Gram's Place

What is letterboxing? Duh... can't you tell from the title... a fun family event. We went letterboxing today. The idea is this - you create a stamp and a log book - preferably home made - and you follow a "treasure hunt" to find a box that has a log book and a stamp. You stamp your stamp into the logbook, and stamp the stamp from the box into your log book. We found it on the web. www.letterboxing.org Apparently this hobby started in England and caught on in north america. There's a few in our area. We created a very crude family stamp out of wood just to check it out and see if we would like doing it. Of course when we got there, we found a hitchhiker right away and now we know we have to do it again to get rid of the hitchhiker! Check it out - might be something you want to do!

Haleigh called and said she made it! She is now an Iowa State Singer! Maybe now she'll be busy enough that she won't call so much. .... :( Iowa State Singers The Iowa State Singers is Iowa State's most select choral ensemble and is made up of the University's finest singing musicians. Music of all styles is performed with an emphasis on the great a cappella works. Performances include the Fall and Spring Concerts, the Christmas Holiday Concert, and the Masterworks Concert where selected choir members get opportunities to sing as solo artists with orchestra. The Singers also annually stage a full-scale Madrigal Dinner, complete with the costumes and pageantry of Merrie Olde England. In addition, the ensemble tours each year. Concerts have been given throughout North America as well as in England, Poland, Russia, Australia, Scandinavia, and the Baltic States. Organized in 1948, Iowa State Singers is the select concert choir of Iowa State University. The choir is well kn...

Pentecostals do the strangest things. Abbie got baptized at church yesterday. At the swimming pool. She was so excited. She wouldn’t tell us what she was going to say before she took the plunge. She wanted us to wait and hear for ourselves… I remember when I was baptized. I actually think it happened three times in my life. Once when I was a baby (I assume). Once when I was just newly saved, at 16 years old. And once when I was 18. (I guess I was insecure in my relationship with Christ and felt I needed another dip) When I was 16 (the second one) was the most memorable to me. Amazing how certain things just stick out in your mind. I went to a large Wesleyan church. That was over 20 years ago. Yet, I can still remember the walk down the long hallway to the baptismal pool. A little nervous, a little excited. Thrilled to make a bold statement about my new life in Christ. I will never forget as long as I live, the words Pastor Polston said when I rose out of the water. The same word...

I officially have writers block - otherwise known as "muse apnea". I'm told there is no cure. Some treatments do exist, but it always reappears at a later date, even if you do overcome your initial bout. I thought about taking on a fictional persona and going that angle, but then, this is just a blog. So, I don't need to. I talked to myself.. you know, to kind of get through it, but I just confused myself. I thought I might pretend I was writing a letter, but it was hopeless too. I couldn't think of who I was writing to. Some of the experts who teach you how to treat muse apnea suggest things such as talking to a stuffed animal to tell them what you are trying to say. I tried that too... it didn't work. I think if I could go to a different location and write with some new surroundings I might find the right prescription. But, unfortunately, this is not a laptop computer. So, I guess I decided to do whatever would work... the most effective tool here is this...

i've been so messed up lately with my sleep. i keep getting up in the wee hours of the morning and can't get back to sleep. this morning it was 3:30. it's fun at 3:30 cuz I get so much work done around the house. but, it really stinks at 4pm when i am draggin and groggy. lindsey ** aka "Jitz" ** tells me she likes reading my blog. she thinks it is interesting. wow! go figure! more than you heth! ;) i wouldn't use the word "interesting" though. does that mean I don't talk to her enough? i told her she should post something then and make me look like i have a lot of bloggers on my blog. i am an 80's gal. graduated high school in 1986 - you can't get more 80's than me. and i really like the 80's. 80's had great music (i am a go-gos fan to be honest, i'll blog about that another time), great hair, great fads, but well... not such great clothing. i did really like my polo shirts and zena jeans though. we wore penny loafers and ...

would you like to win a free $100 gift certificate at Target? who wouldn't! then "click here" to answer our survey questions and register for your free gift certificate! why does it get me every single time? why do i always fall for it? i am the sucker they never see. i fall for the ones that say "pass this on to 10 people and you will be emailed your texas roadhouse gift certificate". i am the one who always believes the honest comments of "i did this and it really worked! i got my $100 in the mail the next day!". i fell for another one today. and, of course, one of the questions was "would you like us to send you a credit card with a $5000 limit". When i clicked no, i was sent to an "unavailable" page. next thing i know, i am on a list. i just know it. of course, because this was AFTER i had registered for the $100 target card. with my name, address, phone number... no, not social security number. i was born during the day but not...