Cherry Pickin Good

I spent the beautiful day watching the sun shine on my yard from the dining room table.  My research paper is due Thursday with an assignment for Tuesday coming up and one big one due on Sunday as well so type type type is what I shall do this week.  Barry went to play golf with his Dad this morning at Keane and then came home for a bit to say hi.  His mom fixed a big lunch and he went over there to eat as well.  I wanted to go but was feeling the need to keep typing along.  He came back with BPA free food containers his mom purchased for us filled with yummy leftovers.  :) 

After a bit more typing and feeling like I got to a nice stopping point Barry and I went over to Granny and Pepaws to pick cherries from their trees.  Of course no stop is ever brief there......and I will never complain about that!  :)  We picked and picked and Granny and Pepaw helped us too.  Pepaw told us the story of those cherry trees and how one of them is a sweet cherry tree and the other is tart but you can't tell the difference in the taste at all.  However the birds know the difference and pluck the sweet ones first. 

Being Memorial Day and post martini Pepaw was in the mood to tell some good old Navy stories.  He talked about how he signed up for the Navy and how he left.  He was at odds with his father because he had wrecked his car, and in 1951 at 19 years old he decided to hitch hike to enlist in the airforce.  When he got there the people in the recruitment office told him everyone was out to lunch, so he walked across the hall to the Navy's office where people were standing and enlisted with them instead.  :)  How funny, and to think how different life maybe almost was for him. 

The day he was to leave his mother called him at Granny's parents house to tell him he needed to come home because his father thought that he hated him.  He had 40 min. before he had to get on the road and when he arrived home his dad was up in his room sitting on his bed.  Pepaw went and sat on his fathers lap and they both cried and mended their hearts till he left.  The entire bus ride to Great Lakes, Illinois for boot camp he cried, and when he arrived there he cried, and as he got on board his ship everytime he thought about it he cried.  When he arrived home his father was so very proud of him and they never had any problems after that. 

He told us about how rough the seas would get and seeing air craft carrier propellers spinning like helicopter blades as they came flailing over the top of waves as a big as mountains.  Once in a typhoon he recalled laying there watching the boat tip at 48 degrees, knowing that one more degree and the boat would flip sending them all into the ocean.  The picture he sent this morning of the USS Buck in rough seas was interesting to see and he said that there were times when the waves would dent the firing cannons on the front and bend the rails that were around the decks.  The night time was scary knowing in rough seas or when the thought of a mine or bomb would enter his mind. 
Pepaw said that when he would come back home to the states he would immediately change out of his sailor uniform into civilian clothing.  He said that things were similar to the way they were with the soldiers in Vietnam. Coming into port in San Diego families would line the docks to greet the sailors, but nobody was ever there for him.  "I was just a poor boy from little Ironton, Ohio."  When he got off the train in Ironton after being gone for 9-10 months at at time, nobody was ever there to greet him, and at times he would get home to his own home 1:00 in the morning or not, and all the family would be asleep, nobody greeting him.  He had told me before and it saddened me just as much to hear it today.  I'm not sure why Granny wasn't there to greet him, I know that there was a time when they had split up while he was away in the war.  I know I wish I could change that for him, but he said times were just different back then.  With one car in the family if his Dad was working there was no way for his family to get anywhere either. 

He told these stories with tears in his eyes, and at times on his cheeks, with Barry, Granny and I moist in the eyes as well.  Before we left tonight Pepaw gave me a patch with the symbol from the flag of the USS Buck.  It was a symbol created by a contest his captain had to see who could come up with the best design for the ship.  All the shipmates voted and a bucanneer riding the ship one.  They had that flag flying each time they came into port.  At the reunion this year Pepaw bought eleven of them, one for each grandchild.  What a neat thing to have, and as he and Granny said, maybe someday we'll have a son who will think it's neat as well. 

 

This is the msg that was sent from Pepaw after I sent out a video of anchors aweigh this morning. 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tom and Pat Miller <tomandpatmiller@insightbb.com>
Date: Mon, May 31, 2010 at 9:58 AM
Subject: Re: At Maw-Maw's
To: Elizabeth Cooper <elizabethcooper8@gmail.com>, sarah marie miller

Thank you honey. We old veterans like being recognized. For a lot of years we felt unappreciated. It's better now.

The picture below is the USS Buck in some pretty rough seas.  Now and then I still have dreams. Some of my shipmates at the reunion said they still dream and ask if I did. I was telling one of my them about one I have and he said that's not a dream, that a nightmare.

Love you,

Pepaw

--
Elizabeth Ann Cooper

beach wave perm « A Metaphorical Mind

beach wave perm « A Metaphorical Mind

Happy Memorial Day. Thankful and proud of Pepaw. This picture was of him in bootcamp. The ship was the U.S.S. Buck where he protected our country.

company while I work

As I plug away on this research paper my little pup stays loyal and true.  :)   Dogs are great and so are husbands who water all the plants. ......again. 

I love this outfit...one to remember

eos products - shave cream, lip balm and natural body lotion

eos products - shave cream, lip balm and natural body lotion

My new lotion purchase today. I like the fresh scent, smooth finish and light quality all while really feeling moisturized. Must be all those chemicals left out right? :)

GREEN Me

So since I've been freaking out about parabens, aluminum, pthailens, etc I've been doing more and more research on what I can do for me. Obviously I'm afraid of cancer skin, lung, breast, colon, all of which are in my family. I know I can't and shouldn't be worried about all of these things because what's a girl to do, but I feel like the more informed I get the better decisions I can make about what I put into my body, and my future children's bodies. So I found this site the daily green today and think it will be a valuable resource not to mention the skindeep site discovered two surf nights ago, which gives info on all products with parabens and other chemicals. I found a new lotion today at meijer and thought about going organic on deodorant too but felt I needed more research before making a possible stinky mistake. :) I'll post my lotion pic in a bit.

The Clean 15: Foods You Don't Have to Buy Organic

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The New Dirty Dozen: 12 Foods to Eat Organic

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The 9 Best Natural Deodorants

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what a job!

Can you think of any other profession where some little cute thing like my Yadrianna will look at you and say "Your my favorite Mrs. Cooper, I love you win all my heart!" ?  What a great job I have been blessed with.  I'm going to truly miss all my kids and their families this summer.

spring and happy

It's spring time for sure! As much as I'd love to be planting my new flowers and herbs I'm trying to get going on a research paper inside.....hmmm but instead I blog. :O) Well only to remember that today I cut the most wonderful smelling pink roses from the far side of our garage. That climbing rose bush is beautiful and it goes crazy this time of year. ( I love old houses!) Barry being the sweetheart that he is watered all of our new plants and the beds tonight while I worked, he also dead headed the knockout roses in the front and the back! He's such a sweetheart!

Toni flies home tonight from Colorado. I cannot imagine the pain she must be in, only a week after complicated open heart surgery. She's a tough person, but I hope she will realize this is the time to let us all love her and help her.

On a I'm a wuss note, my shoulder has been hurting for a couple days now and this headache on the right side of my head will not go away. Hope I can find a comfy position to sleep in. Zzzzzz

We have had a good weekend here at home. Friday night couldn't have come quick enough with the end of the school year approaching the days drag on forever! We went to dinner Friday with Drew and Lauren at Saul Good where Barry and I both got "the usuals". It was a good visit with them and we were home in time to watch Dateline with Keightley and fall asleep on the couch before 11:00. :) Saturday morning we awoke slowlllllllyyyyyyyyy.... Crawling out around 9:30 I was able to do a few cleaning duties and start in on my reading on the patio. It was a beautiful day to be outside with the previous nights storm clouds rolling out to reveal a warm and almost forgotten about sunshine. I met Paige and Laura at L's pool as I attempted to read some more and caught up with the ladies, all while sipping a raspberry rita! Mmmmmmm! Barry played golf with his dad at the Bull, and though he was dissapointed with his game I know he had fun. I left the pool to finally stop and pick up tomatoes and peppers that were long overdue in planting. I was able to get them in the ground and set out a new white knock out rose for the big white bed in the back. We grilled out after being worn out and dined on orange roughie, grilled brussel sprout (which was an adventure and rocked my socks off) and blanched peas. We tried to watch some t.v. but again were both wiped out tired and ended up asleep around midnight.
This morning we woke up around 8:00 and decided against going to Katherine Sandefer's graduation after confusion about tickets etc. So we stayed in bed hung out in a cave of sheets and got up around 9:40. Smelling coffee and bacon while watching CBS's Sunday Morning was a nice way to start the day. I then got ready for the HOT 87degree day and read articles outside with the pup. We went to Barry's parents around 1:00 for lunch and had a great visit with them. We left Kman there and went to Laura's pool for about 2hours I got a lot of reading done for my research, got a bit of a tan, and was able to hang out with my handsome husband. Karen sent us home with a truck load of daylilies, mint, purple salvia and a large bush with pink flowers. I have lots of digging to do this week in my spare time.....which I have none, but it's always a nice break from studying! I've been trying to find a groove in researching this evening and have had little luck, which means more work for the rest of the week. So off to bed I go with hopes of being well rested and ready to tackle this week. I am so thankful for a great weekend with a loving husband, a cozy home, great family and many wonderful things on the horizon! :)

Mama's 93rd!

Today Mamaw Scherer is 93 years wonderful! Granny, Pepaw, and Dad went to visit her.  I stopped by Granny and Pepaw's yesterday to drop off flowers and a card from us.  They took her to Cheddar's for lunch where she got a chocolate sundae which she loved.  I sure wish we got up there more to visit her.  I hate knowing she's lonely and on her own.  Hopefully I can make ambetter effort with the time I'm blessed left with her. 

On other news Freida announced she's retiring today! Many changes ahead for our school.  It was beyond time for a change I'm just hoping they give us someone who can handle the job. 
I'm off Bo dream land for a few hours and am blessed to do so win my baby's arm around me and a fuzzy dog next to me.  :)

m&m

Martinis and manicures Tuesday with Jennifer.  It was such fun and a much needed break from work.

We had a lovely Mother's Day weekend though it wore us both out. :) Friday spent in Louisville with the Zeller's and Saturday we played clean up crew. We cleaned inside, outside, planted things, mowed, went to the grocery, prepared menus for Sunday, and crashed at 11:30. Sunday we went to a great service on parenthood, and came back to the house to prepare the house even more and get the food prepped. Mom, Dad, Katie, Lucas, Elise, Don, Karen, Chris, and Patience were all here for a great cookout. I made a risotto asparagus dish which I will never touch again. ( the recipe said 30 min easy) I spent most of my time in the kitchen cooking but really enjoyed having everyone here to enjoy a celebration of our Mother's. They are both so loving and have given me such happiness. I hope to have a little of both in me as I grow older. :)

Tonight I read and post .............for the 4th hour in a row. So sick of looking at words, but it must be done. Sooooo off I go, enough stalling for the evening. :)

long

Long time no type. Long week. Long days. Long face.

A brief run down for me to remember. Grad classes are in full force and between that work and a social scene I'm 100% exhausted.
This has been a very long week and a sad one too. Jodi and Lindsay gave birth to their little boy Tuesday morning at 23 weeks old. He survived four hours in this world before quickly going to heaven. So heartbreaking. They have been on our thoughts and prayers each day. Tonight we went to Louisville with a gift basket and dinner. Hearing Lindsay break down about it made me want to curl up on the couch and cry with her. I can not imagine what she is going through or how hard the road ahead might be. 30 years old, picking out a grave, to bury your first son. :( I love you Lord but this is so very hard to understand. They are definetely my favorites out of all of Barry's Louisville friends. I hope that we can be there for them through this time. Lord lift them up, give them rest, and give her peace.