Tag Archives: family

Mark and Nancy’s Great Camping Adventure

Posted on May 21, 2014 | 2 comments

Good morning Everyone!

A conversation with Kristina over at Family.Work.Life about whether camping in a trailer or motor home as opposed to a tent is “real” camping reminded me of a story from early on my married life.

When we moved back to Alabama from North Carolina in 1991, we ended up living in Alexander City, a town at the north end of Lake Martin, which is a huge man-made lake that powers three dams for the Alabama Power Company. We decided to fulfill a dream of Mark’s, and bought a brand-new boat 1989 Bayliner. Because it had been in the local boat shop’s inventory for almost three years, we managed to get quite a good deal on it.

One of the best places to enjoy Lake Martin is at Wind Creek, a state park with hundreds of camp sites, very nice boat launch facilities and just about anything else you could ever want from a state park on a lake.

Our family at that time consisted of three: Mark, me and our first dog, Shadow. Shadow loved riding in the boat. Mark and I decided one weekend in March that we would go camping at Wind Creek in the new four person tent we had bought, and bring the boat along with us.

It sounded like a great idea, but it wasn’t. Wind Creek’s name, at least in March, is not meant to be aesthetically pleasing but rather descriptive, and with the prime camping spot we rented at the tip of the point, we had no shelter at all from the apparently gale force winds.

After a great deal of difficulty, we managed to get the tent put up and myself and Shadow deposited inside it to keep it from blowing away (yes, Shadow would have been enough but there was no way that dog was going to stay inside the tent by herself in that kind of wind.). Mark then started to light the barbecue grill outside the tent while I talked to him through the door, but the wind was so strong we couldn’t keep a flame lit. He finally gave up and took off into town to bring us back a pizza.

While he was gone, I shivered in the tent and listened to the wind roar through the pine trees and pull at our tent. Once I had to slip outside to rescue various substantial camping paraphernalia that the wind had decided to play catch with, but fortunately the tent didn’t fly away too. The entire time, Shadow was by my side, looking at me with sad eyes that plainly said,” We have a perfectly good house only miles from here; why on earth are we sitting out here in the wilderness fighting the wind?” The best answer I could give her was that we were waiting for pizza.

Once Mark got back with the pizza, we ate it, sharing the obligatory portion with Shadow, who was somewhat mollified by our peace offering until the wind managed to rip out one of the tent stakes even with three of us in the tent. It tickled me so much that I started laughing non-stop. I was pretty useless from that point forward in any attempt to set the tent back to rights.

We finally conceded defeat about ten p.m., loaded everything back up into our pick-up truck and boat, and headed back into town, with a very relieved dog sitting in my lap.

I don’t remember us ever trying to camp again until we bought our first trailer. I don’t even remember myself wanting to try camping again until I had a trailer, although I’m sure I mentioned it at least once or twice.

And that, my friends, is “Mark and Nancy’s Great Camping Adventure!”

Have a great day!

Nancy

2 Comments

Posted in Camping, dogs, Pets, working mom

Tagged adventure, Alexander City, Bayliner, camping, dog, family, humor, pizza, tent, trailer, Wind Creek

Snit Fits, Melt Downs & Cross-Examination

Posted on April 30, 2014 | Leave a comment

Good morning Everyone!

Our school system decided that the students would make up one of the many days missed because of weather electronically. Each teacher put a special assignment up on the EdModo website. Students have to turn them in today, April 30.

As you can guess, Kayla still had assignments to finish up last night. When I got home from work, she was wandering around in the kitchen, where she airily informed me that she was going to do some cooking before she did her assignments. I nixed that idea and told her she couldn’t do anything until after she finished her Edmodo assignments. Snit fit #1.

30 minutes post snit fit #1, she informed me that she was done. I checked the (single) assignment for completeness. Cross-examination #1 established that there were other class assignments out there, leading directly to snit fit#2 which resulted in her being sent to her room to complete her math EdModo quiz. After she reached her room, but before she could start her quiz, we achieved obligatory math melt down #1.

30 minutes letter, after math melt down #2 in the middle of the quiz, Kayla submitted the quiz answers on-line, and then started wandering around the house again aimlessly. This behavior led to the simultaneous appearances of cross-examination #2, snit fit #3 and paternal parental lecture #1, the upshot of which was a telephone call by Kayla to a friend to obtain the vocabulary words she was supposed to define and use in a sentence.

Once completion of the vocabulary words was verified, Kayla again announced that she was done. Cross-examination #3 and #4 (please insert paternal parental lecture #2 here) discovered that there was one assignment left to complete – a timed quiz that Kayla had accidentally opened days ago and now could not complete because the 60 second quiz had timed out somewhere around 190 hours, which led to snit fit# 4, melt down #2, paternal parental lecture #3 and bed time. Maternal melt-down #1 was allowed to commence thereafter.

Have a great day!

Nancy

Elegant Time

Posted on April 16, 2014 | 2 comments

Good morning Everyone!

Every family has treasured objects, things that have been passed down from older family members to younger family members to cherish and remember them by. Regardless of their value to the outside world, within the family, these items are precious and irreplaceable.

In my family, two of our special items are clocks – but not just any kind of clock. We have the privilege of owning two Seth Thomas mantel clocks, each one inherited from our grandparents.

Our Two Seth Thomas Clocks

For many years, Seth Thomas was one of the premier clock makers in the United States. Known for their above average quality, bronze clock works and elegant styling, Seth Thomas clocks were very popular. While their flagship product was no doubt their grandfather clocks, their mantel clocks were very popular too.

“My” Clock

“My” clock came from my grandfather. One of Grandpa’s hobbies was repairing old clocks, and this is just one of many he repaired. According to what I have read, this clock is an “adamantine” mantel clock. The “adamantine” term refers to its black finish. With its gold pillars, lion faced handles on the end, and black marbled paint finish, it is quite elegant.

Close-Up of the Marble Finish

“Mark’s” Clock

“Mark’s” clock also came from his grandparents. Its elegance flows from simplicity of design rather than the ornate finish of the adamantine clock. From the simple curved design to the single narrow contrasting strip of wood immediately above the base to the clear numbers on the clock face, everything on this mantel clock stands for clean lines, the elegance of minimal styling and function.

Both clocks have the “Seth Thomas” name printed on their clock face.

Mark’s Clock – Seth Thomas label

My Clock’s Seth Thomas Label

The two faces of each clock differ also.

My Clock’s Face

Mark’s Clock’s Face

Our two clocks are so intact that the original instructions on the back of each clock can still be seen. I had a hard time taking a clear picture of the label on the back of my clock, but I promise it is still legible.

Instructions for My Clock

I had better luck when I tried to take separate pictures of the emblems on each side of the instructions.

My Clock’s Left Emblem

My Clock’s Right Hand Emblem

For whatever reason, it was much easier to get a picture of the instructions on Mark’s clock.

Mark’s Clock’s Instructions

Mark’s clock even tells us approximately when it was purchased by means of the warranty notice on the back.

Back Label on Mark’s Clock

Seth Thomas was a real person who started making clocks with wooden works in 1813. In 1842, Seth Thomas Clock Company introduced its first model with bronze clock works instead of wood, and by 1845 all of the wooden works models of clocks had been phased out. Our clocks have metal works, which I assume are bronze.

Seth Thomas Bronze Clock Works Adamantine

My Clock’s Works

Mark’s Clock’s Works

Seth Thomas clocks were manufactured continuously (with a couple of ownership changes) until 2009, when the company that owned the Seth Thomas clock brand at the time went into receivership. My extensive internet research (defined as three google searches instead of just one) makes it difficult to tell if Seth Thomas clocks are still being made today. Some sources say yes, but by a different manufacturer; others simply stop their history with the 2009 receivership; and others state unequivocally that the clocks are not made anymore.

Whether Seth Thomas clocks are made today, Mark and I treasure the two Seth Thomas clocks we own, not only as nostalgic reminders of simpler eras but even more for the people they remind us of.

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

2 Comments

Posted in Just stuff..., On the Home Front, Technology, working mom

Tagged adamantine, clock, family, family treasures, grandparents, mantel clock, Seth Thomas, Seth Thomas Clock, time

A Highly Biased History of Writing, Part I

Posted on April 14, 2014 | Leave a comment

Good morning Everyone!

We take writing for granted – this marvelous ability we humans have developed as a way to share information with each other, even across thousands of years and millions of miles. Today, in the year 2014, I can read the thoughts of people who lived thousands of years before me. Have you ever wondered how it began? I did, and thought I’d share with you my discoveries from the Ugg Clan Chronicles.

Ugg Hunting

Ugg was hunting one day. While he was gone, Suzugg, the third youngest Ugg child, with some indeterminate assistance from the twins, Uggo and Uggu involving a rock and a fall, hurt her leg. Seeing that the injury was more serious than the normal bump or bruise which every Ugg child was expected to take in stride, Uggette a/k/a Mrs. Ugg, decided that a trip to the local medicine man (two valleys over, fifth cave to the right) was in order.

Local Medicine Man

A trip to the local medicine man was not easy. The local medicine man was only considered the local medicine man because the next closest one was in New Jersey, which would not be discovered for another 8000 years.

Mrs. Ugg was faced with the task of hauling fourteen children, one of whom would have to be carried (Mrs. Ugg nominated Uggo and Uggu as the carriers, in light of her suspicions as to their role in Suzugg’s injuries) across two ridges and two valleys. This meant an overnight trip, which meant that Ugg was going to be back sometime before they could return.

Ugg, Uggette and a few of their blessings

Uggette had to figure out a way to leave Ugg a message he could understand or else he would worry – there were an infinite number of reasons your whole family could be missing when you got home from a hard’s day hunting and only one or two of them were benign. And an unnecessarily worried Ugg was a very angry, grumpy Ugg once he recovered from his relief that everyone was okay.

Multi-tasking as most mothers do – comforting Suzugg, keeping Uggodu and Uggodo from burning down the forest in their quest to see what was and was not flammable (we’ll discuss the history of alchemy and chemistry some other time), explaining to Uggita and Uggito that no, you could NOT eat every plant you found in the forest indiscriminately and keeping a sharp eye on Guidugg, who never missed a moment of mischief if he could help it – the harassed Uggette was hard put to find a message that would make sense.

Guidugg

Uggette finally drew a stick figure in the ground of the cave with an X over one leg and drew an arrow in the direction of the medicine man’s cave with fifteen dots underneath it, thereby inventing pictographs, numbers and art at the same time.

Uggette was right; the trip did end up being an overnight one. They reached the medicine man about an hour before sunset. While he took care of Suzugg, the medicine man’s sympathetic wife took care of Uggette – putting Uggette’s fourteen children with her own ten and placing the four oldest from either family in charge of the rest – and sitting Uggette down on the nearest rock for a relaxing cup of tea.

The Medicine Man’s State of the Art Woven Rug

When Ugg arrived around midnight, worried, tired and irritated, the medicine man’s wife took care of him too. A peak at his sleeping family assured him all was well, and a quick word with the medicine man assured him that Suzugg’s ankle was only sprained, not broken (or her leg missing, as he had half feared was what was meant by the pictogram – pictograms can be somewhat lacking in terms of precision). He gratefully sank down by Mrs. Uggette on the medicine man’s state of the art woven rug, and gave her a quick hug as he did so, pulling the cured bearskin over him.

And that was the beginning. We’ll move further into the development of writing as recorded in the Chronicles of the Ugg Clan in later posts.

Have a great day!

Nancy

Fn. All images come from http://www.clickartonline.com and are fully protected by copyright.

Around the Second Bend in the Road

Posted on April 9, 2014 | Leave a comment

Hello Everyone!

We had rain Monday. Not the gentle rains that slowly permeate the ground and nourish the grass, trees and flowers of spring, but the frog-strangling, gully-washing, can’t-see-in-front-of-you-to-drive type of rain. And we had it for about six hours. The combination of downpour and time led to a flood of water puddling on lawns, streaming down roads, carving mini-canyons in local gullies and other such stuff. Water even got into our sunroom from somewhere – we’re not sure whether it came in from the puddle gathering at the back door or from the back wall – but fortunately it wasn’t very deep.

Heavy Rain
Photo Credit: http://www.clickartonline.com

Our first hint of the most dramatic consequence of the rain came when I left the house for work in the rain about 8:00 a.m. and saw the “Road Closed” sign on the left side of our neighborhood entrance. I didn’t think much about it; I just figured a section of road had flooded over and it was closed until the waters could recede. When I came home at lunch and the sign was still there, I became a little curious and called the police department. It turned out that a section of road over a culvert had been washed away.

One View of the Washed Out Culvert

We found out later that the white pipe in the picture is a water main that also broke, leaving folks on the other side of the break without water for two hours. That didn’t sound too bad either, but since the “Road Closed” sign was still up, Kayla and I parked the car at the entrance to the neighborhood and walked down the road a ways. After two houses and two bends in the road, we came across the washed out culvert.

It was a big deal.

Deep view of washout

It also apparently became a neighborhood novelty. In addition to the small crowd on the other side of the break (we waved at each other and shouted messages of good will across the gap), a regular stream of people showed up between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. to view the EVENT.

Width and Depth View of Washout

No-one in the town is more grateful for the timing of the wash-out than our family – we can time the washout to somewhere between 5:35 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. Why? Mark drove over that very spot at 5:35 a.m. on his way to work.

Have a great day!

Nancy

Of Math and Cows

Posted on May 26, 2013 | 1 comment

Hi Everyone!

We were driving somewhere the other day, and Kayla was in an exceptionally bouyant mood.

We started the drive by giving her a surprise oral basic math facts quiz, which normally leads to tears and temper but which she cheerfully answered on this day. I threw out lots of addition and multiplication questions, all of which Kayla got correct, then I abruptly changed stream and asked: 9-5.
Kayla’s response? “Crap.” (She immediatelty followed that up with the right answer, 4.)

After a while, we also drove by a herd of cows, placidly grazing in a field. Kayla’s observation?

“If I were a cow, I’d be the meanest cow ever. You wouldn’t make bacon out of me!”

The funniest one, though, was last weekend when we were returning from a wedding in North Carolina and were looking for a fast food place to get breakfast. For years, I would get biscuits from McDonald’s but in the last few months, I have switched to a preference for cinnamon rolls from Burger King. When Mark pointed out the McDonald’s, and I suggested we keep looking, Kayla, demonstrating her ever increasing grasp of our family’s gift of gentle satire, said sorrowfully from the back seat, “Mom, I’m sorry about your relationship with McDonald’s.” It made all of us laugh.

Have a good weekend!

Nancy

1 Comment

Posted in Child's Play, On the Home Front, Out of the mouths of babes...., working mom

Tagged children, cows, daughter, family, humor, subtraction

What’s good for the gosling…..

Posted on December 31, 2012 | 3 comments

Morning Everyone!

What’s good for the gosling is good for the goose!

Just a quick anecdote today, since I have a very busy schedule – rest, watch TV, eat lunch, nap, rest from napping, eat supper, etc…..

We got Kayla a small computer for Christmas this year – visualize one step above a netbook and one step below a true laptop – and she loves it.

I had been letting her use my netbook until it crashed a few months ago. She found the netbook frustrating because it loaded web pages a lot slower than a regular laptop does. Her Christmas computer is a vast improvement over the netbook, but still is not as fast as a full size computer. Kayla has a tendency to just keep hitting buttons when the web site isn’t doing what she wants it to do. While not unusual, this practice is a sure way to give your Internet Browser, or even your computer, a nervous breakdown. When she gets frustrated, I repeatedly remind her to hit the key once and wait to let the computer catch up with you rather than barraging it with keyboard strokes resembling a Texas-sized hail storm.

From http://www.clickart.com, by Broderbund
Copyright Protected.

This morning, I was checking my work e-mail, and tried to reply to a message. The window popped up, but my key strokes weren’t registering. I, of course, persisted in hitting keys repeatedly and at random trying to get the text to enter – until Internet Explorer crashed.

I’m glad that Kayla didn’t see it. I don’t expect I will share the story with her either!

Have a great day everyone, and very happy New Year’s Eve!

Nancy

3 Comments

Posted in Child's Play, working mom

Tagged computer, computers, family, geese, humor, kids, parenting, patience, technology

Car Talk from Alabama

Posted on December 10, 2012 | 2 comments

Good morning, everyone!

I drive a black 2010 Hyundai Sonata that I really enjoy.

One feature in this car that impresses me is the push button start. Now, I know that push button start is not really a modern invention – many cars in the fifties and early sixties had them – but the computer chip in the “key” that tells the car that it is okay to open or start when the button is pushed is new. As long as that computer chip is about one foot from your car, all the push button features will work. The reason I enjoy push button start is – just imagine this ladies – I never, ever have to dig through my purse to find my keys. That is really cool, no matter who you are!

From www.clickartonline.com. Copyright protected. All rights reserved.

However, about three weeks ago, I came home for lunch one day, and when I got ready to leave the house, the car wouldn’t crank with the push button start, even though the lights in the car and everything else except the engine were working. I tried everything I knew to do, from using the emergency start key to charging the battery with our portable battery charger, but nothing worked. Defeated, I called the office, where one of my co-workers was gracious enough to come collect me and take me back to the office.

The plan was for Mark to check the Sonata once he got home, but before he did, while he went inside to change clothes, I tried the battery charger again. It still didn’t work. When Mark came back to the garage, he took the portable battery charger, connected it the exact same way that I had, and of course the car started right away. (For the women: Don’t you find the innate sexism of mechanical objects frustrating?)

The car ran well for a few days, but then it refused to start again while Kayla and I were running an errand. This time I took the portable battery charger, hooked it up, and the car started right away. I think the car knew that Mark was within calling distance.

When we took the car in for service the next weekend, the kind people at Parker Tire tested the battery for us while we were getting new tires from them. It was only at 200 crank amps when it should have been at 500 crank amps. I’m not terribly familiar with what a crank amp is, but since I can do basic math when I put my mind to it, I know that missing 300 of anything tends to have a negative effect on an object. I was relieved that Parker Tire replaced the battery for us, and I happily drove away, knowing that my battery troubles were finished.

Until…..

Last weekend, Mark was helping with inventory at his plant, so Kayla and I bought some Christmas decorations for the outside of our house. I asked Kayla to shut the trunk once we got everything out, but about three hours later, when we were finished, I walked into the garage to discover that the trunk remained open. Wanting to be sure that the battery was still good, I got in the car, pushed the button, and nothing happened. I was upset, of course, enough so that I made a special trip into the house to inform Kayla that I was not happy that she had forgotten to close the trunk.

I came back out into the garage, wearily hooked up the battery charger to the car yet again (really, I’m getting to be quite good at it), and tried to start it by pushing the button. Nothing happened. By now, I wasn’t just annoyed, I was exceedingly annoyed – even though the trunk had been open, a new battery shouldn’t go out like that. I made sure everything on the battery charger was working, and tried one more time before I went to call Hyundai. The car still didn’t start.

I got ready to go back inside to call Hyundai, and automatically reached for my purse. At that moment, I realized that the car was not turning on because it lacked the key. My purse, with key tucked in it, was safe in the kitchen.

Sigh.

I apologized to my daughter, got my purse, and of course the car started like a charm. Problem solved!

Have a great day!

Nancy

2 Comments

Posted in On the Home Front, Technology, working mom

Tagged car repair, daughter, family, humor, Hyundai Sonata, push button start, technology

A House With a View

Posted on December 7, 2012 | 4 comments

Good morning Everyone!

As I mentioned yesterday, I had the chance to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Huntsville during October. When I got ready to leave, I was stunned by the view outside the house. Here’s why:

The Fog LIfts off the mountain

In this next picture, the sunshine has reached part of the mountain, while the upper parts are still shrouded with fog.

The Sunshine Reaches the Mountain

This next view has all but a few spots in the sunlight.

Even More Sun

In this view, the sunlight has advanced even further.

For this final view, I took my cell phone camera off of “Zoom” to get a perspective of the clouds lifting off the mountain and the neighborhood.

Neighborhood View

Breathtaking, isn’t it?

Have a great day and a great weekend!

Nancy

4 Comments

Posted in Just stuff..., working mom

Tagged fall, fall leaves, family, mountain, photographs, photography, View

The Sound….

Posted on October 11, 2012 | 3 comments

Good Morning Everyone!

Picture, if you will, the following scene:

I am at the breakfast table, huddling over my breakfast and trying to wake up. In the rooms in the back, which include my bedroom, I hear the normal tap-tapping, shuffle, shuffle sounds of the dogs playing. I hear the scuffle, snarl that means that they are playing with some kind of fabric, and then there is silence. (I should have started worrying then, but I am a slow starter in the a.m.) Suddenly, out of the blue, I hear “CLINK, Clink, clink.”

Only one thing could make that sound – my wedding ring bouncing onto the floor from my bedside table, and, earthquakes being in short supply this morning, there is only one way it could get there – being pulled down by a dog interested in chewing.

(To make matters worse, I have already lost my wedding ring twice in the last five years, and although Mark has been very sweet about it both times, the second time replacement was accompanied with the very reasonable request that I try to hold on to this one for a while!)

Fortunately, I rescued it in time, but it was a close call! I never thought the day would come when I wanted them to chew socks….

Tag Archives: family

Mark and Nancy’s Great Camping Adventure

Snit Fits, Melt Downs & Cross-Examination

Elegant Time

A Highly Biased History of Writing, Part I

Around the Second Bend in the Road

Of Math and Cows

What’s good for the gosling…..

Car Talk from Alabama

A House With a View

The Sound….

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