and my sanity!!!!  What is really crazy is the fact that even in your absence, you managed to torment me!!!

Yet another picture represents the thoughtful generosity of a previous employer/friend of mine.  Dr. Liz and her husband Joe, who have recently moved to Indianapolis, but continue to keep their OSU football tickets, sent me an e-mail offering me their tickets to the OSU/Florida A&M game.  The game turned into a 76-0 route of A&M, but Jo (sister and fellow OSU sports fan)  and I were fortunate in that over half of OSU’s touchdowns were scored at our end of the stadium.  The picture of me, Sophia and Sydney happened because as Jo and I took our seats in C deck at the start of the game, I received a text from Christopher who was also attending the game with Jessica and the girls, asking where we were sitting.  I sent a text back to him indicating the location of our section, and his next text to me read…….”Turn around and look up”.   As I did this, I saw all four of them waving to us, standing directly behind us, ten rows up!!   It seems that my family and I can not seem to escape each other even in a stadium overflowing with over 100,000 people!!!  LOL

Wellllllllll……………I have yet to mention one disturbing image……..I included it, not to cause great anxiety for my family, who may be dreading the appearance of my much feared soapbox :), but to explain that, as America has been careening ever closer to the point of no return, whatever free time I have had, has been spent scouring political blogs as opposed to focusing on my personal blog.  Maybe it is time to resurrect my “musingsofarightwingnut” blog….uummmm…..I just might have to give that some thought!  Now you see family???…….that wasn’t so painful was it?  I promise you that I have been working very hard to suppress my political rantings!!! Just don’t talk to Carole about my visit to her this past weekend……LOL!! 

Before I sign off, I do have a little “Tommy story” to tell going back to the topic of my previous blog which was a nostalgic recollection of Crick’s and my 43rd wedding anniversary.  I had decided to go to the cemetery to commemorate the September 5th date and to nag Crick, in absentia, (LOL…….never let a memorial occasion go to waste I always say……….oops, no, that was “crisis” not “memorial occasion”  and it wasn’t me who said that, it was Rahm Emanuel………….but I digress!!) about his leaving me behind to take out the trash,to unload the groceries, to capture unwelcome “critters”, to figure out electronics, to replace burned out light bulbs, to change the filter on the furnace, to buy the gas for the lawn mower, to negotiate a deal for a new car………well, you get the idea!!  And so,  as I departed from the cemetery and feeling just a bit melancholy, I headed to the Immaculate Conception chapel for my weekly Eucharistic Adoration hour.  The chapel is housed in the former convent, now home to the IC kindergarten class rooms.  As there was a gentleman already sitting in the back  where I normally sit, I entered the chapel and took my place in one of the first pews.  Still missing Crick and feeling rather lonely, I began to refocus my thoughts toward prayer when I heard the door open and a quiet conversation going on in the back of the chapel.  I paid little attention as the door closed and a few seconds later I felt this tap on my shoulder and a small voice say, “Hi Nana”.  I will never forget that moment as I turned around to see Tommy smiling as he put his arms around me to give me the hug I so very much needed!!  It seems his teacher had seen me come up the walk and had asked Tommy if he would like to see me, so she directed him to the chapel.  Now I have been going to Adoration every week since before Olivia started kindergarten at IC and I have come to know the kindergarten teachers and while they would have the grandchildren wave to me from the window whenever they caught sight  of me, never have they sent any of them into the chapel before this day.  Once again, when I feel at my lowest, God sends me exactly what I need (and perhaps Crick may have had a hand in sending me this loving hug from Tommy as my special anniversary gift!!).

The following is the September 19th meditation from Jesus Calling.  As it was my birthday, some of you may find, as I did, how totally appropriate it was for me :)!!

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.  This is an incredible privilege reserved for precious ones who belong to Me and seek My Face.  Your greatest strength is your desire to spend time communing with Me.  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.                                 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. And the world, with all its disordered desires, is passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever.     1 John 2: 15-17

TNT

TGW

P.S.   I said good-bye to two of my very favorite Yankees this season…….Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte.  The World Series takes on less excitement for me this year as the Yankees failed to make the play-offs (the A-Rod curse!!), but I am truly happy for Todd (Tigers), Bobby (Pirates), Tommy (Dodgers) and Bob (Red Sox)…..(that last one really hurt me!!)…………..may the best team win!!!!

Two of these things belong together

Two of these things are kind of the same

Can you guess which two really do belong here

Now it is time to play the game

Thank you to Sesame Street for not only the song, “Three of These Things” which inspired this latest blog post (and which I slightly altered), but for also providing the blog its title!!  As you may  have observed from recent posts, I have been utilizing family pictures as a way of helping to detail the sometimes mundane, often absurd, occasionally sentimental and always amusing (or so it seems to me) escapades in the life of a self-proclaimed nut.  And so, if you are playing along, I will begin to identify the correct pairings of the above pictures.

Note:  Please keep in mind that I am a self-taught WordPress blogger.  Also I have a touch (LOL) of OCD and therefore can consume endless hours googling self-help (not as in psychological!!!!!!) in an effort to determine how to solve WordPress tech problems.  Today, I finally decided to take a cue from our Congress (beware……the “p” topic has been broached!!!) and “kick the can down the road” (oops……now a political buzzword slipped in) regarding my fruitless attempts to resolve the blog’s ever-changing font size.  Added to that frustration, when I attempted to number the photos in order to more easily identify the correct matching pairs, WordPress arbitrarily rearranged the order of my meticulously placed photo gallery………..aaaarrrrgggghhhh!

And so…………..without further ado…………

 

These two pictures “belong together”

They tell the story of the summer of the “Jumbotron” movie night.  The picture with Mayce and Josh was taken on the field at OSU’s Bill Davis baseball stadium where a group of 25 of us watched the sports comedy coming-of-age baseball film, The Sandlot (“Smalls”, Squints, “Yeah, Yeah”, Benny, and of course,”the Beast”). The next picture was snapped on the field at the “The Shoe” where another large group of us gathered for an opportunity to walk on the hallowed Buckeye turf and to tour the OSU press box while waiting for the evening’s movie, The Avengers.  Each of these events helped to support Pelotonia, a grassroots bike tour founded in Columbus in 2008 with One Goal: End Cancer.  With more than 6,700 riders, Pelotonia has the most participants of any single event cycling fundraiser in the country and has raised just over $11 million in its fifth year, bringing its to-date grand total to $53.5 million!!

These two pictures “are kind of the same”

How you may ask are these two similar, other than the fact that Tommy is in both of them??   Well, one day a couple of weeks ago, I was watching Stephanie’s trio while she was at work and Tommy came up to me and asked if he could go outside.  The day was fairly warm and sunny, so I told him that  he could go out as long as he stayed in the yard.  He agreed and walked out the door to the backyard (at this point, he was wearing a shirt!!).  Several minutes later, I looked outside to check up on him and noted that he had carried a small table and chair out to the front lawn, taken off his shirt and was seated with a small stack of papers placed on the table, pen in hand.  Curious as to what he was up to, I ventured out and asked what he was doing with the papers and pen.  He explained that he was going to sell his autograph!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Welllllllllll…………..you all know how I just love to “crush” dreams, so I said to him, “What makes you think anyone would want to buy your autograph?”  Without blinking an eye, he said to me, “You will want to buy one because, after all, I am a Yankee!!!!!!”  He certainly had me on that one as his T-ball team this summer was named the Yankees, evidenced by the hat he was wearing at the table, as well as by his uniform in the picture on the right.  Of course, I had to go into the house and open up my wallet to get some cash for that “Yankee” autograph!  But it was worth it.  Eat your heart out Joe Baird…….Crick’s and your devotion to the Reds is no match for my impassioned indoctrination of Yankee pride (A-Rod excluded!).

Did you guess these two really do belong here?

The first paragraph of the blog gave a little warning that I was working a little politics into this post……..now where is my soapbox??????? :).  Quite obviously, these two pictures “really” do belong.  Earlier in the year I took several of the grandkids to the bookstore and gradually everyone wandered off in search of their own genre of books, myself included. After a while, I caught a glimpse of Luke coming around the corner of the aisle in which I was standing as he pulls a book out from behind his back and asks, “Nana, how do you like this book?”  Do you suppose Luke understood that presenting me with an Obama book was like showing a red rag to a bull????!!!!!  Look at the smile on his face, of course he did!!  And do you know what?  I could not resist that charming smile, so I smiled back and then instructed Luke to return the book to the proper book shelf, but directed him to place it upside down and backwards!!!!  LOL  I think that on future outings I will need to keep a closer eye on these “charming” little troublemakers! Guess there is no real need for my soapbox (are you breathing a sigh of relief???) as the caption in the Calvin & Hobbes image says it all for me :).

 

And……these two pics belong together

If you have been to a Bob Evans restaurant over the course of the summer, you will perhaps understand the connection between these photos.  It all began a number of weeks ago when my favorite server, niece Katie :), brought my morning cup of coffee to my table.  She placed the utensils on the table and when I unwrapped them, I discovered, as Bobby did in the above picture, that the spoon was missing.  A minute later, Katie returns with a spoon wrapped in a separate napkin (see above pic). OMGosh…………with no one’s hand over my mouth to stop me, I stared at her and began pummeling her with questions about why they would suddenly stop wrapping the spoons with the knives and forks.  I was informed by Katie that it was a new directive from upper level management (I will refrain from ranting about the carte blanche issuance of frivolous policies by those who usually never have to actually implement them or suffer the consequences of such ill-conceived ideas).  Anyway, poor, poor Katie she truly did suffer the consequences as she had to listen to my whining for several weeks until the masses of Bob Evan’s “regulars” rose in protest (ha,ha, ha) and the management team finally returned to their senses!! I actually see a political argument here which could be applied to the federal government regarding common sense, but I will “move on” (these “p” buzzwords just keep leaping on to the page!!) to the next pair of photos.

And.………...these two pics are kind of the same (to read the detail, click on the picture to enlarge)

In truth, the only similarity in these pictures is that each car owner felt the need to express themselves!!  To further explain, earlier this summer as I was waiting at a traffic light not too far from my house, I snapped the picture on the left as confirmation of the daily annoyance that confronts me whenever I get behind the wheel of my car and drive through my Clintonville neighborhood.  I have never ever in my life placed any sort of sticker on my car (remember I am OCD!!), but I gave in to the “peer pressure” as you can observe from the picture of my car on the right……but of course it is “on the right”!!!  I can now be seen cruising the “Ville” expressing my very own personal convictions and bringing “diversity” of thought to my community!   Oh, how I love being a nut…….people have such low expectations of your sanity LOL!!!

 

And…………two of these things really do belong here

And………speaking of “nuts”……….what, you may be wondering, do these two photographs have in common????  I will tell you in one word……………………………Crick!!!! All along I have felt that the old cliché, “It takes one to know one” was corroborated on the very day that Crick declared me to be “a Nut”!!  I will now illustrate how I, too, lived with a “nut”.  Beginning with the item in the picture on the left……to Crick, it was an antique toaster, to me, it was just one more piece of clutter.  It found its way into our home after one of his infamous garage sale excursions.  I had forgotten all about it until I was rummaging through some items in the basement.  While writing this blog, I became curious about its age and so I used the Google search and actually came upon a website titled Toastermuseum.com which touts itself as the world’s largest Online Toaster Exhibition.  Who knew??  I am quite sure that once I finally take on the task of clearing out the garage, I will find many more such interesting “finds” (anyone need a dorm size non-working refrigerator???).  And now we come to the image on the right…..the piece de resistance of all nuttiness and a Clark family legend!!!  A number of years ago, Crick was putting up a new fence behind the rock garden in our backyard and he excitedly called for me to come out to see what he quickly determined was a fossil from some prehistoric era.  What I saw was one….. huge…….rock!  He was quick to point out all of the differing formations in the layers of the rock; but I still saw just a gigantic, dirty rock and picturing with great dread where he might be planning to display it in our home!!  Well, a few days later Crick and I were hosting a cook-out for my sister’s birthday, and most of my siblings and their spouses were present.  Crick chose to present his prized possession in a rather uncharacteristic way.  He had everyone come out to the backyard while he raised the garage door to reveal “the fossil” covered in a white sheet sitting on a dolly in the middle of the garage.  What emerged from under the sheet was what you see in the above picture.  Now, truth be told, I do believe that this was one of the very rare occasions when I witnessed Crick having had just one beer too many and he was in rare form that particular night.  But this was not to be the end of the story……oh no…….the real proof of his nuttiness came a couple of weeks later when I answered the front door to find a gentleman from the geology department at Ohio State who said he had come to check out the finding of a possible rare fossil!!!!!!!!!  It appears Crick had made several calls to Ohio State and was finally passed along to this person who had the distinct honor of informing Crick that he had actually unearthed a “huge rock” LOL!!!!!!  Pictures certainly do provide a plethora of incriminating evidence!

Are you all still playing the game???

Ah………..incriminating evidence……………I guess that pretty much sums up these two pictures which are kind of the same.  A number of family have already heard the “tragic” story of these two photos.  To more fully appreciate what took place, you may want to click on the image on the left.  This story began on a recent July morning, the week of our parish festival.  As I was driving up the alley behind the school to attend morning Mass, I could see several workers putting up a large tent on the grounds of the parking lot to the left of the alley.  I drove up to the end of the school building, turned right into the lot in between the school and the church, when I heard a clunk followed by the sound of something dragging along the newly paved parking lot!!  I stopped the car and as I stepped out, a young woman was headed my way to see what had happened.  Apparently when I turned into the parking lot, I was unable to see that some of the workers from the previous night had left some metal poles lying on the ground that were to be used later to set up for the food tent.  This very kind young woman was one of the festival co-chairs and she actually got down on the ground and crawled under the front of the car to see why we were unable to pull the pole out from under the car.  This is the point in the story where my brother-in-law, Jay enters the saga.  It seems that the canopy connector fitting had gotten lodged in the engine splash shield underneath the car and not knowing what else to do (as Crick refuses to send me his heavenly phone number!!) I did the next best thing……..I called Jay!!  For the past two years he has become my “Car Angel” and once summoned, came quickly to my rescue.  After he had assessed the situation, Jay took one long look at me and immediately asked the question that would have flown right out of Crick’s mouth, “Now………….when you knew that you had run over something………..what made you decide to keep going??????!!!!”  The answer was simple enough…….because I thought the car would just do what it is designed to do……..keep on going!!  Jay simply bowed his head down, picked up his phone and placed a call to a towing company his auto repair shop (NASCAR Garage) uses so that the car could then be lifted up and the connector and pole removed.  As if this all wasn’t depressing enough, while I was waiting for the tow truck, the very kind woman brought a folding chair over to me………….I guess I am looking way older than I think!!!!!!!!!!!  LOL      

I had more pictures planned for this little game, but I see that I am now well over my self-imposed, but rarely adhered to, word limit.  If I were Stephanie, Jo or Christine, I would be breathing a huge sigh of relief!!! :)  

I will, therefore, wrap up this post with a devotional message that I read a couple of nights ago.  As usual, the spiritual directive contained in its words, motivates me to strive more earnestly to seek the will of God and to trust Him in all the moments of my day.

I am a God who heals.  I heal broken bodies, broken minds, broken hearts, broken lives, and broken relationships.  My very Presence has immense healing powers.  You cannot live close to Me without experiencing some degree of healing, however, it is also true that you have not because you ask not.  You receive the healing that flows naturally from my Presence whether you seek it or not.  But there is more…….much more……..available to those who ask.

The first step in receiving healing is to live ever so close to Me.  The benefits of this practice are too numerous to list.  As you grow more and  more intimate with Me, I reveal My will to you more directly.  When the time is right, I prompt you to ask for healing of some brokenness in you or in another person.  The healing may be instantaneous, or it may be a process.  That is up to Me.  Your part is to trust Me fully and to thank Me for the restoration that has begun.

I rarely heal all the brokenness in a person’s life.  Even My servant Paul  was told, “My grace is sufficient for you,” when he sought healing for the thorn in his flesh. Nonetheless, much healing is available to those whose lives are intimately interwoven with Mine.  Ask and you will receive.                              From Jesus Calling

A thorn in the flesh was given to me……….to keep me from being too elated.  Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”      2 Corinthians 12: -9

TNT
TGW

P.S.  Is there a WordPress “Tech” Angel out there………….anywhere????

P.P.S.  That.  Is.  All. :)

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