[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #43924

Hi Christine,
I hope that you are feeling better today. We don’t have emissions testing where we are either. I’m sure eventually everywhere will have it.
Prayers coming your way for all your intentions.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #43922

Hi Barbara,
I thought your story was very interesting. In fact it was pretty amazing. How brave of your uncle to set out with all the kids to look for help. That must have been so scary for all of them wondering what happened to their father. Did this all take place in Tennessee too? Isn’t it wonderful that you look like your grandmother who you never met. Maybe your new grandson will look like Jerry.
Speaking of Jerry-that is quite an accomplishment to lose 40 pounds. I can’t even lose 5. He must be very disciplined. Plus I think men lose easier than women for some reason. I know it is better for the back. I don’t have a bad back and I do have lower back pain and I know that it has to be from my big belly. I often think I swallowed a beach ball somewhere along the line.
Your concern about Sarah not pitching in does make sense. You would think that she would want to help her spouse. A lot of young couples cook and clean up together which is nice. Maybe she was waited on in her family and therefore thinks that other people will always do everything for her. Anyway, I hope eventually she will learn to do her share as marriage should be a partnership with each chipping in to do their share without overburdening one of the members.
I do know how to knit although I have never made anything but scarves and blankets and hats and slippers. I have never made a sweater or anything like that. When I was in college one of the girls on our floor used to knit the most exquisite Nordic sweaters-they were very complicated and beautiful.
Tell Jerry happy belated birthday and have a nice weekend.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #43920

Hi Colleen,
It’s interesting. You are German/Irish and Adele is German/Italian. Our country really is a melting pot. I’m surprised that my great-grandparents, grandparents and parents were all 100% Polish without any mingling of nationalities until my generation. However Poland and Lithuania are right next to each other and there has been much mingling of the cultures over the centuries-with Poland having Lithuanian rulers and vice versa. I remember that from reading the book Poland by James Michner many years ago. I really should reread that sometime and have Greg read it-I’ll bet he would find it interesting. Michner wrote a lot of really interesting historical based novels-they were always really long though. I’m not sure if I can read such long books any more. My attention span is not as good as it used to be-geriatric onset ADD. lol
Greg only has to go back for shots in the back if the oral medicine does not help him. So we’ll see what happens.
You are right. Sometimes Quacker has something in their line for years in all sorts and colors and designs and then other times they put something out once and you never see it again.
The bad thing about waiting for something to go on clearance is sometimes it is no longer in your color or size when it gets to there. But it does tick me off when something is new and I buy it and three weeks later it is in clearance. It’s kind of hard to know which will stick around and which will go quickly. I know I was able to get some short sleeve shirts on clearance this summer and I liked that.
Enjoy the peace and quiet now that everyone has gone back home. I imagine Melissa and the kids will be back more until the kids go back to school. Where did little Aliza go on her first vacation? I hope she had fun and took some photos. lol
Have a great weekend.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #43872

Hi Adele,
Well it took three days but Greg finally got the other pills. It’s not neurontin-(I know that’s misspelled)-it’s some pill that they use for seizures too-can’t remember the name now-never heard of it before. He does say that from taking the steroids his leg no longer hurts but his foot is still numb.
This is the first time we have heard of the toxic slime on the lake. It was news to us. Our pond is totally fine as it has a waterfall and the water is filtered through a bog filled with gravel and plants.
Actually my grandparents were all born here and my great grandparents all came from Poland as children-so we are third generation Americans. I have very little info about my great grandparents-I think only one was still alive when I was a child. The only thing I know is rumor has it that my great grandmother who was my grandfather’s mother was the daughter of a Polish Count from the wrong side of the blanket. lol I just love that term. And also I have that grandmother’s upper lip-her name was Sabina and I heard many times growing up that I had Sabina’s lips-don’t know if that’s good or bad. lol
Greg’s grandparents all came from Lithuania. Except I’m not sure about his maternal Grandmother. I know his maternal grandfather came over art 18 with little money and not speaking the language. What amazed me was that he died at 90 something and he still didn’t speak the language. Needless to say I had few conversations with him. So different from my grandfather who was so proud when my brother was born that he was a third generation American. I know Greg’s paternal grandparents came over after they were married as his Dad’s older brother and sister were born in Lithuania-they were twins Stan and Ann although Ann did not survive past 2 or 3 so she was not with them when they immigrated. Greg’s paternal grandfather was hit by a car and died when his Dad was about 16 so his Dad had to quit school and support his younger brother and mother at that time as the older brother was already married with a child of his own-plus the older brother was the black sheep. lol So Greg’s Dad took care of his mother and sent his younger brother through the seminary to become a priest. Anyway, I know very little background about my great grandparents and once again there’s no one to ask. How I wish I would have thought of asking more questions when everyone was alive, but those are things we just don’t think of when we are younger.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #43869

Hi Colleen,
Wow, that was some story about the guy running from the police and dropping the gun in the backyard. I hope they weren’t all too afraid. And I hope they caught the man too. The fact that he shot a policeman will only add to all the stress that this country is going through right now. I have not heard about it here yet but I usually watch local news which does not always carry all the national stories.
You have had a houseful of people and will probably enjoy the peace and quiet for awhile after everyone goes home. Much as we love it-it does wear us out.
It’s good to know that you are a history buff when we are needing to have questions answered on those topics. I knew you read a lot more nonfiction than I do. I have read about other people who hid people and such during the war. I’m sure a lot of people helped who we know nothing about. It is an interesting era but I just have a hard time reading things about it for some reason. I want to know more but I get too emotional sometimes.
That’s funny how you don’t remember buying the pink and the tan pants. I forget things and have bought stuff twice. It reminds me of Greg’s two pairs of mysterious green shorts that he has no idea of where they came from. The first pair had a stretched out waistband and kept on falling down to his ankles. He threw them in the wash and I threw them in the trash. lol
I will keep my eyes open for pants with a banded bottom. They used to make sweatpants like that all the time. You’d think someone is still making them. Would it be okay if they had elastic on the bottom-I wonder?
I hope that things are getting back to normal at your house and you and Ron are getting some rest.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #43800

Hi Adele,
I remember my Mom saying that the reason that Hitler rose to power was because he came into power when there was a big depression and he created jobs and put a lot of people back to work. Unfortunately that progressed from getting people jobs to building a massive war machine and killing millions of people. I always wondered if the “everyday” people in Germany had any idea what was really going on as there wasn’t mass media in the 1930’s and 1940’s like there is today and I imagine some areas were still quite rural. It was a horrible time in history and I hope with the passing of the years that people don’t forget what a man like Hitler was capable of-that would be very bad. Have you ever read Night by Elie Wiesel who just passed away recently. It’s about his time in Auschwitz. I have never been able to finish it as it makes me cry so hard-just like Schindler’s List-it was a good movie but I just could never finish watching it as it made me so sad to see the randomness with which people’s lives were taken.
That must have been a pretty interesting job that your Dad had managing the American Club. I would think that he would have met lots of people. I imagine it was scary for your Mom leaving everyone and everything that she knew to come to the US. People will do things for love that they wouldn’t ordinarily do-that’s for sure. I can understand why her family would feel some trepidation-although it was interesting that her brother would still consider your Dad “the enemy.” Your Mom was pretty brave to make that leap of faith.
I take it that she was not Catholic if she had to sign the papers to bring her children up Catholic. They church made everyone do that-in fact I think you still have to do that today-although maybe it is an oral promise rather than a written document now. Sometimes the Church’s rules are so kooky. Like my one SIL was married and divorced before she married Greg’s brother. Well ordinarily you can’t get married in the church if you are divorced but because she then converted to Catholicism that first marriage didn’t count against her so to speak. Isn’t that silly?!
Speaking of ice cream Greg and I have now sampled those DQ funnel cake sundaes and they do pass muster-in fact they have passed muster several times. lol
He went to the pain doctor Monday and she put him on a course of steroids and some kind of nerve pill which so far the pharmacy keeps telling us they have not gotten the orders for yet. How hard can it be to fax in a prescription and get it filled-there is a disconnect somewhere. So we will see how this works. She says the back does not actually look that bad from the MRI so it’s hard to understand why it is causing him so much pain. She thinks maybe he is doing something to aggravate it and unfortunately that thing may be golf. I dearly hope that he doesn’t have to give that up and I’m sure he does too.
Did I tell you we were going to all go out in the boat last weekend and there was a toxic algae bloom on the lake so we decided to postpone that as we don’t want anyone to get sick. That really kind of sucks as Greg was going to go fishing and you don’t want to take any fish from the lake while that is going on even if you catch and release like he does.
Glad the electric is back on as it is hot again today.
Piper played TBall again yesterday with a skirt on. The girl knows how to dress for a ball game. I’m surprised it’s not a tutu. lol We went to dinner afterwards and the restaurant had her favorite mac and cheese so she was delighted!
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #43789

Hi Barbara,
I guess we do have a little bit of a Quacker obsession. lol I have been finding some nice things on clearance lately too. Like you-we will be wearing summer clothes into October so I am really not ready to see some of the sweaters and long pants and long sleeves that they are showing already.
Jenny usually calls me on her way home from work too. It must be a young person thing.
I know what you mean about making things how you wish they would be for your kids. But unfortunately that ends up being a lesson in futility, as they grow up and make their own lives and their own choices-not always the lives that we have wished for them. So we have learned just to try and roll with the punches and accept their choices as long as they are happy with them. You know Barbara, I have observed that quite a few of the younger generation have relationships where the woman doesn’t cook or do some other things around the house and these couples seem to make it work okay. It seems odd to me that you wouldn’t at least split the responsibilities if you are both working but it seems like it is a new world order. Plus, look at all the years that the women went to work and still did all the domestic duties themselves and no one thought anything about it. My advice(even though you never asked for it-lol) is if Neal is happy just try to let the things that bother you flow like water off a duck’s back. I guess that might be Quacker advice. lol
I’m like you I don’t sift flour either as I am a lazy baker. I know that you are supposed to. We’ll have to ask our master baker Adele to weigh in on this one. I hope that we haven’t shocked her by saying that we don’t sift and that she won’t be rolling her eyes and shaking her finger at us. lol
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #43787

Hi Colleen,
Have fun with the grands. Thanks for letting us know that you are good. Enjoy your time together. You’ll probably be tired when everyone leaves and will need some time to recuperate.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #43763

Hi Barbara,
When I see movies of the beach being stormed at Normandy I am always amazed that anyone made it up the beach without being injured. Your Mom must have been frantic not hearing anything for so long. I remember my Mom talking about sometimes getting letters but a lot of the stuff in them was blacked out so as not to give away any positions or anything else to the enemy. What those men saw and did I can only imagine.
The story about the man being on the Enola Gay and no one ever knowing is amazing. Imagine carrying that with you all your life without ever telling anyone-not even your wife.
There is a beautiful song called 1000 Cranes written by a couple that we know about the dropping of the bomb and WWII. On the old site I would post a video but I can’t do that here. Look it up on YouTube. It’s a very moving song by the group Small Potatoes.
That’s funny that Neal wonders if they have enough diapers. I think Jenny used Amazon Prime and had them delivered in bulk. Very convenient not to be running out for diapers all the time. I think she did it for the wipes too.
I didn’t know Lisa had a bloodhound. Why did I think someone had a coonhound or is there one of those too? Isn’t it funny how you inherit everyone else’s pets? That’s because you have such a good heart.
I’m glad the invitation fiasco is blowing over. Life is too short to have to worry about those things.
I’m so glad that Jerry’s Mom is feeling so well. She must be stopping around your house for dinner sometime.
I’m with Joey-let’s have birthday pie and cake!
Gail

[Author]

Posts