Out of Pocket

I am going in for surgery on my eyelids this morning.  I don't know what to expect or how long it will be before I can blog again.  Since my appointment is at 10:30 - it will be before most of you even read this.  Please pray for a quick recovery and no complications.  It will be wonderful to be able see outside of my tiny tunnel of vision that I have been trapped for the last several months.

What are some of the most interesting places you visited and why?

Berlin Germany was a fascinating place when I was younger because the Berlin Wall was up.  It was a sad place and yet an island of hope.  It is hard to describe unless you had actually visited or lived there.

Interlaken, Switzerland is my most favorite place on earth.  It is where we vacationed for several years and was the most beautiful place I had ever seen.

Williamsburg and Jamestown, Virginia alway fascinated me.  I tried to get Clyde to take me back there but he wasn't interested.  Maybe now that he knows his family actually lived there we might go see those cities this summer.  He is a direct descendent of Patrick Henry.

The top of the mountains in Manti and Ephraim and even Fishlake.  It is beautiful in such a majestic way.  I guess any mountain top would be breathtaking in its own way.

The Frankfurt am/Main, Germany Zoo.  It is the most fun and spectacular zoo I have every visited.  When I was younger it rivaled the San Diego zoo.  It don't think it does anymore but it was still an incredible place to visit.

The famous castles of Bavarian Germany.  They are glizty and beautiful and everything the inner princess in me thought a fairy tale needed.  I loved those castles.  The only disappointing one was Neu Schwanstein - the one Walt Disney used as a model for Sleeping Beauty's castle.  In truth it was never completed and is really a shell of a building.  I had it decked out the best of the any castle in my mind.  I remember being terribly disappointed when we went.  That was one time when the movie version was better than real life!                          

What are some ways - good and bad - the world has changed since you were a child?

Things are a lot more expensive now.  I bought a huge candy bar for 5 cents and that was big deal when I was 5.  Life was freer then.  We ran from neighbors house to neighbors house and we knew we were safe. 

Skirts have risen and fallen and now almost disappeared!  No one dresses up for church anymore but the LDS and I think that is sad.  My hairdresser is Catholic and she was saying how sad it was that when she went to Mass that she didn't even have to cover her head anymore - so no more pretty hats.  She spent our last time together discussing how no one dresses up for church and it just doesn't make it special. 

There is little respect for elders - well for anyone anymore.  Maybe it is just a Northeast thing.  Yesterday I went in to Walmart to get some change for the Laundry and automatically I said please and thank you.  The cashier smiled and told me how wonderful it was to hear someone say something like that.  She never hears that anymore.  How sad is that!  That is just common courtesy!

Because of the internet and cable, etc.  - the media seems to control how we think almost.  They put out just what they want us to hear and you have to be very careful and dig deep to find news that is not slanted or tainted.  I am not sure you can find news that is not slanted.  I miss newscasters like Walter Cronkite that felt it was imperative to give all sides of a story.

In the same sense - the world is smaller because of the internet.  Thank heaven we have that wonderful invention or having family members living overseas would be unbearable.  In that sense it makes our family feel like we are all close by.  The same with telephones.  A long distance phone call is no longer ominace. - it is an every day occurance.

What are some of my favorite recipes?

I have so many favorite recipes that I make.  I am probably best known for my Blondies, my Triple Layer chocolate cake and my Mulled Berry Cider or Wassail as the family calls it.  We have a family blog that we post our favorite recipes on and people that read this blog know it well. 

Looking back on my life - what are my proudest accomplishments?

In this day and age - the fact that Clyde and I have made it to 40 years of marriage is pretty remarkable.  We have worked hard on our marriage - some days more than others.  That is one of the only accomplishments I can truly take credit for.

We have 4 amazing daughters that are married to the most incredible men.  From them have come 11 of the most beautiful, brightest and truly outstanding grandchildren that anyone could be blessed with.  This accomplishment I can take little credit for.

What advice would you pass on about being a mom?

Be united with your husband in the things that matter.

Be consistant.

Listen

Always believe your children.

What some of the favorite things you have done with your children?

Before school started each year, I would go one on one with each of the girls and we would go school shopping.  We would spend a couple of hours just focused one them.  As they got older it became the day.  I love those memories.  When they were teenagers, the girls kind of decided that they would rather go together so we would all head out and spend the day.  We would have so much fun, but I would find other days just to spend one on one.

When I was attending U.T.S.A, a couple of times a week, Heather, Heidi and Pam and I would go to Fiesta Texas and just unwind.  Occasionally we would grab my nieces, the Dittmar girls too.  We had a good time.  Sometimes we just spent an hour there and other times stayed until it closed.

I loved getting ready for the holidays.  I loved making cookies with my daughters and dying Easter eggs.  We made Valentines cookies and I have lots of cookie cutters to prove it.  It hasn't been quite the same without them.  This was one thing I looked forward to doing with Grandchildren.  The one year I spent with a grandchild (Bella) getting ready for the holidays was the last I have done any real baking for.  We had a great time together.

As a family we frequently played board and card games together.  I miss that.