Friday, August 31, 2007

This and That

First, I would like to thank Patti for the "Blogging Star" award. I am not sure I deserve it, since I can't seem to post the award on my blog, but I have asked Joan to do it for me, so hopefully, it will appear soon. Joan and I are meeting on Sept 13th for blogging classes. We will probably visit and do lunch too.

Last night Lynn and I had the chance to visit. I have been trying to convince her to take our grandmother's 1905 Singer sewing machine (with all the gold fru fru) before I move to Iowa. I really don't want it to go out of our family which it might if I take it with me. Lynn hasn't exactly said no but she hasn't agreed either. Last night while we were discussing it, my aunt who has very short term memory suddenly popped into the conversation with "I learned to sew on that machine". I looked at Lynn and asked how she could possibly turn it down. She agreed to think about it before I move. Lynn and I also discussed family members, namely our great aunts and uncles, plus other strange relatives. Fortunately my aunt does remember them so she could participate in that conversation also, which was very nice. I keep reminding both Lynn and Joan that I am the only cousin who actually old enough to remember these people and we have got to get the names and who they all were related to in writing so there is reference for future generations. I will also push Joan about this when I see her and maybe the three of us can get together and do this. My aunt also has very old pictures of all these people, but if I remember correctly, a few years ago, the three of us went through the pictures and put the names of the people on the backs. I must ask Lynn to check and see if we really did that or if it's wishful thinking on my part.

I didn't think it could get any hotter but it is. It may still be 109 outside but it's a little muggier (is this a real word) and seems much hotter than it did two days ago. I think I heard the plants sobbing when I went outside for lunch.

Big Moose weekend on tap. Tonight is our annual Hoe Down. Fortunately it's not as hot where I live as where I work and it will cool off to about 75 when the sun goes down, so it should be a fun evening.

Tomorrow morning it's off to another lodge for a Chapter meeting in full College Regalia. This is why I had to have my gown lengthened a few weeks ago. Most of us who wear the Regalia also have little battery operated fans, which we use if necessary. Maybe tomorrow it might just be necessary.

Outside of these functions, it's Labor Day weekend so there might even be a bar-b-que or two. Fortunately, with this heat, I am not really super tempted to eat heavily. Without exercising, I have still managed to lose a couple of pounds in August. As long as I am still losing weight, why strain myself with exercise???

Hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend and the chance to visit with friends and family.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

110 IN THE SHADE

It's 110 here today. I was just outside and it's not quite as bad as it might have been if it was muggy out. It's actually quite dry but I am very happy that I don't work outside. There is a crew tearing up part of the parking lot. Unfortunately, they are completely in the sun, using a jackhammer. I cannot imagine how unconfortable it is for those guys, and I don't envy them one little bit.

My cousin Joan's home air conditioning is out, but fortunately she is at work today, and if I remember correctly, it's supposed to be repaired today. For her sake, I sure hope it is because I can't imagine how awful it is to come home to a very hot house. I am fortunate enough to live in a beach town where it's 15 degrees cooler and by the time I get home, the heat has started to deminish. It's been running about 75 at night. I do have air conditioning, but try not to run it during the day because of the expense. I turn it on auto pilot when I get home and set it for 78 degrees so by the time I am ready for bed, the house is quite bearable enough to turn off the air and run the overhead fan all night.

This part of California (southern) has been hit by drought for 2 years. We have had only 2 inches of rain during this time. Any moisture from Heaven would be truly welcome, but nothing is predicted any time in the near future. It's sad to look at the hills across the office parking lot and see only brown and beige and fire everywhere is a constant threat.

Still, I consider myself lucky to live where I do, and if I must spend the day in a place where it's 110 outside in the shade, at least I can spend it in a very comfortable air conditioned environment. Still, it would be nicer to spend my days at the beach!!!!!

Monday, August 27, 2007

Aloha to Hawaiian shirts and parties

Saturday night was my last Hawaiian event for (I hope) a very long time. It was the third time in 6 weeks I wore a flower shirt and I really don't look very Hawaiian if you ask me.

This Moose party was about 75 miles south from our Moose Family Center but their members have been very supportive of our Chapter, and this is event signalled the opening of their new Lodge, so 4 of us decided it would be nice to show our support.

We had a wonderful time. The lodge building is small (two stores in a mini mall put together) but their members (about 70 of them) put on a super party with great Oriental food (I have always said the slogan of the Moose fraternity should be "it's all about food")wonderful music including a couple of Hawaiian dancers (1 from our group, which is one of the reasons we attended) and prizes raffled. I won a very nice pair of leather gloves which will be perfect for driving on those colder (it does get down to the 30's) winter mornings. This was the first time I had been in this particular town, but all southern California towns look pretty much the same if you ask me, and they all have the same MacDonalds, the Colonal, Burger Kings and pizza places, but we did notice that gasoline was about 10 cents lower.


The toughest part was leaving at 10:00 PM and getting home at midnight. I am just too old to be out partying until the middle of the night. I can't drink alcohol (diabetes) so I was in pretty good shape Sunday morning.

So now the Hawaiian craze is done!!! If you think I am finished with costume shirts, guess again. Friday night our lodge is having it's annual Hoe Down and the dress, of course, is Western. To be honest, I don't look any better in a western shirt than I look in a shirt covered in flowers and,I have never given in to the temptation to buy boots or a cowboy hat. Besides,I am so ungraceful, I can't even line dance, but I do enjoy watching the others and I plan to have a super time with my friends. Heck, maybe I will again win something terrific in our raffle. That would be a nice bonus.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Equality - aftermath

It's absolutely amazing what a few days will do to change the attitude in a Moose Family Center. I was so upset on Tuesday that I decided to stay away for a couple of days.

The Chapter has their monthly business meeting the 4th Thursday of the month so I showed up at the lodge at 5:30. A few Moose Loyal Order brothers almost met me at the door (mostly the old timers) to explain their side of the key story. Some had excuses, others were determined to make sure I understood that the importance of the Chapter to the Lodge is very much appreciated.

Apparently at the men's meeting on Tuesday, the past Governor I had just spoken with went in with a determined attitude to correct any misconceseptions the Loyal Order officers might have as far as the position of the Chapter to the Lodge. He proceeded to remind everyone just how much our ladies do and listed some of the future fund raising plus holiday events we have coming up, providing the names of the women planning these events. He also reminded his lodge brothers that while some plans are in conjunction with the men, a few events are being planned souly by the Chapter. He also reminded everyone that all the children holiday parties (Halloween, Christmas) are the handled and paid for exclusively by the Chapter.

He must have been very eloquent because after the meeting, our Governor told our Senior Regent that he was not going to keep his appliance keys. Only the Kitchen Chairman and lodge administrator would have keys.

In my conversations with the men last night, I explained that it wasn't the locking which upset me (whoever is taking food has great taste because what's been missing are steaks and tri tip), it was the fact that it was perceived that only the men are responsible enough to have keys, which to me was insulting and degrading to the Chapter. Some of the men apologized while other put blame on others which I found very funny.

So where do we go from here? Hopefully some of the new Loyal Order men have learned exactly how valuable the Chapter is to the lodge. I sincerely hope they also understand how insensitive they appeared. The past Governors have promised they will present stronger Moose orientiation to the new members so that future officers will understand the necessity of responsibility sharing. As of now, life has returned to normal. Hopefully this short lesson will be remembered for a while and our lodge can continue growing and thriving.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

What's the price of equality

One of my favorite books has always been George Orwell's "Animal Farm". My favorite line from the book goes something like this "we are all created equal, but some of us are more equal than others".

I have spent my adult years refusing to be less than equal. This was one of my reasons for the stomach bypass surgery. Extremely obese people are treated less than equal when we are required to pay for two airline seats, when we don't fit in theatre seats, hospital equipment, most chairs, etc. The list goes on and on.

I have also refused to belong to any organization which believes it's female members are less equal than the men. Although the Moose fraternal organization was founded by men over 100 years ago, Moose International realized how much women contributed to it's cause, and over the past 25 years, they have changed the name from Moose lodges to Moose Family Centers to encourage the members to understand that EVERYONE is equal and must be treated with respect. Not every lodge has embraced this equality philosophy, and some women have been treated less than fairly over the years.

The Moose Family Center where I am a member was founded 20 years ago. From our inception in a very small 850 sqare foot building with 200 members, it was understood that ALL members are to be treated as equals, and whatever decisions are made for the good of the lodge, both the men and women would have a fair say. For all these years, we have been a shining example of how to keep a successful Family Center going by sharing responsibilities 100%. When I transferred into our Chapter 19 years ago, I immediately found myself anxious to be a part of this young vibrant lodge, and as I have said in past blogs, I achieved all the honors available to me within the first 7 years of my membership. What I have always loved most was the family love and respect our men and women share. I truly believed our officers, both men and women, shared not only the love of our lodge but the love for each other. We have since moved into much larger quarters (5 years) ago and our membership has increased to almost 1000 members. Still I believed that all our members, especially our officers, felt the way our founders did.

This week something VERY SMALL happened which could have festered into major proportions. Apparently food has been missing from the lodge refrigerator and freezer. Who is taking the food isn't the issue and the fact that the men have decided to lock the fridge and freezer isn't an issue either. What is a major issue, however, is that our lodge brother officers, without discussing anything with the women (who also use the kitchen)decided that only three men (the Governor of the lodge, the administrator and the Kitchen Chairman) should have keys. When the Chapter Senior Regent (equal to President) and Recorder (money person) asked the Governor if our Senior Regent would have a set of keys, they were told absolutely not, only the men would have keys. In this one short sentence, the women members were immediately dropped to second class citizens, whose Senior Regentcould not be trusted with a set of keys to the fridge and freezer. I must in all fairness add that these men are members who were not part of our original founding, but are members who have joined the past 5 years but saying this, I never thought any of our brothers, old or new would ever consider not sharing with the Chapter.

Within two (maybe even one) seconds, I was slapped in the face of reality by these men. I wondered if all the work by our women, which has always been appreciated by the men, has suddently become devalued by this group of men who so recently joined and obviously have no idea how much work and money this hard working Chapter actually contributes to the success of lodge. I found this not only unreasonable but extremely difficult to bear.

Our lodge brothers were set to have their general meeting so I approached one of our past Governors and expressed my view of the apparently new attitude of this men's board in a not so polite way. I also told him that if this new attitude was, in fact, real, I could not participate in any lodge where the officers believed the women should not be entitled refrigerator keys, but count of the exact same amount of work or more than the men do. I told him that if the Governor didn't give up his keys or make sure our Senior Regent was given a set of keys, I would walk out of this lodge after 19 years without a second backward glance.

Apparently I made my point. After the meeting, our Governor told our Senior Regent that neither he nor she would have keys. Only the lodge Administrator and Kitchen Chairmen would be responsible. Do I feel vindicated? Yes and no. I am relieved that logic prevailed and these men now understand the Chapter's importance? I am not sure. The fact that this happened at all is what upsets me most. How angry am I that these men are so inconsiderate to have even created the situation over two stupid little keys to appliances, and how am I supposed to respect this particular group of men in the future when it's now clear to me that they even considered the Moose to be a man's lodge and women inconsequential . The Chapter can only continue working and hopefully these men will understand what the founders of our lodge understood 20 years ago. Everyone must be treated with equal respect or failure is a guarantee.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Tagged by Patti

Patti tagged me with a 7 p"s meme so I will give it a try. I have no idea how to pass it on but at least my version is here:

Passion - I have lots of passion. I just have no idea what to do with it.
Purpose - The true purpose of playing the lottery is to win. Maybe one of these days
it will happen.
Persuit - I am in complete persuit of retirement in 2 years.
Position - Truly middle of the road, trying very hard not to get run over.
Pummeling - Sometimes I just feel like pummeling my co-worker.
Progress - Each day is a little more progress towards my retirement.
Personality - I do think I have a pretty easy going personality.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Dinner with the family

I think you know that my cousin Lynn and family are on vacation in Northern California. Joan is house sitting, taking care of my Aunt as well as Amber the Lab. Last week, Joan and I made arrangements to go out to dinner while she was so close to my office.

After work yesterday, I drove up to Lynn's house. Lo and behold, Rick had decided to join us for dinner and they were all waiting for me when I arrived.

It was decided that we would eat at an Italian restaurant not too far from the house. The place was great and the food was wonderful. Just as I always do since having the stomach bypass, when I order my meal, I get a take out container at the same time then drop half of what's on my plate right into the container so that I am not even tempted to try and finish everything. It really works and saves a lot of overfull stomach pain plus I still have enough food for lunch today.

After dinner, we went back to the house. Rick left for home while Joan and I took Amber for a walk around the neighborhood. It gave us a chance to visit and it reminded me how much I miss the visits we shared while driving to the doctor, before and after my by-pass surgery last year. We are all so busy that making time to just visit in person, aside from family holiday gatherings seems so difficult. Last night was a wonderful catching up time with Joan and my Aunt.

In a couple of years I will be moving to Iowa. I must make more time, while I am still living within driving range of both cousins, for face to face visits, especially with my wonderful Aunt who still looks at me with the unconditional love I have seen all my life.

Yes, I absolutely have to make a lot more time!!!

Monday, August 13, 2007

100 Moose members can keep a secret.

Last Saturday night, our Moose Family Center helped one of our members celebrate his 60th birthday. The preparations for this party were tough on Bill's wife because she had to give invitations to 100 people in writing. Janice wanted it to be a surprise so not one word could be said in the lodge so that Bill wouldn't hear anything. Janice started giving out the invitations over a month ago, making everyone promise not to breath a word to Bill, asking everyone to be at the lodge no later that 6:15 PM. Everyone agreed to keep the secret and to show up on time.

Janice promised Bill that she would take him to dinner at his favorite Santa Barbara restaurant. She told him she made reservations at 8:00 so they had to leave about 6:30. On the way, she asked him to stop by the lodge because her camera was still there because she forgot it Friday night. Bill in his usual good natured mood agreed to the stop.

Saturday night was an absolutely perfect night for a party.The temperature was 76 outside and the hall was very comfortable. Just as we promised, everyone showed up at 6:15. We all herded to one side of the hall (good thing we weren't on a ship). No one made a sound. When Bill walked into the hall, everyone yelled the compulsory SURPRISE. Bill was shocked to say the least, and when he realized there were about 100 of us to share his birthday he started to cry.

After everyone was seated, Janice had Bill stand to receive his birthday present. She apologized to him for the cost and size of the gift, telling him that when she saw it, she knew it was something he would love. She had one of the men blindfold Bill then went into the kitchen and brought out their daughter, son-in-law and 4 grandchildren. They live on the other side of the country in Virginia and the last visit was Christmas when Bill and Janice were there.

The kids all lined up in a straight row in front of Bill. Not one of the little ones (5 up to 12) made a single sound. Then the blindfold was removed. It took a second for Bill's eyes to adjust to the light then he was staring right into the eyes of his beloved daughter (Bill and Janice only have two kids, their daughter Casey and son Todd,who lives in our town and has no children). He look down at his grandkids then fell to his knees hugging all of them at once and sobbing uncontrollably. It was the most beautiful sight we have all seen and there weren't many dry eyes in the room.

During the entire evening, all Bill could repeat was "I can't believe everyone kept the secret!". Janice showed a video of Bill's life from babyhood to the present including his years in Vietnam. It was a wonderful party. The food was super, the music was great, including the karioke (his grandkids sang to him),and dancing. Everyone had the best time teasing Bill about his crossing over the "60" mountain, but Bill didn't care. He was just so jazzed that we were all there sharing his birthday.

The fact that the secret of the party was kept by 100 people for over a month and a half was the best surprise of all. It goes to show that anything is possible. I have said before that our Moose Family Center is well named. Our family shared one very special evening which will be long remembered not only by Bill and Janice but by all of us who were given the chance to participate in this wonderful secret.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

How do you say "Oh Heck" in Hawaiian

When I bought my Hawaiian shirt, I just picked it off the rack and didn't try it on. Last night I don't know why but something made me decide to try it on. Good thing I did because along the right underarm seam there is about a 4" slash. It's not the seam, it's about a half an inch beside the seam, not repairable. I did save the receipt (had to search the bathroom trash bucket but I found it along with the store bag) so I will go back to the store Saturday morning as soon as it opens and, hopefully, find something else in my size.

Oh well, just one more thing to cram into Saturday along with picking up my Moose Regalia gown from the cleaners, and spending time with one of my Moose co-workers picking out pictures from our July 14th Moose weekend so that she can make a video. I think there has to be at least 200 pictures between her camera and mine for us to sort though. We already have 40 orders (mostly paid) for the videos, so it's got to be done soon. We also have a surprise birthday party Saturday night for one of our male friends, so I must stop somewhere and pick up a gift certificate. I am thinking one from a new steak house in town would be perfect. I will do that after the picture session, after I stop for gas.

Keeping busy is nice but I wish the weekends were just a little longer. Sure would be nice to switch to 2 working days with 5 days off. Oh well, two more years and I will be off 7 days a week. I just can't wait.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Finally, the famous home run and ball

For the past month, we have been waiting for Barry Bonds to pass Hank Aaron's home run count. Last night he finally did it. I am not really a baseball fan but I happened to be channel surfing last night and caught the San Francisco Met game (about 10 minutes before Bonds got the home run) so I decided to watch at least until Bonds came to bat. Lo and behold, he hit a beaut into no man's land (the right field bleachers) instead of McCovey cove where all the boaters were waiting because that's usually where the Bond's home runs end.

Unless you have been living in a cave on a deserted island, you know that the sports writers are saying this achievement is probably tainted because of the steroid question. I don't know what the results of this will be. What I am commenting on today is not the value of the home run, but the value of the ball which was hit.

The kid who caught it is a 22 year old New Yorker who happened to stop in San Francisco yesterday on his way to Australia with a friend and they decided to see if they could get into the game, which obviously they could. The seats, however, are in a horrible part of the stands, far back of right field. Most players don't have the power to even get near the spot but Barry did last night. The sports writers are lamenting that because of the potential steroid scandal, the ball will ONLY be worth a fraction of what it should be, namely $500,000.00.

So in a nutshell, this 22 year old kid who was looking for something to do while he waited for a flight out the next day, happened to be able to get a ticket to a baseball game where he caught a world famous ball, devalued to $500,000.00. How jaded have become when such an amount is taken to be chump change by the media? The bottom line is that by a quirk of fate, this catch will probably give him more money in one lump, than he would normally see in a lifetime.

I would love such an opportunity to acquire an amount devalued to $500,000.00. Does anyone out there have anything worth this amount they would like to get rid of and pass on to me? I would be more than happy to take it off your hands. $500K might not be the 3 million other sports stuff is worth but to me and I am sure the kid who caught the ball last night, it sure sounds like a darn special amount.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

New Meme

Patti tagged me with this Meme today. It's 10 lies my mother told me. I can't think of 10 but I can think of a few:

You will absolutely drown if you go swimming sooner than 2 hours after you eat.

Your eyes will cross if you sit too close to the Television.

Too much restaurant food is bad for you (my dad didn't make much as a fireman when I was little and eating out was a HUGE luxury).

and my favorite: There are fireworks every year on this date because it's your birthday and the whole country is celebrating (July 1 is mine and Canada's birthday).

I absolutely have no idea how to tag anyone else but if I could, I would tag my cousin Joan.

Monday, August 6, 2007

Monday morning musings...

Well it's not the usual Monday morning here at the office because it's pretty quiet. No hot purchasing problems so I guess it will be a filing day. I hate filing and make it the last possible thing to do.

There are a couple of good things to report. First my beloved University of Southern California Trojan Football team has been named number 1 on the College Poll for the upcoming season. That's great news but, of course, it will also make them the number 1 target for everyone to beat but I have confidence that the team will give a good show for every game. We are lucky this year because most of the team are returning players which is why I guess we have been rated number 1. I just love Football. It's my favorite sport.

My other reason for celebrating is that finally in our town, regular Arco gasoline is selling for $2.75 per gallon. It was as high as $3.50 only 2 months ago. I have a Ford Expedition which was filling up every week for $60.00. Yesterday it only took $40.00 so I am very happy. I don't know how long it will stay under $3.00 at Arco (everyone else is still $3.09) so for now I will be very grateful.

I know it doesn't take much for me to cheer but a number 1 team, lower gasoline prices and nothing critical here at the office seem like pretty good reasons to me.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Things accomplished this Saturday.

I love Saturdays because I can get things done because work really cuts into my usual days. Today I had a few things to do and I surprised myself by completing the list which was in my mind but not on paper.

First I went grocery shopping very early (8:30 AM). There were hardly any others and although I find it hard to believe the luck, 2 cashiers were just standing, waiting for me - not really waiting for me but it was nice just walking up and being the first in line. The box girl even helped unload my cart. This alone foretold how successful a day I would have.

After unloading my groceries (at our local market, they offer to help you load your car and each time I ask if they will come home and put my groceries away too, the kids just crack up when they have to refuse which, unfortunately, they do every time).

I had to return two outfits I bought at Ross then walked down the mall (this is California - this mall is an outside one) into one of the little womens' shops and immediately found a rack with Hawaiian shirts. What luck is that??? I found two I liked but, unfortunately, not needing two, I finally picked one which has both black and blue flowers so I decided on it because I can wear it with either color pants (or bright yellow pants if I had the guts which I don't).

I have to take a slight explanation Women of the Moose detour here. When one gets one's top honors called the College of Regents, one is entitled to wear the cap and gown to certain Moose functions. Receiving the College of Regents degree is difficult to achieve, and although the outfit is really, really hot, it a great honor to be able to wear it. The Women of the Moose rules state that the gown must be 10" from the floor (I have no idea why such a rule but it is meant to be followed). After I lost my 144 lbs, my old gown was much too big, so my mentor, gave me another gown which of course is too short. Fortunately there is a 4" hem to let out. The last thing on my list was a trip to the dry cleaners to have my gown altered, since I will be wearing it quite a few times in September.

I am very pleased to have accomplished all my Saturday goals (well dusting was also on my mental list but that part must have gotten lost) plus I still have one more weekend day to enjoy. I just love the weekends!!!!

Friday, August 3, 2007

Another Hawaiian function

I have been invited by another Moose Family Center to their Hawaiian party on August 25th. This will be the third one in a very short time (our own special one on July 14th, plus some good friends' 50th wedding anniversary last weekend). Unfortunately I only have one Hawaiian shirt and obviously everyone has already seen it (why doesn't anyone have Canadian parties - I could go at least 8 times without wearing the same shirt twice) so I decided to bite the bullet and see if I can find something new to wear.

I live in a relatively small town (70,000)which has a Target, K-Mart and Ross Dress for less. I have tried all three without any luck at the Target or K-mart. I did find a very nice outfit at Ross yesterday but it's a long black skirt and dressy blazer to match, which fit perfectly but unless I paint flowers (even if it was possible, I draw like I do stuff on computers) on them, they aren't going to do me any good for this party, but absolutely super for parties in the winter.

There are a few specialty women's shops in town so tomorrow I will canvass them. I guess I was mistaken when I thought once the weight dropped it would be easier to shop for whatever clothes I need. Regular work clothes have been pretty easy to find but obviously the stores must think only very skinny civilians should be allowed to wear bright color Hawaiian outfits.

I guess if push comes to shove, I can once more drag out my favorite (and only) shirt or I can pin an orchid to the top of one of my Maple Leaf Canadian shirts and pretend that I was born in Montreal Hawaii.